Last Weekend in Virginia

Of course, the last weekend began with lots of packing. I kept bringing stuff to Virginia every time I went home. Now, it all had to go back--all at once. On Saturday morning, I met Whitney and Jake at Table Talk for a late breakfast. I like going there because it makes me feel young when I look around at most of the tables. They brought me some going away gifts. I reallyliked the "Final Four of Everything" book. I picked Chris up at the airport and we hustled back to the condo, got on the Metro and went to the Nationals game. We only missed two innings and we still saw lots of action. There were 3 home runs and the Nationals won. I wish we had been able to see Pudge Rodriguez catch. He was one of Chris's baseball idols when he was a young catcher.

On Sunday, we went out to Dulles to the Air and Space Museum. He really liked the SR71, space shuttle test module and the Enola Gay. We talked for a few minutes to a retired Air Force pilot who had over 5000 flight hours in about 6 different aircraft. That was interesting.

We were anxious to get the drive home completed so we packed the car before we left and went on the road from Dulles. There were some interesting country roads on the way to the interstate. The drive took about 8 hours and we amused ourselves for a long portion of the drive with the Final Four book. Of course, we turned it in to a competition--StrengthsFinder at work! With the distraction of figuring out the final fours of all the categories the time flew by and we were back in KY before we knew it.

It was good to sleep in my own bed. But the unpacking was awful!

The Last Day

Yes, I know it isn't really my last day. Things got hectic at the end and I didn't get anything posted, so I am going to pretend and catch up on my posts. Friday was a quiet day at AACP offices. A number of people were out at meetings and we previously had a little goodbye celebration on Tuesday when I presented my project to the Academic Affairs group. Other than a box of books, I had already moved most of my things to the condo. I cleaned files off the computer to bring home and said my goodbyes to those who remained. At the end of the day, I invited Diane, Brad, Danielle and Whitney to happy hour at Joe Theismann's. We had a good time and I finally got my picture taken with Joe.

Two Days to Go

I just arrived for my second to the last day at AACP. I have started packing up my stuff. I sure have accumulated a lot! Today I am having lunch with Arlene Flynn and Whitney. Arlene is in town to move the rest of her belongings home to Chicago. It will be good to visit with her. I have missed seeing her around the office.

Today's AACP profile is Whitney. She is the first person I have ever known with two Z's in her name! When I first arrived, Whitney was my closest cubicle mate. She, along with Diane and Brad, helped me learn my way around the office and around the area. After Mike left in late September, my weekends in Virginia were pretty lonely. I appreciate that Whitney and Jake invited me to go out with them. When March Madness arrived, Jake was my basketball buddy. That worked well for Whitney too because she didn't have to watch the games with Jake if I was available. I like Jake even though he has an unfortunate connection to College of Charleston. John, Chris and Mike know the two reasons why I consider that a negative. When I returned to AACP in February, I found that Whitney had moved from her cubicle to an office down the hall. I assume it wasn't to get away from me.

Since Whitney moved out of the cubicle, I have had two new neighbors. For one month, my neighbor was Alison, an APPE student from Minnesota. I enjoyed her company and getting to know her. My current neighbor is Vickie, a new employee at AACP. Vickie is from England. I love listening to her talk with her British accent. I have given her some advice on non-prescription products and I really like the way she says "vitamins."

I will miss all of my cubicle-mates when I go home, but I will be glad to see Melody, Doug, and the lab instructor group who are my closest hall-mates back in Lexington. I hope they have turned my office back into an office from the faculty lounge they threatened to create during my absence.

Too busy to write

I've been so busy working on my manuscript that I haven't taken time out to post an entry on my blog. I also made a trip home over the weekend for the Derby festivities. Missing Derby day in Kentucky is like missing New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Mike and I had fun at Keeneland on Friday watching the Oaks and at the Andover Derby Party on Saturday. It is always fun when you pick a winner!

I thought I was ahead of schedule getting finished in Virginia and packed up for home. Now I feel like I am way behind. Today I am presenting my project for the academic affairs group. That will give me some additional feedback for improving the manuscript. I appreciate the comments of the five people who read the draft for me and gave me some good suggestions to improve and clarify the manuscript. I have read it so many times now, that I have lost any ability to look at it objectively.

Continuing my profiles of the people I have worked with at AACP, today I would like to talk about BEM. I promised I wouldn't use his name. He is another of my cubicle-mates and he is very quiet and hardworking around the office. However, it is always the quiet ones you have to look out for. I think B really works for the CIA. He is very concerned about security, keeping a low profile, and never having anything posted about him on the internet (I guess he won't like this blog entry). If I catch him coming out of a phone booth in blue tights, I will have the answer to the mystery.