I just turned in my keys/swipe card/remote to the Post Valley office. I am no longer a Smyrnian. (Hee hee, sounds like I used to live in some obscure Middle Eastern country.) I'm so glad to be done with the move and settling into the new place. Big thanks & hugs to Mom, Dad, Matthew, Justin & Daniel for their invaluable assistance Saturday. A note about trucks: if you have as much stuff as I do, you cannot move in a 10' truck. Save yourself a trip back to the Ryder place and get the 15' to start with. And don't buy huge couches. They're a pain in the ass to move, though Matthew is getting really good at taking doors off their hinges. This is a skill that will surely serve him well in life. Anyway, Paca & I are very happy in our new home. Brooke's happy too, but she & Scott went to Mississippi for the week so he can meet her parents.

If you haven't been here yet, you should visit soon. You can sit on the wall around the front porch and heckle the golfers across the street (not that I've tried yet.) Or, since it's really cold out there, you can sit in front of the fireplace, and I'll even make you a nice cup of hot chocolate. Or I'll mix you a drink with Brooke's copious supply of liquor, and then maybe you'll be up for golfer-heckling.

Packing sucks. Lots. But being almost done sucks less. I had a nice dinner break, but that means I have to go into overdrive to get done & get a reasonable night's sleep. Many fabulous people are helping me move, so many that I had to start turning away assistance. I shout them all out. :)

...but I'm going to have digital cable w/ HBO & Showtime shortly! Woo!

This...afternoon...is...passing...very...slowly...

Last day of work until January 2, and I couldn't be happier to leave this afternoon. :) Much insanity and drama surrounding various work projects, and it makes my head hurt. I'm going to Florida w/ my parents & brother to see my grandparents, and then coming back to Atlanta the 27th to finish packing & move. As hellish as moving is, I prefer it over work at this moment.

Party was OK. We just sort of stood around eating and snickering at the occasional drunk white person trying to dance. We didn't know many people there, and the music was really loud, so mingling was not a viable option. Not that I'm the best mingler. How I made it through 3 Rushes is beyond me. I went to Shannon's to get ready, and was strangely unaffected by the presence of her cat, Spencer. So he joins Smokey in the ranks of Cats To Which Kelly Is Not Quite So Allergic. Sorry, Ya-ji.

OK, I'll be taping Charlie Brown. I found out yesterday (whoops!) that our ad agency's Xmas party is tonight. It's apparently a somewhat swank affair w/ great food & drink. I'm wearing the leopard dress that I wore to multiple dances in college (it still fits, woo-hoo!) Until a better offer comes along, I'll probably spend Friday night packing and/or making Xmas treats.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is on Thursday night -- woo! It's my favorite holiday special. Anybody want to come over for cookies & hot chocolate & Charlie Brown?

I'm feeling sluggish. But we have Christmas lights strung about the office, which is fun. They're all on the wall behind me, which means I have to turn around to be visually stimulated. I cooked salmon last night, and it was very tasty, especially taking into account that I've never cooked fish before. I think I'm going to make tortellini tonight. And maybe even work out. Going to Central City for trivia tomorrow night.

Oh, I should edit that post about the duplex....we move in a month, not a week. D'oh! Like anyone's actually reading this who hasn't heard about it in person from me already.

We used to have the most random lights on the Xmas tree when I was little. They were all multicolored, but some strings blinked and some didn't, and some sort of looked like little flowers and some didn't. They were kind of ghetto, now that I think about it.

Have yourself a ghetto little Christmas....

Yay, my director's going to have a little boy!

Swear I posted this weekend....maybe I just had a dream about posting. Anyway, Brooke & I signed our lease yesterday for the wonder-duplex, which we love even more than the apartment we almost got. It's bigbigbig and has hardwood floors & a fireplace. It's on Northside, across from the golf course & tennis center, right near Collier. We move in a month from tomorrow -- oh, joy!

In other news, I'm president of the Bitter Singles of Atlanta. I get to be president b/c I'm bitchy and I said so. If anyone is interested in joining our ranks, contact me. Same if you want to open a chapter in your hometown. We're expanding to Boston. Bitter Singles, unite!

I went to Colonial Homes over lunch, and I am so in love with it! ***Swoon*** If Brooke feels the same way, maybe we can just put down a deposit tomorrow. Woo!

Brooke & I are looking at two duplexes and maybe an apt. complex this evening. The duplexes are both in the Northside/Collier area, which is really nice & close to work, so I hope we find something good that can wait a month for us to move in. We may also look at Colonial Homes, which is on P'tree. I'm going to look at Morningside Chase on Monroe at lunch today. Oh, the madness!

I was on the computer last night, paying bills & have a couple of different IM conversations, when I got a IM from Matt. Random! But it was fun to electronically flirt while I drank my glass of Boone's wine. I definitly got my $3 worth out of that bottle.

I've not been posting much lately, but there's not much interesting going on. Work work work. I watched "24" last night, and it was really good. Brenda & I are going to start walking twice a week during lunch - go us! I'm going home this weekend, which will be nice. No news on the romance front. Whatever.

Some things that are kinda cool:
1) I was a model this weekend. I got paid in mahi mahi.
2) I'm a brunette now. (unrelated to modeling; just ready for a change)
3) I think I'm going to move to Asheville. Not today or tomorrow. But someday.

No male companionship tonight. ***Pout***

Hooray for airlines practically paying people to fly! I'm going to Dallas Jan. 31-Feb. 4 to see my little, and I'm paying $74 for the whole thing, including taxes. Woo! It'a almost lunchtime, but I'm still digesting birthday cake. Wish people would get their corrections on the newsletter back to me so I can finish it up & call the juggling salesman to come pick it up. And talk about potential plans tonight.

So I maybe bringing a guest to the Masquerade tomorrow. And said potential guest has my cell # now. At said guest's request. Fingers crossed!

I worked out last night for the first time in quite a while. I danced around to Q100 & did some crunches, squats & push-ups (off the bar, not the ground.) I forgot how muscles I am normally unaware exist hurt when I do push-ups, especially after not doing them for so long. Also did my roots last night...no bad roots for Suzy's photo shoot. That wouldn't be so chic.

There's a paper doll picture of me featured on my main page now. Thanks to Suzy for the link. Looking at it just now, my main page sucks, aside from the cute picture of me & the penguin. Must work on that.

Howard Finster died yesterday. :( AJC story

Universal work truth: Happiness is a warm Krispy Kreme.

It just occured to me to change Jessica's last name in my e-mail contacts and change her last initial on my cell phone. Now she's officially married. :)

After much deliberation, I selected my outfit for today. As I have not worn my plum cashmere-blend sweater set in a while, I fluffed it a little in the dryer to try to de-wrinkle it, and then I shaved off the copious fuzzballs, half of which are now stuck on the beige carpet in my living room. Tried several pant option & decided on the gray low-waited flares, which I also dewrinkled. Chose jewelry and shoes. Then I woke up this morning and scrapped the whole plan in favor of my black v-neck, favorite new jeans, and black boots. A little less dressy, more comfy & an outfit I always feel like I look good in, so I will exude self-confidence. No more dryer for this shirt, though...I've been tuggin the sleeves down all day in hops that they'll quit creeping up my wrist.

Yes, my blog is more shallow than most. I'm realizing this as I type this entry. But it's hard enough work to be clever in real life. If you want cleverness, give me a call and I'll be clever and witty in person. But for now, accept and embrace the kiddie-pool end of me.

Soooooo...as promised, here's my story of today's lunch w/ John. (Can you see the theme emerging in this blog?) (I think I'd have to move to Abu Dabi if he ever read this.) (Woo, the Braves are kicking some ass!) (OK, enough with the paranthtical asides.) So he picked me up with both of us in somewhat frazzled states relating to our respective jobs. Since we were both short on time, I suggested Great Wraps, which is a little ways up Peachtree from my office and fairly quick. He needed to make an ATM stop. However, the ATM told him he didn't have any money. This was news to John, and he was somewhat flustered. I was like, "don't worry, I have some cash, I'll cover it." He let me, but he obviously felt really bad about the whole situation. He said that he was going to make it up to me and insisted on knowing how he should do so. SInce we'd been talking about work stress earlier and I'd said that I'd need a drink by the end of the week, I said, "well, you could buy me that drink I need at the end of the week, 'cause I think you'll need one too." He thought it was a great idea. So, we're doing a happy hour Friday! After-hours plans -- score!!!

On a seperate note, cut-backs going on at work. I think I'm safe since they're eliminating the communications VISTA position and that will put even more on my plate (joy), so hopefully I'll be pretty indispinsable. Though I had an informal and somewhat dismaying performance review of sorts from my manager. I need to pick it up a little just to be safe.

So my mom & this other band mom made a huge American flag for the marching band. She's very proud. Go here and see a picure of it (while it's there.)

Quickie blog update. Lauren's been visiting, so between that and being busy at work, I haven't had much time. We visited the Phi Mu hoiuse Saturday -- they have 3 new Phis & some promising bids still pending. I'm so proud, and a bit relieved, at how well the chapter's doing. We ate at Maggiano's Sunday and I'm getting a good 3 meals out of the leftovers. Rock! And as no wentry would be complete w/o the Cute Printer Boy Update....I went to his office to drop off artwork yesterday & ended up sitting & talking with him for half an hour before I decided I should get back to work. He makes me smile. Saw him for a few minutes this morning when he brought by the blueline. And tomorrow is lunch. I think I need to drop some big hints for doing something this weekend...if nothing else, I have an extra Thrashers ticket for next weekend that I can offer him. What guy could resist a woman with hockey tickets, I ask?

So my friend Eli was an extra on "Dawson's Creek" last night. Random! He should feel special b/c I wouldn't watch a teen drama for just anyone. It would have probably been more entertaining if I was 14. Anyway, if anyone else was watching, he was one of the grips in the movie studio. You could see him a couple or 3 times behind the director.

"Can't wait to talk to you again, Kelly" is such a nice way to end a conversation.

I should really rename this "The 14-year-old-esque Crush Blog". :)

Talked to John. He asked if I wanted to have lunch again next week (he's apparently swamped this week), so of course I said yes & we're scheduled for next Wednesday. I'm such a woman of little patience. I'm considering calling him tomorrow & asking if he wants to have a drink after work. Popular opinion seems to be that I should hold back and let him make that move, though. I don't know him or his history that well, so maybe he's just really vulnerable or something, but when is this going to progress to an after-work-hours thing? If he's trying to make me crazy, he just might succeed. Feel free to share opinions.

It's over. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I'm free at last. HOAD went well, if cold, at least dry. The wedding was beautiful; Jessica was beautiful; the weather was beautiful. I had a comp day today. Check work voice mail noonish, had message from John asking how my weekend went. After some deliberation, I called him back & had a nice 10-minute chat. Will talk to him again tomorrow. He is obviously interested, it should be obvious I'm interested, so......when's he going to ask me out?

Have worked 26 hours in past two days. Am tired enough to cry, but must pack for wedding. fdgtrffgggggrsd (that was my head hitting the keyboard.) Taking my post-HOAD comp day Monday. Will post again then, if I wake up. Am leaving out personal pronouns in manner of Bridget Jones. Am woman of poise and substance. Have no patience for fuckwittage. Would fancy a shag. V. good.

I just rambled extensively on the Phi Mu blog, so if you want a Kelly update, go there. (Oops, that link was wrong. Just fixed it.)

Yahoo! is pink to support breast cancer awareness! That is so cool!

I may get to go on Fox 97 Friday morning & talk about HOAD. I'll keep everyone posted. Also just found out that we get a comp day after HOAD. I think I'll be chillin' at home on Monday. Going to see Tori tonight, woo-hoo! I looked at the set lists from the last few shows, and she seems to be doing a very diverse range of songs spanning all the albums.

Guess who just called me for no reason than to say hi & apologize for not coming by the bar Friday? I'm so delighted. :) He said he'd give me a call later this week. Oh happy happy!

I'm exhausted, but what a day. I volunteered/staffed a HOA table at the World Congress & Conference for Disabilities (or some long name like that). I was wandering about the exhibition hall & saw a display of artwork by artists who do not have use of their hands and...get ready for this...paint with their mouths or feet. And the work was amazing...I couldn't do anything even close with my hand. Lemme find the website...OK, it's http://www.amfpa.com/. Check it out; it's really cool.

Hee hee, "Rocky and Bullwinkle" is on!

Sorry, I got distracted there. Anyway, after a stop at Taco Bell (those new chicken quesadillas are pretty good, and the combo's only $3.49), I went to Centennial Olympic Park to help with HOA's table at Atlanta Unites. We were recruiting new volunteers and asking them to pledge hours of service for the next year. I've worked several recruitment tables, but I've never seen so much response and enthusiasm. In one day, we received pledges for 21,307 hours of volunteer service. It was absolutly amazing. Big shout-outs to Shannon for coordinating our participation in the event and to the AmeriCorps service leaders who "pimped the program" like crazy. The fireworks were cool, too.

John didn't show last night. It's been suggested that there's some sort of 48-hour waiting period before using a girl's phone number (can anyone enlighten me on this part of the Guy Code?), so fingers crossed that he'll call next week. The ball is definitly in his court; I called last time, *and* paid (much to his surprise) (he tried to, though, so he does get gentleman points.) Still had fun last night w/ Brooke & Eli. Good music, good drinks, rude as hell waitress, but oh well. Time to fix lunch so that I'll have fuel to recruit volunteers all afternoon/evening. On a side note, I was awakened this morning by someone having a temper tantrum directly above my head. If Brooke & I get an apt., I'm going to insist that we're on the top floor. There's a reason I don't sleep very late on weekends, and it's getting old.

I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oa-oa!

Lunch was good. Lunch was very good. I am happy happy happy. We talked and talked and it was just great. I tried to get him to come to Blind Willie's tonight and he said he'd try and if he couldn't make it he'd give me a call next week. Sweet! Yes, I'm just blatheringly happy. He's so adorable. *Happy sigh*

Going to Flying Biscuit in 45 minutes. Just ate half a banana & need to pop the Altoids between now & then so I won't have banana breath. Ew. I'm nervous.

Oh, the cruelty that is "Friends"! Rachel wouldn't say who the dad is, and I don't know if I'll make it home to watch it next Thursday. Must get a blank tape. Today's life lesson: don't overbake pizza rolls. They aren't so good crunchy. Brooke has an appointment to see a house tomorrow that sounds really good. Every time she has an appointment, though, the house goes off the market before she can see it. Fingers crossed.

Was going to eat lunch in, but it's Bonnie's birthday & hardly anyone's got time to take her out for lunch, so I'm joining that expedition. Though I checked my Discover balance & my Wachovia balance last night, and it's not a pretty sight. Today's payday, but the majority of that goes to rent. Sometimes I wonder if I really want to have a roomie after getting so used to living alone, but this is not one of those moments.

I have a habit of listening to Q100 in the car & at work, which means I get some pretty ghetto music stuck in myhead. Like right now. "I got hos....in different a-re-a codes..." I just went to Express to spend a coupon. I got, among other things, a very fabulous bra. It's sort of French-looking. I wouldn't normally spend that much on one, but I got $25 off the total purchase, so it's all good. Also went to J.C. Penney's, seeing as I parked outside it, and hit the clearance rack in juniors again. 5 shirts for $10. Aw yeah. Then I went to Publix & got a cute little pumpkin for my little abode. I don't know how well it would carve, so I'll probably just make it cute w/ a Sharpie.

I just ate banana splits. With the whole staff. Served by our directors. Sometimes I think I have the coolest job ever. This is one of those moments.

P.S. In case you didn't know, never encourage me to sing. My officemates just learned the hard way. I'd have to be really drunk to do karaoke. "She said she talks to aaaaaangels...."

It's nippy outside (not to mention in my office.) I'm all cozy in my suede jacket & jeans. I want to carve a pumpkin and drink some apple cider. But not at the same time. Hey, everyone come to "Atlanta Unites" at Centennial Park this Saturday. You can pledge volunteer hours to your community. And if it's 7:00-10:00 p.m., you get to hand me your pledge form. Isn't that exciting? I'm told the music acts so far include Sister Hazel and Jagged Edge. That's pretty diverse (or pretty random). I'm going to help staff a booth at a disabilities conference that afternoon. It's a full day o' HOA recruitment fun. Wheeee.

I've had two rolls of film in a row not come out of the developing tank alive. Very sad, especially since one was from Ashevile & buying the film was such a drama itself. It's not a good sign when the photography teacher doesn't know why weird things happen to your film. I did print a very cool self-portrait tonight though.

If you're interested in a new philosophy on airline security and the symptoms and prevention of scurvy, go read Suzanne's blog. It's funny as hell. Especially if you're tired. Skeletons in my Sock Drawer

It took all morning to get my courage together, but I just called John & we're having lunch Friday. I was hoping for sooner (today would have worked), but hey, I'm just glad to have a lunch date #2. Now I have all week to anticipate. Guess I'll go microwave my lunch for now.

Happy things:
1) Sushi for lunch!
2) My tag is renewed and hopefully my fine will be reduced/dropped as a result.
3) The weather, while cruddy now, will be loverly the rest of the week.

Everyone go check your tag & see when it expires. It's easy to forgot about these things. Learn from my mistake & avoid traffic court!

Good times in Asheville. Pottery painting, lots of fried food, and lots of Chambord. I could be happy living up there someday instead of here in suburbia.

Working until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. Ew. Going to Blind Willie's this Friday. Let me know if you want to join the fun.

Just got in from a long evening...failed attempt at developing film...a nice long auto tour of Dunwoody...yummy chili in a bread bowl...watching the telethon (none of us got to talk to Jack Nicholson)...vicious hat-napping (I've turned to a life of crime; it's quite sad.) Now I need to pack for the roadtrip to Asheville. Which involves me being in Duluth at 9:00 (Jessica, I'll try my best!) Night night...

How can it get to 85 degrees today when it was so cold this morning? Must get HOAD sponsor info to sign company; must makes edits to Holiday Giving Guide; must call agency contact for feature story info; must start working on MLK Service Summit collateral. Ooh, that means must soon get some printing quotes. Hence must call printers. I swear they played this song an hour ago. I think when DJs change shifts they don't keep track of what the last DJ just played. Or they don't care. I'm going to Callanwolde after work to play in the darkroom. Then to Asheville Satuday/Sunday for bachelorette party. Woo hoo! I-I-I keep on falling in and out of love with you.....

Sooooo....I had lunch today with John, known around the communications & recruitment department as "cute printer boy." (By the way, I learned there's no quicker way to get hell from this department than to have a lunch date.) It was nice. He picked me up, let me pick the restaraunt (Touch of India - yum), and walked me back in when we got back. Lots of getting-to-know-you-type chitchat. He talked a lot about his dog, and I didn't have to be back to work right away, so we went by his apt. to walk his dog. Shannon (co-worker) made a good point in that you don't take people to meet your dog on a business lunch. John lives next door to Nomenclature and told me a very amusing story about going there right after he moved in. I think he's slowly learning what it means to live in Midtown. So yeah, it was a really good time, I hinted heavily that we should do it again or hang out on the weekend sometime. I wish I had his e-mail address...I can e-mail a guy much more easily than I can call him. But I have a good feeling about seeing him again (outside work stuff that is -- if nothing else, I can call him about the newsletter he's printing for me & go from there.) OK, that's my story. Hope you enjoyed it. I did. :)

Listening to Tina Turner here in room 8. I'm doing a bunch of icky text formatting stuff, and I'm saving frequently since the network went wacky yesterday when the power flickered & I lost a bunch of work. Going out in an hour or so for a lunch meeting, lunch date, not quite sure what it is...but it involves some free lunch, so I've got that going for me. Went to do trivia at a bar w/ co-workers last night. Did you know that "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was Simon & Garfunkel's longest-running #1 song? I suspected as much, but everyone else thought it was "Mrs. Robinson." See what happens when people don't listen to me? Back to Quark....

I'm not feeling too focused on work. We had a long (but good) staff meeting & then my dept. went to Doc Chey's for Stephanie's birthday, so my brain seems to be saying "You haven't really worked yet today; why start now?" We had a couple of speakers from the Islam community in staff meeting. I hadn't realized before how close Islam and Christianity beliefs are. (My college Eastern Philosophy course went in one ear and out the other...I'm sure fellow Breanu alums are with me on this. It was baaad.)

I'm feeling all fallish and decided to wear "real" (i.e. closed-toed) shoes today. My loafers are rubbing my heels a bit. But it's OK. I hope it's cool enough soon for my pretty new leather pants. And sweaters. And apple cider. Yay, fall.

Yay, it works! I am a technical mastermind. Well, not really. At all. What I am is very tired b/c I worked all day & went to class & just ate a piece of Stephanie's dry birthday cake (no fault of her own), and my bed is calling my name. I'm going it answer it now. More later...stay tuned kids.

*Tap tap*...is this thing on?