today = the greatest day i have ever known

no joke. i feel like i have just won the lottery, even though in just 3 1/2 weeks we'll be living off of 1 paycheck instead of 2. that's how great today is. at least that's how great today has been for the past 2 1/2 hours now.
most of you reading this know how much i hate my job. i was counting down the days until i left that miserable place and not necessarily how much longer before the baby comes. after today i had 17 days. that was until about 3:50pm this afternoon.
after a miserable week and much tension in the office, my boss called me into his office/conference room. he basically told me "we really aren't going to have the funds to pay you past march 2, that's the next pay period. so basically, i can cut you a check for the 2nd and you can take your leave early. if you want, in about 2 months or whenever your leave is over, you can call and see if any work has come up or you might want to just try to find another job." i figured what he was saying was " i just want you out of here asap, so i'll pay you one more paycheck, but get out....TODAY." but because the man is the most confusing man i know i wanted to be sure. plus, my last day was supposed to be march 16. so i told him that i was expecting and counting on 2 more paychecks. with the baby coming we have plans for that money and really needed it. so he said, "ok, we'll cut you a check for the 16th too. just don't deposit it until the 16th. since your circumstances are such with the baby and all, i'll go ahead and give you these last two paychecks, kind of like a severance." still wanting to be sure he was telling me he was about to pay me for 4 more weeks of doing nothing i asked "so what do you want me to do about work?" and he simply said "well, there isn't much work coming in and i'll be traveling soon. and i don't want you to have to sit at your desk and get frustrated. that's not what i want. so you can just say today is your last day." i'm not sure how it is that i didn't jump up and start kissing him right there. i held it together and tried to look a wee bit disappointed, but not over the top, as i was planning on leaving soon anyway. he waited around while i cleaned up my desk, wrote myself out my last 2 paychecks and handed him my keys and such.
while we were talking he asked me if it would be ok if he called me if he needed to ask me something. or if something came up and he needed me, could i maybe come into the office. ahhh, to intimidate your own boss. i just let him know, "well, you are paying me through the 16th, so i can do that. but it can't be last minute notice to come in as i'd have to make sure i had someone to watch my son." oh, but of course. it wouldn't be last minute. and the last words i heard from him while i was walking out were "we'll be in touch through the 16th." and after the 16th we both know we will be ecstatic to have each other out of our lives.