Like it was yesterday....more thoughts

I am so glad it's friday, I can't wait to sleep in this weekend. I am also excited for a 30 minute run that I plan to do while at the gym this afternoon. I am going to Kansas City next week. It should be fun because it's for a training and it will be fun to hang out with my "co-workers" plus I get to see my ex-Mark, we have plans for cocktails or dinner and I get to see my old friend Scott and meet his very pregnant wife. Scott and I met at the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona Spain about 5 years ago. He was going up one of the towers and I was going down. We were inseparable after that for about 3 days. He was the superhero that helped me out with my very badly sprained ankle and he's a great guy to be with while finishing off a few pitchers of Sangria. Anyhoo- KC, been there more than I ever thought I'd have to be.
I am also leaving for Chicago in a few weeks! Good times!
The one hour season premier of The Office didn't disappoint. It was superb. Highlight was Creed dividing up his dried rice with a credit card like it was cocaine. Can't wait for Kath and Kim in a few weeks then 30 Rock in a month!
Sentimental thoughts....well, I warned you, so here I go. It was one year ago today that my brother and I finalized the packing of my boxes and hoisted them into a bright yellow truck ready for a move. We started the morning with breakfast at Coastal Kitchen then I visited my friends at my place of employment, then we got busy. It was a weird day because I allowed myself not to really think too hard about what I was doing, I had already had every thought there was to have. I was ready. We played the music loud and got done earlier than expected with partial help from Mr Magic- Blake! After we got the truck secured with just a few things to pack up, we headed down to my all time favorite Seattle bar called the Cha Cha, I only take my most favorite people there. We had more than enough drinks to numb whatever feelings might be present. Then walked down the hill to attend the first showing of the movie Into the Wild. A beautiful movie by Sean Penn and a movie that couldn't have been more fitting for me and what I was embarking on. I bawled through the end of the movie and by the time we left the theatre it was a full on cry fest. My bro did his best to talk me through it. At that point the tears were about what was finally hitting me (and of course my sentimentality) realizing that was my last night in Seattle. It was slightly traumatic but not really. We walked up the hill one last time and headed home because we still had some stuff to do for the morning's departure.
I still remember all the reasons why, after 10 years, I left that city. Change, priorities, new challenges, those are all still present but it doesn't take away the feelings of missing it or wanting parts of it back. See my other posts to understand that (limbo-ness that is my life right now).
Back at my apartment I made a few phone calls to friends that left me teary voicemails, I couldn't deal with seeing them then, in the state that I was in. I just left it as "see you soon". They understood. Then me and my bro ended that night, my last night, much the way we ended my first night in Seattle, laying on the floor of my apartment with only blankets beneath us, watching tv, dreading and anticipating the next morning and pondering the journey ahead. It was exciting, it was scary, I was happy, I was sad, I was ready, I was oddly enough content, and I was glad my bro was right next to me during all of it.
There may be more thoughts on this, then again, sentimentality aside, I am not one to really dwell on the past except to remember it fondly. But I knew this day would come and I knew I, in my own way, would have to deal with it the way I need to by reflecting on it. Like I have said for years now, you can take Lisa out of Seattle but you can't take Seattle out of Lisa.
A year later- wow, parts of my life are very different and parts are still very much the same. It's the collective human experience I guess. C Jane Run spoke very eloquently about it on her blog today and I could relate to most of what she said- life what is it, why is it etc. ?
for now all I can say is-
I miss you Seattle, but I love the person you made me become.