My
entries have slowed down considerably. There’s a reason for that. I’m retired.
And, by retired, I mean busy.
Sure, I
read an occasional book. Well, make that seven Steve Hamilton books in eight
days. But when I read that many books at once, I feel guilty. And when I feel guilty,
I make sure that I clean, prepare meals, call bingo, deliver meals, mow the
lawn, and zumba.
Speaking
of zumba, I usually attend class three times a week and teach class once a
week. On my days off, I zumba at home. Now, I have another zumba possibility in
the works—in a city thirty minutes away. And why would I do that?
I’ll be
there anyway. I’m signed up for an art class at the Alabama Center for the Arts
in Decatur. Offered through Calhoun Community College, art and all other
classes are tuition-free (although registration fees are required) for those
who are age-challenged and willing to go through the application process (which
is easy-peasy; it took them a day to accept me as a student and didn’t cost me
anything other than the price of a transcript). The class meets twice a
week/five hours a week from Aug. 15 to Dec. 15. I think I’ll be getting my
money’s worth since, even with the registration fees, class boils down to less
than $1 an hour. I now know that I have a little bit of talent in the arena—mostly
drawing faces from photographs—and I want to find out if I can learn the basics
so I can become a better artist. On top of that, maybe I’ll unearth a secret
talent that will allow me to illustrate my own books.
Because,
don’t forget, I occasionally write. Granted, I haven’t written much recently—just
a couple of contest entries and some re-writes this summer—but my creativity is just waiting to burst through at any moment. To keep my skill honed, I review children’s books, usually five a
month although this month it jumps to ten. I’m not sure why other than the fact
that I was anxious to no longer think about the dystopian or nonfiction I was
sent.
Besides,
I had to get the reviews out of the way to concentrate on my two workshops this
week. I need to learn what’s involved in teaching an online course. Athens
State University has hired me to teach twenty-five budding teachers on how to
connect to their English-as-a-second-language students.
And it’s
a good thing it’s online because I won’t have to worry about missing classes
when I take a ten-day vacation in September or another week’s vacation in
October. And then there are Thanksgiving and Christmas to consider.
A friend
asked me recently if I’d like to return to teaching full-time. I thought about
it. Really. Who wouldn’t like a steady paycheck coming in for a job they
actually like pretty much? On the other hand, who has time to work?
I’m
busy.
