packing boxes: last day at my new job

Life as I know it is currently residing in stacks of clearly labeled cardboard boxes & plastic bins:  my 'apartment' & 'unneeded' things have been boxed up in storage since May 2010; I moved myself and about 14 packed bags & plastic bins into an extended stay 3 weeks ago; my room at Mom & Dad's is slowly but surely being sorted through and boxed up in preparation for my move; and, as of yesterday, our entire office is packed and ready to be moved into our new space.  I have not yet embarrassed myself by showing up anywhere sans any important pieces of my wardrobe.

When I was hired 9 weeks ago I was asked if I could stand on one foot while working on a computer.  Things have been cramped in that office since way before I got there.  Adding me to the payroll meant pushing someone out of his or her seat or placing me on the back side of someones desk without any knee space.

I went in to the office a few days before my first day to sign paperwork and meet everyone.  It just so happened that they were going to visit their future new space that day so I got to go with them to see where we would soon be operating from.

That days has finally come!  After 9 weeks (and 4 weeks delay-what can you expect from a group of architects?! Ha!) we are packed and ready to go.  Needless to say things have been a little crazy at work as we have continued to hold meetings, send out drawings, & draft away all while packing things up.

Our last lunch in the 'Conference Room'

On Friday we closed the office at noon in order to get everything ready for the movers.  Right at noon they brought in Subway sandwiches & drinks to fuel us up before getting back to packing.  I was impressed that after only 9 weeks I already needed two boxes to hold all my stuff!

Our new office is 'so' big that we were assigned desk numbers &
given labels for our things to be properly dispersed.

This week has also felt a little like Christmas.  There were a lot of things that we are not taking to the new office like snacks and other supplies; it seems like something from the back room was handed out and given away everyday.  My favorite and proudest take-away was 8 GIANT rolls of toilet paper [and it is Charmin like Mom always buys!].  I must be a true adult now. Ha!

The sign outside was one of the last things to come down.

While talking to Stacy, my next desk neighbor, something came up about Battleship and how we had the perfect place & opportunity to play a game of battleship but we never did :(  So on Friday I surprised Stacy with two Battle Pin boards.  After hanging them up and each taking one turn we got back to work, calling out letters & numbers every once and a while.  Although fun we were pretty unsuccessful as we both kept making mistakes and telling the other 'Hit' when it as actually a 'Miss' and vice-versa.  Conclusion: Battle Pins should be played only when using maximum concentrations.

The Aggies are slowly taking over the office. Ha!  We actually have a pretty good mix of different school represented and Texas A&M is actually a minority.  However, three of the seven females in the office are Aggie graduates thus making us a Majority-Minority.

Aggie [Girl] Power!  Ha!

I met Lori at an Aggie networking event a little over a year ago.  We emailed back and forth a few times sharing tips and knowledge of architecture firms that were potentially hiring.  Until I walked in the door on my first day at work, we had not spoken in at least eight or nine months and it cracks us up that we have both ended up working at the same firm!  What's even a little stranger is our birthdays are only two days [and two years!] apart.  When we got to the point where we the females were no longer needed in the office we left and headed over to Dave & Buster's for a girl's night to celebrate our birthdays.  We had a lot of fun and were amazed at how tired we were when we left even though it was only seven o'clock and it had only just gotten dark outside.

Ellen & Lori, birthday girls
I brought 30 cupcakes [Lori is turning 30] that had cute ladybug &
monkey rings that we proudly wore for the rest of the day :)

I'm looking forward to Monday morning and pray that I am awake enough in the morning to remember to drive to the new office.  Maybe I should set my GPS just in case!!!