I Hate Goodbyes

A few things I forgot to mention in my last blog Wednesday after work a bunch of us went to Katie Davis's and Emily's school to help set up their classrooms. Well I was punching out letters, laminating and cutting them out...but I was getting so tired. So I was like I'm gonna sit down on a rug in the corner of the room and just chill...but I was still really tired so I was going to rest my eyes. Well I ended up sleeping for an hour balled on a rug on the floor passed out. It was a pretty sweet nap though which I needed since I needed to pack the rest of the night. Packing by the way...it wasn't as stressful as packing to come down, but still packing I really don't like packing, I much prefer unpacking.

Thursday was my last full day in Auburn and I made sure to live it to the fullest. In addition to working on my NODA internship report paper...which was now over 10 pages long...I was soaking up my last moments in the office.

One thing that was really cool that I got to do on Thursday was go on top of the Haley Center with Charus. The roof of the Haley Center (the tallest building on campus...9 stories) is called the Eagle's Nest and it has an amazing observation deck that overlooks the entire campus. It was breathtaking on the roof of Haley. I took a ton of pictures as I felt the Alabama sun beating down on me for one of the last times of the summer. I took a ton of pics on the roof of Haley and this week I will be putting them online in addition to all of the other pictures I need to put online I swear. One thing that happened that was hilarious was on my walk to Haley with Charus we are approaching Haley and from one of the outside stairwell decks I hear someone yell "Hey New York" and I look up and see this former AU football player named Derrick that I befriended during Tiger Tables. At Tiger Tables DJ Holleywood aka Keith said Hi to everyone because he really knows everyone. So this one guy Derrick and I started talking because of my accent and he calls me New York. So it was hilarious that he was yelling Hey New York from the 3rd story of Haley. I told he him that I was heading back to New York on Friday and he was sad...it was pure comedy, Charus just about died laughing.

Anyway after Haley I went to Lunch with the staff, like honestly the office shut down. We went to the Amsterdam Cafe...good times, I had never been before. I love how when the staff goes out it becomes a family affair. I loved how the spouse's of the staff were really awesome and would always come support me and CWE.

After lunch I also gave the staff little gifts that I made them...tokens of my thanks and it was special to spend a few minutes just taking with them a bit more individually. I also got to chat with Jamie about the whole NODA process. Jamie let me see my file and look at the things that made my resume and cover letter stick out to them. I also got to hear the feedback the staff gave based on my phone interviews. Clearly nearly all of it was positive since I got the job and was their first choice, but it was great to reaffirm that I'm in good shape in terms of the job search that will be coming in the spring. It was great to just talk with Jamie and his take on things. Like I've said my only regret from this summer was not having enough time to spend with people or to explore Alabama more. I think I did a great job in the 70 days that I was there, but oh how I wished for more time.

Thursday night I went to Niffer's with most of my Auburn loves for one last hurrah. It was nice just to be surrounded with the people with whom I've gotten so close with in such a short period of time. It was really a just a celebration of friendship instead of a goodbye, because I know it's not goodbye...it's see you later. After Niffer's then a bunch of us were going to Supper Club to see the Velcro Pygmies (I blogged about them in June...their the 80s cover band). So we got to Supper Club before the Pygmies got on stage so we're hanging out near the near and Emily sees the lead singer of the Pygmies (Cameron) taking to some people near us. Emily is like you have to go get a picture with him and talk to him. So she drags me over to him and asks if I can get a pic with him so after the pic we were talking. He asked our names and stuff, I told him it was my last night in Auburn and that I'm going back to NY tomorrow...and that I couldn't imagine my last night in Auburn anywhere else...he said he promised a good time. The night was particularly wild because it was Supper Club's 69th anniversary party...yea pretty insane. So before long the Pygmies take the stage. They are quite the act, their stage is deck out, they have a fun intro and they put on one hell of a show. I was really exited because they sang Sweet Home Alabama early into the show and it was just as magical as I remembered it to be. One of the guys in the band, the one who plays bass they refer to as Johnny Depp and good god he really does look like Johnny Depp in Pirates...black hair, black eye make up, he even had a skull scarf hanging from his pocket (don't worry I took plenty of pics). And for those of you who have been to Pygmies shows they did their little Blowpop thing with the audience and I was like ohhhhhmy. Well after an hour or so they did the Blowpop thing again and Natty Lite pushed me to the front of the crowd to get a Blowpop....crazy, crazy...it's another one of those stories I need to tell you in person to fully appreciate. Well shortly after I got a Blowpop from Cameron the lead singer he ask the audience if they are having and good time and then points out that tonight is Jennifer's last night in Auburn before she heads back to New York tomorrow so we gotta make sure she has a good time. Oh and I did...we were all dancing and sweating and singing along it was great. One really cool thing that Cameron said (he's quite the talker between songs) about people not from the south is, "It's not where your from that matters, it's where you fit in." And that really hit home...to the point that all my friends turned to me. I'm not from Alabama or the south, but I did a great job fitting in...not so much fitting in meaning being like everyone there...I was different and I was cool with that...it's more like Alabama was a good fit for me. I really didn't want the night to end, but it had to. The Pygmies usually play til Supper Club closes around 4am, but I knew I had a long day ahead of me. So after the Pygmies finished their first set around 2am we left. I saw the Pygmies guys smoking outside as we left and talked with them for a minute...yea whatever I will always have a groupie side...but, I admire musicians and love being around them. It was weird going to bed that night knowing it would be my last night in Auburn for a long time.

Friday was an emotional day. Went to the office to be sure to say goodbye to Mark because he was leaving around 11am to go to a wedding and I wanted some more quality Mark time before I left. I indeed did get some quality Mark time, but then again any time spent with Mark is quality. I said a lot of other goodbyes...but I was insistent on it not being a real goodbye, but a see you later...because I will. I packed up my apartment...ended up having to ship another box because I just couldn't make everything fit in my luggage. As I was packing up I was really concerned because I wasn't able to get a hold of Natty Lite and I would have been heartbroken if I didn't say goodbye to her. So Star and I pack up her car and finally I hear from Natty Lite...she was napping and didn't hear me call her 1,000 times. So we went over to say goodbye to Natty Lite...it was really sad. I kind of felt like I was in a dream as we pulled away from Auburn and I took it all in one last time. The sadness of leaving was soon replaced by anxiety of getting to the airport on time. I hadn't accounted for stopped to ship the last box, getting gas and one last trip to Sonic.

The drive to Atlanta seemed to take forever. I started to get really stressed out, just the whole checking my luggage and getting to the gate on time with no problems stresses me out big time. Well we end up getting to curb side check in right in the nick of time, an hour before my flight. Star had to help me handle all my bags, but as we got all my bag stuff taken care of (yes one of them weighed too much again and I had to pay extra...oh well), but Star sees a cop over at her car and she has to give me a quick hug and kiss goodbye and runs to stop the cop who was apparently in the process of calling a tow truck. Star luckily was able to charm the cop. Even though she had to say goodbye quickly it was better that way...as we all know Star doesn't do "emotional" all that well...if at all. So I end was like trying to get to my gate ASAP, but OF COURSE it's the FURTHEST ONE and takes FOREVER to get to and I'm freaking out about missing the flight. Finally I make it pass the TONS OF PEOPLE SWARMING the airport to my gate. Well at the gate are tons of angry looking people and all I hear is someone grumbling about a delay. Before I can even mentally process anything my mom calls and says she looked online and it said my flight was going to be delayed over 2 hours because of bad weather in New York...GREAAAAAAT. Funny though how no announcements were made about the delay, it was just a lot of confused people and no one with answers...FAAABULOUS.

I was so tired I don't know how I kept my eyes open for the 2 plus hours the delay lasted. Finally we board the PACKED plane. I am seated in between hot guy whose girlfriend is across the aisle with another young couple and to the other side of me is some weird foreign computer hacker type guy who is listening to techno and drinking red wine. I couldnt really sleep on the plane which was terrible. The flight was longer than anticipated. Finally we land around 10:45pm when we should have landed at 10:15pm (meanwhile if there hadn't been delays I should have landed at 8:20pm is my flight took off at 6pm when it was supposed to). I was just pleased to be on the ground after a really bumpy descend and landing. Well we're rolling around LaGuardia when the captain announces that our gate is full and there is a plane that needs to unload and reload passengers and it would be about 20 minutes. People were yelling and complaining. Some people got up to go to the bathroom or get something from the overhead compartment...well the flight attendant like yelled at the cabin TWICE over the intercom. After an hour on sitting on the runway, the captain gets back on the intercom and says it's gonna be another half hour or so. People went nuts, I really thought there was gonna be a revolt or something. In the mean time I called like 3 different people just to keep myself entertained. Finally around 12:30am-1am we get off the freaking plane which took forver. I make it over to baggage claim to see my mom who is crying...oy. She was suprisingly not mad that she had to wait for about 10 years in the airport and was just happy to see me. It was another 20 minutes for my luggage which all made it and then another 40 minutes to get to the car and get out of the airport. Finally we get into my hometown around 2am and we're both starving. We check to see if my favorite diner The Pantry (lovingly referred to as The Panty because for a while the "r" wasn't working and it's funnier that way anyway) is open, but it was not, but we went across town to the Golden Reef which was open and full of people who had been out at the bars or teenagers. Either way it was good times...I did miss my diners while in the south. I finally got home and got all my luggage in the house and went to bed around 3:30am. I fell right asleep it was glorious.

I'm gonna split up these entries so it's not too long.

War Eagle!
Jenn

PS: I forgot in the airport I had a War Eagle Moment. I was wearing my "You had my at War Eagle" tshirt that I bought and I had my Aubie stuffed animal that Dr. C gave me hanging out of backpack and as I passed through security one of the guards said War Eagle. I was taken off guard, but managed to say War Eagle back. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but I was so stressed at that point.