Do I sound like a musical robot?

Said a lot of goodbyes today, but before I get to that, the rest of my news!

Um...Don came home, yay! And he and Joel helped me with computer stuff Friday night, and this morning, uh, yesterday morning, whatever, Don came over and we had breakfast together, weighed my suitcases which just barely make the weight limit, and then bopped around in my room for a while.

We then went to see "Spellbound" which was excellent and really funny and intense. It was like a Christopher Guest movie without being one. There was this one mom obsessed with the word "bee" and the most annoying kid in the world. I tried to hide in Don's sleeve during the most intense parts, but he kept pulling it away from me. We ate a whole really big thing of Reese's Pieces. Mmmmmmm. All in all, a delightful experience.

Then Don and I napped and went out to dinner at Imperial Gardens which took two hours with all the waiting for everything and such. He got an actual alcoholic Pina Colada, and we both suffered on the hotness of our spicy dish. And then we saw Bob's new condo and people came over to watch "Scarecrows" which was full of suck, of course. Alex and Corin made me a handy travel guide which will undoubtedly prove invaluable.

Don and I will go driving tomorrow for my last spin in the Honda for a while, and we'll go to the bratfest and I'll say goodbye to his family, and then Bob and...

Vicky, I still don't understand how you got home, but I love you for coming!

Chenya, I will call Rebecca and Wyna tomorrow and give them your room number and phone number.

My bed is covered in stuff and I'm tired, my hands were shaking earlier and tomorrow I'm going to cry some. I'm very tired.

But I am excited.

I want to do this.

Things are good on my end, goodnight.

On a clear day you can see forever

I feel tired.

I feel drained.

I feel a little ill from eating a brat, drinking a soda, then chasing Don's car down my street as he drove away.

I hate goodbyes.

I'm sick of them.

So this isn't goodbye.

"My only sketch of heaven," said Emily Dickinson, "Is a bright blue sky, and a bigger sky than the largest I have ever seen in June, and in it are all my friends, every one of them."

And that's how I feel too.

I want to pack you all in my suitcases and take you with me.

I have to settle for taking you in my heart, in my mind, in my memories, in my photos.

It always sounds too final, but it's not the end of the world, it's far from it.

I'll be writing here, I'll be talking to you, we'll know what's going on, won't we?

We will.

Take care of yourselves and each other. I've always felt like that was my job, taking care of you whether you wanted it or not, whether you needed it or not, but I can't be there right now, so please, for me.

Please understand that I love you more than you will ever truly know.

"I'll be on the other side to hear you when you call."

"I want you to know that I want to go."

Not goodbye, just "I'll be seeing you."

I want to get up into that sky, and I want to go, and when I meet the other side of the ocean that I stood in a few weeks ago, I'll wave.

Keep an eye out for me, okay?

And I'll talk to you soon.