A brilliant sending off!

Well today I went into work for my leaving do (yes I know it's only 9:30pm ... it's the quality of leaving do, not the quantity that counts); I decided to walk into work as it gave me time to ponder on what I would say for my speech. However as soon as I saw all the people flood into my old office, and my boss started her speech, my mind went blank ... so therefore my speech wasn't brilliant.

However, to rectify the situation, I thought I would post here what I actually wanted to say to all of my ex-work colleagues. The thing is, I don't see you as work colleagues ... not anymore. Over the last nine years you have all become friends of mine and, as you are my friends, I shall miss you all terribly. I am very privileged to have worked with you all; I am very lucky to have so many people guide me and I have gained so much from my job solely because of the people I've worked with. I wish you all the very best for the future, good health and that you get all that you wish for ... because frankly, you all deserve it.

I would just like to remind friends at work that you can still email me with IT problems; however there will be a consultant fee of around £450.00 per day (even if I just tell you to 'turn it off and then turn it back on again').

Leaving my employer last week wasn't that difficult; however leaving all the friends, I just happen to have worked with for such a long time, was very difficult and emotional. I had a brilliant send off, with a great meal and fantastic gifts and wishes. I would like to thank Sam and Bob for organising this.

Over the last week I've been preparing for the 'grand tour'; I've...

• Spoken to STA to change my contact details,
• Phoned my bank and credit card companies to tell them where I will be,
• Completed my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course,
• Put more money on my international sim card,
• Bought luggage tags (not as easy as it sounds),
• Put critical dates in diary,

However there are still a few outstanding issues...

• Sort out the music on my MP3 player,
• Prepare paper work all the way to Toronto,
• Contact the Canadian military high command to notify them of my entry,
• Get some GPS maps to work on my phone (all very technical),

Still a few things to do and I'm off at 5:00am to London tomorrow to see friends.

It's still pretty busy here,

Toodle Pip!