yet another new phase March 2012

I am suddenly conscious of things moving in to a new phase. Yesterday I had to give notice to Nigerian Tony to move out as J2 says he will be returning from University permanently in May. It will be nice to feel the house is returning to being a family home as opposed to a lodgings establishment however grateful I am to my tenants.

If J2 does return and I will not believe it as 100% certain until he does, I have been thinking about how the relationship/ set-up needs to be different to enable him to make the transition to independence. It’s quite useful having Bear still here as he is a role model in terms of working/ fending for himself while still living at home.

Once the house is complete and J2 is settled in work I will be truly free in a way I have never been before. The interesting thing is my ‘to do’ list is quite small. I want to visit India, but after that I feel less driven than in the past.

Obviously I don’t want to drop dead then and I quite enjoy my various hobbies. I love Pilates and the Luton hard core at weightwatchers is growing on me in balance with the weight I am losing. The children say they want me to be a hands-on grandparent, but that depends on if they have children, where they live and what their partner thinks!

I seem to have been really busy since Christmas, doing my school job, caring for the horse which is always harder in the winter as he comes in every night, seeing friends and doing the necessary planning and commissioning of work (such as kitchen units) to get the house renovations costed and completed this summer.

I have decided that if I am going to have to work for another 13 years until I am 66 it is really in my best interests to try and get a job I enjoy a bit more. I find the TA work boring at times and the class I have been given to teach History stressful so I know that returning to teaching is not the answer.

When I saw A* at half-term she also spurred me on to keep trying and not give up.

This week I have applied for a student welfare post, a project co-ordinator for Age UK, a Complaints Executive for ASA and my paperwork for VSO who have accepted me to go forward for a second placement if I want to do it. I have always believed in having lots of balls in the air and that fate plays a hand in whatever falls to land.

Your thoughts on this post 50s transition phase would be most welcome!