Spins the grin

Drum Roll, Please.

Cue the band and let’s get this party started. There are a few items on the agenda so drum roll, please. First, if you’ve been paying attention to recent posts, then you already know that today marks my last day as a member of the workforce. By close of business, I will have officially joined the ranks of the retired. Even though COVID-19 and social distancing have put in-person gatherings on hold for a while, I’m still celebrating nonetheless.

And there’s more that has me jumping for joy.  can I get another Drum roll?

Ok, maybe it’s more like I’m sitting and patiently waiting.  Anyway, onto item #2 … have you noticed anything different? We here at It’s All Fine … Whatever Tickles The Fancy have been hard at work sprucing up the joint. By we, I mean my talented daughter Josephine, who helped with graphic elements like the styling of the title, and me working on layout and format. A while back, I’d thought to do a full-on rebranding with a new URL and such but then I realized all that was needed was just a bit of polish.

You might think that my choice of colors was inspired by the plaid coat that I’m wearing in these photos. Good thinking but that’s only part of it. The true inspiration for the design elements of this blog refresh came from the sketch shown below that was drawn by an artist friend of mine, Anne M Bray. She had drawn a series of these sketches of women who were attending the annual FierceCon (google it) by pulling images from their Instagram accounts (this was mine).  I was so tickled that she had picked that post as the basis for her sketch of me.  I’ve even had new business cards made using it.

The timing of this reveal on the same day that I leave the workforce is intentional. While I’m not planning to make any huge changes to the blog, I will have a whole lot more time now to devote to it. And this brings me to the third item on the celebration agenda. Today also marks for me the beginning of no longer having a professional/personal division in my life.  I no longer feel that it’s necessary to keep them separated.  I’ve shared before about how nervous I’d been when I first revealed to my family and friends that I had started a blog. That nervousness was all for naught because they’ve been hugely supportive. So I’m hoping to get the same reception from my former colleagues, most of whom were made aware of this blog today.

At this point, I was ready to wrap up this post and then I came to a realization.  There is still one professional/personal division barrier to breach.  And that is to finally share on the blog what my professional life has been.  Not today, though.  I’ll go into detail (yawn-inducing detail) on that subject in a future post.

So that’s it for today. Retirement, a blog refresh, a reveal, and the promise of another. Now onto some new challenges. I’m open to suggestions.

Be well and let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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23 Comments

    • Rena Post Author

      Thank you, Amy. I’m still getting used to the fact that I won’t be going to work anymore.

    • Rena Post Author

      Maggie, thank you for the welcome into this new world. I experienced a mix of unexpected emotions yesterday but I’m slowly getting used to this new mental freedom.

  3. MaryG

    I’m so curious to know what it was that you did in your work, but congratulations on joining the ranks of the unemployed!

    • Rena Post Author

      Mary, I promise you that it wasn’t very glamorous and I hope that you’ll find the future post on it an interesting read.

  4. Bonnie Vorspan

    Congratulations Rena and Mazel Tov as the newest part of your life begins!!!!

    • Ronald Reginald Chavarria

      Hello Rena this is Ronald Reginald Chavarria congratulations I’m happy for you you made it and now I’m sure anything that you want to do after this will be perfect wish you the best mazel tov please say hello to that guy you married

      • Rena Post Author

        Reggie, thank you for your good wishes and I’ll be passing along your message. Be well.

    • Rena Post Author

      Thank you, Jodie. You and Rob do make retirement look easy and fun.

  10. Suzy Turner

    Congratulations on starting a new adventure, Rena! And I love the blog’s new look!
    hugs
    Suzy xx

  11. shelbeeontheedge1

    Congratulations, my friend! What an exciting day being officially retired from the work force. And your blog is looking very spiffy! I love the new design. And how great is your Anne sketch! I need a new one! Mine is like 4 years old and not an accurate depiction of me right now! Oh Anne? Are you reading? Haha. I am loving your plaid coat and this cute casual outfit and your new business cards. Great post!

    Shelbee
    http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com