Debbie’s Retirement Life

One Year Ago: Debbie’s Retirement News

Posted on December 22, 2023December 22, 2023 by Debbie

I can’t believe that it’s been a year since I retired last December. I’ve been posting some updates in my author newsletter about what I’ve been doing each month. I also wrote a monthly blog post, but I stopped after six months. Here is an update for the fall and winter. This will be the end of my posts on this topic, but if you’d like to subscribe to Ruff Drafts, my author newsletter, I’ll continue my updates there.

JULY: Sea Glass Festival at Cold Spring Harbor; Raynham Hall AR tour, Oyster Bay; Wedding anniversary, Harry and Hermione’s 5th birthdays.

AUGUST: Farm visits; Huntington Lighthouse Tour; Catpurrccinos Cat Cafe.

SEPTEMBER: Whale watching tour, Freeport; Old Bethpage Village Fair; Otto the Ghost at Hicks Fall Festival, Westbury; Old Westbury Gardens’ 1st. Asian Festival.

October: White Post Farms, Melville; Milleridge Inn Halloween Village and Octoberfest; Hicksville Library’s Fall Fair; Norman J. Levy Preserve, Seaford; Halloween House, Broadway Commons, Hicksville; Old Westbury Gardens scarecrow contest and dog days.

NOVEMBER: Garden City Hotel afternoon tea; New York City; Clark Gardens; Tree Lighting at the Milleridge Village; Reptile Festival; Holiday Concert at the Tilles Center.DECEMBER: Nutcracker Tea, Rockville Centre; Hicksville Library concerts; Our Lady of Mercy Academy’s tea with AdrianaTrigiani; Old Westbury Garden’s Gilded Age Cookbook Talk; Raynham Hall’s Candlelight Tour; Millneck Manor’s Miracle at the Manor event.

2024 will start a new set of adventures for our family as we make our move South. I wish you and your family a wonderful new year, too.

retirement

Six Month Retirement News: Farms, Gardens, Concerts, and Travel

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Debbie

It’s hard to believe it’s been six months since I retired from the library, but I’m still doing substitute work there and am also attending virtual and in-person events as a patron.

June was a very busy month. It started off with lots of fun events. On June 1st, my friend and I visited the Long Island Yarn and Farm, where I got some great ideas to add to my next Buttercup Bend cozy mystery, The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian.

On June 3rd, I attended a reenactment featuring Theodore Roosevelt and performances by horseback riders at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay.

On June 4, my daughter and I visited three North Shore private gardens as part of Old Westbury Garden‘s Garden Days. The first featured a lovely Japanese garden; the second had a beautiful stream; and the last overlooked Long Island Sound.

As far as my writing in June, my poem, “The Jungle” was published in the 2023 Nassau County Voices in Verse anthology, and my publisher sent me the cover for my third Buttercup Bend mystery, The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian.

On June 17, I attended the Hicksville library’s summer reading opening program outside in the library’s courtyard that featured the Penny Lane Band playing Beatles tunes. There were free snacks, gelato, and Italian ices. Inside, I viewed the new furniture that was added to the main floor.

From June 19-21, my daughter and I went down to the Carolinas to a design studio to select the colors, appliances, and other details for the house that we’re building in South Carolina. We stayed at the Drury Inn in Charlotte where we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast and dinner buffets as well as popcorn snacks throughout the day. We also stopped by the lot for our house and saw a deer across the street.

When we came back, we attended the Midsummer Nights at Old Westbury Gardens that featured a jazz concert and refreshments. Rain had been forecasted, so they moved the concert indoors, but the gardens were lovely with lanterns strung across them and all the summer flowers in bloom. Thus, June ended as great as it began. My next update will be in the fall. Have a great summer!

author news

A Personal Post: A Prequel to my Retirement

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Debbie

Other than my new book releases and promotions, I haven’t been sharing any personal posts. Now that I’m retiring and will have more time, I’d like to do that. I’m writing this a week before my retirement on December 22.

Like a book, I feel like I’m beginning a new chapter. I’ve been thinking about my goals and how I want to spend my “golden years.” I’m not retiring in my 70’s or later. I’m not yet 65, but I’ve worked for 32 years as a librarian and feel it’s time to leave my full-time job.Since 1990, I’ve worked at the Hicksville Public Library as a reference librarian. I have mixed memories about my experience – some fond, some not so fond. The fond ones include the friends I’ve made among the staff and meeting my husband when he worked there as a computer instructor. A few staff members, many who are retired now, attended the wedding. My daughter practically grew up in the library, first attending programs as an infant and later as a child and young adult. I’ve worked under five directors and seen several renovations and changes to the building and its collections. I’ve celebrated special occasions and sadder times with my co-workers. A part of me will always live there, although I plan to move with my family to another state next year.

I recognize in younger librarians the enthusiasm I felt when I first began my career. The field is very different now. Computers and eBooks have changed reference services. Yet, helping people locate the information they seek for enrichment, pleasure, and knowledge is still a goal of the profession.While I was working, I managed to write sixteen novels. over thirty short stories, and several articles for pet magazines. It wasn’t easy. I wrote in the morning before work. My husband and daughter were incredibly supportive, but I felt that spreading myself between work, writing, and family resulted in shortchanging all three as well as myself. Now that my daughter is in college and an adult, I want to spend more time with her before she leaves to follow her own dreams. I also want to finish all those book ideas that I haven’t had time to complete and better myself as an author through workshops, conferences, and writing groups. I’m still seeking an agent and intend to pursue that goal more intently.I won’t be basking in the sun and sleeping all day after I retire. I’ll still rise early, write, and keep to a routine that, while flexible, will be productive. I’ll share my experience on this blog in a new column called “Debbie’s Retirement Life.” I’ve always believed that it’s true that when one door closes, another opens. I want to find out what’s on the other side of that door and plan to share what I find with you.