Retirement BASH

Last night my boss threw a going away party for me.  To say it was awesome would be an understatement…

it was perfect.

Ready for the party  :)

For starters, I love my boss and all of the people I work with so it was great to spend an evening with them.  We have a bunch of out of town people who obviously couldn’t make it and some other local people who were traveling this week, but I was happy to see the people who were there.  I’ve only been out of the office for 4 days but I was already missing them.

Also, it was at a jazz cafe….and I love me some jazz!

The cafe has a special boardroom for private meetings and it was perfect for my party.  The dark woodwork and stunning wall mural made the room so cozy.  We all sat in large, ornate chairs around a gigantic long table.  It felt like a gathering of King Arthur and his knights (except no round table or swords :)

Glenn and Ellen

A huge flat screen TV flanked one wall and showcased the live jazz ensemble.  Surround sound speakers brought the live music from the other room into our gathering at the perfect volume.

Jennifer and Michelle

Me, Caleb and Angela

Matt and David

Me and Caleb

The lovely Mr. and Mrs. Bowles

Dinner was served at just the right time after the cocktail hour so that we all had room for our entrees.  And oh were they fabulous.

I had the scallops and enjoyed every single bite.  Yum!  In fact, there were clean plates all around after the meal because everything was so delicious.

After dinner before dessert was served, the sommelier poured a champagne toast for us all.  My boss happened to be out of the room while the champagne was being poured and the gentleman let us know that most bosses who order a champagne toast choose an inexpensive Asti Spumante…but not our boss.  He selected Tattinger Brut La Francaise!  A legitimate French Champagne…from Champagne, France.  The real deal, folks.  Because that’s how he rolls.

Once the champagne was poured and dessert was served all around the table, my boss reminisced with us all about the years I’ve been with the company.  It was a touching and funny summary of the time we’ve worked together.  A few other people shared memorable stories and I had a chance to thank everyone for celebrating with me and being the greatest people on earth to work with.

I was so moved by the whole event and felt very honored to be sent off with such a lavish party.  I still can’t believe this chapter of my life has ended.  I feel like I’m living in some kind of a dream world not sure what my reality really is.

Best picture of the night…HANDS DOWN!

In many ways, staying at home full-time feels completely normal and natural.  Almost like it was what I was born to do.  In other ways I’m grieving the professional career that I held for an entire decade.  I’ve been blessed to always be gainfully employed and other than a short stint before this last job, I’ve been fortunate to work for very generous and kind-hearted people.  People look their whole lives for great jobs that pay well, reward hard work and encourage you to be a better person.

I’ve totally had more than my fair share of great working experiences, this last one being the cherry on top of it all.

Thank you Bluewater for being the best work family a girl could have.  I’m not going to be too far away and definitely have plans to crash the winter Summit meeting :)

Thank you Robert for everything you’ve done for me.  You’ll never know how much you’ve meant to me and what a positive force you’ve been in my life.