I have been working for 51 years.

Considering I’m only 35 years old, I think that’s quite a feat.

For some of you, that’s shy of – oh, I don’t know how many days and weeks.

It’s time for me to learn how to have fun. I’m going on a quest to try to do that.

I am stepping aside as editor of this amazing newspaper the middle of March – the day I head to Scottsdale to watch my favorite sport – baseball. As in spring training.

Quite frankly, I’m tired of the day-to-day grind of working. Each day I wake up and worry about which stories go on the front page, do we have enough articles to fill the pages we need to? Did we cover this event, that event? Who’s going to be there to write about the arts, the council, the new restaurant, the next interstate interchange? And then putting it all together. It’s a grind, every day, every week.

Quite frankly, it’s not a lot of fun at this point in my life.

I want to wake up in the morning and worry about whether I’m going for a bike ride, play golf, go to a pottery class or just read a book all day long. That’s a decision I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to make in 51 years.

Battle Born Media is one of the best organizations I’ve ever worked for. No, I’m not sucking up. The owners have been fantastic in the space they have given me and the staff to grow, to prosper, to be a small part of this awesome community. Whenever we asked the ‘big guys’ to invest their money in Mesquite, they stepped up willingly, without hesitation. They believe in the term and spirit of community newspapers. We, the staff, have pushed them at times to go where they weren’t sure they wanted to. But, they did because they also want to be part of Mesquite’s success. That won’t change.

I took a year off from the news business when my husband died in 2014 and I shut down what you helped create – the Mesquite Citizen Journal. That wasn’t fun; it was…I can think of a hundred different ways to end that sentence.

But this is different. The Mesquite Local News will continue and will keep getting better and better as it has over its history. As I told my boss, publisher Kirk Kern, the one thing I’ve learned in life is this-when you put your hand in a bucket of water and pull it out, the hole quickly goes away.

Stephanie, Teri, Lou and Linda will continue to bring you the best news coverage in Mesquite. They have been so fantastic to me and to you. That won’t change.

But, before city elected officials and staff get all giddy and start thinking I won’t be looking over their shoulders, let me stifle their glee.

I will continue covering city council meetings and city government as a freelance reporter for the Mesquite Local News and Battle Born Media. I will continue writing about issues that concern the success of the best place I’ve ever lived, anywhere in the world.

I will continue being a part of your community.

Just check the baseball schedule before you look for my next article.

I love you Mesquite.

P.S. For anyone trying to do the math-I’m 64.