I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I've just been very very distracted as of late.
I made it back to Eugene just fine, along with all my luggage. I was exhausted when I arrived at the Eugene airport around 23:00 on Friday the 25th, I'd had over 25 hours of travel time with no sleep from the previous night and only fitful rest on the plane rides. I had stayed up all night out at the clubs with the whole crew from LLP, saying our good-byes and such. It was a great time, but my chest and hip were hurting bad from my fall earlier that morning. Every time I laughed my ribs hurt. I was starting to suspect I had cracked a rib. As I made my way home I was very uncomfortable and wasn't looking forward to carrying my bags very far. Around 3 am I took a shower, gingerly got dressed, finished packing, and dragged my stuff to the curb. The taxi had a hard time getting to me since most of the roads had been blocked off the night before in preparation for the pope's visit to Krakow.
At the airport I got checked in by Szymon's friend, Kris, who works for LOT. He marked my luggage priority and took good care of me. It was a much more pleasant experience than my last attempt at leaving Krakow. I was thankful.
Despite being so sore and tired, I was very happy when I touched down in Eugene. A large part of that feeling was due to having Kat there waiting for me when I arrived. I missed her while I was away and she looked so good to me. She took me home and had to help me break into the house since I couldn't fish the house key out of my bags in the dark. Luckily she fit nicely through the dog door.
I guess I should mention that Marcin did not end up coming home with me as planned. His trip got rescheduled so that he wouldn't be arriving in Eugene until Sunday. Now I had extra tickets for the Beck concert in Bend. I ended up going down with Vanessa & Chris, a new friend from MySpace. We stayed at Mt. Bachelor Village, which was a nice place to spend the night. I really enjoyed the hot tub on the deck. The evening was cold in the high desert, and I wasn't well prepared for it, so I stayed close to the crowd and tried to keep warm by dancing. Beck was pretty fun, especially because he brought a team of puppeteers with him that performed right along side of the band, with each band member represented in puppet form. The concert seemed a bit short, but it was so cold that I wasn't really that upset about it. We had a great breakfast at the local greasy spoon before heading back to Eugene on Sunday.
The next couple weeks are a blur. Marcin was here, and I really enjoyed getting a chance to pay him back for some of the hospitality he showed me while I was in Krakow. I think he enjoyed his stay. Between Andrea and I we kept him pretty busy. I went to a brew festival on that next Saturday and then watched the University's production of Midsummer Night's Dream with Lindsey, Marcin, and Kat on Sunday. Work and Kat kept me pretty preoccupied. Plus I was going through the process of interviewing with a couple of different companies. I was so fed up with Lunar Logic at this point that it seemed like the best thing to do was leave. I got lucky and Symantec was hiring and wanted me. They made an offer last week and I accepted. I gave my two weeks notice and will be starting my new job in July.
Kat and I took a short vacation this last weekend and drove down to San Francisco with a couple of her friends. It was a long drive down and back, but we had so much fun together it was worth it. Along the way I got to meet her parents in Ashland, and they took us all out to lunch. They seem like a great couple. Kat tells me that they approved. We had drinks with her friends after we arrived Friday night, spent all Saturday exploring the city together, and then drove back on Sunday. It was a very romantic weekend together. Some of the highlights include: riding the BART late at night, lunch at the Irish Bank, riding the cable car, climbing Coit Tower, walking up and down Lombard street, truffles at XOX, walking along the Marina, waiting for a table at Antica, snogging on the way to the bar, and singing Karaoke. It was a very memorable trip.
I'm looking forward to many more adventuresome trips. I'm going camping again this weekend which should be fun.
My ribs seem to be healing up, I can actually lay on my side again and I've started lifting weights again. I saw the doctor and he gave me some pain meds and some stuff for my nose. The combination of allergies and a bruised/cracked rib was agonizing. Both seem to be working.
Until next time, check out my recently posted pics and El's PCT blog. Ciao.
