cookies for Carol

It feels odd to me when people retire from the Library, some more than others. It seems as though most everyone at work is bringing his or her career to an end. And so it was that a little while back I learned that Carol was going to retire this spring.

Ugh. All the good people leave. Which somehow implies there are only bad people left, but no, that's not the case. It's just that Carol is pretty cool.

I didn't know her well my first handful of years at my library. She works on the other side of campus, and it really is a rare thing, getting over there or people over there getting over to my side of campus. Oh, it happens, but not as often as we all might like. It wasn't until she and I co-chaired a strategic planning initiative for the Library that I actually got to know her. Over a year of working closely together, bringing that project to a successful close. And then, after that, going to a week-long ARL workshop at UCLA.

That was a fun trip, in fact - a terrific workshop, and opportunities to sightsee a bit, including my first trip to the Getty.

(and gosh, how young and plump I look there, mid-30s)

So tomorrow is her retirement party, though I think she has a few days left after that. To mark the event, I decided to bake some cookies after work (and the really great thing about working at home today is that I could get an early start on baking, thanks to no commute and an early start this morning). An easy recipe, one I made recently, the white chocolate chunk macadamia cookies. I've got a tin ready for tomorrow

(plus a couple for my dessert tonight, and a few for Conrad to come home to).

But they're just cookies, and they'll soon be eaten. Carol will be gone from the Library come May or so, and we'll be all the poorer for it, I'm afraid.