Month: August 2007

Exit Strategy

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

SB’s going-away thing was Friday night, and after the chaos of trying to wrangle friends in the middle of a busy, crowded bar, I decided that I definitely did NOT want to do that for my departure. I would much, much rather spend quality time with a few people at a time over the next few weeks – lunches, dinners, drinks after work, other small outings. Consider this my notice that I’m going to make every effort to see lots of people before I go, despite my weird schedule, and if you haven’t heard from me, please bug me until we get together.

I told SB last night that I feel like I’m only looking forward at this point – to my move, my new job (whatever it will be), and my life together with SB. There are a lot of things for me here, and I’ll be really sad when I do leave, but I’m ready to move forward.

Last things

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I just took my last whirlwind bike ride through Champaign. I had planned on keeping yellowbike here with me until I moved, but there’s no great place for me to lock it up where I’ll be staying. Instead yellowbike will be going for a ride on the moving van along with stealth bike, and I will be walking as much as possible in the next few weeks. Despite all of my accidents, the pedestrians and drivers who don’t pay attention, the black ice in the winter, and the miserable route through the one-ways, I will really miss biking here.

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I wish I was one of those girls who can cry prettily – you know, quiet tears delicately streaming down soft pink cheeks. Good god, that’s not me. I’m more the sobbing, snuffling, red-eyed, blotchy-cheeked, red-faced, can soak a pillow in five minutes kind of crier. I’ve had some practice.

SB left for Virginia today. We loaded up his car this morning, packed the cats in their carriers, and said our goodbyes. He texted me I believe before he had even made it to the freeway. If we’re lucky, I’ll see him in about two weeks. If we’re not, it’ll be a little more than three. Three weeks is not a terribly long time in the grand scheme of things, but it feels like a very, very long time when one has to come home to a nearly empty and quite lonely apartment after a very busy, stressful, and emotional week.

I said to Keem this morning that I think that ultimately the next few weeks will be a good thing for me as they will give me a chance to consider the alternatives and remember why I made the choice that I did.

I’m still sad, though.

briefly

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– Tonight we were starving after the gym and so resorted to ordering empanadas from Manolo’s Pizza and Empanadas. Between the two of us, we tried the following: San Telmo Jamon, San Telmo Carne, Cheese & Corn, Roasted Chicken (2), and Mushroom Thyme. All were excellent in different ways, and we’re looking forward to trying other options.

– It’s incredibly wonderful to come home from work at 5pm and not have to do anything school-related. I should be working on my presentation for next week’s interview, but not YET.

– Sid has been exceptionally talkative. We suspect that it is because we (Basil too) keep sitting in her spot.

– Tonight we played putt putt with Jimi and Karin, who has just returned from Colorado. I’m TERRIBLE at putt putt but had a delightful time nonetheless. It makes me sad that we started hanging out with the two of them so late in the game.

– This weekend we went to TWO movies: The Bourne Ultimatum and Stardust. Ahh, delicious air conditioning.

– Shane is on the phone with his mom, which means that we are not playing Lego Star Wars, which makes me sad.

I am very very very very very tired of being in transit

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Friday: drive to Rockford, crash on parents’ couch
Saturday: bus to O’Hare, flight to Detroit, flight to DC (Dulles) (lots of turbulence), lots of driving, crash on Couchsurfer #1’s hide-a-bed
Sunday: full day of driving in search of a new apt, crash on Couchsurfer #1’s hide-a-bed
Monday: sign a lease, wander around the city, crash on Couchsurfer #2’s very firm couch
Tuesday: wander around, drive to Dulles, flight to Detroit, sprint through the terminal to catch flight to Chicago, run with luggage to catch bus to Rockford, crash in old bedroom
Wednesday (today): drive to Madison, all day conference, crash with Couchsurfer #3 on undetermined furniture
Thursday: all day conference, crash with Couchsurfer #3 on undetermined furniture
Friday: all day conference, finally drive back to Champaign, sleep in own bed

I blew off the morning conference session because I’m exhausted from dealing with lease stuff on both ends (move in fees? sublet fees? freight elevator reservation fees?) and I’m exhausted from travel and I just really want to fast-forward a month and be just a few days away from arriving in VA and being with SB.

Pandas and snacks

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You know who loves pandas? Shane Bee. Shane Bee LOVES pandas. So I’m sure he will be delighted to hear that a panda at the San Diego zoo is pregnant. Go panda!

On an unrelated note, I had my first Belly Bar today. Don’t worry, I’m not pregnant (despite my office’s best attempts to jinx me) – I’m just a completest when it comes to bar investigations. I had the Baby Needs Chocolate bar, which was, like many other bars we’ve talked about before, full of crispy weirdness and a thin layer of chocolate. It had a secretive cherry flavor, which I rather liked, but maybe that was just my not-pregnant body telling me that I was missing out on something because I’m not gestating. Whatever, body.

The stats: 170 calories/6 g fat/22 g carbs/12 g sugar/8 g protein