Time Flies

When we first became empty-nesters I was working about 30 hours a week for the local school district. The hours were perfect because I was home when my kid was home. I was available for any and all issues, i.e., sports, appointments, illness, vacations, supervision. The hours were great, the job really sucked. I never enjoyed my job for the 9 years I held it. But because I had a pretty good salary, benefits and great hours, I stayed with it. I hardly ever complained. LOL.
Three months after sonny boy flew the coop, that damn job just went south. I virtually said, "take this job and shove it." What a relief.
So, no job, no son to take care of, lots of free time. What now? As it happens, the day after I quit, I heard Captain Charles Moore speak about the garbage patch in the north Pacific gyre. There's an area in the Pacific ocean at least the size of Texas that is practically a plastic soup. I went to the web site, www.Algalita.org, and read up, then volunteered. That took up a couple of days a week for about 2 months. I did busy office work that was appreciated and very boring, and would have gone undone for who knows how long had I not, at the very moment, volunteered. Good for me. I am a member, that means, I've donated to the cause, and still fill in when they need a body for handing out information at health shows and environmental conventions.
Still had lots of free time on my hands because I didn't want to start shopping as a daily hobby, not that I couldn't! So one night before I fell asleep, I asked myself deeply, "What am I really interested in?" I answered myself, "Art." In the morning I logged on to the Long Beach Museum of Art web page and applied as a docent. Six months of training, and I can proudly say, I am a docent.