Last orders

Friday 13 February 2009. I worked my last shift at 3010 Main Street. It's been almost 4 years since I started my job with JJ Bean. What originally started as a short-term gig between jobs, turned into the second longest job I've ever held.

I've been trying to write about those 4 years for a few days now, but I'm failing miserably, so I'm just going to list some highlights.

• I started about 3 months after the store open. By the time I left, I was the only one left from the original crew.
  
• In the time I was there, I worked with five different managers.
  
• At the time there were 4 JJ Bean stores, now there are 7.
  
• We didn't have a son when I started, Nate is almost 3 now.
  
• I learned new things about myself, like I'm a much more social person than I ever thought I was.
  
• For most of the time I worked there, I was the oldest person on staff.
• I met so many people, and some of those people have become good friends.
  
• Working in the neighbourhood I live in, has connected me to this neighbourhood and made me feel part of a larger community.  
  
• I got to work with some amazing people. In many ways they are like family to me, and I will miss them terribly when we move.
  

When it finally came time to leave, I found I didn't want to at all.  

My thanks to all the people who made this the best job I have ever had.

A summary of the last few weeks

• We sold our place at last! The closing date is set for March 17. We’ve already booked our flight to Halifax for March 16. My last day at the café is Friday 13 February, I picked the date especially! I’m excited and sad all at the same time, I will miss the café, my co-workers, and I will miss this neighbourhood.

• We celebrated the Chinese New Year by having some friends over for a hot pot dinner. This of course required a trip down to Chinatown for groceries. I think Nate had a great time looking at all the stuff down there, and I hope we get to go again before we leave Vancouver. At the last moment we realized that our hot pot had been packed away and stored at Steve’s house, but we were able to improvise with a couple of large pots which we reheated on the stove every now and then.

• We took Nate to Monster Jam on Saturday evening. After a week of build-up he woke up that morning with a sore throat and fever. But he was adamant that he was going to see the monster trucks. So we went and got to see the first half of the show before he threw up. The poor little guy has been quite sick since then.

• Nate just woke up from his nap this afternoon and told us he wanted to put his soother in the garbage. After a quick examination, Patty informed him that there was nothing wrong with it. Nate then informed us that he wanted to throw all his soothers in the garbage and he didn’t want to sleep with them anymore. ‘Bye bye sookie’ he said, as I took the soother downstairs and stashed it away in a cupboard just in case. I suspect he might be a little delirious from his fever or something. But who knows…it might just actually be that he’s decided he doesn’t need one anymore. Only time will tell.