Whoa...

Okay, I went in to work today pretty happy. Didn't really want to be there, but I wasn't depressed about it this time. I talked to Michelle, and she asked if I worked this weekend. I told her I was off, and she asked if I had heard. My response was, "Heard what?" She said I should talk to Allison. When I asked if she could tell me, she said it would be better if I heard it from Allison. I went looking for her, and found Chris instead, so I asked if he knew where Allison was. He said she was at lunch. I explained what Michelle had said, and asked if *he* could tell me. I was getting nervous, and didn't want to wait until Allison got back. He said, "I *could* tell you, but you should hear it from her." So I went back to the pod, still feeling kinda nervous. I put some clothes away, then asked Chris when exactly Allison had gone to lunch. I don't know if I looked really nervous or what, but he finally whispered, "She's leaving. You didn't hear it from me." Well, that was about the last thing I was expecting to hear. I knew *something* was going to happen (how in the heck did you find out before me, Lauren???), but that never occurred to me. A bit after Chris told me, Allison came back and I "officially" found out. Wow. I'll miss Allison, and I'm curious about who's going to replace her, but she had a very good reason for leaving. Before I felt like everyone in men's (except Michelle) was either leaving or wanted to leave - Chris, me, Tara, Kim... That's four of our five full time people! Kim is gone, Chris hopes to be gone as soon as possible, and I'm giving my two weeks at the end of June. I know Tara wants out too. However, I never pictured Allison leaving, but obviously she is. Wednesday is her last full day, and she's coming in part time on Thursday and Friday. On one hand, I'll miss her, but on the other hand it *will* make giving my two weeks easier. I can tell someone who I don't really know instead of someone I really do like. I told Chris I felt sorry for the new person, because we're all planning on leaving. He said, "Don't. They know what they're getting into." Probably true. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens.

On a different note, I've decided to start writing again. I've always enjoyed it, and in high school and college I took a few creative writing classes. I never meant to stop, but it kind of fell by the wayside when I got busy with other things. I thought I didn't have time for it anymore. But, as Lauren pointed out, I have time to write in here, in my personal journal, work full time, apply to grad school, and I've read four (or was it five?) books recently. Well, if I have time to do all that, I certainly have time to write again. A couple weeks ago at work, we were dead. I'd had maybe two customers in two hours. So, I took out a sheet of paper and wrote a full page of a short story before Allison saw me. She was okay with it, but I put the paper away, wondering if I'd ever get back to my story. Last night, I did, and I added another page. While I'm not writing a novel (although maybe some day I will!), it feels good to be writing again. I *will* make time for it, no matter what comes up.