See ya later, Champaign. It’s been a really, really good run.
Month: September 2007
Today’s my last day in town. I said goodbye to several dearly loved coworkers during the course of a very strange day – strange because while I’m moving away and won’t be seeing them for at least a few months, if not longer, I will still be working with them for another couple of weeks. Tonight I will celebrate with many friends, and say goodbye to many more people, places, and things I have treasured in many different ways in my four years here.
And tomorrow I will load the rest of my things in
Missing you already
I’m a stranger here myself
The weather has been perfect here for the last few days, which has made extended wandering all the more appealing. It was in the mid-60’s when I left for the gym this morning at 7:15, cool enough to necessitate a light pullover. This is absolutely my favorite time of year, and my favorite time for being in the Midwest, which makes the coming departure all the more bittersweet.
I spent all day Sunday – bookended by meals with friends – wandering around town, taking in favorite places for the last time for a while. The peace and silence of walking has made me long for the Camino again. I don’t think the Camino was originally on my list of things to do before my 30th birthday, but I think it should be. It seems very close to me these days.
It’s very late (for me) and I’m very tired, but before I fall over, I had to post this, which is a terribly charming idea. I bought a v 20’s inspired little black dress today, and the idea of attending a Gatsby picnic is awfully appealing.
Good Things: Friends Edition
- A very ideal temporary housing situation with Molly
- Games with Jimi, Karin, and Amanda on Wednesday
- Pizza and TV and much needed relaxing with Keem on Thursday
- Much needed hugs from Karen on Friday
- Goofy “beauty boot camp” and dinner with Amanda and Jen on Friday
- Wii and snacks with Keem, Kasia, Erin, Jadon, and Josh still later on Friday
- Hugs from Kevin at the Market Saturday morning
- Breakfast and a sad goodbye with Carl later Saturday
- Relaxed and fun conversation with Ryan in Bloomington Saturday afternoon
- A long, albeit interrupted, phone conversation with Sarah while driving home from Bloomington Saturday afternoon
- Just bumming around Molly‘s place while she and Aaron had pizza and played video games
- Still more movies with Keem Saturday night
- Lots and lots of time on the phone and Skype with SB as often as we can fit it in (and afford it)
All my wonderful friends have made it easy to get through the last couple of weeks – and are making it awfully hard to start the round of goodbyes – or “see ya later”s – that have to happen this week.
I’m having a very frustrating day, and I really kind of need a hug.
Family cookery
September is birthday month in my family – Mom’s is the 8th, Mark’s is the 9th, and Jen’s is the 12th – and in lieu of an early celebration for Mom, we had dinner with the whole family last night. I made a salad with herbs and veggies from my garden, and Mark made stuffed burgers and an amazing guacamole. For dessert, we went to Dairy Depot.
That is not the important thing.
The important thing is Mark’s guacamole, which just might be better than mine. I’m exceptionally proud of my guacamole, so this is really saying something.
Mark and Jen did all of the prep work, but from what I observed, the guacamole contained:
– ripe avocados, coarsely chopped
– fresh tomatoes, chopped
– red onion, finely chopped
– ripe mangoes, coarsely chopped
– fresh cilantro, chopped
– maybe some salt and pepper?
We ate the guacamole with Scoops chips, though I definitely ate some of it with a spoon straight out of the bowl.
Briefly (again, yes, I know)
– Week one (of three) of 719 Miles Apart is drawing to a close, and I’m surprisingly OK. I was a bit of a basket case the afternoon SB left, but I’ve been so damned busy since then that I haven’t had much chance to wallow.
– Kim and I went to see The Invasion tonight. We didn’t mean to, but it just kind of happened. It was a perfectly adequate suspense-y movie, though I would have been OK with less vomit.
– Tomorrow I’m hopefully going to test drive a Honda Fit, which we may be buying in the next two weeks.
– I had a really awful doctor’s appointment last week, but the test results came back negative, so that’s one less thing to worry about in the short term. You didn’t think I’d pass up an opportunity to talk about my cervix, did you?
– I’ve officially moved out of Basil Estates – again, thought I’d be more sad than I actually am. In so many ways I’m just looking straight forward at this point.
– More than a little sad that I didn’t get to say goodnight to SB tonight.
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