"Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans" John Lennon

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So here we are, planning my retirement and our fall vacation.

How did we get here? Well I transitioned to retirement by teaching half time for the past two years (academic years 2015-2016, and 2016-2017). I taught all my courses in the fall semester and took the spring semester off.

Spring of 2016 is a bit of a blur. How did I ever have time to teach?

First, we went to Israel with Bet Am Shalom Synagogue. It was an amazing trip. Pictures can't do it justice so I won't try, but here's one of all of us in Jerusalem:
Bet Am Shalom group
We went to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Eliat, visited one kibbutz and stayed on another. We experienced Shabbat in Jerusalem and Shabbat on Kibbutz Ketura.

And that was January.
Menu for Marina's Confirmation lunch
Then my dad fell and fractured his hip, so that was February. We went to Florida at the end of February for our grandniece's confirmation.









Aunt Carol turned 86 in March and the family got together for that.


Aunt Carol's birthday lunch







And then it was summer!

 


Summer of 2016 is a bit clearer-we took a vacation to Maine, renting a (weird) house on Deer Isle but loving every minute of our time there. 
And then it was time to go back to work ;(
Fall was bitter sweet-teaching for the last semester. No last lecture (popularized by Randy Pausch who knew he was dying), just a series of last classes.

And at the end of this month, a week from Thursday, I'll be "officially" retired. Stay tuned!
Selfie with balloons Anne gave me

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