No gift should go unreciprocated.

You really didn’t think we could leave Ann’s retirement with just one story did you?  Of course not.  Ann really couldn’t say goodbye without giving something back to Heidi.  And of course since Heidi was on vacation (which is why this posting was delayed), well, Ann just had to leave her presents in the office!

One aspect of Ann’s and Heidi’s relationship is that they’re there for each other to vent to.  For anyone who has been in a frustrating work place, that’s a very important role in life.  Not everyone has someone to vent to and, with Ann leaving, Ann was feeling guilty (something Ann does very well) about leaving Heidi with no outlet.  So Ann decided to help out as much as she could on that front before she leaves.

One of the first things that Ann thought of (or did she just happen to find it?) was a DeadFred.  The back of the package says that yes, indeed, you can stick it without feeling guilty.   Don’t worry, he’s already dead. (It also says that if you feel a need to repeatedly stab it, you should probably seek counseling.). 

Well, DeadFred couldn’t go with just any pen, so Ann went on a quest to find just the right pen.

It took a bit of searching, both in town and on the internet, but we found it.

You see, you can write whatever you want because, over time . . . .

the ink just disappears!

It’s the perfect pen for writing what you really want to say to someone, before you write what you’ll actually send to them.  Although you do have to be careful about someone reading the scratches that are left.  

Still, Ann still wasn’t satisfied with what she had gotten.  As we were driving through Springfield one afternoon, Ann was talking  about what sort of thing she was looking for.  She joked about how they’re often commenting on how things can turn into a clown show.  “Maybe I should find something with a clown on it!” Ann said right as we passed a new giant mural of Krusty the Clown (from the Simpsons for you uncultured types out there - Springfield, OR is the Springfield from the Simpsons).  “Hon, we just passed a clown.”  “What clown?”  “You didn’t see the giant Krusty the Clown we just passed?”  “No, I was thinking.”  “Trust me, we have our clown image.”

A few days later we went back into town and . . . 

Now, there are clowns and there are clowns.  Ann wanted to give Heidi an image to go along with the other gifts.  That was all fine and dandy, but since we were printing them ourselves, I said, “How about a big image?”  So we made two prints.  One 8-1/2”x11”, and the other 17” x 22”.

We tag-teamed on the contents of a nice thoughtful card for Heidi and Ann was finally satisfied.  And on the morning of Ann’s last day at work, she delivered Heidi’s presents.

And in case you were wondering where the big photo of Krusty the Clown went, well . . .

Just a little something to help Heidi remember Ann!