Oh my God. I have never had a more bittersweet day in my life.

But first... last night. I made $25 last night. That's right, be jealous. My tables were for parties of 5 or more and we were slow in the beginning.. and then the two parties of 5 or more I DID have tipped me $5 on 56 and $2 on $65 (a party of 7). They all made me run, too. When I was prebussing the party of 7 with Jose I was laughing about it and then said "I think I'm gonna cry" and I DID and I had to go down to the bar for a 15 minute time out. Through my tears Joe told me that in the pie of life the OG (and the MG) are less than 1%... which is true. But I was still pretty unhappy. Anyway... enough about last night. Now we can talk about how MISERABLE I am.

So, it was my last day at the OG today. After last night I thought it would be easier... but no. No way. I don't know if a lot of people can really understand what it's been like for me. I mean, I moved here with only Jim and my roommates--I knew NO ONE else (and I didn't even know my roommates that well when we first got here) in the whole state. I saw my co-workers more than anyone else. Anderson and Hugo were the first people who started to get to know me out here. Anderson was my first "California friend." I grew more attached to these people than I have been to any collective group of people EVER. I mean, there's always a few people I missed from jobs (Dix huit, matt, lauren, stephanie from penneys, kelly, katie...) but I have never been able to say I'd miss EVERY SINGLE PERSON. And how I managed to be lucky enough to have these people in my life, I'll never know. I don't think a year ago I'd have ever said that I'd grow so close to people I can barely speak with. But boy did I.

The first time I cried was saying goodbye to Ryan. He actually sounded sincere when he was talking to me, which was just too much. God, I swear he looked like he was going to cry, too.

I then cried saying goodbye to Joe when he left for the night because I'm just so close with him. Joe and I are so much like siblings that we LOOK alike. At least our hair does... but he is so great. I wish everyone could know him, because everyone's life would be better.

And then, of course, I cried when I left. I said goodbye to Petra, Pedro, Hugo, Willy, Angel, Leon, Ernesto, (busser) Hugo, Luciano, and Jenna just, like... sobbing. And I swear to God, you know what was playing on the radio while this is going on? Green Day's "Time of Your Life." I was like "WHY IS THIS SONG ON NOW?? Is the radio reading my mind????"

And then I cried all the way home, I cried trying to translate the spanish on the card people got for me, and I'm still really crying, but mostly I'm just thirsty now.

A bunch of people signed a card for me, Ashley made me one, and Anderson came in specially to give me a card/say goodbye. I'll definitely stay in touch with Anderson, though, because he's like a freaking saint. Calvin came in just to sit in my section and, believe it or not, my last table almost tipped me %20. AMAZING! (although when it's %20 of $30, you can see why we don't make much even on good tip days.)

So... it was just so hard. And surreal. Maybe it was because of the music. When I was saying goodbye to Ernesto (and let me just say, as much as I LOVE everyone else, I probably won't *miss* anyone more than him.) I was thinking of how unreal it all seemed. It's probably because I'm sick. I kind of felt like I was dreaming all day.

God, I HATE goodbyes! And to think, the first day there I wanted to quit. As Coldplay says, "The hardest part was letting go, not taking part."

So, yeah, this sucks. I'm glad I have a new job and can meet new people and (fingers crossed) make more money, but I will never forget everyone at the Westwood OG. They will always be my "California family."

Here's a couple adorable pictures mostly here to cheer ME up...



I love the kitties.