That “last day of work” feeling, and a great “family day”
Wow, I haven’t felt that “last day of work” feeling over 3-1/2 years. Weird.
Thursday was officially my last day at Yahoo!. There’s a really strange feeling of no longer being part of something that been such a huge part of my life. I vaguely remember feeling this way when leaving other jobs, too. You pack up your stuff from the office, and within hours, things that were constant companions on your desk, now seem like relics from some distant age gone by. People start emailing you with contact details, etc., you say goodbyes, you promise to go out to lunch soon, completely in good faith, but hours later, it rings hollow. I don’t know if this is universal, or just me, but my mind likes “clean breaks” at some deep level. Intellectually and logically, I want to stay in touch and hang out with so many of the great people I worked with… people I geniunely consider friends, and not just “co-workers”. Past experience says it’ll be difficult, and there’s that emotional breeze that says ‘prepare for the new’–clean slate time. As with everything in life, the truth and the path I’ll follow is very likely somewhere in between, but it is a strong, strange emotion leaving someplace you’ve been for so long, and as someone who feels “not very in touch with” their emotions, this is unusual. Slightly unsettling, but simultaneously interesting; something to examine and try to taste, almost to savor intellectually.
Friday, the feeling was gone. I was focused on family, anyhow. We woke up early, and took Alex to ‘Day Out with Thomas’, which is a pretty neat touring event which stops at Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad in Felton, about 45 minutes away. A locomotive decorated like Thomas pushes then pulls you in a line of cars through the redwood forest, and then there’s activities, such as face painting (check!), temporary tattoos (check!), bounce houses (nope–too scary), coloring/painting (check!), pictures with Sir Topham Hatt the benevolent railroad magnate (check!), and of course, retail Thomas products (check! he finally got that Murdoch train he’s been going on about.) We wanted to hit this on Friday, instead of the weekend when I was usually, well, off of work, as last year it was fun, but swamped on a Saturday. We got tickets on the first train of the morning, made an early day of it, and it was great. We managed to keep him in a great mood all the way until we drove back, and then he went down for a nap with no complaints.
In the afternoon, we planned for the upcoming household move 20 miles north, to Millbrae, and realized we were in dire need of packing boxes. I called a couple places and then Val said she thought Ikea had moving boxes. That seemed weird, but sure enough, I found them on their site, and the East Palo Alto store had them in stock. When Alex woke up, we took a trip to the post office (mail security deposit on new place) and then to Ikea. Now, I knew there was a reason to try and leave him at home for this errand–but it didn’t become crystal clear until we had actually brought 40 unfolded boxes to the car. Hmm. About 15-20 went into the trunk, but the rest were going to have to go in the back seat–in front of his carseat. And Alex is really growing out, lengthwise, of that carseat. So… let’s just say, it was cramped. I heard a lot of “DADDY! I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!” on the (thankfully short) ride back home!
At home, we decided to go swimming, as it was pretty hot out. There were some teenagers we managed to scare out of the pool pretty quickly (I think they were worried our middle-age uncool-ness might rub off our something), and it’s always great for Val to get in the water and take some weight off her joints, back, etc. with the Giant Belly O Pregnancy. That was fun, and Alex didn’t freak out too much when I dunked him, which I feel obligated to do at least once each time we go. We spent well over an hour floating around, diving for weights, splashing, and relaxing. By the time we geared up to go, Alex was getting pretty cranky, so we hightailed it home and made some tasty, last-minute dinner: risotto with asparagus (from a frozen package), spice-rubbed organic chicken breast on the grill, and sauteed fava beans. It was so great to NOT think about work, and I wasn’t even stressed about the move, even though it’s got a lot of stressful aspects. I wasn’t worried about the upcoming trip with Alex, even though that’s not fully taken care of, either. It was just nice to relax. With that meal, and less stress, I almost felt like we were back in Barcelona. It was a fantastic full day, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more satisfying for the day after leaving my job!
(go watch the videos!)