Meanwhile back at Disney...

My former boss, Kevin, just became a proud papa of twin boys!

On October 17, 2008, Ethan Howard (5 lbs 11) and Evan Edward (5 lbs 15) were born!

I made them two matching baby blankets. One in blue and one in green.

I'm so happy for them and for me not having to deal with his inevitable sleep deprivation antics.

On the road...

Here is a breakdown of my trip with my mom from Los Angeles to Seattle:

Sunday, August 3, 2008:

9:15 am - 53,683 miles - I pulled out from in front of my cousin's house with a full tank of gas and began our trip up Interstate 5.

10:55am - 53,762 miles - We stopped for a bathroom break and mom took over driving. It took this long to get through the grape vine portion of the 5. My poor little car couldn't do that much over 20-25 miles and hour going up hill.

12:27p-1:36p - 53,838 - We stopped for lunch at a roadside Denny's. Mom continued to drive.

3:00p - 53,894 - We stop to fill up on gas. Mom continues to drive.

5:46p - 54,029 - We fill the car up with a half a tank of gas, use the bathrooms and I take over driving. Mom buys some post cards and we seem to be somewhere around Sacramento at this point.

7:50p - 54,120 - Bathroom break and leg stretch. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I continue to drive.

9:35p - 54,209 - Fill up on gas, bathroom break and leg stretch. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I continue to drive.

11:00p - 54,248 - We stop for the night and check in to the Comfort Inn. We tried a few other places, but they wanted way too much money and one place didn't have air conditioning. Apparently, a bunch of places were booked up with fireman returning from helping fight a California fire. We run over to Wendy's and we get some food. I didn't realize how hungry and/or tired I was until we stopped. I was a little cranky to say the least. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours."

Monday, August 4, 2008:

6:37a-7:20a - 54,248 - We check out of the hotel, load up the car and find that the battery is totally and utterly dead. We don't think we left the lights on or anything, but it is dead. We find two nice gentlemen that jump our car. They want nothing in return, but to ask us if we know about Jesus. I say "Yes" and he says "How?" and I reply "Catholics." I turn at this point and put the jumper cables in the car while mom talks to him. Eventually, they head off and we sit in the car for a bit before taking off. Mom drives.

9:00-9:31a - 54,313 - We stop at McDonald's and get some breakfast. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I beginning to think no one really knows how far it is to the border. The car starts right up so we figure the battery just need a jump and a bit of recharging.

10:47a - 54,300 - We finally hit the Oregon border.


11:06a - 54,375 - Fill up with gas and bathroom break. I take over driving so mom can enjoy the Oregon scenery. Jill from work had recommended doing this portion of the drive in the morning and now I see why. We would have missed a lot of beautiful scenery otherwise.

1:00p-2:15p - 54,465 - We stop for lunch at a little cafe. I realize that there is no way we are going to be in Seattle by 4:30p to do the walk through on the apartment. I call the landlady and we reschedule for 8:30a the next day. We get back to the car and once again the battery is dead. There is a auto shop, but they won't install it for us or can tell us if it is the battery or the alternator. We end up just getting a jump from a nice family at a gas station. We decide not to turn the car off until we get to Seattle. Mom drives for a bit.

3:59p - 54,572 - Bathroom break and leg stretch. Mom continues to drive.

5:08p - 54,622 - Fill up the car with gas at a Costco that happened to be right off the interstate. I think it was the only time we found gas below $4 and it was only $3.99. Mom's still at the wheel.

I should mention that my car is really liking driving through Oregon. It doesn't have as many hills as California. We were able to go as fast as 55-60 mph for most of the state.

6:53p - 54,689 - Bathroom break at a rest stop. I took over driving at this point.

7:36p-7:52p - 54,717 - We sat in the car (keeping it running) and ate some Burger King so I wouldn't get as cranky as I did before. I keep driving.

At some point during this time we crossed over into Washington. I couldn't get a picture of the sign because it was on a bridge as we were leaving Portland. I didn't realize Portland was so close to the the border.

10:06p - 54,829 - Last fill up of gas on this trip. I kept on driving.

11:22p - 54,855 - We arrive in Green Lake and end up stopping for the night at a Days Inn. As soon as the car is turned off, the battery goes dead so we will need a jump in the morning.

So for those keeping track that is:

1,093 total miles
3 states
2 drivers
2 battery jumps

And thus concludes the hauling of all my stuff from LA to Seattle.

My Last Sunday in LA

We woke up bright an early and I loaded up the car while mom checked out. On my way down, I slipped a goodbye note under the door of Andy, Theresa, Ace and Matt's room.

We made it to my cousin's house around 9a and re-hooked the trailer up. We were on our way by 9:15a with a full tank of gas.

We were officially out of LA by about 10a.

Not really all that exciting.

My Last Friday in LA

Friday morning started bright and early. My friend, Cat, offered to give us a tour of the Warner Brother's lot, but we needed to be there at 9a. She's a writer for "Supernatural" coming back this fall on the CW - check local listings. Pictured below - she is the one who is not me:



Mom and I met her there and were in the middle of looking at Star's Hollow from the "Gilmore Girls" when Out of the Closet called to say they would be at my apartment in 20 minutes to pick up my remaining furniture.

I left mom with Cat and headed back to my place. They showed up about 5 mins after I got there. They took my matching couch and love seat, my dresser and my end tables. They left behind my sleeper couch and entertainment center.

I met back up with them at Warner's. We wandered over to the museum and on the way found the Buy More store. Buy More is from the series "Chuck" on NBC also coming back this fall - check local listings. It's where they work.


At the museum, I said my goodbyes to Cat who had to go back to work. She wouldn't be coming to the wedding so that would be the last time I would see her until she visits here in Seattle.

The museum had lots of costumes and props of various things on the first floor and the second floor is all Harry Potter stuff. You can get sorted by the sorting hat. It called me a "Weasley" and put me in Griffindor. Mom got Griffindor as well.

After that, we hurried over to my old work and said some goodbyes there. Unfortunately, by the time we got there is was lunchtime and didn't see many people. I did get to say goodbye to Elvie who I will see again when she comes to visit.


After that we headed over to my friend, Jen Chapman, who works for Reelz Channel. Reelz Channel is like ESPN for movies. Ask your cable provider for the channel today! Pictured below - she is also the one that is not me:


We got to see her office and where they shoot and edit their shows. Then headed over to Wokano for some lunch and snuggling as this is where I needed to say goodbye to her until she comes and visits.

After that, we headed back to the apartment around 4p and started packing the remaining items. I grossly underestimated the amount of stuff that needed to be packed and organized. We ended up putting a lot of stuff in a freebie pile in my apartment for my neighbors to pick through. One of them took a bunch of stuff and was all excited about taking my poster of "Miracle." By the time we packed everything up and got out of there it was 11:30p and we hadn't eaten in hours. We grabbed some McDonald's and headed down to Irvine to check into our hotel.

We got a little lost as my dumb ass didn't get directions to the hotel. I just had directions to the wedding which was near the hotel. So mom was driving and was worried we were going to get pulled over for having the car packed to the gills and blocking the rear window. We were pulled over, but not for that. Mom thought she had pulled over to a non-lane when really she was stopped in the middle of the road. We told the policeman we were lost and he got us back on the freeway.

We finally pulled into the hotel around 1:30a. This was a nice hotel and the bed was very soft and I was asleep in a matter of seconds.

My Last Thursday in LA

Having about two hours of sleep, we got up and headed over to the U-Haul. I had reserved a trailer that could be towed by my little 2002 Saturn SL 2 named "Suzy Q." Pictured below.

This is the medium sized trailer and the biggest one my little car could tow. It's 5x8 and can hold 208 cubic feet worth of stuff.

My friend, Mike, met us at the U-Haul and rented a truck for himself. He took my bed frame and helped our friend, Karen, take my china cabinet, dining room table and my bookcase. I had him rent a dolly to make things easier which it did, thankfully. We got their stuff out and then started loading the trailer.

People think that video games are useless. I'm here to tell you that my Tetris skills came in super handy packing things up. I fit my mattress and all my belongings minus any furniture. I left no space in the whole thing. Seriously. No space. Nothing moved at all.


All of this was done between 10a and 9p with about 2 hours of sleep. Mom and I did a majority of it and Mike helped out for the last couple of hours. Throughout the day, I was checking email and more drama came in, but I didn't have the time to address it since I was packing my computer up as well. After all that, the three of us met up with my friend, Cat, do grab some dinner at Studio City Cafe which is where Killer Shrimp used to be and is now run by Jinky's. Jinky's is a great little American cafe type place that serves breakfast all day.

After our tummy's were all full, mom and I drove the trailer out to my cousin's place in Monrovia. That is about 15-20 miles east of where I live. I let mom drive as the lack of sleep and driving with a trailer might be a bad idea for me to do. We got there and I showed off my packing job. Nothing moved after that much driving. See, video games are worth playing!

We unhooked the trailer and mom got a tour of their house. They have been doing major renovations and the place looks great. I left my computer at his place and he hooked his computer up with mine and we exchanged music as a thank you for letting me keep my stuff there. This is why the lack of updates on my blog for so long. After that we drove home and I was able to get about 6 hours of sleep.

My Last Wednesday in L.A.

Mom and I got up and headed down to Disneyland around 11a. We used two of the passes employees get that don't have blackout dates so we didn't have to pay for either park.

I showed mom the awesomeness that is the cream cheese filled pretzels and we headed over to Haunted Mansion. We hit a few rides, grabbed some corn dogs and headed over to California Adventure. Here we ran into Sully from Monster's Inc. and Wall-E:


Hit all the rides we could go on since mom and I don't do roller coasters. Bug's Life was mom's favorite. We got in line for the new Toy Story ride, but after 25 minutes the ride broke down. We waited in line for another 30 minutes, but gave up and headed back to Disneyland.

We took the train over to Toon Town so mom could meet the main Mouse.


My nephew's birthday was coming up so I got him a Cars card and mailed it from Toon Town so it would have a Disneyland postmark.


We hit a few more rides and got a good spot to watch the fireworks display. Afterwards, we finished with Pirates of the Caribbean ride (which was closed for the first half of the day) and then headed to the shops for mom to get souvenirs for everyone back home. We left around midnight.

After an hour of driving home, I checked my email before bed. Unfortunately, it had some personal drama in it that was rather upsetting. I took a shower to calm down, but it didn't do much good and I didn't end up falling asleep until 6a. I'm not going to share the drama here, but the lack of sleep that ensued is relevant to my final Thursday in L.A.

My Last Tuesday in LA...

I got up early and got a bunch of packing done.

The wedding we are going to on Saturday has a request to not wear black. I went in search of a blue skirt (unsuccessfully) and was in a Sears when the earthquake it. It lasted about 15 seconds yet the retartedness and panic lasted for hours. I'm standing there and people are screaming and running for the door. I tried to stop them. You don't go outside for an earthquake. We don't live in a 3rd world country. The buildings aren't going to collapse and if they do being outside isn't going to be much better. The main thing you need to worry about is debris. Broken glass, for instance. Now when windows break, they break out - not in. So WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO BE OUTSIDE WHERE GLASS AND DEBRIS IS GOING TO BE RAINING DOWN ON YOU? Retards. I swear to God. People suck.

Sears employees were even more retarded than most. They make the announcement "All employees to the conference room." I say to the other customers "Does that mean help ourselves?" Seriously, these people have the common sense of ants.

After that, I went and got my car washed since mom and I are going to be spending a fair amount of time in it over the next few days. I came home, ate some left over pizza and then headed to LAX to pick up mom. There was a huge police presence there. I'm assuming because people are retarded.

Mom's flight got in early and we dropped off her stuff and went to dinner with my friend, Theresa, and her 2 and a half year old, JJ. I brought JJ two small toy cars I found while cleaning. He played with them while watching "Cars" on the iPhone. We ate pizza and talked. When we were leaving JJ was being fussy while his Mom was saying hello to some people she ran into. My car was right there so I opened the door and said "JJ, you want to drive?" He dropped both cars and was in the driver's seat in about a split second. He played in there for a bit and I realized that would probably be the last time I saw him before I left. He had a good time and then screamed when his mom finally took him out of the car so they could go home.

We came back to the apartment and watched "Enchanted" and then mom crashed around 10:30p which was 12:30a her time. I crashed 2 hours later.

Today, we are headed to Disneyland!

My Last Monday in LA...

I went to Costco, got some gas for my car since it is cheaper there ($4.20) and asked if the double bookcase that I like was available in Seattle so I wouldn't have to lug it all the way down there. The answer was YES! So, I got that going for me.

I then dropped off a library book that was overdue (*cough* 2002 *cough*).

Next was Best Buy to use a gift card I got as a going away gift. I picked up "Enchanted" and "Dan In Real Life." I've packed most of my DVDs up and wanted something new to watch as I have no cable and need distractions as I pack. If you haven't seen either of those movies, I highly recommend. Both soundtracks will get suck in your head...you've been warned.

After Best Buy was Target to pick up the randomest of items - envelopes, coffee and facial scrub.

Then to the grocery store to use a coupon for batteries for my camera, to the post office for stamps and the eye doctor to pick up my glasses. My contacts aren't ready yet and they may have to mail them to me. I'm hoping they will be in by Friday.

That was all done by 11a. I came back home and packed up the kitchen until I went to lunch with Paul (star of "Two Guys Drinking in a Bar") and his wife Karen at a Chinese restaurant around the corner. They just moved into a house and I took some boxes off their hands. They, in turn, took some tupperware and lawn chairs off my hands.

I got a call from Out of the Closet and they won't be able to pick up the rest of my furniture until Friday morning. By the way, none of my furniture sold. No one came by despite advertising on Craigslist and around the neighborhood. A few friends are taking some items, but the couches and dresser are getting donated.

At this point, I needed a nap so I took one because I could. Mwhahahahahaha.

Got up and packed some more until Mike (creator of "Two Guys Drinking in a Bar") came over and hung out. Later, we met up with Paul and Karen again for dinner. I came back packed some more and crashed around midnight.

Exciting, huh?

Random Question...

While I am packing, I am listening to NPR's podcast "All Song Considered" and they are talking about the music that defined my generation (Gen X). Now which makes me feel older that almost all those songs are almost 20 years old or the fact that I am listening to NPR?

My Going Away Party

On Saturday night, I had my going away party at the Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood. Formosa is an old school Hollywood bar that was used a lot in "L.A. Confidential." I reserved the patio which worked out nicely as we had our own little area with our own bartender and it didn't cost anything extra to reserve.

Prior to the party a few close friends joined us for dinner at a BBQ place next door to the Formosa. We wanted to make sure we had full bellies to absorb the alcohol. That turned out to be unnecessary as they watered down the drinks quite a bit, but they were tasty enough.

There was quite a turnout. Unfortunately, it was too dark to shoot and video, but I got plenty of pictures. Here are a few random selections:





These and the rest can also be found on my WinkFlash photo album. If the link doesn't work, you can go to www.winkflash.com and enter the name "fangirl" to see the pictures. Please enjoy.

Spoiled Me Rotten

I have previously alluded to the fact that I got spoiled rotten with gifts at my work going away party. I figured I should take the time to do some show and tell of the actual gifts.

Before I begin, I should explain that there is a wonderful show on Monday nights on ABC Family called "Middleman." It is "Men in Black" with "Gilmore Girls" dialog, "Spaced" references and Steam/NASA Punk gadgets. Knowing my readers, half of you got half of those references. Oh and I work...err...worked for ABC Family. Those pieces of information help the below list of gifts.

You would think that those previous bits of awesomeness would be enough, but they couldn't stop there. They continued with the gifts by making me a "Seattle Survival Basket" which included the following items:

(1) Mickey Mouse umbrella
(2) CDs of Grunge/Seattle Music from "Buzz Cuts"
(2) CDs of Grunge/Seattle Music that was put together by SueAnn personally
(3) DVDs of Ratatouille, Pixar's short films and Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(2) Books: Pike's Place Market Cookbook and Oregon/Washington Tour Book
(1) Map of Seattle
(1) Starbucks Gift card
(1) Visa Gift card for Gas Money
(5) Target Gift cards
(11) Coupons for various shopping outlets and touristy places
and
(1) Really cool basket that it all went into

In addition to that, some co-workers got separate gifts which include:

A Book of Disney Comics from the early days
A Mickey Mouse Umbrella and Coffee Mug
A Disney Messenger Bag
and
A 12 volt Cordless Drill/Driver Kit

I think you can see why I wanted to do a separate post to show off all my gifts. They all went above and beyond the call of duty on this and really spoiled me rotten. Aside from my many thanks and the bag of bagels I brought in the next morning, I really don't know where to begin to thank everyone for all that they have done for me here. Not just in these gifts, but their sincere and sweet sentiments they have expressed to me these last few weeks/days.

And for the record, yes, I know I said awesome a lot in the videos. Can't help it. Everything about those gifts and the people behind them is awesome. And yes, I also know I'm a big dork.

Yesterday...the end of an era.

Yesterday was my last day and it just didn't feel like goodbye. More like see you all later. I packed up what little I hadn't already taken home already. I said my goodbyes. Turned on my out-of-office notice, got the temp all set up to take over and sent out my farewell email. Here is what I sent:

As I'm sure all of you know by now, I will no longer be working for the mouse nor living in LA. I am moving up to the Pacific Northwet (not a typo) to enjoy the better weather and not have to see those annoying blue skies or pesky sun beams anymore.

I have enjoyed my time here and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with all of you. Thank you for the support, guidance, questions, answers, anecdotes, laughter and encouragement you have provided me over the last five years. Even though I will miss all of you and the company (however, I will not miss SAP, compliance training nor performance connection), I am looking forward to this new challenge and to starting a new phase of my life.

In the immortal words of Shakespeare, "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." Wait. Wrong quote. I meant to say, in the immortal words of Richard Bach, "Don't be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."

While today is my last day working here, that doesn't mean goodbye. In this computer age, there are many ways to keep in touch and I hope that you choose at least one of them. Below are all the many ways to track me down:

Email: blacfedora@hotmail.com or kathy.bugajsky@gmail.com
Cell: XXXXXX (not posting it on my blog)
AOL AIM: Filmbratty
My Blog: http://fangirladventures.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathybugajsky
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/fangirly
Facebook: Search for me by name
Friendster: http://www.friendster.com/fangirly
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Fangirl
Winkflash (Photos): http://fangirl.winkflash.com/

So drop me a line in any or all of the above ways!

Kathy Bugajsky
Formerly Kevin Closson's Assistant

P.S. Don't forget! My going away party is tomorrow at Formosa Café at 8pm. Come one! Come all! I have the patio reserved. Here is the evite link (if you don't already have it or if I missed you when I sent it out originally): http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/GHCICWIFJRSQHJPUWHUP/goingawayparty

Note: I totally stole the "Pacific Northwet" line from my friend Linda who lives in Seattle.

I'll be curious to see who actually does make an effort to contact me once I'm gone. I hope to be surprised to see more people not less. Time will only tell.

Tonight is my big party at the Formosa Cafe. I am so looking forward to it. If I am recovered enough tomorrow, I'll post about it and upload all the pics and/or videos.

My last day on the job...

Today is my last day working for the business and legal affairs department for Disney ABC Cable Networks Group. At the end of the day, I will be unemployed.

I started off as a temp for one week at Christmas time in 2002. They brought me back as a temp in March of 2003 on a 6 month assignment. I began working for KC and KE in July of 2003 and they officially hired me in early December of that year. Later, KE would get his own assistant and I worked solely for KC.

I liked my job and love my co-workers. I would have continued to work there if I were staying in Los Angeles. My co-workers so rock. Did you see my post about my going away party? Wait until you see what they got me.

I don't feel like I'm really leaving there because I'm still going to be in touch with most of them. I mean I still talk to people I went to grade school with for petesake. I will keep up with anyone who wants to keep up with me. My Christmas card list for this year is going to be huge! My hand is starting to cramp just thinking about it.

I really work with a lot of good people and I'm not just saying that because I sent a bunch of them the link to this blog. Today will be a happy sad.

My Farewell Lunch

Today my co-workers threw me an AWESOME farewell lunch. I cannot begin to tell you the level of amazing these people are.

It began at 12:30p in the large conference room and it was decorated with balloons and wrapped gifts. They brought in In&Out Burgers which was perfect since I won't be getting them up in Seattle. Then the speeches came. My boss, Kevin Closson, spoke first. Unfortunately, he's been sick all week so his voice was low and the video camera was too far away so I can't post that video. I'm sure he's happy about that.

My other boss from before, Kevin Ellman, with his new assistant, Denize Zavala, wrote and performed a rap for me. This was caught on video perfectly:

In case you weren't able to hear it or the video isn't playing right, these are the words:

Dis-Missin'

she's goin' insane to rock it with cobain
she's givin' up the bucks to kick it at starbucks

(Chorus) she's going back to closson...hmm i don't think so

no more fun in "the sun" with the rain she'll be one
she gonna buy a loft and work at microsoft

(Chorus) she's going back to closson...hmm i don't think so

lookin' stella with umbrella
kickin' it Rockafella
Sleepless in Seattle, is where she'll be
Time to dis KC and miss the Kathy B.

(Chorus) she's going back to closson...hmm i don't think so

(c) Kevin Ellman aka E-Man and Denise Zavala aka D-Nice

After that, their boss, Adina, gave a lovely speech. Then there was opening of the gifts. I'll do another post on all the awesome, awesome gifts once I take some pics of the autographed "Middleman" posters I got. which is just a tip of the iceberg of awesomeness.

I then had my chance to speak which was awkward and odd as you would expect. I suck at that kind of stuff. I have video of it, but since I control what gets posted (mwhahaha), you don't get to see it. I'm not much of a crier so there were no tears, but it will be sad to go. I just don't feel like I'm leaving these people because I know I will talk to them outside of work.

The event was topped off with cupcakes as all events should be.

Everyone was absolutely great the planning was perfect. I thanked them in an email, but I'd like to thank them again here. Thank you Shana, SueAnn, Elawna, Lynn, Monica, Jill and Kevin C. for the perfect going away lunch. As always, you rock. Thanks for Kevin E. and Denise for my rap. I'll give more thanks in a later post when I list the gifts.

All in the marketing...

Last Saturday, I was at the eye doctor enjoying my insurance while I still have it. As I was waiting, they had this video ad for Lasik eye surgery playing in the background. I heard the voiceover guys say "Do you hate putting your contacts in every morning? Do you hate taking them out every night?" and then goes into his pitch about how Lasik would end all of that. However in my head, the ad went more like this:

"Do you hate putting your contacts in every morning? Do you hate taking them out every night? Well, now you can have laser beams shot into your eyes while your awake to correct that hassle. You can even watch as they perform the surgery on you. Best of all, it's not covered by insurance so you get to pay for the surgery yourself. Did we mention it costs more than your car? Well, it does and it hasn't been around long enough to see the effects over time as your body starts to naturally age. Doesn't that sound so much better than putting in contacts every day?"

Yea. I'm not a fan of Lasik at all. I warn all my eye doctors not even to bother pitching me on it. Instead, I got my check up (no change in prescription within the last 16 months), ordered my contacts, picked out a new pair of glasses and paid a total of $180. I'm okay living with the hassle, thanks.

Club 33

Ever heard of the infamous Club 33 at Disneyland? No, well, let me tell you about it.

Club 33 is a private club in Disneyland located in the New Orleans area near the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It is the only place in Disneyland were you can get alcohol. Walt Disney worked with a lot of corporate sponsors over the years and noted they liked their VIP Lounges and had one put into the park. I t was originally just for corporate sponsors, but after his death it was opened up to individuals. A membership start at $10, 450 with annual fees of $3, 275 and this doesn't include food or drink or even admission to the park. They are able to make reservations 90 days in advance and have guests make reservations on their membership a few times a year. In the Disney company, one has to be an executive vice president or higher to make a reservation. The minimum for dinner is $66 per person. Not difficult when the entrees start at $30.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I was able to have dinner there last night. A friend and Disney employee managed to convince someone to make him a reservation for 10 of us to celebrate his 33rd birthday. I've always wanted to go and perfect timing as I am about to depart LA.

We got to the park at noon and went on a few rides including the new Toy Story ride/3D game at California Adventure. It was awesome and worth the 45 minute wait in the 103 degree heat. We went on a few other rides and then changed into our nice clothes to meet the dress code a half an hour before our reservation. I wore a black skirt and a new black and white blouse. Try not to die of shock.

At 6p, we were buzzed in and once our table was ready, we were taken upstairs. It is a lovely little resturant. We were seated at a nice round table in the center of the room. Very nice, but I was expecting a bit more in terms of atmosphere. I had heard rumors that the waiters were in tuxes, but not the case.

The menu was a choice of either ordering the Vitner's Menu which was a 5 course meal of the chef's design for that day or picking and choosing items off the right hand side of the menu that had lots of options. The Vitner menu was a flat $75 with the option of a wine pairing for an extra $35. I went with this minus the wine. I'm not a big wine fan and was spending enough as it was. Everyone else ordered off the right hand side of the menu. No one had any food that wasn't amazing, but I contend I had it best with the choices for me. Even though I wasn't a big fan of a lot of what was on their, I figured if I was going to like it, this would be the place to try it.

1st course was a simple salad with grapes, hiccama, almonds and a light dressing that was perfect. 2nd course was a stuffed crab shell that had a breading that tasted like gourmet hush puppies. 3rd course was boneless short rib with a potato and blue cheese puree. 4th course was three different cheeses including a blended blue cheese/brie combo and crackers. 5th course was a dark chocolate mouse with fresh berries.

The meal was perfection. 3 hours, 5 courses and a $100 later I felt perfectly content. Not full. Not hungry. Just right. Worth every penny. I am very grateful for the experience and I am putting blue cheese in my mashed potatoes from now on.

If you have the connections and can spare the money, I highly recommend going there and getting the $75 pre-set menu.

When Geeks Pack...

I reserved my U-Haul trailer this weekend. I paid the $50 deposit to order the hitch. When it's in, I'll bring my car in for them to install it and then pick up the trailer the Thursday before I leave. My car can only tow the medium size trailer so that means I will definitely be selling all my furniture. I'm going to try and keep my mattress and bring my dining room table. My table can be taken apart easily. Putting it back together is a whole different story. It's all going to come down to my mad Tetris skillz as to how much stuff I'm going to be able to take with me. Thankfully, I am a Tetris master.

Speaking of Tetris, I think I am going to hook up my old school Nintendo when I unpack everything. It's been sitting in it's original box for a long, long time now. I used my confirmation money in 8th grade to buy it. It was a $150 in 1990. I miss playing Tetris, Marble Madness and the original Super Mario Brothers. Now as technology improves I can use compressed air instead of blowing on it when the cartridge won't load. Good times.

The sky is falling...

I've not told part of my brain that we're moving to Seattle yet. Been speaking in code around it, but I think it's starting to catch on. It sort of just screamed out "we're not going to work here anymore!" and then fainted. This is only going to get worse as it gets closer. I'm going to keep that part sedated for a while. I'll wait until certain things like a job and an apartment are in place before I wake it up. It tends to be the part that freaks out easily. There was this one time when an apple fell on it's head...good times.

Yesterday, I handed off all my crisis management floor leader duties to my co-worker. It took me a week to gather all my stuff up and note all the things she needed to know about it. She will be a great floor leader and wield the power beneviolently (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. It's a perfectly cromulent word). It was a little more traumatizing than I thought it would be.

I bequeathed her the walkie talkie, dressed her in the bright orange vest of power and dubbed her with the binder of doom. Much like I was three and half years ago. *sniff*

So here ends four and half years of service on the crisis management team. I wanted to hand it off early in case their were transition issues and in case I need to leave earlier than expected.

*sniff*

Simple Things...

I've been trying to do a little packing or at least something related to the move every day. I have a far amount of boxes packed up so far. I packed up a lot of my DVDs that I know I won't be watching between now and when I leave, my baking sheet and cupcake sheets, all my books (graphic and regular), but it still didn't seem like I was really moving.

That is until I packed up one thing and then suddenly it seemed real and not only to me, but to my roommate as well. The simplest of things. I took all the magnets off my fridge. Seems silly right? I don't know if it's because I see them everyday or that the fridge seems bare without them. No matter how many boxes I trip over or how many vacuum seal bags of clothes I shrink, nothing has seemed more like I'm leaving than that.

I think the next big thing will be getting rid of the entertainment center. No matter what roommate was here that monstrosity has not moved. I think that will freak me out the most as will all my friends that have just become accustomed to it being as much apart of the apartment as the walls.

I felt a great disturbance in the furniture....

As if millions of dust bunnies suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened...

Last weekend, I packed up both my bookcases. I sold one to a friend for the cost of a Starbucks coffee. I figured it was only fair since I paid $5 for it 10 years ago. I pulled it away from the wall and there was a legion of dust bunnies lying in wait. I wiped them out with some orange Pledge and a rag. The dust bunnies were slaughtered, but they had some revenge. Not sure if you know this, but it is very hard to carry a freshly Pledged bookcase. I couldn't get a good hold of it and almost dropped it on my foot.

Because the bookcase is gone, I was able to move my bed and dust underneath it. This is where the army seemed to have set up camp. They even had a few dust rabbits in places. It was so bad in spots that the carpet was grey and you could hold the dust in your hand. I filled a whole canister from the vacuum trying to get them all. In the end, they lost the battle and the war. However, I fear their are other sleeper cells waiting for activation. I must find them before they get me.

Now wasn't that more to read then me just saying "I dusted last weekend"?