Yippee, I am now retired!

Yep it became official on Sunday,   bit strange in a way,  this is the second time I've retired from a job cos of ill health,  the first time I was just in my 30s, so eager to gain employment,  which I did eventually but it took a long time.   Now that I am a, er, tad older, can I be bovvered,  nope,  currently have a full time job as a carer,  which has lousy hours and pay.   But I have paid my dues,  been working since I was 16,  ah, those were the days,  you could walk out of one job and into the next.   No-one cared if you had a list of GCSE's as long as your arm,  they just needed to know if you could read, write and add up.   And we could!    I never relied on a till telling me how much change to give, had to work it out for myself, same with bar work, you had to add up the round as you went along.....  

So now I am free, but not footloose or fancy free,  got a lot of obligations, but still have time for training.   I know what I want to do, and how I can earn a living,  not turning my back on work, it is that now I have a choice, which is nice. 
It has been nice going to the local supermarket, the new one that opened last year,  so many of the employees had been unemployed for quite some time.  I remember the first checkout I went to, the poor assistant was a bag of nerves, we customers were all eager to put her at her ease... I met her again today,  and wow the difference,  she is now confident,  much more relaxed and you just know she'll end up being promoted.   Trust me, when you have been unemployed for a long time that first time back in a job is terrifying,  especially when you also have to face the public.   

I am looking forward to my holiday in two weeks,  it will be bliss to just be able to relax and not worry about stuff. 

Pic: my first attempt at a swing card. Watched CnC and they were demoing some kinetic templates including the swing card, I was pretty sure I could make it myself,  so I had a bash... and I did!   I did try it out on a piece of paper first,   got that one wrong, but did it again and worked out the folding, then  got out the card.   Really chuffed with the result, I did embellish it with more card, silver mirri on one side, and the blue star paper on the other,  just to give it some depth. 

A bit cooler here,   very cloudy this morning, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon.   Just hoping that we do have 'summer' this year... think we have earned one!