After 7 and a half years on the job, I left my position as a project manager at Epic this winter. Before my last day, I took the kids to campus one last time. They explored while I cleaned out my desk. Lucy loves running around the Farmyard at Epic. :)
It was much more bittersweet than I imagined to pack things up and leave. Don't get me wrong - it was the right time to go; it was just a lot harder to say goodbye to co-workers, customer counterparts, and to leave my first 'real' job than I anticipated. Even if our family stayed in Madison, it was time to move on. When I started my job as a eager young 26 year old, right out of graduate school, I was so excited to travel. I didn't mind the crazy hours. I would gladly work weekends or nights! Then I got married. Had my babies. I did everything I could to avoid the airport. I jumped at any opportunity for work with a somewhat local customer. It just didn't seem like having a family and staying in my position was sustainable for the long term. And my efforts to move into another role were not panning out.
It was a good run! I ran some reports on my time log before my last day and found out that I logged just shy of 20000 hours for the company. I traveled all of over the country for my job - from Reno to Hanover, New Hampshire; Fresno to Flint. I have hundreds of stories from Emergency Departments across the United States. I worked with prestigious hospitals like Cedars Sinai and I spent many months in places such as beautiful Grand Forks, Fresno, and LaCrosse. One of the 'treasures' I found while cleaning out my desk was documentation from my Subaru Forester purchase. I bought my car the week I was hired at Epic and I am still driving it 7+ years later (now it has 2 car seats in the back and a lot of dog hair inside)! My previous mode of transportation as a graduate student at UW was bus or bicycle. Haha!
No doubt there are things that I miss about working there - the beautiful campus, the awesome cafeteria, the familiarity of working at a single company for such a long time. I am grateful for the skill set that I gained during my time there, I can already see how much it is helping me in my new position. I will not miss the crazy schedule or cramming my laptop into an overhead bin of an airplane every week!
Here are a few shots of my kids exploring the Farmers Market and Barn.
I just love these beautiful vegetable prints. I would like to have similar artwork in my kitchen/dining room someday!
Lucy running among the veggies.
My little cuties in front of a tractor.
Checking out the sheep.
Giving her "buttercups" to eat!
Goodbye, Epic!
