almost

In five hours the alarm will go off and we will schlep our blurry-eyed selves out to the airport. We fly into San Jose, where we'll rent a car and work our way down the coast, stopping to see family friends and relatives in Santa Cruz, Saratoga, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, LA and finally Orange County, where our dear friends Kris and Caeli will be married. Officiating the ceremony is none other than Julia, Ordained Minister of the Universal Life Church.

It figures to be an emotional, yet enjoyable trip. I haven't been to California, my birth state, in fifteen years and will be seeing some people for the first time since then and others for possibly the last time. As Lifetime Network as it sounds, I'm looking forward to finding out a little more about my family, and possibly myself, in the process.

One of the five-thousand things I had to do at work today (and one of the few that was actually work-related) was to finish cleaning out my old boss' office. I enjoyed a total of maybe ten non-uncomfortable minutes in his presence over the three years we worked together (he was the albino frog from last week's list), but he always treated me well. After observing the standard two weeks of silent emptiness, someone pounced on his empty office, Corporate America style. Going through his shelves, I found a stack of self-help management books (pictured above), which helped me understand his awkwardness a little more. He was probably just as uncomfortable as I was. It might have helped if he had actually opened any of the books, but I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem.

I didn't know what to do with the rest of his stuff - I threw some things out, left others in communal areas, and brought the office supplies back to my desk. What really threw me though, was the 8x10 American flag printout tacked to the wall. I started to throw it out, but then wondered what I would say if someone asked me about it later. Having to confess my sin, I would confirm everyone's lingering suspicion that I am just not a team player. So now it sits buried in one of my drawers amongst assorted official-looking documents I'm too scared to throw out. When I return from my trip someone will have moved into my old boss' office, but his spirit will live on through multi-colored paper clips and a flag that could not be silenced.