back to the real world

Hello all! Hopefully, you have been keeping up with me the last thirty days over on the FDLIC blog. I had quite a journey and can not believe the month flew by so fast. I hope while you were there, you read a few of the other people's accounts too...there is some good stuff out there!!

Today was my first day back to work. First things first, it was not easy waking up at 6:30!!! I have not really been doing a lot of sleeping in at all, up by 8:00 most mornings. But still, 6:30 is much earlier than that!! Took me a bit to get going this morning. I didn't sleep well either, not sure why but I was pretty restless. I was more nervous about returning to work than I realized. Nervous about the reactions I would receive, nervous about getting back to the grindstone and losing the fabulous calm I have achieved.

I took some dougnuts in with me and was met with a wonderful reception! Everyone in my department gathered around and we all hugged and chatted for quite awhile. It was so great to see everyone! I received hugs wherever I went today, and many people said many wonderful things about my blog and how it made them feel. All good stuff to hear, for sure.

My friend, Angie, made me the most wonderful gift. It is beautiful and over-the-top thoughtful. I had just been thinking about what I wanted to do with the memories from this whole experience, and she's already done it for me!!!



This is the cover of the beautiful binder. It's truly gorgeous. All tied up with a pretty teal ribbon.

This is what you see when you open the cover. Love those bees on the inside cover, adorable. She has such a quirky, fun style and I love how she put this together.

And then, behind each number tab, she has printed off that day's blog. All blogs from my entire Sabbatical are held in this binder. I love it!! All I need to do now is maybe add a little pocket on the inside front cover to hold the cards/letters/etc that I received during the month, and it's a done deal! Can't believe she did this for me. It will be a cherished memoir.

It's good to be back...good to get back to some normal work. If it takes every ounce of my energy, I must retain a calm heart through it all!!

After work, Chris and I picked up his Lexus. It looks so good!!! He's having to reset all the bells and whistles, and hasn't figured out how to do one thing yet. Hopefully he can get it working.

And I think Mr. Ocho has seriously missed me today! He has been stuck to me like glue since I got home this evening. He was quite a companion for thirty days and I missed him today too!! Wish I could take him to work with me :)

Getting back at it...