Goodbye (Part 1: Denton)

Things I will miss about Denton: eating Taco Cabana breakfast tacos at 1 AM on a Friday night (or a Sunday night while discussing boys with my best gay); driving Texas country roads with the windows down blasting music; eating Beth Marie's; getting coffee at all hours; watching the clouds form and disintegrate while tanning beside the pool at the Oaks; staying up until all hours having 'adventures'; Girl's Night scrabble games and Life games and themed nights (Apple Pie shots, margaritas and tortilla chips) and wine wine wine; eating breakfast on the front porch or eating lunch on the front porch or eating dinner on the front porch or drinking Leinenkugel on the front porch watching cars drive by; long bike rides around the neighborhood; swinging at the park on Bonnie Brae; sitting in the Muffin House garage watching the boys play music; driving through campus with the windows down; people watching outside the Union drinking coffee and catching up; riding my bike home from the Civic Center Pool or the Natatorium or the Gateway as the sun sets; chatting with customers at Subway; Chopsticks, Andaman, Fuzzy's, Mazatlan; going to the Opera in fancy clothes, then eating at IHOP; listening to A Prairie Home Companion on the way to church; lying on blankets in the yard to play scrabble or stargaze or play with fire and cameras; picnics in the yard; ABBA dance parties, complete with cartwheels and hysterical (maniacal) laughter; making stupid, drunken videos in Photobooth; staying up way too late watching movies; making 'bad decisions'; riding scooter Sally; beer pong at work parties (beer pong at any parties); climbing trees; driving to Ray Roberts late at night to take pictures of the stars (sometimes successfully); wandering the square at night; going to the mall just to try on the most heinous, ridiculous outfits possible; getting to know the cashier at the 7-11 next to Subway because sometimes it's necessary to buy sour patch kids and a slurpee; Youtube parties; making mistakes; hearing the clock tower bells on campus; the sight of the TWU towers on the drive into Denton on I-35 W; sunsets, big clouds, Texas sky.

Wherever I go, I hope I never forget any of these things. Picking up and moving far, far away was always my plan, but when suddenly I've signed a contract to teach in a country halfway around the world and all those daydreams are becoming reality, it's difficult to come to terms with the changes that are about to take place in my life. Nothing has prepared me for the thought of leaving everything I know behind to fly around the world. I know that the people I'm supposed to have in my life will be waiting when I get back and the people that aren't waiting were never meant to be around. But, I will never get used to the idea that my life as I know it is about to change irrevocably. I have a million and one memories of Denton, of Austin, of friends and drama and every one of them has led to where I am today.

I will miss you all so much and I will try my hardest to keep in touch, because, God willing, everyone who reads this is someone who is meant to be in my life.

(I wrote this post a few days ago and ended up editing it, because I had written that one of the things I was going to miss was the drive to Denton from Austin or vice versa. Having just driven it, I can safely say that I really do not love that drive. Especially in 100 degree weather with no AC below 60 mph stuck in traffic in Forth Worth, then Waco, then a little bit in Temple. I had to resist the urge to just put the pedal to the metal and drive across the lovely fields on either side of the road, because sitting there roasting in my car was so not helping the transition from Denton to Austin. Screw you, TxDOT, for your continuous construction.)