& Monday Makes Three

I'm back in Cincinnati. *PHEW.

Rewind to the beginning of today:

I originally opted off work today to tend to some Sydni-related things, which ended up being unecessary.. I already had the day off though, so I figured I'd put it to good use and make the trip back to Ohio a leisurely one. It worked itself out, too, for yesterday's adventure on the river that would've been impossible had I needed to be at work today.

So yeah. On my day OFF, the first thing I think to do is go to work. Haha. My old office in Glen Carbon was on my list for the morning; I stopped off to get them some donuts & say hello. I miss these folks!

the express crew, sans carmalita & mb .. and now without ali too :p
miss this gang!

I sat for a few minutes with Linda, who was always cracking me up in one way or another... she didn't fail to disappoint today, either... 


love her.

^ Ya'll won't get why that's funny.. but if you worked a week with her & the rest of that staff, you'd have the time of your life for it being a job.. too much fun (:

Back at the house, I made the traditional breakfast, because that's just part of thge lineup whenever Rob & I get together, and spent some time just relaxing in the lull between cooking and driving. Well... let me rephrase that. We let the dogs out in the backyard, and Sasha the Houdini dog decided again that she'd let herself out.. and of course Stella just followed up right behind her. Go figure. Rob spent nearly 30 minutes casing the neighborhood for them, when the neighbors across the street found them in her backyard.... And THIS is what the girls looked like once they were back in the house, fully aware that they were in trouble.

bad. dogs. adorable... bad.. dogs.. tsk tsk tsk...

So once the dog-chasing debachle came to an end, I did get to relax with Rob for a while before I finally hit the road - construction and all - back to Ohio. The dogs did their timeout reflecting like little kids on what they did wrong [not that it'll matter... grrawwwr...], and again managed to win my heart over even as I left..


just.. can't... stay... mad. i love these two.

I made it back in decent time, all construction traffic considered, and weirdly enough am ready to head back to work tomorrow.

the face of long distance relationship commutes ;)

 Four day work week?
.. I'll take it (:

xo | cmd

Going Away Party : Part 2

Today, step 1: Stop at the gas station and get coffee.

I ran into Ali as soon as I got there, which wasn't that surprising. What brought me to my senses was the group gift from the crew working at the gas station. See, I've gotten my coffee from the same place nearly every day for the past two years, and in the course of doing so gotten to know each of them a little here and there.

Long story short, they paid for my coffee, gave me an extra muffin and a styrofoam cup filled with beautiful orchids. How many people get that from their gas station staff? How much am I going to miss all of these sweet people???

I walked into work covered with things that I've received as gifts over the past couple of days and weeks here. It was not a horrible way to start my last day here at this place....

scarf: deshawn | flowers: gas station crew
camera lens coffee mug: ali

I had no idea my coworkers had all decided on their own version of a going-away token for me, either.

this, from kyle, of course.. haha.. thanks...

More amazingly, the owl-themed battery of things by which I will remember these people, and enough hugs to last me for a few weeks at least, without them. :/ Haha. Seriously though, I was floored, and walked around for the rest of today covered with owls. I tried to take pictures of everything, but realized I missed the picture of the 1.5-foot tall garden owl that Marc & Diana gave me... to perch in the garden I'll one day have and fend off any intruders....

owl earrings: andi | owl necklace: linda
random turtle earring? - well, it's ali's, from andi, but looked cute with an owl.
owl ornament: marybeth | paper owl: andi | owl scarf: deshawn

Oh, and I cried some. A lot, actually. Like the sissy that I am when it comes to saying goodbyes to people I love. The good news is, we managed to take some great pictures in between the tear fits.

besties | linda.cori.kyle

DRUM ROLL....................

................. CAKE!!
- It's okay, you can get excited. I did. I really did. Andi, our resident baker extraordinaire, came to work today bearing a SMORES CAKE in honor of our potluck. Add that to the fried chicken, pasta salad, Linda's signature [lettuce+] salad, fruit & veggie trays, asiago cheese breads from Bread Co., and drinks, I'd say lunch went well.

Cake. Amazing. I might still be drooling, hours later as I write this. Oh well.


you can totally be jealous. it's okay.
... hello, andi's smores cake. y-u-m.

Oh, and as promised, here's what that frame that Ali got me... looks like with pictures of people we actually know.

frame!! ♥ ♥

*sigh. Lots of crying was done at work today. It's all right though. I'm not actually losing any of these people, just moving on to different places. It could always be worse. ;)

Dinner tonight was at Chubby's in Alton with Rob's mom and stepdad. It was great to see them both and forget to take pictures.... -__- ........... way to go, Cori.... I know, I've been doing a lot of that lately. No worries, though; I'll see them next weekend when I'm back to visit.

chubby's | alton, il

I'm... tired. We leave tomorrow morning for my final move to Ohio. We get to rent a car in the morning, too, so that Rob can get back to Illinois. I just decided I need to turn my brain OFF for now and just go to sleep.

Love & more love to you.. happy weekend, friends!

xo | cmd

We Get to Hula Hoop at Work..

Ohhhh boy... it's FRIDAY. [Hallelujah!] It was my last "official" day at my desk before I hand over the reigns and all of my clients to MaryBeth on Monday and become.... officespace homeless. Hmmm. 

It rained pretty much all day, but Linda and Ali made sure to clear out any early disappointment with donuts and milk from Farm Fresh.. Nope, we didn't hate it ... at all. 

Oh, and Diana came out of her office brandishing hula hoops of all things.... another perk of this group that I'm definitely going to miss. These are some of my favorite people.... 

hula hooped with my boss today.. haha.. 

And of course, there's that certain best friend, too ... 

*Sigh. It's Friday...and for that I'm grateful. I will, however, be a little sad when this time comes around next week and I don't come back again. 

Here's to the weekend (: 

xo | cmd