Filling up bags, but not with candy....

Halloween is one of my favorite things in this world. So much so, that I usually look forward to the next as soon as the last one finishes. Last year, I celebrated it with some friends and family at the Dia de los Muertos gala at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. If you live in the LA area, I strongly recommend that you go, it's magical! And the food is damn good, but there ain't nothing good or magical about the parking.

This Halloween, I have had my butt parked on my couch for the past few hours as I systematically separate paperwork into shred or recycle piles. I'm not wearing a costume, my outside lights are off, and there is no candy in the house, but things still seem a bit scary. The fact that I have managed to keep all this fucking paperwork,  alphabetized and in chronological order, stashed in various places around my small two-bedroom apartment means that I've got more issues than I thought! Scary, no? Scary that I found paperwork from Mount Saint Mary's College that were filled out BY HAND. Meaning...no forms filled out on secure websites because there were no secure websites for the general public back then. Good lord....I remember carbon copies! Now that shit is scary.

What is not scary, to me anyways, is that the reason I am going through all my paperwork is because I am making room for a new roommate (great girl) to take over the place while I am gone.  For some, a move like the one I'm going to make may seem like it's filled with more tricks than treats. But call me selfish if you like...I'm gonna take the whole damn bowl.

Eight days left of flip-flops and tank tops.

On November 7th, at 10:53 in the morning, I'm leaving for Chicago. Not to visit, or for bidness, but to live.  Yes live. You heard me (read me) correctly. Live. 

This diehard LA native is moving to the midwest! 

I perhaps could have picked a better time of year to move east, my feet alone are going to freak. After 33 years of exposed toes, they and the rest of my feet will be feeling claustro-freakin-phobic in waterproofed, highly-insulated clunkers that will most likely be lacking in style.

So, I've decided to document the week leading up to my departure, knowing that I'll have much to say, cry, whine, appreciate, laugh, and bitch about the whole experience. And then, I figured, I'll continue recording my thoughts as I observe and become accustomed to the strange habits and rituals of the local natives.  And why not share? So--I blog. Here is my blog. Blog. Blogettyblogblogblog.

Tomorrow I begin the departure breakdown (interpret that as you will), because tomorrow begins the week countdown---OH MY GOD!!! A WEEK FROM NOW, I'M GONE!!!!