January 14, 1999

So we've lived in Orlando for about 6 months now and I have been hating it all the while. All the glowing promises of great opportunities to be had down here evaporated in the blinding Florida sunshine as soon as we got to this state. (A lesson to be learened: If a business opportunity sounds too good to be true, it definitely is, even if it is family that is presenting said opportunity.) However, instead of returning immediately to the land of coolness from whence we came, we (erroneously) decided to try and stick it out in O-town for a while to see if we couldn't get some benefit from moving way the hell across the continent. It didn't work, and I spent most of my time being mopey and angsty enough to do any goth proud. Frustrated, one night while my SO was working (he works nights, I work days, we never see each other) I sat at the computer and sent him this email. (It's kinda silly to send someone email when they're gonna retrieve it on the very same computer that you are sending it from, but that is what our interaction amounts to nowadays.):

Dear Dorothy,
Hate you, hate Oz, taking the shoes, find your own damn way home.
Toto.

Translation: Chris, get me the &#%# out of Florida NOW, or I'm leaving without you.

Of course, my SO hates Florida even more than I do and I think if he had been able to, upon reading my missive, would have come to my place of business and dragged me off to Seattle by my hair without even packing anything or telling anyone. However, that pesky little issue of Money got in the way and so right now we are working out butts off to save the dough to make the trek. We plan to leave at the end of February, and should be back in Seattle by the middle of March. Any parties interested in making a donation to the very worthy cause of getting Celine back to Seattle may email me and I will give you instructions on how to send your tax deductible contribution. Just kidding! However, if you owe me money, this would be a good time to pay me back as every dollar is one dollar closer to coming home. (Hint, hint.)

Okay, okay, before people get incredibly upset at me for blasting Florida, I don't really hate it all that much, it's just that it's not really my thing. Be on the lookout for a future entry that has begun percolating in my brain all about things I like in Orlando. Like Jen. And Amber. And Lilia's with Chef George and Gloria. And Sunshine even during the winter so I don't suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). The list goes on, but I'll save it for later, otherwise there's no use writing another entry, is there?