Thirteen is a lucky number!

I’ll be celebrating my 13th anniversary with Nissan on June 13th, 2007. I’ll also be celebrating my 8 day countdown to retirement. You read correctly; I’ve resigned. On one hand, it’s been a long time coming, on the other, I feel like I’m still the 22 year old that just found her dream job test driving cars. You know how you have that life-threatening experience where your life flashes before your eyes? Well, now that I’ve committed to resigning, my life’s flashing. If the worst part is having to buy a car, I’ll manage.

Do I dare stop to look back to determine what went wrong? No way! Nothing needs to be wrong in order not to be right. I’ve learned a lot, earned a lot, and done a lot. What more could a girl ask for? I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up, but I know that I’m ready for something new. I’m not feeling challenged and haven’t in several years. For me, that’s the first step to complacency, and Andre’s grandmother would probably hypothesize that complacency is the Devil’s doing. I may go to hell, but it won’t be for doing nothing.

What will I do with all of my free time? I’ll start with travel. I’ve got a family reunion in San Diego at the end of June, so I’ll start in Southern California, catching up with friends and family. With any luck, we’ll work a Mexico trip in there too. Then, I’ll head back to DC to figure out what the heck I’m going to do with my kitchen! Then, I’m off to Spain with Andre and the kids toward the end of July. Back to DC in time to host my mom and Ken, then David. It’ll be so nice to have time to show everyone around… I’m sure I’ll go through e-mail and VMX withdrawal, but that’s something I’ll have to overcome as part of my workaholic rehabilitation.

Perhaps the grandest of all will be a completely spontaneous (as spontaneous as I can be) ROAD TRIP! I’m thinking I’ll buy or rent a VW Vanagon Camper and take it to see some of the 500 Places to take your kids before they grow up, kids not required.

Wish me luck!