West coast tour, parties, and parting

First, my apologies for being a negligent blogger. The embarrassing reason for my long absence is an inability to resize photos on my computer. Despite several attempts to download and run photo editing software I'm still at a loss - I blame my technological shortcomings as much as the various free software's shortcomings. Anyhoo, I will post pictures to an online site soon.

I've had quite a time since posting last. I spent a whirlwind day in Portland for Megan (my roommate from Spain) and Morgan's fabulous wedding. Superbowl weekend I went to San Francisco to visit friends, and luckily just caught the exciting fourth quarter of an otherwise boring game. It was my first trip to SF since 2000 and it was a blast - special thanks to John for hosting me!

Since then I've been busy making the Seattle rounds. This past weekend I had not one but two parties, one on Saturday with friends and one on Sunday that my parents threw for me (thanks again, it was fantastic!) As much as I love to party down I was pretty beat by the time I made it home last night. Luckily I caught the best part of the Oscars, which was the couple from Once performing and then winning the Oscar for best original score. If you haven't seen Once, rent it! I'm obsessed with the soundtrack and was tickled that they won.

The time is practically upon me to head south. My last day at work is Wednesday, and I leave Thursday morning. No, I have not started packing. I also haven't done about a dozen other things on my list, and any excitement was overshadowed by anxiety today when I woke up and realized I'm leaving in a mere four days. Anyone who thinks that those of us who go on these crazy adventures aren't a bundle of nerves in the days leading up to it is wrong! Yes, I know it will all be fantastic and incredible once I'm there, but until I'm on the plane I'm going to be a wreck. Fortunately everyone around me is super supportive and the marvels of modern technology (provided I can figure it out) will let me communicate as much as I want. I'll have a Skype account, a cell phone (free for me if you call!) and a web cam. I'm all kinds of connected, people! Don't be strangers.

The next time I blog will be from sunny Santiago. Keep me in the back of your mind on Thursday - it's a 17 hour trip, the longest I've ever taken, but when I land it'll be in the 80s and I'm sure well worth the flight time.

Thanks to everyone for partying with me, supporting me, and of course for reading my blog. Keep the comments coming!