First day at my new job

My boyfriend has to be the sweetest guy around!! Today is my first day at work, I spent the whole morning working on paperwork and he called me. He had an alarm installation within 10 miles of my new job and asked me if I wanted lunch. We met and had our first lunch together in Vinings at New York Pizza. The pizza was good, almost like Johnny's, and the company was great!

Receptionist

There is a new receptionist on the block! That would be me!! I have a new job, trying to learn the names of everyone in a 60 person office, the teams they are on (the teams are 3-person teams) and how to work the phone system. It is challenging, but I like it, there are plenty of people and everyone is very nice. Time will tell, but I think I will be there for a long time.

Meet the Cousins, and another brother

Today we went to church together then headed down to Phipps Plaza to go to a restaurant called Twists. It was definately a 'happening' restaurant with the younger set. We met one of my brothers, whom my date had previously met and had dinner with before, my cousin and her husband, whom he met at a race day, and my other brother whom he had only seen from a distance. We all ate lunch together (except the brother previously seen from a distance) and had dessert, when the other brother finally met us.

After lunch we toured Phipps Plaza, stopping in Tiffany's (of course), Teavana, and stopping to chat at one of the courtyard tables. Then the cousins, my date, and myself went to Lenox Square. We went through Anthropologie (of course), the Apple Store, Starbucks, Banana Republic, and back home again. It was a wonderful day.

After driving back from the mall we went to Chili's for dinner. It was late when I got home, parents treated me like a 16-year-old, but who cares? I had a wonderful day!!

Did I forget to mention . . .

Wow, today was fun. My boyfriend was working this morning on his second job, installing an alarm. I had no idea what time he would be finished, and since I start a new job on Monday I wanted to sort my closet so it would be more 'business-casual' instead of 'casual but sometimes business.' So somewhere in the middle of taking clothes out of my closet I received a phone call. He had finished his installation, fed the dogs, let the dogs out, relaxed a few minutes, and was ready to go out to eat. He gave me 20 minutes, I asked for 30, and I was soon getting dressed as fast as I could. Mom came upstairs and asked if I wanted salmon for supper, I told her that I wasn't going to be there. I thought I would have time to finish dressing and be able to talk with my parents before he came over. I was wrong. Five minutes later mom called me and asked if I knew my boyfriend was in the driveway, out of his car, talking with dad? No, I didn't know that. I went out and met him, and off we went.

We went dvr shopping, dog biscuit shopping, and then dropped by his house to be sure the dvr would work. Thirty minutes later it was hooked up, running, and we were off to O'Charleys. This is one of the few times we ever had a problem with our meal. I got a 'Thursday' sticker in my steamed veggies. The management was concerned, they gave us my meal free and a free desert. Yum. Hey, the sticker was kinda funny, not enough to get ruffled feathers about. I love the way my date handled it. He called the waiter over and calmly asked, "Do you see anything wrong with the vegetables?" Enough said.

Commentaries from friends and relatives

Wow, so much advice from relatives and friends! I just have to know how to sort it all out!! My cousin's advice I will definately take as she has both feet on the ground, raised 3 boys, and knows what she is talking about.

My parents still don't like my boyfriend. I am not sure how they think that I am manipulating this relationship, how they got the impression that I am leading, or any of the other things they come up with. I honestly think they see that we are a good match and they are afraid that they will lose control in my life.

My friends, well that is a mixture of advice. The latest advice I got was that this wouldn't last, that he would dump me and I should just move on. Wow, and she hasn't even met him! Guess that is what I get for talking with a girl who recently broke up with her boyfriend.

It all boils down to what I think. Do I think I am doing the right thing? Can I see myself with him 30 or more years from now? Am I happy with the way he treats me when he is in a bad mood? Well, hmmm, no one likes being with someone in a bad mood but everyone has them. Oh yes, does he have respect for me or will he treat me badly?

What do I think? I think I will listen to my heart.

Last Days

Wow, it is hard to believe that tomorrow will be my last day at work with my current job. Monday morning I have to wake up earlier, drive longer, and gotta look my best all day long. It should be fun being around new people, they are all excited to get to know me. What is weird is that this week at my current job I found out about a sales meeting with our Florida rep, it will be happening in 3 weeks. Normally I know about this 2 months in advance. Well, I hope the new receptionist is ready because these guys definately don't communicate all the time! I am sad to go, it is a good company. I just don't like to be left in the dark as much as I am, both figuratively and literally.

Countdown to New Job

It is now only one week until I go to my new job. Yesterday I took a dry run of my new route. It shouldn't be too bad, until school starts again. There are quite a few cute shops in the area as well. The transition shouldn't be too hard, I just have to change my wardrobe, wake up earlier and will get home later. Not too bad. But the pay increase should be worth it. :)

Irish Pub Hopping

Tonight my boyfriend picked me up in his chick-magnet, then he and I went with a friend to another Atlanta Irish Pub, O'Terrill's. It was a beautiful night for eating out on the screened patio, and it was very calm and quiet outside. We were close to the Atlanta Civic Center and evidently there was an event occurring there, tons of foot traffic and minimum parking was available. The food was good. O'Terrill's claims that they have Atlanta's best fish and chips, may be inside Atlanta city limits but it was not the best local fish and chips I have had. But it was good and the portion was **huge** almost too much to eat! Company was great, food was good, and the restaurant atmosphere (at 8:30 pm) was quiet and peaceful, very good for conversation. Would we go back? May be, but there are better Irish pubs closer to home. And finding our way out of the labyrinth of Atlanta streets to a major expressway, now that is another story. . . . . .

After I got home my parents were razzing me and giving me a difficult time. I got the classic "You think more of your friends than you do your family" line. I also got another classic "You need to come down to the real world. If you were in an accident you would expect me to drop all I was doing so that I could take care of you and make life-changing decisions for you." That was a final straw right there. I told mom that she would want the same and that I would do it without even thinking about it or sizing up whether she owed me any favors before hand.

Wild Wing's at Night

Tonight I received a call from my boyfriend saying he was skipping work and wanted me to meet him and a buddy at Wild Wings. I had just driven up from Macon, was kinda tired, but since I wanted to see him too I hopped in the car to meet him. The night life at Wild Wings was somewhat quiet. I felt like I had walked into a session of Cheers. "Norm" was sitting at the corner, and a much younger and less gruff "Cliff" was by his side. "Sam" was less brassy and stood directly at the corner, all three were drinking their lager. My boyfriend joined in by asking a few questions, we found out that Norm and Cliff were alcohol distributors and salesmen in the area, Sam owned Wild Wings. I finished my diet coke, said my goodbyes and headed home to sleep. It was great meeting my boyfriend's buddies, I hear a lot about them so putting faces and names together is good. Just don't know if I could keep them straight when we are all together at a party.

Oh, now my boyfriend will have his name at the bar, because he was talking with the owner. WOW. Kinda neat.

Chili's anyone?

Sunday was a great day, we went to church, listened to Andy Stanley talk about our direction in life and the difference between what we want and the path we are travelling. After the service we went out with our friends to Sweet Tomatoes, talked about dogs, cults, religion, and soon-to-be-born puppies.

I went home to work on my essay for History 1111, and submit it before Monday's deadline.

Sunday night my boyfriend, his co-worker / friend, and I went out for dinner at Chili's. They had been working on switching a motorcycle chain all afternoon and were ready for a break. I believe we all were famished because we had a double portion of chips, salsa and cheese dip. And we finished our burgers as well!

After Chili's we watched Bringing Up Baby and called it a night. A calm, simple, but delightful day with a great guy and friends.

Job Searching

I have been looking for a new job since I found out that my current position will not help pay college tuition; I worked overtime and have yet to be paid; I am working for 2 bosses, 1 self-appointed manager, and 4 different companies on the same salary; oh, and the self-appointed manager told me, to my face, right before he left for a week's trade show in Las Vegas, the only reason I was here was "to check the fax machine." I have gone to at least 12 different interviews, scheduling before and after work, heard from 6 companies that they hired someone else, and now I am to the 'final contender' for my new employer.



I have to pass a background check before they hire me, as well as submitting a drug test. I have never done a drug test so that was something new. Quick to do, time-consuming to get to the clinic, but once there it took less than 20 minutes. Good thing I had to go when I got there . . .



The background check had a holdup because I am a home school graduate. I have gone to college so high school should not even be an issue. Especially for a receptionist position. **sheesh** But everyone has their guidelines. I talked with the background company and clarified the situation, hopefully I should be receiving an offer soon.

The Wonderful Fox Theater

Sunday my handsome date and I went to church together. After church we went to Bahama Breeze with mutual friends and celebrated his birthday. Ok, it was a month ago but it has been a month since we saw them. It was a wonderful day for eating outside on the patio and enjoying good company. I even was brave enough to eat a shrimp, something I normally do not eat.

Later that day he came by in the chick-magnet to take me on a special treat. We saw The Sound of Music at the Fox Theater. It was great! It somewhat made me think of years gone by and how people reacted to movies. The Baroness would come on the screen and the audience hissed. The Captain tor the Nazi flag and people cheered. The Captain and Maria kissed and people cheered. The bad part was when Maria broke out in song people laughed a long time and started talking. A chuckle for the antiquary nature, but for goodness sake, don't ruin the movie!! Oh, and I saw my favorite part "Forgive us Mother for we have sinned"

After the movie we went to the Marietta Diner for a late late dinner and a slice of cake. Yum!!