AND WE’RE BACK.

Yeah so I haven’t posted in 3495628 years. Right.

Onward. Updates:

I am a flight attendant now. It is fantastic.

I am moving to San Francisco in two weeks. It should be fantastic also.

I am trying to blog again. Things got kinda cray-cray for a minute there. Sorry. FA training was slightly more ridic than I planned.

I am on twitter. @kattatum. Follow me NOW.

This post sucks, but it’s just a kickstart. I’m getting motivated.

I spent the weekend in Nashville with Tim’s family. I love Nashville. I am going to miss the South terribly when I move. Tim does not share this sentiment. I am working through it.

I want to see The Hangover: Part II.

Tim’s brother is cooking us dinner right now and he is a superb cook. Nom.

And there you have it. Baby steps, people. Baby steps. If you want to keep track of my activities and hilarity on a more regular basis (which I KNOW you do), I highly recommend following my AMAZING twitter feed.

If not, stay tuned here and whatnot. See how that pans out for ya.

All your chips are belong to us.

Let me begin by pointing out that I am materialistic and I like shiny things. The shiniest thing that I want right now is of course, the iPhone. But alas, I am with Verizon. And they are ticking me off with this “no iPhone” business. Don’t get me wrong, I love Verizon. Albeit blindly, since I don’t actually have a real reason to love them, but I do. I guess. Except for the whole “No-Service-In-My-Boyfriend’s-Apartment-Where-I-Spend-All-My-Time” thing. Details.

Because of my unmatched Googling prowess, I have recently discovered that I have been directing my shitty-smartphone-induced rage at the wrong entity! I know. Let me be the first to apologize, Verizon. How could I have ever doubted you? I was young and stupid and blinded by all of the user-friendly touchscreen bliss happening around me. We cool?

You may think that I am now shooting e-daggers (iDaggers?) at Apple, player hating on all their proprietary bullshit (DIRECT quote from a certain technologically-inclined boyfriend…) and putting out hits on Steve Jobs, but you’d be wrong. People, the culprit is obvious. Those sons of bitches at AT&T are RUINING my life. Here’s how I found out:

For starters, my blackberry broke (Surprise! Except not.) and I had to decide whether to stay at Verizon and renew my contract for a new phone, stay at Verizon and NOT renew for a factory refurb of my current phone (OMGFML), or jump ship and go to AT&T for the iPhone. So I took my case to the gods of Google. They will help me! They will know the answers! I started by Googling “Motorola Droid X vs. HTC Incredible.” The Droid X basically took every category on that one. So then I searched “Droid X vs. iPhone.” Then I got really sad. Apparently the Droid X is really cool and all and Open Source Software rules, but iPhone did it first, and they did it best. The tech specs are back and forth (X wins some, iPhone wins some) but the user reviews say it all. iPhone for the win.

So then I had to Google “When will Verizon get the MOTHER F***ING  iPhone FOR THE LOVE OF GOD?” and the responses were varied. I tried my best to sift through all the useless rumors and get to the true ones but there are just so many. “iPhone will hit Verizon in July 2011.” “Not until the contract ends in 2012.” “The iPhone is a figment of your imagination.” But then something caught my eye: “Apple places order for CDMA chips to ship in January 2011.” I read a little further in to the article and found out a lot of useful information. Apparently AT&T really likes this certain kind of chip called GSM (Garlicky Salt/Sadness Munchies? they sound kinda gross…) and Verizon likes CDMA chips (Crunchy Delicious/Dominant Munchies A-go-go) and Apple is kinda thinking about trying the CDMAs because Verizon has more friends at their parties (stay with me) where they serve CDMAs and Apple is feeling lonely and AT&T won’t share their GSM chippies because they are jerks. Verizon was like, “Chippies? We can haz? Please?” and AT&T was all, “BUZZ OFF. Get your OWN chippies.” and then Verizon said, “FINE. Maybe we will then.” and AT&T was like, “Okay good. Do it.” and Verizon said, “Cool. We are.” and AT&T got bratty and said, “FINE.” and Verizon was like, “FINE.” So Verizon told Apple that they’re not trying to be rude but they heard GSM chippies suck anyway and that the CDMA chippies are awesome and everyone loves them so Apple was like, “Well okay. They do throw rad parties…” and after that Apple was like, “YO ASIA? We’re gonna need a crapload of CDMA chips, like, pronto because we focus-grouped it and apparently a ton of people would totally leave AT&T’s party and come to Verizon’s if we go over there and AT&T’s party is kinda dying down and we’re getting repeats on their playlist and the food is running low and Sprint’s dumb ass is like two hours away and we hear they have a cash bar. Tacky. Not even on our radar. Anyways, I mean, you can only get in to Verizon’s party if you bring CDMA chips. And it sounds really fun in there. And we think we heard karaoke? And NFL Blitz tournaments? And Dominos messed up the order and sent THREE free pizzas to apologize!? So…yeah…CHIPS. STAT. PLEASE. Kthanks.”

So, as you can see, this is CLEARLY all AT&T’s fault. For being bastards. I mean, what’s the big damn deal AT&T? Your party was cool but it’s getting late and I’ve heard that Verizon’s after-party is poppin’ off. You can’t blame Apple for wanting to get in on that. Don’t be assholes about it. It sounds to me like Verizon is totes gearing up for a MASSIVE throw-down in late January. Amiright? So I ordered my factory refurb and am crossing my fingers that the iPhone is coming and I can use my upgrade to get it VERY. SOON.

That was a struggle to type….probably more of a struggle to read. I am really very broken up about all this animosity. Verizon hates to make AT&T feel bad about their  party but it is what it is. It’s not Verizon’s fault that people at AT&T’s house are texting their friends to call them and fake an emergency so that OH NOOO I’m gonna have to leave suddenly right nowww to take care of this I’m so sorryyy it was really fun and I’m so disappointedddd. SHUT IT DOWN.

I love you, iPhone. I will wait for you. As long as it takes. Don’t let them bully you into staying at at shitty house party when you KNOW you wanna come over and karaoke Boys 2 Men.

The Page Is Turning…

Okay. This has really gotten ridiculous. Sorry. I would say I have been busy but it’s more like…distracted. Mainly because I have been fretting over the future and everytime I start a post I just can’t get it to work. I haven’t written anything worth reading in weeks (I seriously have about 11 drafts of uselesness in my post box.) But Lo! There has been a MAJOR development…that I can’t quite tell you about yet. So…more of the same “I-don’t-have-anything-to-write-about” nonsense. Most of you know what it is and why it can’t be published just yet. And I PROMISE I am on top of it. It’s complicated. And I’m treading lightly.

***

I am REALLY looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I managed to get Thursday through Sunday off of work so I will get to spend the entire long weekend with my family in Pensacola! Oh, and Tim is coming. For those of you who have met members of my extended family, I have one request: DON’T TELL HIM. I know we are crazy. Each one of my family members (myself included!) has their own little quirks and I just want him to judge us with no pre-formed illusions of grandeur. I mean, we are pretty grand though. I think the whole big Southern to-do of it all will be a bit of a shock to his Italian, snow-bound, Red-Sox system. Most of my aunts and uncles and cousins sound like they are right out of Tara {which he also won’t be used to since I spend so much time covering my accent with perfect non-regional diction – I only pull out that adorable Southern Drawl when it will be most beneficial to me (read: pastors; grandparents; city employees) or when I am tipsy} and feel that their Southern heritage is superior to all others (which it is.) But anyway, I just think it’s going to be wonderful.

***

So I hope this little baby post will hold you over until I can get my act together. I still have a ton of pictures I want to put up so maybe I will get around to that. ❤

Here’s to the Nights

Monday night I went to my old apartment to do the “walk-through” with my landlord. We met at 7:30 and headed up to assess the damage. When we walked into the apartment, I was immediately struck by how empty it looked. Which makes sense considering I moved. But it felt weird. It felt like I had never been there before. We moved through the blank rooms looking at wall scuffs and floor scratches and deemed it all to be normal wear and tear. My landlord told me everything looked amazing and thanked me for taking such good care of the place. He told me his plans for the unit and asked me about my new place, but if I’m honest, I was conversing on auto-pilot. My mind was in another place. Well, actually my mind was in that exact place, just another time. A time that felt so far away it might as well have been another place. It all came flooding back, and suddenly the apartment wasn’t empty at all. It was full of all of you. I remember the first night I spent there. I remember midnight pool parties with the people I still love the most. I remember the fights and the tears. I remember leaning out the window to breathe in the night air and breathe out the laughs as we watched the skyline and the traffic. We played, we pre-gamed, we conquered. It was our city.

It always will be.

So many firsts took place for me there. So many memories that I will dedicate myself to never forgetting. Most of them were with the people who will always have my heart. I think I have a memory of almost all my close friends in that apartment. I hope you never forget them either, because man, we had some good times.

We went back down the elevator and he thanked me again and told me that he wished all his tenants could be like me. If he only knew the stunts we pulled in that place. Wink Wink. I gave him the keys and got in my car to drive away for the last time. I cried when I pulled out on to Peachtree.

If you are remembering a specific night or memory, Congratulations. You were a part of one of the hardest, longest, most amazing years of my life. And I love you for it. I know you will all be there for the next chapter and I can’t wait.

Let’s never forget.

❤

 

On to the Next

This will be quick. Just a short update on the status of The Big Move.

So Saturday after I got off work Tim and I went over to my old place and packed and cleaned and sorted and organized (I think he may have been sent to me to straighten me out lol) as much as we were able. Well, more like as much as Tim was able before my whining and work avoidance tactics became unbearable. He is shockingly patient with me about all of that business. I HATE packing. Something tells me I’m not going to be particularly fond of unpacking either. My strategy in the past has been to leave everything boxed up and dig through the boxes to find items as I need them and personally, I found that technique to be highly effective against The Possibility Of Me Actually Having To Do Work. Apparently that will NOT be an acceptable method this time around as Tim is overseeing the project as Tactical and Logistics Foreman and Master of Preventative Measures Against General Side-Steppery and Task Escapism. Tim is so demanding (read also: rational.) “Ugh, Kate. It is so ridiculous that you still have boxes you never unpacked from the last move.” “I can’t believe you have actually never vacuumed behind your couch.” “How can you live like this? It really isn’t reasonable to store things this inefficiently. Just look at all this unused space.“

And judgey. Did I mention that he’s right? And I love him? And that none of those are direct quotes?

(Although I’m quite sure he thought them all. And probably lots more super-condescending perfectionist organizey things. Prude.)

So after we made a reasonable dent in the packing/ decluttering/ purging of things I haven’t used in over a year/ discussion of the possibility that I may be displaying the early signs of a very serious hoarding problem/ cleaning / sorting/ whatnot/ omgwheretheFdidallthiscomefrom/ talking me off the ledge of just literally throwing everything I own away/ etc we we decided we should try and get a little rest before Sunday so we called it a night. To my credit, the option of throwing all my earthly belongings away is especially attractive because my old apartment is on the 12th floor of a building with a trash chute. YES. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how much you think you are above it, everyone loves throwing random things down a 12-story slide and listening to them fall. If you don’t, I’m very sorry to hear about the void where your heart and youthful whimsy should be, you monster.

 And then there was Sunday.

Tim had a long run at Kennesaw Mountain that morning with BJRP (www.bigjohnsonrunningproject.blogspot.com) and I was at his place waiting for all the runners to get back so I could make them what we are calling “Long-Run Sandwiches” (YUMMO. Bagel + two eggs + cheese = happy boys) and try to organize everyone for the day. It turned out that Tim had a surprise “Willpower Workout” at the mountain and was EXHAUSTED when he returned. Fantastic. Thanks, Coach (Just kidding – you know I love BJRP!) Most of the other guys had run at least 13 or so miles and everyone clearly needed a break before we got crackin’ so I let them watch a little football for a while to recover. After that it was UHaul time and we all headed over to my old place to make a plan. We ended up with Tim, Joe, Phil, D.J., David, Brittney, and myself. Obviously, Brittney and I were supervising and barking orders rather than actually lifting and moving items, but I felt like we were very influential. Nay, inspirational. We have always thought of ourselves as life-brighteners, but that day we were particularly helpful. All the boys were AMAZING and I am still trying to figure out a way to thank all of them (don’t worry y’all, I’ll think of something!) The day actually went pretty smoothly with the exception of a few minor issues. For one, moving my couch was, as always, a struggle. Because of the shape of the three pieces, it can only be moved in one of the elevators, and not the other. Annoying. Also, there is a bit of an unusual angle to tackle when entering the new house so I’ll just say it’s a good thing my man and the other three gentlemen that helped me out are engineers and leave it at that. Lucky me 🙂

So we managed to get all of my furniture moved in one day, which was excellent. It took a few trips, but all that is left in my old apartment are odds and ends that need to be sorted through and boxed up. My new roomie is an interior decorator so I am letting her have free reign with my belongings to make our house look cute. Which is wonderful because I have a pretty good eye, but I have to put in a lot of effort to pull together a cohesive look. Who has the time. Certainly not me. Right.

“Just a short update…” Ha. I really blind-sided you all with that one! Who knew I would actually have something to say? Highly unprecedented turn of events. Anyway, the hard part is over. Sort of. Once I get the old apartment totally cleaned out I will feel much better. I will try and post some pictures of the new place once we get a little more situated. I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seats. That’s why I love you.

Finding center.

I have to be really careful about taking things that I have for granted. Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed by moving and money and my job (especially my job and my plan for the next year) and then I got sick this week which is always a struggle. If I look at my position from an objective point of view, it’s a pretty good one: stable job at a great company, great friends, wonderful boy looking after me, supportive family, and generally good health (with the exception of this bronchitis.) For some reason I just can’t seem to shake this feeling of panic and rush and everythingiscrashingdownaroundmeahhhhfmlomgnomack. Which I realize may be a bit of an overreaction…at any rate, I feel like sitting down and crying about 70% of the time because I just don’t know where to start. I tend to do this every so often. The problem is that this time around I almost feel guilty for the stress because so many things are so good right now. I am basically happy. Really happy. And grateful for the way things are falling into place. The best way to describe it may be a metaphor: imagine my life as a drafting compass. Always running around in circles. If your center isn’t constant, nothing will make sense at the end. All the circles will overlap and make a mess. I feel like I have found my center point. Something that holds steady no matter where I try to run and keeps everything concentric and clears the fog. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you’re never really out of place. Some people might relish in the chaos, but I prefer knowing where I began and where I will end. It’s so simple.  But there is this one part of my life that is eternally stressful. Something that has really fallen out of my control. I realize I am being vague but there is only so much I can say on here about this specific issue. It’s a little sensitive. Oh yay, another cryptic, rambling post to decipher. YES. THAT’S CORRECT. If you haven’t accepted that I am crazy and unmanageable, you should stop reading.

So anyway, I am feeling guilty about feeling stressed which is making me feel more stressed which is increasing the guilt. Honestly. This is where wormholes come from, people. Also, this is probably making me borderline intolerable to those who spend the most time with the unadulterated version of Kate (So, mostly Tim. Sorry about that…) I need to find something that makes me feel more fulfilled professionally. So onward, into the great unknown. What do I want to be when I grow up? I’ll try to refocus my ideas and post something interesting later. I have about 1682 pictures I want you to see so maybe I’ll get on that. *Snarf*

Kate Lately

Yeah, yeah I know I haven’t posted in 1000 years and blah blah blah. Sorry. I’m busy. And lazy. And it’s hard. And no one reads it anyway. So forgive me and let’s move forward because I have a LOT to update. I know. It’s shocking. So here we go.

Firstly, I found a roommate and then we found a perfect apartment that I cannot WAIT to move in to. We are moving September 12th-ish to an awesome 2bd/2ba on Collier Road. That, unfortunately, is all the information I can share with the interwebs since I don’t want all of my loyal fans creeping on me in my new digs. If I love you I’ll let you come over. Maybe.

Next, I heart the Best Brothers Band. I have about one million pictures of my favorite boys and I promise I will post them eventually but I just haven’t sorted through all of them yet. Everytime I see them live (which is as often as I can) they get better and better. I seriously cannot get enough – everytime they play us a new song I fall in love with it! I know that when they get their EP recorded I will wear it out immediately. Better get more than one copy. But seriously, if you are my friend and you have not seen them live yet, YOU NEED TO. Most of you know what a big part of my life music is and I want you to know that I love these guys not because they are my friends but because they are legitimately incredible musicians. They are creative and unique and I honestly can’t think of a single comparison that would do them justice. They are eternally committed to their fans and consistenly put on amazing live shows. I started listening because those guys mean the world to me, but I stuck around because they constantly provide me (and all of their fans) with surprising and inspiring music. They have made me laugh out loud and brought me to tears. There is nothing but love.

Onward, there is a new boy (yes I know; Surprise, surprise…but you might wanna keep an eye on this one…) in my life and he is wonderful. Well, he’s not that new, but I’ve been waiting to say it outloud because it’s just that good and I was terrified to jinx it. I can’t say too much about him because I’d like to protect him from my many dedicated suitors (that’s right boys! Kate’s off the market – pack it up!) but I’d love to say it all. I’d love to tell you about all of his accomplishments and talents. I’d love to tell you that he is intelligent and challenges me in the best way and how I admire his work ethic and dedication. I’d love to tell you that he is a man of great character and conviction and more importantly, a man of his word. I’d love to tell you how much I look up to and respect him and how he treats me honorably but won’t let me get away with anything – and that I love him for that. I want to say how much I adore his family and how they care for each other and work together. I want you to know that all we do is crack each other up and bring out the very best in each other but if I told you all of those things I know it would create a very serious run-on sentence situation and we all know how I feel about those, so I’ll just leave it at this: Finally. Oops – looks like I said it anyway. Most of the people who read this probably know all about him already but for the rest of you, there is much more to come. Don’t fret, my pets.

In other news, I recently went on the most amazing vacation. This place had all the things you look for in a getaway spot: Incredible weather, great food, lots of local fun, and fantastic company. That’s right, I went to Nantucket. If it weren’t miserable there half of the year I’d be at home packing my things. In addition to all the aforementioned wonder, I took some great pictures that I can’t wait to share with you. This trip will get a post all it’s own VERY soon so this is all you get for now:

I know. That is word.

Anyway, as you can see things are looking up. I am happy and fulfilled and excited to see what else there is. I just can’t wait to get there. <3.