Free at last, free at last!

I'm still having a hard time believing it, but it is finally here. Today was my last day at work for two full months, paid time off. After seven long years, I get my reward for hanging in there.

Of course, the last day was crazy and busy and long, so it made it kind of hard to appreciate it while I was still banging it out.

All day long, people kept asking me if I was excited and of course the answer was "yes," but the real answer was "yes...but I've got so many things on my mind that I can't even focus on it enough to be truly excited...yet." But who wants to hear all that? No one, really.

Thank you to all of me who have sent your well wishes and congratulations -- even though I think that, like Norman, you really want to call me names for being so lucky.

So, here's the skinny. Tomorrow I leave for a two and a half week trip, the highlight of which is a week-long stay in Yellowstone or, as it is more popularly known around my house, Jellystone Park.

At this point I do plan on taking the laptop with me, though whether or not I'll be able to connect anywhere may be another thing entirely. So, assuming I can, I do plan to blog from time to time while I'm away. But if there are gaps, or if I don't poke my nose over in your blog for a little while, that's why.

Since there are a couple of things I'm probably going to miss, let me cover some of them here right now: Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the mothers out there -- you're all much appreciated, but my mom is the Best Mom in the Whole Wide World (how else do you think I got the Best Brother in the Whole Wide World?); I hope that your horse wins in the Derby; Please enjoy the season finales of Amazing Race and Survivor -- may your favorite player(s) win their million dollars; and Happy Victoria Day to my Canadian friends. (If someone could tell me what that is, exactly, that would be swell.)

Okay, so I'm out of here. I hope you'll stop by and let me know how the rest of my little blog world is getting along without me even if I can't post as often as normal, or just to say hi once in a while. When I get back, I'm sure there'll be pictures and stories galore!