Farewell for Today

I just walked home in the rain to let the Northwest seep into me, as if it hadn't already.

My new shoes are finally broken in enough that i can wear them without socks.

Our evaluation retreat was amazing. I breathed a cloud at the timberline of Mt. Hood! On Thursday, we spent a lot of time together and just hung out talking about what was going to happen after we all go our separate ways. It was a high quality experience. Plus, we got some great feed back about what we've been working on all summer. I was told i complain too much, but that i'm a teacher and a uniter of people. I worked hard at being able to go between what became subgroups of Fellows and trying to relate with everyone. I'm glad it paid off.

Graduation was fun. There are so many pictures of us all lookin' steeze-tastic. It's almost ridiculous. I'll see what i can do to get as many of them online as humanly possible. Governor Kitzhaber was there though he wasn't as well-dressed as any one of the Fellows. He has a tendency to wear jeans and cowboy boots everywhere. He came to christen the new bus before it left for the DNC in Denver. After the governor left an intentional dent on the rear as a tribute to the accidental denting of the original bus during its christening, his son got the first crack with the champagne bottle. Little Kitzhaber took a shot at it a couple of times to no avail. The governor stepped in and beat on the rear hub until a piece of steel broke off. I'm not sure if anyone bought that part, but it looks like we will be asking for a donation to pay for the replacement. Then we all partied for the rest of the night and took even more self-promoting pictures of our beautiful faces.

I miss my friends already. Miles leaving was tough because he's the most outspoken of our group and one of my favorite people. Tonight i had to say goodbye to Mollie who grew on me so much over the course of the summer. I love her. Some people left Friday night's party assuming we'd see each other in the past couple of days, but some of them haven't seen me. I kind of like those goodbyes. They're easier. Leaving Noah and Drew tomorrow is going to be really hard too. I love our group, but some are going to be more noticeably absent from my day-to-day life. The LQ will be missed greatly.

I'm already working on getting brought out for Trick or Vote.

It's been one of the two greatest summers of my life.

P.S. Rumor has it Joe Biden is VP. har har