<------ the UT marching band, PHEnomenal. i don't know what they played, but they could sure march!

ok. the scoop. as many of you know, there were rocky beginnings here in Minneapolis. i was working with one temping agency, and that didn't work out as their clients were less than savory and boneheads for the most part. i began working for dolphin staffing in march. i am still working there as the Human Resources Assistant. if it's paper or needs a procedure, it's probably mine. it took some time for me to get comfortable and start to get to know people. but little by little things happened, and there was need to talk. i identify very well with Emily. she was working in HR, but right around the time i was hired she was promoted to a staffing consultant for the medical staffing company within dolphin family group. (it's a very confusing company, and all of that paperwork........bleck). anyhow, we still worked very closely together, in terms of physical distance; her office was a mere ten feet from the desk where i sit. so we got to know each other more and more. she decided to return to wisconsin and take advantage of parental rent rates (by which i mean zero, we are very privileged children) in order to pursue her true passion; Opera. she has a master's degree in operatic performance and wants to give it the mature try. she's moving along since she left. well, she comes from a large family, six children to be exact, and she is the second youngest. the youngest is a boy. he lives in Atlanta, GA. he works in the oil industry. he came to wisconsin for a week to help their parents move and ended up coming up to Mpls to help Emily move. i also helped Emily move. i ended up going to Potosi, WI for the weekend to help move some more. we hit it off right away. according to Cingular i spent more than 6000 minutes on the phone in the month of september, thank the satellites for unlimited mobile to mobile calling. this past weekend, Emily and i both traveled to GA to visit and to venture to the University of Tennessee to watch a less than impressive team win on a missed field goal; giving the Vols a shot at bowling. but the highlight of the weekend of course was not the crowd's eruption when the pigskin veered left, but the simplicity of sitting on the coach next to him and not having to talk. after 6000+ minutes, frankly, i was running out of things to say! his name is Jake. he says the right thing at the right time, he will take me to a Shakespeare play on Saturday and throw the frisbee with me on Sunday.

now. i know that some of you are wondering about this mystery man that i have been talking to since i left Thailand. we have agreed to be friends. when i told him that i have met somebody else and he shouldn't wait for me anymore, he said 'i only want you to be happy'. the perfect gentleman as always.

yes, our eyes are black, i find it more spooky than the red. but he insisted that i 'am so beautiful' you won't notice. so stop staring and look at how happy i am! (and relieved, all those minutes to find out it wouldn't work would have been most uh...disappointing, depressing, devastating.)