Random thoughts

In Appreciation of Appreciation

I got the best surprise today.

There I was, pecking away at my keyboard, oblivious to the things going on around me. It's Friday, so there's a lot less people since they implement alternate day-offs here, and things were relatively quiet. Marianne suddenly hurried into my cube, looking a little serious, and said, "Cathy, can you come with me for a second? We were presenting the site, and they have some questions I can't answer."

My heart started thudding. I tried to remember if somebody had told me about a presentation, because of course the system would be breaking down every so often, since I was right smack in the middle of coding it! I followed close behind, asking questions, asking out loud whether I should stop coding first so they could finish the presentation. Marianne just waved my questions away with her hand and led me to the training room.

I looked at the wall and there was no slide presentation. I looked at the one computer in the room that had its screen turned on, and it was pointing to a different site. Confused, I took it all in - most everyone was there, the big boss, and all of my project teammates.

The boss spoke, "Why don't you sit down?"

I silently complied, waiting for the worst.

"We wanted to ask you how you can work so hard, work so fast, and get things done quickly."

I opened my mouth but nothing came out at first. "What?"

And then out came the sweet little card, and the huge gift basket (full of things that will probably eventually lead to my gaining 50 gazillion pounds). They simply wanted to show their appreciation and let me know how happy they were with my work. The boss' words were, "You truly are a valuable addition to this team." I wanted to explode with happiness.

I love surprises, even more so when they make me feel so appreciated and welcome. I can't remember ever being this giddy and happy (actually, that's maybe because I've never really had a surprise anything before). This really made my day. :)

posted by Cathy at 12:14 PM