My Retirement - Pam Kirk

Last spring my company asked for volunteers willing to take a severance package and we would be notified in 30 days.  I had actually planned to work another 18 months, but immediately signed the paper.  Of course, I then decided I needed to talk to my CPA and financial planner to make sure I really could financially do this.  Finding that it was a resounding “Yes”, I was ready to go.  I packed up personal things from my cubicle, cleaned out files, and began to prepare a “process” booklet on how to handle my responsibilities.   Much to my great disappointment, I was not offered one of the few packages handed out.   My job and position was not one of those that could be eliminated.    After a few weeks, and realizing my heart really wasn’t in my job anymore - the goal and focus surely had shifted - I committed to officially retire the end of the year. I had days when I wanted to make it sooner, but decided to stay long enough to get some upgrades done on my house while I was still had a nice income.  However, I began counting down the months, then weeks, until I got down to 60 days, then the count was remaining days to work.  My poor work partner had to endure having people ask me how many more weeks or days I had left, and with glee in my voice and a smile on my face I would give them the answer!  I was READY!  My son was concerned about what I would do to occupy my time after I got my gardens in order.  I told him I had more rugs to hook than I would be able to manage.  Not to mention the other Green Mountain Hooked Rug Board Members kept finding more Green Mountain activities for me to take on.  Boredom was not going to be in my vocabulary.   As the days crept or zoomed closer, I couldn’t wait for THE DAY (12/5) to get here.  Then for me a strange thing happened about 8 days before Dec 5th.  I found I had moments of deep sorrow roller coaster riding between moments of utter delight at the thought of being on permanent paid holiday.  As I ponder on this phenomenon, I realized I had worked in the corporate world for almost 30 years solely focused on getting ahead, earning more money and setting myself up so I could eventually retire.  But the reality of retiring was always a several years away in my mind.  When I turned 61, I said I would retire in 5 years.  At 64, I found I was still saying I would retire in 5 years.  At 67, I decided I couldn’t keep telling myself it was 5 years away.  I needed to make a commitment.  I set the date for being 70 and a half - October 2015 or maybe I would push it out to 71 in April of 2016.  My “spontaneous" decision to leave a year earlier still was not real until the last week I worked.  I cleared out the very last things from my cubicle.  I tried to finish up projects or get them to places where my work partner could pick them up and keep up with them until my replacement was hired sometime after the first of the year.  Emotionally I struggled.  I had no goal anymore; I didn’t have a focus; nothing to keep me going.  What was happening to me?  I am sure any of you who have retired have gone through all these emotions and thoughts.  It was a very wise co-worker who told me as I headed out of the office for the last time, “Enjoy your time off.  This is what you worked all those years for.”  The light bulb went on inside my head - “Yes.  Exactly - the 30 year goal has been reached.”  Now I can play with patterns and wool and dyes whenever I want and for as long as I want!

Hookers never say impossible...

Several weeks ago I found out that my grandson and his parents were definitely coming for Christmas. They live in Maine, about a 3-1/2 hour drive away so I don’t get to see my oldest daughter, Cecely, and her family as often as I’d like. Of course I was over-the-moon with excitement, and happily started making plans about sleeping arrangements, food, and other details involved with the family coming home. Several nights later, though, I woke with one of those ‘OMG!’ moments.  I didn’t have a stocking for my grandson, Emrys, who is 2 1/2! The next morning I decided that nothing less than one of my original hand-hooked stockings would do. I got right to work and the design developed easily, as Emrys is crazy about trains. I knew I had enough time to pull off the design, the drawing, and do the hooking so that my wonderful employee, Evelyn, (who is a terrific seamstress) could whip the hooked piece into a finished stocking. That was last Friday, December 19th. 

 

The background of the stocking is dark green which doesn't show very well in this photo, but isn't the plaid back just great!

Coincidentally, my middle daughter, Lindsay, was visiting that day and she greatly approved of my hooked stocking for Emrys, but she reminded me that I still hadn’t finished the stocking for my youngest daughter, Mariah, which I started about 3 years ago.  ...Another ‘OMG!’ moment. I wasn’t sure I could even find the pattern I’d started, but never say never to a mother... and a hooker. Miraculously I did find it tucked in among my ‘stash’ of wool in a box that hadn’t been opened in ...3 years. I hadn’t hooked much of it and I had used some of the design in another project. I also remembered why I never finished the piece. I just couldn’t hook the deer and make them look right. Could I re-work the design? Over-come the road block of hooking the deer? ...in 5 days?!  I’m a hooker and a mother... Of course I can! It’s December 22nd. I still have 2 days to finish. Plenty of time. Right?

The rest of the story... When Mariah arrived 2 days before Christmas, I noticed she had a hooked piece in her bag. When she pulled it out, I roared with laughter! It was the hooked stocking I made for her (yes, 3 years ago), but it was a different design than what I'd started. I just forgot that I'd done one for her anyway.  Well... now what to do with the stocking I started several days ago? I think I have a stocking I can quickly finish next year when I suddenly have that 'OMG' moment days before Christmas.

Pork Pie Monday

For the past 9 years since Ted and I have been together, we’ve continued a tradition that is decades-old in the Allen Family. On Christmas Eve we invite family and friends to our home for a pork pie buffet dinner. People come during the evening as time and other commitments allow, and some bring salads or hors d'oeuvre to share. There’s wine, dessert, Christmas music, and lots of laughter to round out the festivities.

The special feature of our evening is pork pie, a French-Canadian holiday dish, also called tortière. To save on the stress of preparing pies for 30 to 35 people on Christmas eve day, Ted and I set aside the first or second Monday of December for mass pie-production, with pies to be stored in the freezer until the party. Straight out of the freezer, the pies take only an hour or so to cook in a 400 oven. 

This morning- December 8th- Ted and I rolled up our sleeves and I put on my apron for a day in the kitchen. We started with the two gluten-free, meatless pies in the morning... Yes, we make a meatless pork pie, which one family member with a sense of humor, dubbed ‘pork-ish pies’. We use a product called ‘Veggie Balls’ (vegetarian meatballs) and grind them with some mushrooms and onions, then add the traditional pork pie spices. We finished the pie filling with mashed potatoes from the pot of a dozen we’d cooked earlier in the morning. 

       

Several years ago I tried making a gluten-free pie crust, but the mess was mostly unsuccessful, so now we just buy the pre-made gluten-free pie crusts and they work fine. (Gluten Free Vegetarian)

As I was assembling the Pork-ish pies, Ted began the process of mixing and grinding the ground pork, ground beef and onions for the next eight pies. Ten pounds of meat and four large onions are usually enough filling, for eight pies. Ted sent the meat mixture through the grinder twice, then into the big pot on the stove to simmer for about two hours. That’s our time for a lunch break, and maybe even a little nap.

   

The real production line starts when the meat is cooked. I mix pie dough and roll pie crust for the next few hours.

All ready for the freezer!

It’s a lot of work, but lots of fun, too, with a little Christmas music thrown in for good measure. And of course the final dinner is worth every minute of the preparation.