YES! I’ve made it to my temporary retirement!
The last 1.5 days weren’t easy, though. Well, I have worked there for over 8 years, so it’s no as easy as one might think to just “let go”. Yesterday, the company organised a get together for me and we all met in the showroom 3:30pm (in order to get the guys from the workshop over as well). I was all nervous and fidgety from 3pm on. As soon as my supervisor, M., started her speech, I got a lump in my throat the size of a grapefruit (at least, it felt like it). Luckily, I had asked her to keep it short and sweet and she did. I’m very thankful for that. M. then handed me a dozen of beautiful roses, two framed group photos of events that I had organised and a voucher for a dinner for two at one of my favourite restaurants, The Boomerang.
When my time came to say a few words, I had forgotten all I had wanted to say. To be honest, I think I said something like going back to the land of the polar bears, seals and moose and everybody laughed. I know I said a few more sentences about 8 years, going through changes, and blah, blah, blah, but I’m not sure in which order.
Then we opened a few bottles of crémant, beers and soft drinks and I got to chat with just about everyone there. Around 5pm, there were only a few of us left, so we opened another bottle of the bubbly stuff, and another, and then another. Martin, a colleague and good friend, entertained us with endless jokes (how can he remember them all?) and were laughing tears. By 7:30 pm, most of us (me for sure) had their share of alcohol, so I hitched a ride home with Doug who had joined the celebration later and was still pretty sober. Since Orange was out for dinner with customers, I let Dale out for a short run, just sat down and did nada. I decided I was too tired and still too buzzed to watch TV, so I went to bed. Good decision!
This morning, Doug picked me up and we drove to the office (my car was there). I spent the morning filing a few last things I had on my desk, meeting with M. to go through my goals (I’m happy to report that I have achieved 95% of my bonus! YAY!!), and saying goodbye to everyone personally. The latter was tougher than the day before. I have grown very fond of many colleagues and I won’t forget or loose track of them. I then went for lunch with M., our customer service team and our two receptionists. Saying goodbye to the people with whom I worked so closely for years was definitely the most difficult. I got in my car and drove right past the company with mixed feelings of sadness, relief, happiness and excitement. I have ended a chapter and I’m starting a new one.
When I got home, I saw that I had a missed call. It was TBF, so I gave him a ring back (my first call as a temporarily retired person!) After chatting for a few minutes, the wise TBF said: “Don't worry. In a couple of weeks, you’ll notice that people will start asking you: ‘What do you do all day?’ And you’ll answer: ‘I don’t know, but I’m always busy.’ ”
I guess I have to start practising, now. I’m a busy woman, you know! Any suggestions?
16 comments:
Yes! Congrats! You know it's 7:50am here and I've already read your post.
I'm so happy it ended so well. What do you do? Go out and enjoy the town. Notice what happens during the day that you miss. Soak up the sun while it is out!
Go somewhere and read a book. But you know, I think you will be busy packing!
I'm sure TBF and Ginnie are the resident experts. I don't fall far behind though. :)
Congratulations, dear CS!!! What you'll notice more than anything is that you'll feel busy all the time without feeling you've accomplished a thing! Donica's mom says it's because we aren't as organized with our time as we were when we worked and HAD to be organized to get everything done!
For right now, do anything or nothing until the end of the year! You deserve it.
Congrats on your temp retirement! Enjoy the free time before you have to start packing up and getting ready for the big move. I suspect it's coming more quickly than you thought it would!
ET: Hey early bird! I can read at that time of day, but find it difficult to type in a reply. Well, I can type but it might look more like word verif than a sentence ;-)
I will be going out more and enjoying... well... just time and the scenery.
Ginie: Thank you my dear. Anything and nothing sounds good to me. One thing I will do it cook for OX. He's surely deserved it. It's a pity that you and Donica had to cancel, but I think it's only postponing, no? :-)
Ms. Mac: Thank you so much. You might be right about the move. We'll know more on Dec. 20th, but we'll keep you in the loop.
Fab: I'm gonna give it my best! ;)
No you ve did it -you leave behind lots of good and some not so good memories,remember the good one s only - remember your achievements and your friends you made,who helped you to become what you are now.Be proud of yourself you earned it.Congrats and good luck D..
lol... well i am glad your last few days went well and you got your bonus!! YAY!! :D
as for things to stay busy... you need to make an officical artinirary off all the things you will need and do for your move to Canada. That should be enough to research and keep you busy!
Anon(Dad): Thanks for your support all the way. I love you.
XM: You wanna kill me, or what? Just kidding ;-) We've done quite a bit already in preps. I'll be waiting Dec. 20th before I really get into it.
CS, so glad it went well! I hope you do get to enjoy your time left there but also look forward to returning to a place you know as home.
I'll tell you something that will keep you busy...
One of these days (when it's sunny and not too cold), I'm going to have you over for lunch, and then we're going to go up to The Fishbowl and enjoy an afternoon fire. Next to the fire, we can go on for hours about "when we used to work!"
Congrats and enjoy! But I have one question: What is "cremant"?
TMS: Taking it one day at a time. However, I'm really looking forward to spending a few weeks in Canada for the Holidays :)
TBF: That sounds like a great idea!
Shelli: Thanks for visiting. I'll try to keep the balance between both.
CB: Thanks. Crémant is the french name for sparkling wine made outside of the Champagne region. The Germans call it Sekt, the Spaniards call it Cava and the Italians, Spumante. Prosecco however, is a grape grown in the the regions north of Venice.
Happy Temporary Retirement! Out with the old, in with the new. And I'm sure you'll find plenty of things to keep yourself occupied.
Christina: Actually, I'm about to make a Tiramisù and I think that's a pertty good start :-)
Don't tell anybody... I'm a little jealous. ALL THAT TIME YOU HAVE NOW!!!! I had that for 6 weeks and my days were soooo short! I would like to have more time, dear.... Yes, a bit jealous... :)
Psst... MP, I won't tell :) Yes, I know... Sometimes I wonder how I did it all, you know, working, the cleaning washing, cooking (or ordering a pizza), etc. Now, I can do all of this during the weekdays and have REAL weekends! It's really nice, but I'll have to go back to work (no pay coming in!) at some point :( But first, take care of myself :)
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