Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Our lives are like quilts

Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love. 


DH and I each have one surviving parent and they both are in hospice care - different cities, different diseases, but both are dearly loved and near the end of this life. Ray is the power of attorney for his dad - I had no idea how involved that is and the amount of time that it takes. Thank goodness we have the time. I am fortunate - my oldest brother is my mom's POA.


Back in the day, educators did not pay social security. Of course, if you don't qualify for social security (40 quarters), you don't qualify for medicare. If we don't qualify for medicare when we turn 66, our insurance rates are going to triple - yup, triple! You qualify on your spouse's quarters if you have been married at least 10 years - but my DH was also an educator back in the day. When we retired, we both worked on getting quarters - I began the 'race' way ahead since I've held more non-teaching jobs over the years. Anyway I need one quarter and decided this was the year. I am grading papers online - do you remember those standardized tests that you took in high school? Well, now they aren't all multiple choice. Many have problems that you have to show your work and explain. That's what I'm grading. It's going pretty good. As of today, I think I've earned a little over half of what I need. Oh, did you know that x is always zero? That's just one of the many things I'm 'learning'!


In my free time, I've been doing a little cleaning. My DIL is selling Norwex and I love it. It is kind of fun to dust when you know the house will stay dusted! If you want to order anything, just leave a comment and I'll give you her website.


And I try to get into the sewing room a little each day. I'm working on a Quilt of Valor right now. I started it at the retreat last month.


Well time to see if I can learn anything else from those bright young math students...



 

1 comment:

  1. I didn't know that if you don't qualify for Social Security, you don't qualify for Medicare!! :-o I retired from the state university here, so I paid in to the State University Retirement System, not Social Security. I assumed that I'd be getting Medicare ... but obviously I assumed wrong. Thankfully DH worked 40 years in the private sector and is qualified for Social Security (and Medicare), so I'll be eligible "through" him. Whew!

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