DAY SIXTY-SEVEN ~ 9.19

ELEVEN.

after packing 5 large boxes to be shipped, 2 suitcases, a couple more Space Bags, and moving the few items left into neat piles to be packed, my room officially looks sad and empty. well, emptying is more accurate, i suppose. i have a little more work to do, and a few more suitcases and boxes to pack, but i've severely dented the daunting piles of packing. i can feel all the hard work in my body, too. my lower back is in pain like whoa, and the rest of my muscles and joints are joining the pain party. time for drugs and sleep, my friends. i've got the first of my last 5 days of work tomorrow. technically it's a half day, but it's still all gross.

DAY SIXTY-SIX ~ 9.18

TwElVe. soooo myspacey.

i did it at a trot, and a gallup, but i also did it real slow so my heart didn't palpitate. i was also not late. i did the PUYALLUP today! recreationally, that is. i've been there 3 times already this fair season, but when you are working not only is it not fun it's downright torturous. a newly christened Seattle-ite Kira and my mother joined in on the adventure. let me say, we sincerely ate our way through the fair. we plowed through some delightful fair fare (haha, check out that clever play on words there folks) including roasted corn on the cob, a GIANT slab of barbeque ribs, curley fries, cotton candy (just my mom and Kira ate that, because it's nasty) and an elephant ear (which i devoured all by myself). the ribs came with a delightful side of pickle, which i can easily say was the greatest surprise of the day. after we rolled ourselves back out to the car, we all headed home looking forward to the impending food comas. delicious day.

today's burning questions:
who is "Kathy the Turner" and what is she turning?
why am i in this basket and where are we going?
did Buckley flush the "toalit"?

DAY SIXTY-FIVE ~ 9.17

lucky 13.

the one day i wear heels to work because "all i ever do is sit all day, right?" i end up standing, walking, and doing general manual labor all day. wonderful. my feet kill. i dealt with a shipment of 40 boxes, moving each one approximately 3 times each, and ran around like a chicken with my head cut off looking for stuff and organizing other stuff and planning for an event i am not attending tomorrow. not my favorite of days. i just have to keep chanting my new "get through my last few days of work" mantra...Chicago is soon...Chicago is soon...Chicago is soon...

DAY SIXTY-FOUR ~ 9.16

catorce.

all told i worked for 11 hours. straight. in one day. sure, that includes drive time to and from the distant land of Puyallup, but still. geez. i'm beat. also smiling and talking to unfortunate looking strangers all day long makes me hurt, body and soul.

DAY SIXTY-THREE ~ 9.15

uno. cinco.

that's really it. i used to like wednesdays...but working in the office all day made me not so excited to celebrate the day of hump.

DAY SIXTY-TWO ~ 9.14

sixteen days.

in other news, i've begun another countdown on the sly. this secret countdown marks the number of days i have left at work. the work that i can no longer focus any attention on anymore. my brain has left the office building. thank goodness it's only a couple more weeks of this lameness.

i'm thinking of entering my leg hair in the record books. it's bad. i'm seriously a woolly mammoth right now. yuck. but girlfriend just doesn't have the time to shave her legs right now. it takes all the energy i've got to get through the days, let alone take care of the caveman look. especially because i'm not showing the gams off anymore this season, and nobody but me knows. well...and now the whole internet knows. oops.

DAY SIXTY-ONE ~ 9.13

while my own personal countdown (aided by Keeks) began a while ago, i figured i might as well start one here. in a mere 17 days i will be an official Chicagoan. now, when i say official i mean i will be an individual who resides addressless and jobless in the Chicago area. but that's really just semantics. so here we are: ONE. SEVEN.

best investment as of late? my jean jacket from Old Navy. sure, it's a bit retro, but it's super cute and perfectly suited to this dreary fall weather we've been having. i've been sporting it like it's all i've got. and that's nearly accurate, seeing as how pretty much everything else i own has been packed, piled to donate, or had the life sucked out of it in a Space Bag. which i am still in constant awe of, by the way. also, i promise to never wear an entire outfit made of denim (a la Justin and Britney circa 2001).

DAY SIXTY ~ 9.12

tonight while working at the Puyallup Fair again i was insulted by a greasy salesman of hair styling products and accosted by the Cookie Lee jewelry lady. neither product is on my must-have list for now or ever, so that was a waste of their time. i will tell you that piglets are super cute no matter what anyone else thinks. especially when they are clamboring over one another to get fed. ADORABLE.

DAY FIFTY-NINE ~ 9.11

more packing. lots more packing. i even boxed up and sealed mementos to keep here in Bothell today, which was a huge accomplishment. those are the first of many more packed and sealed boxes. i also made a late night run with my mother to the grocery store for much needed goodies: Dr. Pepper and Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies. yum. i am so glad my mother is the same person i am and is willing to have strange cravings and travel to fulfill them.

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT ~ 9.10

going through my shoes and deciding which to keep and which to give away was a very emotional process. i sat on the family room floor surrounded by the loves of my life, trying to pick which ones i think are prettier. they are all gorgeous. traumatizing, for sure. in the end, i am proud of my ability to purge. i will not announce here how many pairs of shoes i had, still have, or was able to give away because the numbers are staggering. but i did to a lot of giving away, which is nice.

i used to LOVE going to the Puyallup Fair as a child. working there as an adult? not so much fun. at least we are inside and rain-proof. thank god.

DAY FIFTY-SEVEN ~ 9.9

not my favorite of days. i will not lie, having someone completely lose and screw up something you worked on organizing for several hours and taking absolutely no responsibility for the loss of said item is frustrating. when it's your boss and you can't get mad, it's even worse. work was hectic like whoa, what with the lost box of goodies, and preparing for another big giant fair last minute. oh, well. i'm counting down the days.

DAY FIFTY-SIX ~ 9.8

it is very difficult to focus on work at work when you know you only have like 15 more days of it. i am so beyond checked out it's not even funny. i wish i could tell you what happened today, but i've got really no clue.

DAY SCHFIFTY-FIVE ~ 9.7

in honor of my schfifty fifth post, i am traveling back in time to my sophomore and junior years of high school when i spent countless hours in the newspaper room watching e-baum's world videos like they were going out of style (oh, and writing and editing stories, too). it is my firm belief that the Barque staff of 2003-2005 kept that site and it's wackiness alive. we would even re-enact Aicha in the halls. yep. we were just that cool.

so, here's to the fond memories i have of "the pit" and all the people who made newspaper great. including our fearless leader, Mrs. Golding. who, incidentally, introduced me to my now favorite stand-up comic Eddie Izzard.

ENJOY.

DAY FIFTY-FOUR ~ 9.6

how am i celebrating labor day? i'm laboring. i'm headed in the pouring rain to the fair to takedown the booth and get the trailer ready to be picked up. sounds fantastic. i am very thankful that i have developed excellent clothes layering skills over the years, because my current 4 layers are working really hard for me when i sit in the cold and damp trailer.

DAY FIFTY-THREE ~ 9.5

sorting everything you own into piles to be boxed and sent to different locations at different times is not as fun as it sounds. oh, wait, it doesn't sound fun at all. and it is even less fun than that. needless to say my room is in total chaos. organized into piles chaos. and i am coming to the realization that i own a lot of stuff. the four top categories? shoes, purses, books and DVDs. what a weird life i lead. oh, and i also have a TON of clothing. all of my Chicago friends need to vow to help me make zero clothing purchases for the near and not so distant future. because, really, i've got enough options.

DAY FIFTY-TWO ~ 9.4

i am a chef. i can say this because for breakfast i made my mother and i a delicious feast of crepes. yep. classy. i'm a really good crepe maker, and i only have my middle school Home Ec teacher Mrs. Caldwell to thank for that. she looked like Ms. Frizzle and played tapes of Iron Chef in class. the real Iron Chef, Japan style. with INCREDIBLE english dubbing.

Space Bags are the single coolest invention EVER. seriously. watching all the air get sucked out of your stuff is so satisfying. my mom will only help me pack if we are sucking something, because she is a child.

DAY FIFTY-ONE ~ 9.3

catching up with one of my best and oldest friends made getting up at 5:30am well worth it. also, she made me a killer breakfast, which helped immensely. we talked for something like 7 hours, which seems ridiculous but was very easy for us to do. we had a lot to review. i won't review our whole conversation here, but i will say that she's fantastic. and that she is one from the very short list of humans from the Northwest i will miss once i am a Chicagoan.

the only thing getting me through the fair tonight is the fact that i am bringing home an elephant ear to share with my mother. yummy dough slathered in butter and covered in cinnamon and sugar. delightful.

DAY FIFTY ~ 9.2

i worked. that's about it. mostly my brain is focused on the great move to Chicago.

DAY FORTY-NINE ~ 9.1

it's amazing when you have one of those moments where a song perfectly speaks what you are feeling. driving home tonight from working at our state fair, i nearly cried as i sang along at the top of my lungs to the following song. i don't care if you judge me for liking Fall Out Boy. i'm a big fan of their first two albums, and this song was exactly what i needed tonight. the best part? there really is a light on for me in Chicago.

"Chicago Is So Two Years Ago"

My heart is on my sleeve
Wear it like a bruise or black eye
My badge, my witness
Means that I believed
Every single lie you said

Cause every pane of glass that your pebbles tap negates the pains I went through to avoid you
And every little pat on the shoulder for attention fails to mention I still hate you

But there's a light on in Chicago
And I know I should be home
All the colors of the street signs
They remind me of the pickup truck out in front of your neighbor's house

She took me down and said,
"Boys like you are overrated, so save your breath."
Loaded words and loaded friends
Are loaded guns to our heads

Cause every pane of glass that your pebbles tap negates the pains I went through to avoid you
And every little pat on the shoulder for attention fails to mention I still hate you

But there's a light on in Chicago
And I know I should be home
All the colors of the street signs
They remind me of the pickup truck out in front of your neighbor's house

You want apologies
Girl, you might hold your breath
Until your breathing stops forever, forever
the only thing you'll get
Is this curse on your lips:
I hope they taste of me forever

And there's a light on in Chicago
And I know I should be home
All the colors of the street signs
They remind me of the pickup truck out in front of your neighbor's

With every breath I wish your body will be broken again, again
With every breath I wish your body would be broken again, again
With every breath I wish your body will be broken again, again
With every breath I wish your body would be broken again