I am going to be an adult soon

My First Work Picture from 1999

So I am coming up on my 18th year at my company.  I am thinking we need a party or something.  I mean it isn't everyday that a girl turns 18.  I have held several different positions at my company and I have seen many people come and go.  I even ran away from home for a few months only to return appreciating what I had.  I have so many great memories of my colleagues.  Everyone knows that you spend more time at work than you do with your family, so you either learn to get along with people or you are miserable.  I have had several different "work husbands" over the years and currently am in a polygamist relationship with several depending on the day and project.

Our company is very old school.  We work 8 to 5, in the office, no working from home.  Ties and jackets for the men and business dress for women.  We most definitely do not have a pool table, ping pong table or a dart board, but who says there is no Fun in Fiberglass. The people are what make work fun and we have definitely had some characters. Don't worry, I won't name names, but here are a few of my favorite memories in no particular order.

• Après Sales Meeting Soirees on the Boat
• Peach Moonshine (or at least the first part of that night, definitely not the next day)
• Rocky Horror Ladies Night Out
• All Ladies Night Outs
• A certain custom products manager retirement roast.
• Going to Appomattox with an Operations Manager who was like a grandpa on the way home from a site visit
• Afternoon conversations with above Operations Manager
• Putting somebody's face on a shirt since they didn't want it on a retirement cake
• Walking into work and having the hall plastered with pictures of me doing Karaoke the night before- I think it was Family Tradition.
• Coming back from a conference and my office being plastered with pictures of me pretending to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader
• Relay for Life and learning to do the Electric Slide
• My pitiful attempts at redneck photoshop- aka color printers, scissors and tape
• Creating Jib Jabs of co workers
• A certain estimator doing the Cupid Shuffle
• Dale Carnegie
• Sharing a dumpling
• Saying something stupid when the Go To Meeting is asking for your name
• Lunch room random conversations
• Giving a book to a colleague who was leaving- a book written by someone who had the same name and was about a gay stripper- still makes me laugh thinking about the presentation
• Trying to teach a co worker how to get his game on so he can get a date
• Negotiating ice cream parties for big order days
• Pageant for Relay for Life
• Bartending in the NASCAR Race Suite
• Posting pictures on FB of me with the new UT Football Coach and then having to take them down because he turned out to be a major %**&^$
• Having Dinner with Pat Summit at Tribute to Women
• After Work Cocktails ( I said AFTER work)
• Parties
• All the Babysitters that were coworkers kids
• Pen Kidnapping
• Ice Ice Baby

There are just too many to list really.  

I told the owner and Chairman of the Board that I moved out of my parents house to go to college when I was 17 so in a few short months he will have had the pleasure of being in charge of me longer than my father did.  He rolled his eyes and grumbled something about that must be why my dad has more hair than him.  (Don't anybody tell him but I have a tremendous amount of respect for JDT, but he would think I was mad at him if I didn't give him a hard time).

So in a few short months I will be 18.  My days of childhood and teenagerhood (is that a word?) are coming to an end. I guess that means I have to act like a grown up so I will try and be serious and professional at all times.  Anybody want to take bets on how long that will last?   And if anybody is interested my start date was March 1, 1999 if you want to plan the party.