It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday..eeee!

It's my last day at the pharmacy. What ever shall I do? I am terrible with goodbyes. No, I am not a big crier, or a gift giver. I am downright weird. With all the emotion of the moment, one would think I would just burst with the weight of it all.

Me? Nope. I freeze. I go blank. I think in my mind, "Hey, I should be streaked with mascara, covered in boog's , flying through tissues!" It just doesn't happen. There is a safety protocol that I have running in the back ground that stops all emotional response until I am alone. I drive home, blinded by tears, crying my eyes out.

What is that? Why not share those moments with people I have told all my wacky stories to for years? The ones who have advised me, loved me, have done gift exchanges with me during the holidays? Great people who have loved, lost, (in one case lost everything in a flood!), struggled, and triumphed all while standing with me shoulder to shoulder in the pharmacy. It has truly been a wonderful blessing, and I have grown so very, very much.

It will take some time to remember some aspects of pharmacy fondly. A LONG TIME. Like the lovely folks who come in 3 minutes to close with prescriptions for Percocet, Ambien, Keflex, Diflucan, and some obscure cough syrup that was pulled 25 years ago. Or the husbands that call at closing on Sunday and tell me their wife forgot her meds and it's a REAL emergency, can we please fill it now? Sure, of course sir, what's the medication? It's her birth control.

Or the fine people who can't seem to EVER figure out how to pay for their meds. They slide their credit card before the register is even open, then when prompted to slide again, they gripe then demand to know if they will be charged twice. (Most could avoid this whole scenario if they just READ the prompts on the machine!!!)

Another fave for me is the person who has to have everything BRAND, because generics give them a rash, a headache, eye twitches, or they just "don't work". So we have bottles of Vicodin, and Tenormin just for craps and giggles. To top it all off, most people that demand brand drugs blanch at the sight of the cost, then make us switch it to generic anyway.

I will NEVER miss the addicts. It's both heartbreaking and infuriating! I feel like a chump! I have heard every excuse in the book. I know my co workers could write a set of encyclopedia's on this subject.

I know I have barely scratched the surface of a rock the size of El Capitan, but I want today to be bittersweet, not just bitter. Oh, but I have to throw in the customers who yell and scream at the pick up counter that they have NEVER paid that much for a medication (or that ALL their meds are COMPLETELY covered) but then we go back in their profile and look...lo and behold...they've paid the same price for MONTHS! One customer picked up a certain medication then when he got home and told his wife what he paid, she picked up the phone and chewed my butt out. It was my fault that they had spent all of their grocery money! She also let me know that WALMART had only charged them four dollars for that medication. After hearing that I was purposefully overcharging poor people, (she was going to bring in a NOTE from WALMART showing what they had paid, and show my store manager!!!!!!!!), I was told that I made too much money and not everyone has a job, she hung up on me.

Sigh.

I called WM. They had been paying the same price over there. (NOT FOUR DOLLARS!!!!) For months.

Double sigh.

Things I will miss:

1. Birthday cakes.

2. Kari's red hair. I love it!!!!

3. Sheila's love for her boys, grandkids, and HOT MEN!!!

4. Brenda's infectious laugh, and sharp wit.

5. Phil's drugs. (and his sarcasm)

6. Sunday's with Susan. I could talk to her for hours.

7. Mike's sweet songs that he sings under his breath on a busy Saturday.

8. Sweet loving Shawna.

9. Justin!

10. Laurie and her soft pretty curls,

11. Shouting at Steve for overrides. His love for puppies.

12. All the other great folks I have worked with, who made work fun. Corrina, Dean, Charity, Reid, Kyla, Megan, Marlee, Dave, Gordon, Judy, the bakery gals, the Starbuck's gals, the deli gals, checkers-Tina, Tony, Kathy, Ashlee. I'll miss Phyllis (sp?), Alana, Ralph. I can't forget Garth, Lana, or Amy.

So many, who have touched my life. I know I will remember more after I post this.
It's been real. I love you all! XOXOXOXOXOX!

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Fun Facts: Washington State

Now that we are leaving the great state of Washington, I thought I would put up some cool facts about it. Here's what I managed to dig up:


1. Washington State is the birthplace of both Jimi Hendrix and Bing Crosby. Jimi was born in Sensational Seattle, Bing in Terrific Tacoma!

2. Mt Rainier (my favorite Mt.) boasts Washington's highest point. Its namesake is Peter Rainier. He was a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary war. (There went my theory that it was after Prince Rainier of Monaco.) (I kid, I kid.)

3. The state insect is the Green Darner Dragonfly.

4. An Olympia Dairy Queen had the world's first soft serve ice cream machine. ( So they claim!)

5. The city of Tumwater was the first settlement in Washington. It was then known as New Market.
6. November 11, 1889 (oops! Happy Belated Birthday!)- Washington becomes the 42 state of this greatest nation of God's green earth!

7. Washington is one of seven states without an income tax.

8. The oldest yet still operational gas station is in Zillah, Washington.
9. "The State Flower is Mildew" (Overheard)

10. Washington is the only state named after a United States President. You can Google it to find out who.



It was really hard not to put some super snarky ones in there. My restraint amazes me. Okay, okay here is one I found that just tickled me:

"Washington is home to the only rainforests in the US. Sadly, these rainforests contain nothing but wet trees, and don't meet the minimum requirements for malaria and naked savages that would make environmentalists give a crap about them."

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I Will Remember You-Or Things I will miss about Washington

I have never been silent about my dislike of Washington Rain. I capitalize it because it deserves respect. It is a force to be reckoned with, but I feel sorry for the reckoner. After seven years I have grown to use the "H" word when it comes to the rain. For those who have never been to Washington and experienced at least three rainy winters in a row I say -"Oh my gosh you are so lucky-what's it like in the real world-is it still there? "
For all that I don't like about the state of Washington (liberals, rain, Olympia, no jobs) there is much that I do. Oh, I do.

Like Mt. Rainier. When I come over the last hill on HWY 6 going to Chehalis, its there. Big as the Moon. Just as beautiful and wondrous as any heavenly body. I could stare at it for hours. The power, the glory!

I really need a better camera. The point and shoot just doesn't convey all the glory!

I will miss apple trees that grow wild, and bear strange fruit. I will miss seeing deer and elk on my drive home. I will miss the festivals that go on throughout the summer. (Winlock Egg Days!) The classic cars that come out on sunny days. Picturesque settings. Beautiful views. Sun showers! Momma skunks with babies following behind; all the tails bouncing along.

The Chehalis River with Doty Bridge Construction in the background.

Not everything about Washington has been terrible. I had two of my babies here. I had a great job with great co-workers. I have met some VERY interesting people. I made a couple of good friends. So as much as I can't stand the rain I am torn. That's the most surprising part of all of this. I am really torn. I am dying to get out of here, but not ready to say goodbye.

Safeway-Chehalis My Manager Steve was THRILLED I took this.

The delicious soups that nursed me through two pregnancies.

In conclusion (how professional!) I admit defeat. I fell a little bit in love with the crying sensitive, guy. The arm candy, with the never ending tears. That's how I feel about Washington. Sure he was beautiful to look at, but his blubbering always left me with boogers on my prom dress.

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Are you fired up??

I should be packing. I should be off the recliner and placing things in boxes. Why am I dragging my heels? Instead I am feeding my cyberchondria. Googling, reading articles, formulating new questions. I eyeball my most recent crochet project from the chair. It patiently waits for me. Like everything else, it patiently waits on me....to move....

These days my life can be divided in to two sections. Before Yaz and After Yaz. I won't go into all the scary details. But,really, I am on a journey that has taught me so many things. Things like:

-People don't believe you. Even loved ones. Sad. Lonely. Truth.

-I am more fragile than I thought.

-I have wasted a LOT of time on meaningless things. (See "Stop and Smell the Roses")

-Good Health is not to be taken for granted or squandered.

-I may never be the same again.

Knowing all this to be true, I sit here still. I need to get up and get going. So here I go! Get going!

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