Ok, well, sort of. I wasn't in the military. But I am no longer a ward of the state...I mean, a County employee. My last official day was yesterday and I left behind me some good work, fond memories and one very bare office. It took me three days to empty out all my "stuff". It's amazing how much one can accumulate in a small box, er...office....in just a year and a half. I had multiple pictures, books, bookends, radio, refrigerator (Thanks Caitlin!!), heater, faux plants, real plants, glasses, mugs, hot chocolate, oatmeal, window treatments, seat cushions, horse statues, and the list goes on!

Today, Scott and I enjoyed a leisurely day together. This morning we worked out (we are also officially gym members now!! Are we ripped yet??), went to the spa at Barnsley for a massage (Scott) and a pedicure (moi), lunched at Duffy's Deli (YUMMY!) and home where we loaded songs on my new MP3 player. I'm so excited to have a ton of songs to listen to on my trip down to FL tomorrow! Amazing how many songs you can fit in a device the size of a cigarette lighter. For those of you who don't want to spend a lot on an MP3 player, Scott and I highly recommend either the Creative Zen Nano Plus or any of the iRiver players. Affordable and work great! And they take regular batteries, so no paying Apple outrageous sums for a new battery...really, they make enough $.

So, tomorrow I leave the house at 5:30am (ugh) and my flight leaves at 8am for the Sunshine State, which truly is sunny now that Tropical Storm Alberto has passed over. I timed it just right....between storms. I am looking forward to five days with Dad, Laurie and their assortment of horses and dogs. Riding will be involved...the horses, not the dogs.

I will have access to email while I'm there, so feel free to shout at me. As long as it doesn't involve work. Plenty of time for that when I get home and start my new job at Shorter College on Tuesday.

FYI...if you haven't been following our friends', Kelly and Garrett, adventures adopting two kids from Khazakstan, their blog is http://www.sashastella.blogspot.com. It truly has been an amazing journey, the writing is both informative, heartfelt and humorous and thoroughly entertaining. They have been gone from home for a long time, so some words of encouragement would be much appreciated. Tell them The Thompsons sent you!

Au revoir for now!