Well, everyone at work decided to have a going-away party for me this Sunday. For some reason, I was sort of dreading it. I wanted to go, but I haven't really known them all for very long, and I didn't want it to be some big phony awkward scene. But I went anyway and man... it was crazy.

From what I remember, we did something like 6 shots. Which ended up being 10 for me, since Maureen made me drink the last two of hers. Bridgette got me an 8x10 photograph of myself in a frame that everyone signed. My boss gave me fifty bucks, a box of condoms, sunscreen, and an inhaler. Then he gave me a hug that lasted a minute while he told me how much he'd appreciated working with me and how he knew I was going to be successfull. He wrote it on the picture frame too.

I had to crash at Maureen's place, because I didn't want to drive anywhere. I couldn't go to sleep because the 10 shots were Jager-bombs (pronounced Yay-ger), which is a can of Red Bull mixed with a shot of Jagermeister. You get drunk and hung over, but the Red Bull keeps you awake for half the night. I woke up on the couch with my fists clenched over my belt. I had terrible nightmares about falling and my car not working.

Needless to say, this will be my last indulgence of alcoholic beverages. At least until my wedding. Suprisingly, I didn't wake up with a hangover, so I walked back to Zoup (since Maureen had split for work) and got a ride back to my car from my boss.

All this from people I've known for just three months. It's amazing how beer brings people together, (even when they don't really want to be.) I've always had a lot of respect for Mike for not drinking occassionally, like the rest of us. But I think it's easier to understand why this is something people do so much, if you drop yourself in every once in a while.

Work is done now, and all I have left to do is say goodbye to a few more friends and take care of just a couple more things. I have it all written down on a calendar to remind myself. After that it'll be coming up with enough money to make it. If we get this place Mike and Amanda found, it shouldn't be hard to come up with next month's rent. So I should have a little while to find a job.