so it's 2003 now. trippy.

last night I went out and had a good time with Kel and her boyfriend, Stace and her sister, Jen and her fiance. Kel and the bf and I started out with a round of tequila shots, then shared a pitcher of beer. then Jen and f arrived and then Stace and s arrived and we had another round of shots and then more beer and then the workers at the bar passed out hats and horns and leis and those ratchety noisemaker things and plastic cups of champagne and it got really loud in the bar. and then Stacey and I started screaming bloody murder just to make ourselves laugh, it was so loud. then midnight came and we screamed and took pictures and had another shot and JP called us and Adrienne called me and Jen and f left and the rest of us moved on to another bar. we had a little more beer and then we realized we were drunk enough for the new year and when 1am came, I called Jim and April in Chicago to say happy new year. about a half hour later Kel and bf and I decided to get some food, and Stace and s decided to go home. so we said our goodbyes and happy new years and Kel and bf and I strode arm in arm down the street, shrieking Auld Lang Syne in horribly high-pitched voices and people walking in the opposite direction made ample way for us. we went to Eat N' Park, one of the few 24-hour food places in town, and ran into my 16 year old sister and her friends and I partially ate a semi-gross hot turkey sandwich and smoked some cigarettes and listened to Kel and bf tell me that their friend who lives in Brooklyn is my soulmate. then we drove home, since the restaurant period had offered some much-needed sobering-up time, and I said goodbye to bf and I came home to find my sister and her friends in the hot tub and I washed my face and brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas and got in bed and then around 4am Jim called me and said something about a Wrigley Dog, I can't really remember, and then I fell asleep. and that was my New Year's Eve.

today I woke up with a throat scratchy from all the screaming. I hung around the house and did the last free load of laundry before I go back to Chicago and then April called to say she might be losing her job and I got angry about that since it's not her fault and she works with morons. then my dad and I watched my alma mater play badly in football on the tv and then we started to watch Waiting for Guffman on DVD but then it was time for the pork and saurkraut dinner so we all sat down and ate that. and then my family played Crazy Eights and I won twice and then we started watching Waiting for G again and then Kelly came over to get her purse, which she'd left in the trunk of my car last night, and I said goodbye to her since she goes back to California early tomorrow morning and it was sad.

tomorrow I have to pack and go out to lunch with Stacey to say goodbye and then I have to go to a bridal shop with Jen to look at the wedding dress she just found. yesterday she asked me to be one of her three bridesmaids and I said yes because you really can't say no and because I've known her for about 13 years now. I have to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow and I'm hoping I won't cry because that makes things much more difficult, especially at the airport. sometimes I wish I didn't have to leave, or at least that everyone I loved lived within an hour of me no matter where I was.

anyway, back to Chicago tomorrow night. I'm so glad I decided to take the day off from work on Friday. no need to jump in head first just yet.