Time to embark on the prologue to my next chapter in life. Time to start a countdown, as I seek to fill the remaining months with meaning and fulfillment, a prelude to enjoying my golden years.

Time to booze it up, because these days are going to crawl by.

Time to start another set of blogs.

Husband and I have decided that we are both retiring in the summer of 2024, when we both hit the glorious age of 62. We refuse to be deterred by the sluggish performance of our stock portfolio, or by all the financial advice columnists who tell us to work as long as we can.

Nope. Life is short. We need to have time to savor it.

This week at work was tough for me. My high school students have spring fever already, and I caught several of them in boldfaced lies. Does it say “born yesterday” on my forehead? Or “new to this job”? Or “never parented teenagers of my own”? Or “never actually was a teenager”? Yeah, give me a break.

And Tuesday was 3/14, or Pi/Pie Day, and for the first time in years, not a single student from the Math Honor Society offered to bring me a piece of pie, even though I saw carts filled with pie slices and multitudes shoving the aforementioned slices into their–do I dare say it?–pie-holes.

So yeah, I am salty today. Thank goodness tomorrow is a teacher workday and I don’t have to face the kiddos.

Tonight’s cocktail, therefore, is my version of a Salty Dog.

Stir together 2 ounces dry gin, 4 ounces pink grapefruit juice, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, and a slice of lime.

Pour into a salt-rimmed glass and add ice cubes.