An emotional roller coaster day*

This was my last week at the VA Maine - Veterans Affairs Medical Center. People were so sweet to throw me a reception where many well-wishers came to say good bye. There was a luncheon pot luck, and letters, emails, flowers, gifts and gift cards. It was all quite overwhelming but also validating that I'd done some things right. And as happy and excited as I am to have a new job, I'm sad about leaving the many good people I worked with at the VA. 

It seemed a premonition of some unrecognizable sort, but yesterday at work, my government ID badge slipped off my lapel and fell into the "clean" water of the toilet.....I nearly flushed it away.... It did scrub up nicely and it did work today to open doors and turn on computers, but it got turned in with all the keys and government blackberry, etc.  I hope no one tells the NEXT acting /COS where that PIV card holder has been!

Janie picked out an extra treasure from the loot she received from so many people--a magical-looking glass orb that is art but can double as a sun-catcher or a reminder to attract positivity and shield my space from negativity. It will sit on my next desk and I will always think of my Togus colleagues. 

Oh fine! Now I bet everyone will want one.

Thank you !Thank you !-- You are super and you know who you are!

*From the Urban Dictionary:

1. Emotional [Rollercoaster]

The term Emotional Rollercoaster was coined by Dr. N. Amundson in dealing with unemployment, first in a research article: Amundson, N.E., & Borgen, W. (1982). The dynamics of unemployment: Job loss and job search. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 60, 562-564. It was most likely made popular when Nelson Canada published their booklet At the Controls:Charting your course through unemployment in 1987. Approximately 960,000 copies of this book were bought by the Gov't of Canada and distributed to people dealing withunemployment between 1987 and 1996.

"Shock! Relief! Sadness! Excitement! Frustration! Lack of energy! Hopelessness! Determination! People feel many different emotions when they are out of work. these feelings may be a bit different from one person to another depending on how you lost your job, how long you have been out of work, your future possibilities, and whether you can provide for your family or others who depend on you.

However, many of the unemployed people we talked with described similar patterns of emotions. They described these feelings as an "emotional rollercoaster" that kept them off balance… " (Amundson and Borgen, At the Controls, 1987)