Last days in Iowa - January 29 - 31

Friday, January 29, was my last day at the office. It was, as you can imagine, rather emotional. For over 16 years I've worked in that office and put my heart into what I did. At one point, I realized that this coming trip would be different. In the past, I could always come back to work, but not anymore. My staff had a private going away gathering for me, which I will always remember.

On Saturday, we began getting those final things done before our trip. I finished my 2009 Iowa and federal income tax return, since they will be due before we get back. We picked up those last things that we'll be needing, like snacks for our trip, extra batteries, etc. We finally finished what we could do that day at midnight and collapsed. On Sunday, we were up at 6:00 a.m. and finished up by 9:00 a.m. so that we could go to choir practice. The music this Sunday consisted of all our favorite songs from past years. After church (11:00 a.m.), we went to lunch with our fellow choir members and received a beautiful picture of our choir as a going away present. About 2:00 p.m., we stopped by Staples to pick up a USB drive for the trip, dropped off my car at the house and went with Judy and Al to their house, from where we would depart for Galesburg.