Loran had his last day at 3M at the end of November. His last two days, we had two going away parties to attend. One in his office on Thursday and one with his team at one of their homes on Friday. Thursday afternoon, I managed to get a grumpy Lily to take a nap so she would be pleasant during the party. Of course, she peed on the couch while sleeping right before we had to leave. The house was already a disaster, why not add a pile of wet 3T clothing on the floor and a puddle on the couch?
We managed to finally get on the road to 3M, only a little late. When we arrived, the security guards had been expecting us, I felt pretty important as they knew our names and had badges made up for us. That is kind of neat when you show up to headquarters where 10,000+ employees show up to on a daily basis. The girls loved their security badges, were highly impressed with the Christmas trees and enjoyed the elevator ride.
Once we arrived at the eHub, Loran’s coworkers slowly started to congregate and I was so proud of the girls who willingly offered their hands to shake and introduce themselves. It also didn’t take them long to become comfortable with their surroundings. Before long, they had disappeared with some new friends who had set them up with their own desk and cache of office supplies. I’d catch glances of Ella fluttering around the office with stacks of paper she’d been working on, distributing them to desks and having short meetings with others. Clearly, she’s ready for the corporate world.
It was wonderful to see the eHub again. I remember when it was just an idea in Loran’s head, and recall touring the space where the eHub was just getting set up. Since then, it has expanded several times and the headcount has grown. One of the first times we toured the area, Ella was just walking and as she was toddling around the office one weekend, she walked right over to a big box, and toppled right in. There she was in a 3M emblazoned box with two little feet sticking out of the top. It was SO funny. I can’t enter the area without immediately thinking of that. I can’t help but be proud of Loran when I’m there and it was extra special to be surrounded by his coworkers and hear such great stories about him.
As we were heading out, Loran and I both noticed we had missed calls from the Realtor’s office, upon listening to the message we heard that we had a ‘last minute showing’ which would happen before we could get home, that they were calling to get permission for. Loran was immediately on the phone granting that permission. He had no idea that our house looked like an episode of Hoarders, complete with the pee soaked couch. OH NO! I was freaking out (that’s an understatement). Luckily, by the time we got back to them, they had decided to wait until the weekend. Whew! For weeks I’ve left the house in pristine condition every time I’d left, with no showings. And of course, Murphy’s Law strikes again!
Friday evening, we had a party at the home of Loran’s coworker Angela and her husband Brian. When I traveled with Loran to Seattle this past summer, Brian had also joined Angela so I was excited to catch up with them again. This time, the girls and I were on time and when we arrived, Loran was not there. Then it dawned on me that he would have handed in his phone since it was his last day. That meant he was out there somewhere and without the GPS feature he had grown so dependent on. It was like 1995 all over again! Luckily, he made it to Angela’s with the help of a *gasp* paper map and some basic knowledge of St. Paul. The party was awesome. Good food, great people and the girls were once again in fine party form. They became obsessed with the powder room and both frequented it. It would be awkward if I didn’t already understand their love of new restrooms. We enjoyed a little roast of Loran that was hilarious and the girls were presented with stick horses. They were in love! The horses were a huge hit, and are now named Hershey and Blueberry (after their Punkinmania pony ride ponies). Between the horses and the fun people at the party (especially Brian) the girls were beyond thrilled. Add in the fact that all of their favorite foods were present: chips, carrots, broccoli, edamame and tomatoes. Perhaps a few cookies and chocolates too…
We all left the party with full, happy hearts. We’ve been truly blessed by the 3M family. While it was sometimes hard to share Loran as much as we had to, he was surrounded by wonderful coworkers in a company that had great faith and belief in him. That’s not a bad gig.
The 3M eHub family and the new cowgirls on the block.
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