Say goodbye (so say goodbye) Say goodbye forever (goodbye forever)

tomorrow, I embark on my new adventure!  are you excited?  I’m excited.

I am feeling nostalgic about the last five years.  living in urbana.  going to school.  living in the same town as my awesome friends.   I left town for the last time yesterday.  turned in my apartment key, got gas, and drove away.  I’ll be back, but I won’t live there.  it won’t be home.

I have actually a very good memory.   I remember a lot of things that are mostly unnecessary.  I remember the moment when my friendships were made, when I met the person or when I first noticed them for being totally rocking.  I had so many of these experiences at college!  I remember little things, moments that no one else does recall but that have made my life so great.  tom running and jumping up and down on my bed talking about teapots, dancing with ed (we totally set the night on fire), ryan at the 4th (good times and bad), reading a book while nate played xbox, realizing that steph was so much like me (someday I should tell her that one), trying to figure out if katharine was kate, togas with kayla, watching movies with james.  I got a million of them.  I could go for days.

I feel strengthened knowing that I have such amazing people supporting me.  I know that if it gets too hard or if I think I’m failing I can talk to my friends and even if they don’t understand me because of the rambling and craziness they’ll still let me know that I’m successful at something, if it’s only that I rock at making cool friends.

so, I’m sad to be leaving illinois, but mostly because of the people I’ll no longer get to see whenever I feel like it.  it seems like things were a lot simpler back when all I had to do was go downstairs at 6pm and everyone would be there waiting.  “let’s try to not get banned from the cafeteria tonight, ok guys?  seriously.”

the future

so last night, it was pointed out that I have a tendancy to run (sometimes literally) away from guys who could possibly want to date me.  I knew this before.  I’d be working on it but at the moment there’s no one to run from so I’m doing pretty well.

anyway the conversation last night got me thinking about relationships in my family and such.  these are the examples I’ve had.

my great aunt helen and my great uncle george.  she didn’t like him when they first met.  in fact, she wouldn’t join a research group he was in (this is a fact, regardless of what else in their story they say just to bug each other, he switched groups for her).  she went to work at los alamos to avoid him (uncle george says) but he followed her.  he says the only reason he worked on the manhattan project was her (whether or not this is true, who knows).  either way, she maintains she only married him because he just wouldn’t go away (it might sound as though they don’t care about each other, but they are very cute together).

my parents.  the first time my dad asked my mom out she ran away.  I mean really, actually, got scared and ran away.  but he didn’t go away either so they started dating.  my parents never got engaged, dad says it was “understood” that they’d just get married so they did.  perhaps he was scared if he asked she’d say no?

so in conclusion, apparently the only way people in my family end up married is when the dude is diligent, crazy, and won’t give up.

writing an obit for my laptop

so I’m moving to ohio.  on tuesday.  which is very, very soon. 

I wasn’t nervous, because I’m going to make new friends and stay in contact with the old ones and we were all going to have new experiences together and nothing would change except I’ll be in ohio. 

then my trusty (ha!) laptop kicked the bucket.  actual, not recognizing the processor exists making bad noises death.  “it’s about time!” says everyone who has accompanied me on my journey through laptop ownership. 

I can’t help but feeling a little bit sad.  I mean, this is the first computer I ever owned, I got it my senior year of high school.  we’ve been through a lot.  I took it with me when I was first starting college, in the dorm.  I wrote my senior thesis on it, taking it back and forth between the lab and my apartment.  I had sitting with our laptops in the living room parties with tom and ed.  I carried it to wales and used it to stay in touch with americans. 

true, it’s been unreliable, slow, prone to sudden blue screens of death, the monitor wouldn’t stay up, it won’t stay closed, it overheats, battery life is crap, it’s had it’s problems.  but it allowed me to stay in touch, communicate with friends. 

I’ll miss you, my crappy laptop. 

my mother is a rock star

seriously.

this week my mom, our church organist, and I are leading the music portion of our parish’s vacation bible school.  just in case you didn’t know.  Alice is playing piano and mom and I are singing/doing actions.

today we taught the little kids (preschool-2nd grade) This Little Light of Mine, hiding it under a bushel (no!), won’t let satan blow it out, all the good stuff people have sung for decades.  They loved it.  My mom was standing up there, singing crazy loud, waving her finger around, and the kids were all following her.  when we got to the last verse (let it shine til Jesus comes) my mom put both fingers in the air and was waving them and the kids had their eyes glued to her and started waving their fingers over their heads like they were lighters.

next performance, tomorrow night.  same battime, same batchannel.

wasting time in the usual ways

I just finished reading this book. It was really very good, non-fiction, funny, made me want to live in New York. That’s what it’s about, living in New York, specifically with children. all the small little things that make that city special and different from any other city in the world.

my favorite bit I think was the bit about sleepovers. the author’s son and his friend would have no-screen sleepover weekends where they weren’t allowed to use video games, internet, tv, etc. it was meant to foster their creativity, keep them from rotting their brains with worthless past times. so instead the boys learned how to play pool and spent the afternoon teaching themselves how to sing and play Purple Haze. the dads were so proud! instead of doing “druggishly indulging in a cynically engineered entertainment” they were in touch with their roots, american history. the author’s wife pointed out that pool and Hendrix were themselves taboo activities in their own times but he refused to concede that it was the same and furthered his delight in the weekend by explaining to their son the meaning behind Purple Haze. it’s educational!

I found his description of the New York bus completely accurate. when we went there, we stayed in New Jersey and took the bus into the city. there was this feeling, of being there but not really being there, of being disconnected from the city.

we didn’t actually experience New York, we just saw a few sites and waited in lines and made our contribution to the swarm of tourists (which is not the way my family ever likes to experience a new place). we didn’t go to a museum or eat anywhere! it doesn’t even count as a visit, except next time I’m there I can skip the empire state building and ellis island.

anyway, I really liked this book. be careful if you read it though, you’ll probably catch yourself checking expedia for cheap plane tickets before you’ve finished. hmmm…how much would it cost to spend a week in Manhattan…