Goodbye, again

Three things to be happy about:
(1) throwing a dinner party
(2) a parking spot close in
(3) classic board games


During my worker-bee years, one of my coworkers was an avid board game fan - especially Trivial Pursuit - and there'd always be a game going on at lunch time.  Yesterday I went to her retirement luncheon, and it was very nicely done.  

I've always enjoyed Clyde's but I hadn't been to this particular one in years and years!  This one in Rockville, Maryland, has a horsey decorative theme that's very ... horsey.  Saddles, bridles, riding boots, helmets ... what can I say?

I liked this hallway though, I thought it looked very festive.  And I was fascinated at how the waiters could tote several bowls of soup on their arm (seven, at our table) without dropping any. 

Isn't that interesting?  It doesn't take much to make me happy!

This was the second retirement luncheon I've been to since I retired.  It was nice getting to see former coworkers again - some still working and some who took the buyout at the end of December.  But, man oh man - why didn't I wait six months!?  I was ready to get out of there but looking back, I could have stuck it out for $25,000!

After the luncheon I picked up a few items at Costco, since it was a fairly short hop up I-270.  They were selling these orange trees, and I wondered who in the world would buy them in this area, at this time of year??

Is this the time of year to plant fruit trees?

But what really tickled me, and made me take a picture?  This little guy...

You can't see it but he was standing there eating orange after orange off the trees!  When I saw him I grabbed the camera from my purse, but it wouldn't turn on, poop!  By the time I realized my batteries had fallen out and reloaded them, he had stopped eating and had one of the trees in his shopping cart.  Cracked me up!

As you can see, yesterday was one of those laid-back, take it easy days for me.  Didn't get any quilting done, but some days are like that!  By the time I got up and dressed it was close to 9:00; then I thought I'd better put a little something on my tummy since lunch was at 11:30.  THEN as I was finishing my second cuppa coffee at 10:45, I looked at the invitation and realized the luncheon started at 11:00, and the restaurant was something like 30 minutes away!  That was my day, some days are like that - but it's all good...

Sew forth and sew on

A nice reunion

Hello everybody, hello followers!  I think we have a couple new ones, welcome, welcome!

Yesterday was a nice reunion day for me, I got a chance to have lunch with a few retirees from my agency that I haven't seen for awhile...in some cases it's been years! The members of this group have been meeting for quarterly lunches for approximately 10(?) years and, since I retired on June 3 of this year, I was the newest member. I'm in, I'm officially retired!

Yesterday's lunch was held on the lower deck of Ben's home in Upper Marlboro....

We mingled while Jerry deep-fried whiting on the deck

My friend Joyce retired about 3 years ago, see the large smile?

There was plenty of good food!

After lunch, a few of us took a walk around the huge back yard; Shirley and Valeria led an impromptu exercise routine to the music. Shake that food down!

I found this bridge interesting; it crosses over a railroad track and goes into the woods on Ben's property.  I think it's about 30-40 feet long. 

That's Jerry, Shirley, Gerry, Valeria and Michelle

Michelle and I paused in the swing porch(?) with Elois.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe that would be enough to say what a wonderful time we all had. It was great reuniting with people I'd lost touch with, and seeing others I'd only gotten a chance to chat with on the phone for such a long time!

Reunions, no matter what size, are wonderful things... sew forth and sew on

The job's not finished til the paperwork's done

In this case, it's edible paper!  Edible paper on a cake!  Edible paper on a cake that also said "Happy Retirement Linda"!

At last I can share some photos from my retirement party last week; but when you think about it, a lot of photos of a bunch of people you don't know can be boring as heck.  So I'm showing my cake - isn't it great?  It was made by my team leader but the amazing thing is, I had no idea she was making the cake - and my clothing that day just happened to match it!  The star in the middle is made of icing, but the 6 strips (sashing!) around the center star are edible paper.

My team members provided all the food except for one dessert:

I opened the top and what did I see...

peach cobbler!

One of the cooks in the cafeteria, whom everybody calls "Ma-ma," is actually a culinary chef and she can make all kinds of fancy desserts.  Her talent is wasted there, but that's another story.  Anyway, she makes peach cobbler about twice a week and she knows I like it, so she made not one but TWO of these for my party.  woot woot!!

I brought some of it home with me - on a plate, on the Metro - and it didn't even spill!  Come to think of it, I divided it into four 1-cup containers and I still have 3 in the fridge... time to toss em out.

The other photos I would have shown are of me receiving my plaque, U.S. flag and letter, but I've shown those already - you don't need to see me grinning while they're being presented.

My team members put a lot of thought and effort into the party and I truly appreciate it.  I'm glad to be retired, though!  ;o)

Sew forth and sew on til later

My trophies...

Thank you, thank you one and all for your congrats and well wishes on my retirement!  I like Quiet Quilter's idea of thinking "at this particular time of the day I would be doing ******* if I was still working." I'll especially be thinking it when the snow and rain storms come rolling in!

At my party on Wednesday I wanted to give away a small wall hanging as a door prize and boy did I mess it up!  Earlier that morning I chose a winner by the Excel random number thingy, and at the party everybody chose a number from an envelope.  Well, guess which number was the winner - #9!!  And guess what yours truly didn't think of doing to the numbers??  That's right, I didn't place a tiny little underscore beneath the 6 and the 9, so you can guess what happened... two people jumped straight up in the air and yelled "I won! I won!"   yikes. 

So, Pat and JoAnn (the winners) negotiated, and JoAnn graciously allowed Pat to take the prize.  Because Joey was so gracious about it, I decided to make her another one; she's a cat lover so I'll use this little clipart as inspiration for her's:

On a sad note, just as I was leaving work the office yesterday I was told that Joey was in a traffic accident on her way to work, and she was in the hospital with broken ribs and an erratic heart beat... so I really want to do something nice for her.

Also at my party Wednesday I was given the three "official retiree" things:

(1) a flag with it's "flight certificate" - mine was flown over the U.S. Capitol on March 31, 2011!  (It would have been nicer if they'd gotten my name in the right order, though.)  What were you doing on March 31, as my flag was being flown?

(2) a congratulatory letter from Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen. hmmm...  same deal with the name. 

Not to seem ungrateful, but I mentioned it to my [former] team leader (who so graciously arranged my retirement party!) and she offered to get it corrected.  I said "... well... since you're going to have it redone anyway, can you get it signed by Eleanor Holmes Norton?  Since I live in the District?"

(3) My third retiree thing was this beautiful plaque!

isn't that beautiful? 

And last but not least, Renea granted me a new CEO position...

which I will take up immediately!

Well, today I go to the Quilters Unlimited show at Dulles - I hope to run into Wendy and Penny!  I plan to leave home around 8:30, oh how I hate driving I-66 (it's no kick, believe me).

Sew forth and sew on til later...

I'm free, I'm free!

Hello everybody, I'm back and I'm free as a bird!  My retirement date finally caught up with me, and I'm glad to see it.

Cabinets cleared out ...

check!

Ped file drawers emptied...

check!

Counter tops cleaned spic and span (as a courtesy!)...

check!

The last of my junk bagged up to bring home...

check and double check!

 I had my final separation clearance interview at 9:00 a.m. this morning with Security, turned in my badge and emergency evacuation kit.  Signed a paper swearing to a lot of stuff I won't do, yadda yadda yadda.

Oh my, it feels so great to be RETIRED!  Today I've started on a road that I've never gone down before -even the air smells different!  But you know, at the same time it really hasn't hit me yet that I'm retired, maybe it will next week!  I keep expecting something to wake me up, LOL. 

My coworkers gave me a nice retirement party yesterday, I didn't have my camera but someone will send me her pictures and I'll share them.

So, what was the first thing I did as a retired lady??  I went to the car wash!

here's somebody getting the deluxe wash; I got the quickie!

This is just after my suds were rinsed off; I think the flag was a great touch...

and their super-duper hot air dryers blowing off the water.

Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Sew forth and sew on til later...