Dear Friends,

It is almost the end of 2012 and I have decided to come out of my semi-retirement in that I am no longer going to be doing "as little as possible" in 2013. Doing "as little as possible" is what I told people I would be doing when I announced my retirement back in August. I needed a break then. I was so tired...no, I was way more than tired...I was exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I was just plain worn out. I had given all I had to give during my last year as President of the VEA fighting off efforts to eliminate continuing contract law for teachers in the Commonwealth, and when the end of July came, all I could think of was how much I needed to just rest.

And rest I did! The months of August and September are actually pretty much a blur because I was a total slug during that time. I slept late, I took lots of afternoon naps, I read whatever I wanted and didn't do anything I didn't want to do. I took a couple of mini trips over the course of the fall, and pretty much I succeeded quite well in my goal of doing as little as possible...and I will admit it...I enjoyed every single minute of it.

But 2013 looms in the next few days and I am feeling energized and ready to do something meaningful. I haven't found gainful employment yet even though I have started to put out feelers and am ready for that, too, should it make itself available to me, but in the meantime, I decided I missed writing; and so I am going to be doing some writing. I need to get back into the swing of things to get the writing juices flowing, so to speak, so I am starting a brand new blog and I am launching it in anticipation of the New Year.

Today, I deleted the old blog which I started when I was elected President of the VEA. I hadn't posted anything there since May when I had started to reflect on the issue of time. What I wrote then was that "Time flies whether you are having any fun or not." That remains true. It is hard to believe that five months have lapsed since I left the VEA, but here we are at the end of 2012. The Mayan prediction for the end of the world did not materialize, and we are all looking at 2013 as a new year with many looming problems still before us.

Even as I write this post, for example, the Senate leaders in Washington, DC are scrambling to cobble together some sort of last-minute deal that will hopefully avert the falling off the fiscal cliff or starting down the slippery fiscal slope or whatever you want to call it. It is utterly ridiculous that we are in this position given that the "crisis" is clearly self-inflicted. What a lot of drama is being created along with a lot of totally unnecessary uncertainty for us all. That may be a topic of discussion that I undertake in the next few days.

Which brings me to what I intend to bring to this platform. I have deliberately entitled my new blog, "This & That" because I intend to write about a lot of different topics. Public education and its current state of "reform" will certainly be one topic since that is near and dear to my heart...but I would also like to reserve the right to comment on other topics of interest, so I think I will just leave the title loose so that I may write on whatever tickles my fancy. I hope to be able to write every day, but certainly, I plan to commit to a few times a week.

And so, there is one New Year's "resolution" for you...to come out of my self-imposed hibernation and to join the world at large through this medium. I hope that if you care to join me, you will let me know.

Until next time.

Kitty