It is official...

Today is my first day of what some are calling retirement, what I call a sabbatical, but at the heart of it I am now a stay-at-home mom. However, since I have not worked Fridays for 3.5 years, today really feels no different than our regular routine anyway. It may set in on Monday or the next month may just feel like vacation, but once Brad goes back to work & I don't need to- I am certain reality will set in.

I spent time preparing myself for my last day at work, in an attempt to make it through the day without getting emotional. However, what I did not really think about was how I would feel about the kids' last day at day care. I had no sooner crossed the threshold into Jo's house when the tears started to roll down my cheeks. We had bought some Gerberas (which I was informed by the florist are not daisies) to take to Jo & when she saw the flowers, she gave a big "ahhh" which triggered my waterworks. I had not considered I would have that reaction, but really she has spent a good part of the last 3 years helping raise our kids. She told me that we will need to come over some days to play with the kids so that Sydney & Jason don't miss their friends or that we could meet up at the park- so that was nice to hear. The kids really enjoyed being there & they really loved Jo. She gave us a little scrapbook of their time there which was really nice.

Yesterday went OK with the goodbyes too, because really it is more like a see you later. Since Brad works at TU too, I will still see people for the social events- like the company picnic next week & beach volleyball in two weeks. It was also good that most of my closest work friends were on vacation, so they weren't there to make me weepy. Except for dear Johanna who asked me if she could work from home because she was getting weepy just looking at me. We thought it best for both of us that she head out (you are too sweet Johanna). Her last day before heading for law school is in two weeks so God bless to help her get through that day :).

There were a lot of factors that played into my decision to leave work, the primary & most important one of course was the kids. I will work again at some point, but now I have the opportunity to think about what I may want to do next while I enjoy this time with the kids while they are still little. When we decide for me to go back to work, who knows what I will want to do. It might be something similar to what I was doing or it might be something completely different, but I at least have a couple years to figure that out.

What I know I will miss is the day-to-day interactions with my friends. But my payback will be that I will be part of lots of things in Sydney & Jason's lives that I otherwise would have missed.

So now my Monday to Thursday will no longer be spent with these guys,

Retirement/Farewell party for Jo & I
Thanks guys, you have been great to work with!
Good luck to all of you.

I have traded them in for these two...

Fair trade, don't you think?