We Interrupt This Race Report...

... for some big, yet non-triathlon related news! Over the next three days, life as I've known it here in DC will be changed. Within hours of my last day at the company I've been with for five years, Mark and I close on our first house. The next day we will move out of the neighborhood I've lived in for five years for a new one (I'm being overly dramatic - the new neighborhood is still in the same town, just a few miles away). And on Monday morning, not only will I have to figure out my new commute, that commute will take me to a brand new job in a totally different field than the one I've been in since 2004. Ironman and writing my final papers for school (just applied for next month's graduation - hooray!) has been a pretty big distraction so it just hit me today how much everything is going to change in just a few days.

Today at work they had a goodbye lunch for me. Even though I don't like to be the center of attention or have a big deal made on stuff, it was so touching to see everyone there who came to say goodbye. I packed up my things and cleaned up my desk at the end of the day and Aaron helped me carry my stuff down to the lobby (Mark was picking me up after work today, so I wasn't going to have to lug this stuff on Metro). And it was then that it really started to hit me that I was leaving. In my new job, I'll be working on stuff more closely aligned with the career path I want to follow and my overall interests - something I've been wanting for awhile, I will have my own office, I'll be right in downtown DC. All great stuff, but the team I have worked with over the past 1.5 years is the best group of people you could ever want to work with. Brilliant people, everyone understands the meaning of teamwork, no big egos, and everyone knows how to have fun. I consider many of them to be my friends, not just co-workers. I'm going to miss sharing an office with Aaron, it's just nice to have someone right there to chat with during the day. Having my own office is going to be strange. I'm going to miss working with Coy and Cynthia, and I'm going to miss everyone's sense of humor. My new job has some pretty big shoes to fill, my current group of co-workers set the bar really high. Saying goodbye tomorrow is going to be harder than I thought...

And on a final note, we did one last walk-through of the house today - 15 hours and it is ours! It was just as pretty as I remembered it - the crown molding is GORGEOUS, the lighting is nice, and the kitchen and bathrooms have granite countertops. We'll finally have a guest bedroom. We can finally store our bikes out of the main living space. Our new place is awesome and I'm so excited that Mark and I are going to be homeowners in a matter of hours! Once the madness surrounding school is over, I will be able to turn my attention to decorating! Thank goodness it's the off-season, more time for painting and picking out furniture!