Mood:
blueNow Playing: An Awesome Playlist
As Abby pointed out, it's been awhile, so here is a journal update. Quite a bit has happened in the past few months. So I'll try to be chronological here, but seeing as my thoughts rarely happen in order, that may prove to be a tad difficult.
So when we last left our heroes, they were on the verge of a trip to NYC which ended up being freaking sweet. I met Abby's best friend Kara who turned out to be pretty awesome. We hung out at her place in Brooklyn and then made our way into Manhattan. After checking out a cool book store, we had lunch at a restaurant that has a menu that consists almost entirely of chocolate. Believe it or not, I actually ordered one of the few non-chocolate items, but made up for it with dessert. Kara's boyfriend Kyle joined in at this point as well. We spent some time in Times Square and surrounding areas, getting some Belgian beer at a bar and checking out the MnMs, NBA, and World of Disney stores. After that, Kara and Kyle headed for home, and Abby and I went out for dinner at a little place called Ellen's. Phenomonal. They have a singing wait staff and that's all I need to say about that. Stringbean was our waiter and the highlight of the night was definitely his rendition of "I Wanna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to go back. You can check out our photos from the trip too, they're pretty snazzy.
Abby and I continued our trend of being weekenders, as Kara put it, up until March. Abby came down with mono and I went down south for Spring Break. The actual trip down to Tennessee was the worst travel experience I've ever had. My first flight was cancelled because the Columbus airport, where I was to have had a layover, was closed due to a snow storm. So several hours after I was supposed to depart, I was on a direct flight to Nashville that took off in the pouring rain and landed in a blizzard. WHOO HOO SPRING BREAK! After I landed and got my bags, I went to get my shuttle, which ended up being several hours late due to the snow. After all was said and done, I finally got to Courtney's house after about 20 hours of travel.
We had a good time though. I got to see the Chattanoog Choo Choo, Lookout Mountain, the Incline Railroad, and Desoto Falls, among other things. I also got to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" in the car while driving around in Alabama. I also got to do a little buffing and took some pretty cool photos.
Finally, Abby started to recover a bit, and I was able to see her for my birthday weekend. It was wonderful. Abby took me to my first ever Flyers game, in which we beat the New York Rangers in a shootout. After being out of the hockey loop for the past two seasons, Abby reignited my passion for the Flyers and I watched the rest of the season and playoffs, which was fantastic. On a side note, it's ridiculously hot when Abby wears her Flyers jersey. 
The next weekend, after watching a disappointing DC United season opener, we headed to Cape May Courthouse with Mom to see Aunt Maph, Uncle Schmike, Michael, and the newest addition to the Klein family, William Louis. This kid is adorable, as you can see here. His older brother Michael has been a spitting image of me since he was born, so clearly he'll turn out alright. On a side note, I must mention that William is the loudest belcher and the smelliest farter ever.
The following weekend kept the coolness going as Abby and I made or way to DC to see DC United's home opener against Toronto FC. We met her sister and brother-in-law for lunch, and then checked out the Cherry Blossoms. Then it was time for the main event. We sat with the Screaming Eagles, and the guys around us were hysterical. The game ended up being the best DC United game of what has so far been a dismal season. Within the first five minutes, we were ahead 2-0, and went on to win 4-1. Beer-soaked and victorious, we caught the Metro back to VA and then drove back to Abby's house that night. The next day, we watched Hanna's soccer game and had some fun of our own on the pitch, and of course, there are photos.
The next weekend was a pretty big deal. It was my Grandmom's 70th birthday party, and Abby came along. It was a surprise party, and when my Grandmom came in, she acted surprised although I'm sure she wasn't. She was however surprised to see Fran and Laney there. After that, she made a bit of a big deal about meeting Abby, which was cool. We had a blast, and Abby met quite a large number of my family members that day. As always, photos.
A couple of weeks later, we went to see the musical at AP. It was basically staged and blocked the same exact way it was when I was in the same show (Cinderella) 8 years ago. But they did a good job. I worked a ton of Camp-In over the next few weeks, Abby graduated, and I had my Summer Kick-Off Party, which ended up being on a chilly day with only a handful of people there.
After that came the last Camp-In of the year on 16 May. I had a fantastic staff for the evening, which was good because Abby brought Hanna and Hanna's friend Elizabeth to the museum for the Camp-In experience. They had a blast, and so did all of the staff, as we usually do on the last Camp-In of the year. Abby had control of the camera for most of the night, and you can see that on my Facebook.
The next morning, after I was done working, we hit up the Sci-Store where Hanna and Elizabeth bought Windbreakers, this Gak-looking stuff that makes fart noises when you squeeze it. Classic. We made our way to my place for showers, and while Abby was getting ready, i took the girls to Pat's where they enjoyed their first cheesesteak and I enjoyed some fries. Following lunch, it was back to Lancaster County by way of an hour long drive full of animal names and fart sounds. Exhausted as we were, we managed to go all day without a nap. We snazzed up and went to Becca and Jeff's show of art and song at West Chester, which was pretty cool.
From then until this morning, I was at the Weiss household spending as much time with my Abby as possible before her departure for Germany. As I write this, she is on a plane over the Atlantic, probably about an hour or two away from Heathrow Airport in London. Tomorrow at about 6:30am our time she'll land in Bonn, Germany and on Monday she starts work at the United Nations University there. It'll be so hard not being able to see her on the weekends or talk to her every night, but this is a great opportunity for her. I have a feeling school districts will be stumbling over each other trying to hire her. Student teaching was ridiculously difficult, and I'm so proud of her for how incredibly well she handled certain situations and how much she put into her work. I wish there were more teachers like Abby.
So after a couple of days of shopping, meeting more of her family, and air hockey, (AND CICI'S!!!!!!!!!) I got on a train this morning and said goodbye. These next couple of months will be hard, but we'll handle it. We're pretty legit like that. I truly love Abby, and can't wait to see what our future holds.
As for the near future, in just 18 days I'll be flying out to Germany to see her, and I can't freaking wait. I miss her like crazy already, and I haven't been to Europe since April of 2001. We're going to have a great time. I'm hoping that the six weeks after I get home fly by with Doscovery Camp going on. My plan is to get in a solid routine. Wake up, stretch, maybe a couple of sit-ups and push-ups, video chat, breakfast, walk to work, camp all day, train ride home, video chat, jog, dinner, movie, bed.
Another thing to occupy my time will hopefully be the shooting of a pilot for either the Travel Channel or PBS. I have an idea, an outline, and a crew. We're having a meeting to discuss scheduling, equipment, and the script next Friday. I'm going to shop it around to those networks, and maybe a few others, and if it doesn't get picked up, no biggie, I'll have a worthwhile reel for my resume.
As for the far future, I will (hopefully) graduate in December. I sent in my transcripts from my Disney classes in hopes of transferring at least 3 of the 9 credits I took. As it stands, I have 100 credits. I need 126 to graduate. I'm taking three this summer and 17 this fall, leaving me six credits short. If they take six of my Disney credits, I'm set. If not, I'll either take another summer course or this one class that meets on two Saturdays out of the Fall Semester. I need to work my ass off, but I am determined to get it done, and with good reason.
In January, my lease is up, and I fully intend on moving in with Abby by then. We've looked at DC, Brooklyn, Myrtle Beach, St. Augustine, Tampa, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Denver, and several other places as well. Myrtle Beach, DC, and Orlando are at the top of my list, although I would also love Brooklyn just for the chance to work for Sesame Street, which is where Kara works. Where ever we end up, I can't wait.
On that note, I think I will cut off here as this is probably very long. I'm sure with the extra time on my hands these days, I'll update on a more frequent basis. I hope all is well with you, whomever you may be.
Peace & Love
Pat