Spazzmanda

Sit back, it is story time!

I have a dear friend that is having to recover her life from a series of bad choices she has made which caused me to start musing on my own life. Rather than focusing on all the things I want, or think that I need right this moment, I’m thinking about all the things that I DO have.

About 5 years ago I took a job- the first in my field- and was very excited about it. I moved to Canton, Georgia because I was way underpaid and I found a cool loft there that fit within the minuscule budget. It was my first time living all alone. Although quaint, it sucked. Gnarlee kitty was miserable (you could hear EVERYTHING the neighbors and their dogs were up to) not to mention I had never felt so isolated in my entire life. I worked for a slimeball- I mean a REAL slimeball- he made inappropriate comments constantly and bounced paychecks -albeit very teensy paychecks- not to mention the fact that I was practically running his business for him- and he was a boldface liar- and asked me on more than one occasion to compromise myself (aka tell boldface lies) on the company’s behalf. (Boooo, hissssssss- we hate liars.)

But through that connection, I met a friend that introduced me to the person that would come to hire me here in Gainesvegas. Now, when offered the job, I was asked to move here. Even though I hated Canton, I was hesitant to move to Gainesville. It was so FAR from my friends and family- it was a whole other city! (snicker- most of my close friends and family at the time lived in the 400 corridor- Sandy Springs through Cumming- and even my grandmother lives here.)

So I moved here. I found a cute apartment in a quaint part of town within blocks of the new job, and Gnarlee could look outside an upstairs window at a tree filled with squirrels and we were both happy. During my first year here (I moved in April of 2004) I started dating some again to stay in practice (mostly through Match.com) and I made some new friends (mostly married ones.)

(if you can’t handle the cheese, please don’t read the next page…)

I suppose I was still a bit lonely at times, single gal, unfamiliar city, not many hobbies outside of work, but life was certainly looking up. When I least expected it- I met Jeff. Well, I almost didn’t meet him. We had talked a bit here and there (we too met ONLINE if you can fathom it) but through some error I hadn’t returned a call to him (oops- someone keeps track of whose turn it is) and we didn’t meet right away. Out of the blue he called me – apparently just before I was to be deleted from his phone- and we had our first date, Tuesday, April 12th, 2005. We have scarcely been apart since.

Now, if I hadn’t worked for the slimeball, I would have never met the person that formed the contact that brought me to Gainesvegas. I wouldn’t have Jeff- a person in whom I’m convinced that I have found my soul mate (awwww, cheez) – a job I love, or the whole slew of friends here in my new hometown. I actually can say that now. I feel at HOME- in this funky little rural-ish little city (hey, I grew up in Atlanta, gimme a break.) I suppose I would be somewhere else- presumably slimeball free, but where? What would I be doing? Pondering in this manner makes me so sad to think about the life I wouldn’t have if I had simply made some different choices along the way- but I suppose I’m also optimistic that there is some kind of destiny/higher power that just HAS to be at work here because obviously, some mistakes aren’t actually mistakes at all.

Thank you Mr. Slimeball- wherever you are.