monkey5s

I got into work this morning to find balloons, and a banner, at my work space. And the staff on duty today kind of milling around there. Of course, my first thought was "uh oh, what's up? Are they booting me out EARLY?" AR AR AR!

Nah, just decided today was the day to celebrate my retirement (which is still pending, btw). They also told me there would be a small party when we closed today. I was, of course, very surprised. As I recall, I had SAID "oh, let's just not do anything, OK?" when I was asked about it back in October. It was nice, just current staff plus the two who had just retired earlier this year, but they also corralled my bro and s-i-l. Which was... amazing. Not the s-i-l, but the bro. AND he was in a pretty good mood.

So we ate pizza, and salad, and cake. And the one staffer had a party game where there were 10 questions about me that everyone had to guess. And that even the people who made the questions didn't really know. I tend to despise party games, but this was harmless, and fun. Well, except for the fact that no one knew my middle name (I don't even use the initial), and now EVERYONE does.

And when it was over, we all took home leftover pizza, and I took home the rest of the cake. Yup, didn't leave it for staff to eat, I took it home. I will be cutting it up and freezing it to have treats later. The boss carried everything out to my car, and another coworker followed me home and carried everything into the house for me! BONUS!

It was a nice time. And people were asking me at the party if I had suspected, and I had to say no, because, after all, I wasn't expecting anything, you know? I understand there were mad flurries of e-mails going around about it. So it was lovely, and low-key, and the staff gave me a large gift card for the local Kroger store (overpriced on many things, but the best, and competitively-priced, organic produce around, so I am very very happy about that! Plus, you know, easy to shop there since it's right in town).

So. I've had my farewell party, and still have 10 work days to go. Starting with tomorrow.