I love having Nora and Tom and DJ's cousins just a couple of blocks away. For a while, a friend and I would get together for cheap drinks on a weekly basis and gripe about not being able to find jobs... But then we found jobs and now we're too busy.

smonster...I miss youuuuuuu

My iPhone autocorrected for youuuuuuu.

Proximity: it matters more than you think.

There are two women that live in my neighborhood that I recruited (they already go to my church) for my womens' bible study group just on the premise that I wanted to get to know people who were physically closer to me. Even as little as my town is, I'm pretty seriously rural from it, so the people that I hang out with from town don't really want to come all the way out here. And as winter happens, it will get worse.

Of course, I am a hermit, so I also like cloistering in during winter storms, but it's nice to know there's someone within reasonable range who, like, knows your name.

smonster, I know how you feel...well, not exactly, because so far, I'm mostly I Don't Think About You Like That Girl. Was just thinking I don't make BFFs anymore, either.

I will drive to see my BFFs who are mostly in DC Metro, and Baltimore, but the year I spent in Baltimore I never did anything but work, sleep, and go to karaoke with my same two to four friends. I really regret that I never even saw lisah or sarameg. I just failed to have a life there. Bleh.

But in Philly, I will have more balance. And, very awesomely, Amy and Sox are so close! I'm a little giddily excited about just starting over. Which I am truly doing, because I've been living in furnished places for the past almost ten years. Um. I have a bed and a chair. Hello, freecycle!!

I'm actually looking forward to that part -- finding things to furnish with but being judicious about acquiring too much. Anymore, the fewer things I have, the less stressed I feel. I think if I were settling in permanently, I wouldn't be so reluctant to build up a nest, but right now, I look at things as "and how hard will you be to move?"

ita ! I checked the Angel Red and, although it's old and may have gone off, it's a purple-y red. So, not at all what you're looking for.

The cosmetic line that the makeup artist is coming out with is called U Lifestyle. The "U" is umlauted.

Jen, I'm excited that you're moving to Philly, because that's where we fly in to visit M! Things can Be Arranged!

Proximity: it matters more than you think.

Oh, hells, yeah! When I was working for KY, living in Lawrence, which is less than an hour away from KC, I was utterly miserable. Loved my job, loved my boss, but not having my friends around just made me miserable, exacerbated my depression....I had to quit and move back. No coincidence less than a month after I moved back, I was in the hospital.

(OK, I was working for KU but the typo was way too funny to edit.)

ION, D's company's system has not processed anyone's paychecks - snafu in tech processing -- and none are hitting direct deposit.

You wanna see furious chaos? Have this happen at an IT company who works with FINANCIAL COMPUTER SECURITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT. Apparently, it's frickin' a bloodbath over there tight now...

Jen, I'm excited that you're moving to Philly, because that's where we fly in to visit M! Things can Be Arranged!

!!! Awesome. So much awesome!

Apparently, it's frickin' a bloodbath over there tight now...

Holy shit, and I can imagine. That's just... do not mess with people's money, man.

Yeah...I know they're working on it and people are frothing in rage (rightly so).

I mean, shit happens, but at an IT company? Financial IT?! I'm worried, but I also see the delicious, hilarious irony in this.

Gah, smonster, I'm so sorry. Everyone here is saying very wise things about letting go and not dwelling on unproductive thoughts, but to be honest I kind of just want to go over to his house and thwap him with a major cluestick. I know, I know, not helping. I just really wish things had worked out differently for you.

Jilli, check your inbox in about five minutes and you'll have that cover of "Common People" by MCR.

The who with the what now? And how might I acquire this?

Being friends is hard!

It very much is. Both making new friends and holding onto/keeping up with old ones. Right now I'm feeling kind of distant from a very good friend, and it makes me sad. I'm hoping to see her over Thanksgiving, which will help, but I worry that having a baby is only going to put more distance between us. She lives in Boston and I used to see her all the time; while I was in grad school, I'd stay with her and her husband (also one of my oldest friends) once a week while I was taking classes in the city. That really deepened our friendship, but it seems that since I moved to Nashville, it's been harder for us to stay in touch and the friendship has suffered. I really want to fix that.