Day 239: Change Comes
A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is. Once you do, you can learn about the new world you're in and take advantage of it." ~Nikki Giovanni~
Today was a big day of change and transition. Today I walked out of the office I've called home for 27 or 28 years, for the last time. I've been with AT&T for over 34 years and before we moved to 250 S Clinton we were at 1 Park Place on State St. I can't remember exactly when we moved, but 250 S Clinton was completed in 1991 and we moved in when the building was still new. My office was nothing special but it was my space and I brought a lot of good memories home with me today. For many years it was the only place I felt safe. I'm blessed to be able to continue in my job, working from home 3 days a week and commuting to a shared space the other 2. I knew 2019 was going to be a year of change but until January 7, when they announced our center closure, I didn't know how much it would be changing. I've had nearly 8 months to get used to the idea and I'm looking forward to this new chapter in my professional life. What other choice do I have ? I have to be positive about it. I think focusing on losing weight has kept me from dwelling on the negative changes. I have been truly blessed to work with some wonderful people over the years and I can only hope the changes in their lives end up being a blessing in disguise, as it has been in mine. I hope they all find themselves in jobs they love, if retirement wasn't quite here. Being able to work from home on a regular basis is a bit of a dream come true for me. I've never minded being in the office when the weather is nice but the winters have been difficult. It was my choice to live where I live (and stay there) and even when I lived closer to the office while my home was being renovated, the drive was difficult on some occasions. At least now I won't be leaving quite so early on commute days, so it should be light out and the roads should be in better shape. Nothing worse than driving along a dark snowy road in the winter ! A few years ago this change would have been a whole lot more devastating for me. With all the other chaos in my life gone this wasn't quite so hard to take. I will say the last 2 months have been very difficult. Walking into that empty office got harder every day so I'm really glad to be out of there. That door has closed and I'm looking forward to the new one opening. I don't expect to make lasting friendships at the new location because most people there are transient and we do different things, so I'm glad some of my colleagues will be there.
Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll with triple chocolate coffee. Second cup was french vanilla. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie spinach and cheese pretzel melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit caramel apple pie yogurt and 2.5 cups of Skinny Pop popcorn (100 calories). This left 465 calories for dinner and an evening snack. I had dinner out, so I'm just going to put my calories at 1200 for the day. I had half of a bacon cheeseburger and a few french fries. I discarded part of the bun because I didn't need all that bread. Evening snack was a 2.2 ounce 140 calorie lemon zest cake with a cup of butter toffee coffee. Coffee in the evening is such a treat ! I did get 64 ounces of water in today.
I delivered my Keurig and other miscellaneous items to my car during lunch and although it was breezy it was pretty darn nice outside. The day had started off cloudy and cool but the skies cleared and we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine most of the day. That helped make a sad day not quite so gloomy. With vacation ahead I spent the day finishing up some time sensitive tasks as I don't like to leave loose ends for others to deal with when I'm on vacation. I dragged my feet a little when it came time to leave for the day. There were no good byes and as anxious as I was to get out of there, I still hated to leave. Leaving made it real. Leaving made it final. I cleared my voice mail and call logs, since the phone number I've had for 23 years will be shut off on 9-10. Sorry about that voice mail from some sales guy in April that I never returned .. lol. I packed up my laptop and its accessories. I checked the drawers and cabinets one last time. Then I took a deep breath and headed out into the sunshine towards my future. After that last walk to the garage the final step was dropping my access card for the garage into the payment box. I've parked in the same spot in that garage for about 5 years but next week someone else will claim it for their own. I waved goodbye to the security guard, who's always admired my car, and drove out of downtown for the last time. He didn't know it was the last day but he'll miss my car in it's usual spot eventually.
Rather than going home to a quiet house after such an emotional day I opted to meet up with family at Point Place casino after work. It's a little victory when I don't give in to the urge to isolate myself during trying times. Hiding from things doesn't make them go away so I continue to work at facing life's little challenges as they come along. It's a process for sure ! It was nice to have dinner with family and not think about what is next. Tomorrow is my birthday so mom and I are going to Red Lobster for dinner. They're "previewing" the Endless Shrimp promotion for rewards members and since shrimp is a relatively low calorie item I'm going to indulge myself a little. Sadly, I will not be having my favorite fried shrimp but I see a little scampi in my future !
I did not work out tonight. I didn't get home until 9:30 and quite honestly I was too tired. I'm sitting here on the couch now with Abby snoozing next to me. At some point I'll go take a shower and head for bed. Tomorrow is the official start of my 9 day vacation so I'm sleeping in !
Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll with triple chocolate coffee. Second cup was french vanilla. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie spinach and cheese pretzel melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit caramel apple pie yogurt and 2.5 cups of Skinny Pop popcorn (100 calories). This left 465 calories for dinner and an evening snack. I had dinner out, so I'm just going to put my calories at 1200 for the day. I had half of a bacon cheeseburger and a few french fries. I discarded part of the bun because I didn't need all that bread. Evening snack was a 2.2 ounce 140 calorie lemon zest cake with a cup of butter toffee coffee. Coffee in the evening is such a treat ! I did get 64 ounces of water in today.
I delivered my Keurig and other miscellaneous items to my car during lunch and although it was breezy it was pretty darn nice outside. The day had started off cloudy and cool but the skies cleared and we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine most of the day. That helped make a sad day not quite so gloomy. With vacation ahead I spent the day finishing up some time sensitive tasks as I don't like to leave loose ends for others to deal with when I'm on vacation. I dragged my feet a little when it came time to leave for the day. There were no good byes and as anxious as I was to get out of there, I still hated to leave. Leaving made it real. Leaving made it final. I cleared my voice mail and call logs, since the phone number I've had for 23 years will be shut off on 9-10. Sorry about that voice mail from some sales guy in April that I never returned .. lol. I packed up my laptop and its accessories. I checked the drawers and cabinets one last time. Then I took a deep breath and headed out into the sunshine towards my future. After that last walk to the garage the final step was dropping my access card for the garage into the payment box. I've parked in the same spot in that garage for about 5 years but next week someone else will claim it for their own. I waved goodbye to the security guard, who's always admired my car, and drove out of downtown for the last time. He didn't know it was the last day but he'll miss my car in it's usual spot eventually.
Rather than going home to a quiet house after such an emotional day I opted to meet up with family at Point Place casino after work. It's a little victory when I don't give in to the urge to isolate myself during trying times. Hiding from things doesn't make them go away so I continue to work at facing life's little challenges as they come along. It's a process for sure ! It was nice to have dinner with family and not think about what is next. Tomorrow is my birthday so mom and I are going to Red Lobster for dinner. They're "previewing" the Endless Shrimp promotion for rewards members and since shrimp is a relatively low calorie item I'm going to indulge myself a little. Sadly, I will not be having my favorite fried shrimp but I see a little scampi in my future !
I did not work out tonight. I didn't get home until 9:30 and quite honestly I was too tired. I'm sitting here on the couch now with Abby snoozing next to me. At some point I'll go take a shower and head for bed. Tomorrow is the official start of my 9 day vacation so I'm sleeping in !
One Park Place - where I started in 1985.
We had the 7th and 8th floors.
250 S Clinton. We moved here in 1991 or 1992
and originally occupied the 3rd and 4th floors
along with part of the 1st floor
Washington St. garage where I parked
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