Friday, November 2, 2007

Goodbyes

Like most people, I hate goodbyes. I always feel awkward and can never think of the right thing to say. Whether it's a passing acquaintance or a close friend, I would rather just pretend that everything will continue to be the same. But deep down I know it won't -- so we say our goodbyes.

Wednesday was my last day in the physical building of my employer. Sure, I'll be working from home once we arrive in Seattle, so I will be "interacting" with the same coworkers, sort of. But I will really miss the camaraderie around the department, it's going to be pretty isolating and lonely. (And much harder to get the latest gossip.) I've been driving to that building for nearly 5 years now, and it was surreal to be leaving it for the last time. Fortunately, there was a huge traffic jam on the way home, so I felt much better about the whole thing.

DH's coworkers wished him farewell with cake and a happy hour. It was quite the turnout; one of the best the department has had for a send off, they said. A cynical person could say that they were especially happy to see him go -- but I know it's because he's such a personable guy, he gets along with nearly everyone. Even a boatload of engineers, who are generally not known for their social aptitude. To express their admiration and good wishes, their going-away gifts included a Slim Jim, 30 packs of Orbit gum, and a gift card to Best Buy, which his boss instructed him "not to spend all at the same place." It was a good day for DH.

We have lunches and dinners planned with as many friends as we could squeeze into our schedule. Unfortunately, my hormonal crankiness gets nearly impossible to hide when I'm tired. And I'm tired. I almost lost it at one Mexican restaurant when they told me they didn't have any guacamole. WHY AM I AT A MEXICAN RESTAURANT, IF NOT TO ENJOY SOME NICE FRESH GUACAMOLE! If you don't have the guac, you might as well stay closed for the evening so we know to go somewhere else. But hopefully my friends will forgive me for my preggo- and relocation-induced moodiness. Please, guys???

We also had to say goodbye to our OB, today was our last appointment. We will sorely miss him and his distinctly male obsession with his 4D ultrasound machine. In fact, this may be the last time we get to see little Bean before he arrives! Hopefully we can sneak another one in with the new doc, when we finally pick one. We were really spoiled up to this point. After seeing these latest pictures, DH joked that the baby looks just like him. As long as Bean doesn't look like the other guy in the doctor's waiting room when we had our procedure done, I'm happy.



I've been holding onto my sanity so far, but I feel it slipping away as the weekend begins. It's crunch time, the movers come on Monday. We get to supervise two days of packing and one day of loading before waving goodbye to all of our worldly possessions for their cross-country trip. We fly to Seattle on Thursday, just in time for DH to start his new job on Friday. In one week, we will have no home here in St. Louis to come back to. This will probably be my last post before we head out, because things are about to get really crazy. So despite my best efforts at denial and avoidance, I have to say it:

"Goodbye, St. Louis. I'll miss you."

2 comments:

Hollyween said...

Ahhhh, Christine. It will be okay. New beginnings are always scary, but sometimes really refreshing. It's nice to have a fresh start sometimes and get rid of the baggage. Think of all the great memories you will make with your bean. I can't wait to see that baby! Hopefully the baby isn't headless too.

SMiLeD said...

Ha on the "as long as he doesn't look like some guy in waiting room" bit. The first thing Sean did when the twins were born was make sure they at least one feature that was each of ours so we could be rest assured that there wasn't a lab mixup!!

Goodbye's are hard, but you will get through it, you are tough as nails!