With A Little Help From My Friends...

So, last night we had a little get-together to celebrate my last week as a full-blown MAhole. Mr. and Mrs. SCI-FI, Doubletrouble and Mrs. Doubletrouble, Major Caudill Marko, The Senator, Wally and A., and LWJ all came out to see me off (I'm not sure if they were wishing well or just making sure I actually left...). TheBoy came along, partly out of curiosity, partly because he saw a chance to get a meal out...

As is always the case with blogger dinners, I didn't have nearly enough time to talk to everyone and the evening ended far too quickly. Part of it was because we had to pull things together quickly; another part was that it was mid-week, so a good number of folks that would have come simply couldn't get the time out. There was still a good crowd, and I still didn't have enough time to talk to everyone.

Before the night was over, though, I had gifts bestowed upon me:

The box I was told by Wally that I was not allowed to open until I got to VA. Okay then! The SOG spear was from Marko - man, does he know me! It can be used as a stand-alone knife or attached to a stick or broom handle. I like that. The pen is from A. - it's a handmade bolt-action pen (really!) with a bullet for a tip. LOVE IT. And the "gun" is a USB drive, courtesy of my sister-in-law (who was not at the dinner, but I wanted to give a shout-out for the cool gift anyways.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, and for the awesome schwag!

That is all.