Friday was my last day at work for two years. It came at the end of a week of handover, which went well. Having had a full week to go through as much of the job as possible, I left feeling happy that there wasn’t much else I could do.

Outlining what is required day to day and month to month, I realised how much there is to know about and was proud that I’d created a challenging yet very rewarding job. It’s a bit of struggle to explain it all but without a week to do so, I don’t know how Kate (my replacement) would have gone.

The goodbyes started on Monday and continued on until the very end. They’re always hard. I find goodbyes such a strange thing when we now have Facebook and email and a variety of other communication methods. You don’t really feel like you’re ever disconnected. Of course, it’s not the same as seeing people every day but it makes the separation that little bit easier.

Then Friday there was an afternoon tea with a few short speeches and a gift (Canadian dollars – perfection). Then drinks after work and dinner and now I’m a free agent. Very grateful for having the time off (15 months of that with pay – yippee).

There’s one last thing keeping me plugged into work but that will go soon and then my mind will slip out of work mode and into holiday preparation. I’m looking forward to waking up on Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday) and not having to go to work. I think that’s when it will really sink in that there are big changes ahead.