Massachusetts teachers pay into a private retirement program. When they retire, their pension is paid from that program versus Social Security. Makes sense. Unless you become a teacher as part of a mid-life career change, as I did. There is legislation that prevents a Massachusetts teacher from collecting both their Social Security and the pension unless you’ve worked thirty years in the private sector. This was the dilemma I faced two years ago. Continue teaching and lose the social security benefit or leave and return to the outside world. Because I went into teaching so late in life, I’d be 105 years old before being eligible for full retirement benefits in the private teacher retirement system. The difficult decision to leave teaching became a reality in 2019.
With three graduate degrees, more than thirty years of work experience, and side hustles that make for an interesting resume, finding work outside of teaching seemed like it would be a walk in the park. Who knows if being in my sixties, an employer thinking my salary requirements might break the bank, or trying to break into a new field with fundamental skills made the search more challenging. Looking for appropriate work became my full-time job for about nine months. It was time well spent as it gave me an opportunity to focus on how at least of third of my day could be most productive, mentally stimulating, and socially engaging.
Bob has a real estate business that includes two other related businesses. I’ve posted before on my work lettering the warehouse, developing an advertising campaign, and setting about organizing the physical office and creating an administrative infrastructure. That morphed into a half time position. It meets all of the personal requirements noted above and the work schedule dovetails nicely with my supervisory work for Springfield College.
I liken my work with Springfield College to being a grandparent (I’m not a parent of any kind but am able to care for my dog and feed Bob on a regular basis). I get to go into classrooms manned by new teachers, interact with students, and provide feedback to the teachers to facilitate their development as professionals. Grandparents get their grandkids all sugared up and drop them off at home to work it off. Similarly, I get to leave the classroom when it’s time to do lunch duty or, my favorite, bathroom duty. This year, of course, all supervision has been done remotely but you get the point. There were two final pieces to add to the transformative puzzle: Reactivation of my realtor license and opening an Etsy shop.
Over this past summer, I decided to explore a variety of products that could be made with the Cricut machine and sold online. The entire universe, with varying degrees of success, began doing the same in light of the pandemic. It sounded so alluring and the You Tube videos made creating a product look so easy. How hard could it be?! Well, either I’m a slow learner or haven’t dedicated enough hours each day, but I continue to trudge up the learning curve. A few products have been developed, mocked up, priced, and produced for the holidays (gift tags and decorative elements to add sparkle to the home). They’re now being modified for other occasions and coming holidays. It will be a few more months before that Etsy or Facebook shop is up and running, I’m sure, but the feedback and limited sales experienced to date have been inspiring.
The real estate license is in hand and I’ve started working with customers. I’d sold property for fourteen years when I first became a teacher. I’d start with a customer as the school year wound down just after the testing season and would continue until returning to the classroom in August. With occasional help from Bob, should someone need to view a listing during the school day, it went pretty well. Because I only sold in the summer, I had more customers than I could handle from a referral source and I never had to work up leads. Now that it’s a full on focus, I’m learning how to use social media to promote myself and Kushner Realty. The side hustle of making things will benefit from developing my virtual skills and marketing as well.
It has been an interesting process and the fact that two years have passed is unthinkable. If there’s any wisdom to impart, it would be that knowing what you want to do when you grow up can be a moving target. Evolving from a human services professional, to educator, to realtor/maker over the last thirty plus years has been made possible because I never realized reaching that time of being grown up; it’s still happening, one molt after another. Here’s to thirty more years of evolution!
Recipe of the Week:
Who of you buys fruited yogurt? Have you ever read the ingredients list? It’s so easy to cook down fruit to be used as a topping. Hardly any time is needed and you can make it just the way you like it. I often buy the bag of mixed fruit from Costco. It has black and blue berries, and red raspberries. Throw it in a pan on low heat, toss in some cinnamon, vanilla if you like, and squish in some maple or agave syrup, or maybe some honey. That’s it. Let it cook a bit and it’s ready to eat as is, over yogurt, or dribble onto sponge cake for a low-cal delicious dessert. Doesn’t get any easier than that and there’s not a lot of extra anything in it, including calories.
Tip of the Week:
Ice cubes are a versatile item and perfect for slowly adding moisture to plants, especially orchids. You’ve seen them. The orchid sold in the grocery stores. Maybe you brought one home, only to have it die because you didn’t read the card. The card told you to put a few ice cubes on the plant each week. That’s it.
I didn’t read the card and watered the plant a little bit. Well, when I transplanted it, I found rotted roots. I thought there was plenty of drainage at the bottom, but not sufficient for this plant. It’s thriving now, no thanks to me. This type of watering system, if you will, is useful for any plant that needs a bit of moisture over an extended period of time without taking the chance of overwatering it.
Onward and upwards into a new week!
Jack of All Trades 