Last night with Brian

Last night was my final shift with Brian. We have been working Mondays together for about a year, and since he is going to San Diego for softball, last night was it. Neither he or I are patently emotional people, but both of us recognized how much we are going to miss working together. We were kinda the perfect mix, being able to laugh and bitch to each other. He and I are SO much alike deep down, and I will definitely miss sitting up after bar close and chatting. Last night we were at the bar until 5am. I kinda have to laugh too, because as much as I am sad to leave, he is saddder because now he has to work with an employee he abhors. At least I know that I will be missed.

I am getting to the point where I am doing a lot of things "for the last time." I know I have been to this emotional place before with Spain, Venezuela, and even back home, but I have spent a majority of my adult life here. The memories I have made in little ole Milwaukee are not only substantial but also formulative. I am trying to make those last minute stops to say goodbye to the mentors and friends that are still around this summer, and I REALLY need to start writing those thank you notes I have been thinking about all summer.

What was really cool about last night's shift (which FLEW by in a most uncharacteristic way) was that I started a "recommendation form" for patrons to sign and add comments. Not only did I get some phenominally flattering feedback which made me feel a bit overwhelmed by the show of support, I must have had 6 people tell me that they had connections in Minneapolis that they would be sure to hook me up with. Brian is talking about coming to Minneapolis with Damien sometime early September specifically to help find me a job with his contacts.If I could just get into a spot for two happy hour shifts a week, just to get my foot in the door, I would be SUCH a happy camper.

It has been a long time since I wrote. I have been all over the place busy, but there has been a ton of stuff going on. I last left off with my trip to Chicago. I had lunch with Justine and we sat and just chatted. It is always so nice with her: it doesnt need to be exciting, we dont have to DO anything, we were just able to sit and be together. I love her for that. She seemed at a better spot emotionally with her job, which made me feel very relieved. After lunch I bought her a jade plant for her desk, and then had to deal with security at her building for like half and hour just trying to get it to her. Geez... But I had nowhere else to be, so it was nice to have that luxury.

From there I meandored downtown and ended up at a Borders where i stuck around while rain started pouring outside. Milwaukee and Chicago have had like zero rain this summer, and apparently it all decided to come down at once trapping me at Borders and then later in a Wrigleyville Cubs bar where i awkwardly stood and waited for John Lynch to pick me up. He and I ended up hanging out at one of the local watering holes catching up and drinking, then went to this AWESOME pasta joint (cheap and great) where Kim joined up with us. John and I were going on and on about Ben Stockwell proposing to Lauren Wakefield, his 8th grade girlfriend. At one point we called Ben and I havent talked to him in over a year, but he jokingly (?) mentioned something about me throwing Lauren a party. I laughed and reminded Ben that I hadnt seen the girl in literally 9 years. That shit is wierd to think about. Ben? Getting married? Who would have thought he would have been the first? The wedding is going to be in Florida this next May. Well, it certainly will be an exciting trip. My thought is that Anna, Sarah, John and I should all take a road trip out there. Our dates can fly. Wouldnt that be unreal?

Anyway, after a fun night that ended early enough to remind me how old i am getting, with an amusing stop at a convenience store, the next day Kim and I went to boystown, just to dick around. Didnt really do anything major, but I had never spent one-on-one time with her before, and it was nice. Ended up eating like fat kids at the IHOP and then grabbing a couple beers at Roscoes.

Next I took a (long-ass) train to Aurora to hang out with Will. Again, as with Justine, we didnt do anything phenominally exciting, but it was just good to chill with him for a bit. He just had gotten a restaurant job, and is already feeling a bit above it, but whatever. It's very temporary for him. God I pray that he gets into the Peace Corp. We went to go see "Hustle and Flow" which was really quite good. The acting was astounding. Good stuff. Some teenagers tried to pick a fight with us outside the theater about literally nothing. Go to bed kids. Whatever.

I woke up REALLY early the next morning so that I could go and spend much of the day with (Mitchell). He had been dissapointed that I had taken off on him for three days, and since Will had to work anyway, I figured that I could still get some time in with my boy.

So, that is my Chicago trip, which brings me to the Detroit trip with (Mitchell), our first tiff, him finding this blog, him saying "I love you" back to me... All sorts of good stuff that will just have to wait. Oh, but that Liz Phair lyric I love is:

Isnt this the best part of (waking)* up, finding someone else you just can't get enough of; Someone who wants to be with you too.





*Being the dumbass that I am, I didnt realize the lyric was "breakin up," instead I thought it was "wakin up." I like my version better. Deal with it.