I keep expecting this to show up in my mailbox...

...but instead I actually received my official invite, matriculation form, and award letter from Yale. Until this point I've been expecting to get a note that says, "I'm sorry, we made a mistake and need to give your slot to someone else."

Doesn't look like it's going to though! I'm wildly amazed.

So even though my departure from KC is a ways off I've got a list of my top 10 things I'll miss (soon to be 11, then 12, then 13, etc. )


10. My Job. Yeah, I bitch about it a lot, but there is something kind of vouyeristic about what I do and its really nice to be in on what eveyone else is doing.

9. My town. Liberty is changing. I don't know if it's for the better or the worse, but it is changing. Suffice it to say that is will very quickly not be the place I've known and loved for so long.

8. The Flea Market. Had their burgers? They're the best! And the Beer is cheap and good!

7. Gary Lezak. Although it's already been the subject of a prior posting, I really will miss that irritating techno theme when they get ready to do the forecast.

6. Religious Nuts. What the midwest lacks in development it makes up in religious fruitcakes. From the 'fag-hating' baptists in Topeka to the megachurch that has a narthex that looks like an airport terminal and a Christmas pageant featuring Jesus with a flaming sword (Tribulation Christmas) I've come to know the local religious loonies pretty well. I'm worried that being away from these modern day Pharisees will cause my appreciation for, and devotion to Liberal Christianity a little less zealous than it is now.


5. Lidia's. Although there are a lot of Bastianich restaurants in NYC (an hour or so from New Haven by train), I'll miss this one a lot and the great times Hammer and I have had there.

4. Franklin Elementary (and LPS). My child has received so much careful attention and care while there. I'm so thrilled that she's had such a good grounding in fundamental skills.

3. KC musicians. Midwesterners make for awesome musicians. Well trained, hard working, sincere people. Although the occasional backstabber is out there, as a general rule we've got the corner on the market.

2. My religious home. I've basically found who I am there. Thank God for those hellbound Episcopals, their wine-tastings, and their Choir Rehearsals (followed by cocktails, of course)

1. My mentor. This is obviously too profound to talk about here. Look for a posting of memorable "Epley-isms" to come in the future.

There we go......look for the other TOP 10 down the road.