Date: 2005-02-11
To: Last day of work
Miles today: 0.0

Well, today has come and gone. I made it through the first count down to the count down to the actual hike. My last day of work for eight months has come and now gone. I am elated, high, overwhelmed with emotion right now. On the one hand, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING! We are really going to hike. I mean, four years we have been thinking about this, dreaming. Then, counting down for months from having actually made the decision. Now, we are just days away. Unbelievable. So, my feelings; first I am overcome with awe at the love and support shown to me by my boss, team and coworkers. I can't imagine a more wonderful sending off. Today a big group of us went to a wonderful lunch (one that I am certain I will be dreaming about a couple of weeks down the trail). Then in the afternoon we had a cake and gift sending off party. Not only was the cake delicious, but it was so beautiful: chocolate frosting with sorta out doorsy leaf & flowers around the border & it said : Happy Trails Crystal. How cool is that?? The tragedy is that I didn't have my camera because it would have been a wonderful picture for the scrap book. Then, everyone chipped in & got us an amazing stock of Mountain House meals & treats, Smart Wool socks (sweet!!), big box of Snickers Marathon bars (score!), Power Bar Harvest bars (which are the good kind, plus AAA batteries, crucial for the headlamps & MP3 players.. Then the wonderful gifts from Des & Kristi, the Starbucks card will certainly go to good use: just cause we are slovenly hikers doesn't mean we won't crave the sweet, sweet java from the evil coffee empire! Judge us if you will! Warm neck, ears and hands plus easy all weather fire starting from Kristi. I am just amazed and grateful for the generosity & support from my MWH family. I never thought a job would be where I would find the love and acceptance akin to a second family. Which brings me to my other emotions¢¦ I am so excited to be embarking upon this wonderful journey with Tom (how many times can I use the work excited in a one month period???). Yet in leaving today I realized how much these people have enriched my life, challenged me and shown me new perspectives. I have grown so much. The only other place I felt such a part of a team in my adult (and even some points in pre-adulthood even) life was in the Canoe and Raft club at UF in college. I have faced a lot of challenges with this job, plenty of stress, yet I feel that I have come to this point in my life a better and enriched person. My heart has been so deeply touched by the amazing people I have worked with. And, on top of it that they want me back, wow! So, here I am. I think it is really going to hit me Monday morning when I realize that I have to get up and prepare for the hike, but not go in to work. WOW! (Ok, looks like I need to find a synonym for 'wow' too!) I just know the days are going to zoom by at warp speed. All of a sudden we are going to be in Mass, on the plane, then in the Hostel eagerly anticipating our first day, then, finally, we will have ended up at the beginning of our journey. The trail will be laid out before us. A clear path, before us, full of possibility and opportunity which we have yet to discover. We will be faced with putting one foot in front of the other, finding water sources, a camping spot, asking "is there enough room in the shelter" on rainy nights, cooking supper, setting camp, and starting all over the next day. Each night sleeping in a new place, not knowing what the day will hold yet knowing precisely what the day will hold. Simplicity, no responsibility, the freedom and space to go inside our selves and see what we find; to encounter others & find out how they will touch our lives and direct our philosophical and metaphorical paths. I just can't say this enough times: we are fortunate and blessed to have this journey before us and I am certain that extending even beyond Katahdin, this is the beginning of a wonderful and amazing adventure!!!!!!!Danger Pea