The FYC guys are just so incredibly nice...they even put me on their guest list...I felt all VIP and stuff, so nice of them. I love the way they are all so open and gracious....they are great guys with great talents. I really adore them!

Yea, so during their preformance, I got to play band photographer, although I must apologize next time I see them, cause I am afraid they aren't that great...I have never used a digital before...and it's really hard when the band members move <.giggle> Can't be helped I know, but the pics looked a little frightening...but we shall see.

I had the chance to talk more with Tom this time around. Last time I mostly spoke with Jason and Guy, then I chatted with Kevin, and now I had a nice conversation with Tom. They are all really nice guys (have I said that enough yet?) Okay enough of that. It was a fun night though and oops I made another fan, Denita really loved them, she kept saying, "I love them" all through the night! Yay!

Jason has been giving us shout-outs at the Atlanta shows, which is so sweet of him, and tonight he mentioned that we were the beginning of the GA fans...he is so cute! He also played one of their covers that I really wanted to hear...he said they almost didn't play it (but they did...and I was so appreciative) They are great!

Tomorrow I am road-triping it with B and Rachel to meet T and see FYC in Columbus. It should be awesome since they have played with Cornbread before, so it will be cool! Plus we get to go see another show, which I am so excited about! Okay I am done!

Jessica, Beth, and I had lunch today...it was nice of B to drop by and bring me a book! yay! Although it was only for a few minutes, it was nice to hang...although my school is so crowded this semester, we had to find a cubby hole on the steps going up to a building to sit and eat at...it's crazy, really ridiculous!

So tonight was Cher! It was overall a pretty good night. I really enjoyed most of the guests I came across, of course there were those few who tried to bribe me for better seats, grab my arms (for an unknown reason), grope me cause he wanted past me (didn't happen), and three that had tickets for no where NEAR where I was....I was on the floor tonight and I saw a lot of people TRYING to get past me, but I sent them right back from where they came from...only once did I have a true problem and she called me a bad word <.shhh> and that was that....didn't hurt my feelings any...<.shrug>

Sad thing was when we were ending briefing, Talie had a moment of silence for Teky (which was really nice) but she forgot to mention who we were having the moment of silence for (she just said for a supervisor that we had lost) and after the moment of silence, several people looked up and asked, who? and it was sad that a lot of them didn't know.....

Poor Cyndi Lauper...she fell down stairs at a concert last week so when she came out, she came out in a wheelchair...but she did stand up about three times during her preformance, which she got a standing ovation everytime she did...it was a very good preformance, esp..."Time after Time" (slow version) and "Girls just wanna have fun!" I love her, she's so fun!

Cher sang really well tonight as well, although I expected her to be a bit more dressed now that she is older, but nope, she even wore the exact same outfit she did in the "If I could turn back time" video where the black shear leotard shows her entire butt...for someone so shy who didn't want to sing in public (when she first started) she sure has grown....

Willie came up to me today and said, "what were you trying to prove showing those legs?" and I was like, huh? Willie is the sweetest, kindest, most caring man I know at work, and he said at the funeral I was showing my legs....well yea I guess I was, I did wear an appropriate dress that did cut off right above my legs, now you have to understand that Willie is married to the nicest woman in the world, Janice (they both work with me) and he is always flirting with the girls (in a nice, non-threatening way) and he said, "you about to have a black man with ya, take me home to momma!" I LOVE Willie! He is so cute! And it's funny cause when I think about it, no one at work as actually seen my legs,<.giggle> cause we always wear pants, and I hardly see anyone outside of work, so....I just thought it was cute! He is the cutest!

Okay so that was tonight, I really do love my work when everyone works together, it makes life so much easier and although I did have a few misfits, the night as a whole was a success and I am glad I worked it!

It was good to hang with the siblings though, since I hadn't seen them since I left in May, so it was nice to catch up. I showed them my pictures and even though they are all people pictures, they were interested to see all the people I had met down there, except my over-protective brother who didn't want to see any pics of any boys in fear that my independence down there brought on more than he could handle, which it didn't but whatever, he is stubborn...

I am finding that I am so ready to leave the nest...I mean, I know I have left the nest temporarily many times before: To go to college, go to Disney the first time, go to Disney the second time, and so on....but I know that I am really ready to leave it for good, and be on my own, I feel it's time. Unfortanetly I still have some months to go before I can spread my wings and fly. Not that I don't adore my parents, but I am finding myself getting irritated a lot more because I can sense little things that they don't notice that I am an adult, they want to keep me a kid since I am here under their roof. They don't understand that I don't need to be reminded of things, they are the ones needing the reminders....and it's annoying....oh January come soon.

Of course, it is really scary thinking about moving ALL of MY stuff out of this house. This is the house I grew up in and I know that when I move all of my stuff out of it and leave it, my parents will soon be doing the same and moving on to Oregon while I am in sunny and wonderful Orlando....it is sad to think that this house won't be ours anymore....my home. My first home and the only home I have ever known...of course I say HOME meaning the house, certainly not Atlanta or even Norcross...I feel more at home IN Orlando...just need to find a PLACE to hang my jacket.

I am currently talking to my roomies! <.BIG GRIN> It's so nice to talk to them again, maybe it's not entirely like they are in the next room, but it's better than nothing. Heather, Amy, Kate, and I are keeping in touch which I love and antipated. I hope that we will all be back in Orlando very soon together again, so we can party hardy like we did before and never look back at this precious time that we lost (not lost, but not as full as it was before, ya know) Me glad they are online to talk to <.grin> I love them! BIG shoutout guys..you the best!

Today was the training day for all new ushers/ticket takers who were hired this past month. Robbie, Louis, Janice and another ticket taker, Cheryl, and myself were the only tour guides and we were title "Module Preformers" which Talie went on about how great we were and such (it was very nice of Talie and I think she was confused when she put me on the list <.giggle>) Talie said that she had actually randomly polled employees, supervisors, and along with Laverne and herself, came up with us to do the tours cause they liked us (isn't that sweet?)

Today was a better day at work than I thought it would be, seeing as though the funeral was yesterday, but everyone is trying to get back to normal I guess. We still talked about how beautiful the ceremony was yesterday and all, it is still in our minds, but people looked a little better today after mourning yesterday, I think. Reggie said he was doing better, and he looked better, as did Talie...so that is good...I know they have been loosing sleep over it and it's still so sad....

So for the training I had a group of about 11, which I found funny seeing as though Robbie's group was made up of 6, but whatever (I figured everyone just wanted to be in my group for some reason). We had fun! I found that I loved taking everyone around and having them ask me questions, so much fun! Reggie gave me a walkie-talkie so that was fun too...he called me on it to bring my group down to the uniform room and I felt all official and everything...Fun stuff!

My group was fun...they kept asking good questions, one was "are you gonna be our manager?" <.giggle> I had to try to convince them that I was just one of them, just a veteran usher, that is all. They were cool though. There was a quiz after the tour, and my group gained second place by one point.....but we so should have won...they knew it all! My group rocked!

After all was said and done, Talie told us how good we were and thanked us, and it was so sweet, cause she gave us all Philips Arena mugs, awwww. It was a fun day and I am glad they asked me to help!

Talie, Cindy, Laverne, Willie, Horace and Tracy, Mr. Sexton, Frankie, Jesse, Vincent, Quentin, Diana, Cherry, Greg, Reggie, Latasha, and tons more people were there. I wish Mike had been able to come though, I know this was killing him as well, but I don't think he could get off of work. It was so sad, watching the family and friends mourn....watching my friends cry. It was a beautiful Catholic church though, pretty small, but nice. The Fire department and City Police people came, I guess cause they must have been at the scene of the accident. Teky's cousin had her son in the car with them, and although Teky's aunt, cousin and herself died instantly, the little boy was okay. The Fire department got up and said they would help take care of the family long-term, so that was nice!

After the service, we all went outside and watched them release three doves, one for each of them and that's when most of the people just lost it. It was so sad. Everyone hugged everyone and just cried there on the street. It's been awhile since I have been a funeral, I have never been to a funeral as an adult and to someone that I knew fairly well and cared about....it was so sad. There isn't much more to say but that....very sad.

Under the circumstances, it wasn't the best time to see people that you haven't seen in awhile and greet them with smiles, but it was good to see Cindy (she is pregnant and no one really knew it), and Tracy again since I have been back from Orlando. It was nice to talk to Reggie again, although I feel so bad for him, he had said he had talked to Teky that day, Saturday before her accident. It's just not fair. So sad.

I have more news on Gladys' situation when she passed on in Orlando. Madagla was driving to work and Gladys was in the front seat, Madagla was pregnant and she broke both of her arms and lost her baby, and Gladys was in a coma for quite awhile (almost a month) and she passed away just recently. So sad.

Penny called tonight and said she went to Teky's wake...she said she lost it when Teky's close friends from Philips came in...I think it's gonna be hard to keep from crying tomorrow at the funeral, but I feel I really need to go.

Rick said it was great that I wanted to come and work for a day with them again, so I am excited to be going back, even if just for one day. He said he was gonna have me close on fryers, so I said it was fine with me, cause I just wanted to be back to see everyone, I didn't care where they put me. I can't wait to go back and see everyone and see BlueStone Circle again at Margaritville, it will be hard to leave again, but I know it's just a short visit to get me through the next couple of months...

Everyone is making me feel like I should have my life all mapped out right this second and just because I will be graduating this December, that I need to have a "real" job right after it, so I can live on my own, pay for my own insurance and stuff, get my own car, and live like an adult and I just don't think all this pressure is neccessary. Why can't I just live life as it comes. I mean, I know I love to plan and have a stable income obviously, but right now I want to enjoy my life...many people get too carried away and miss life...I don't want to have any regrets ya know. I don't want to buckle myself down in a job that I don't like...that scares me more than not having a "real" job. oh well, such is life, pressures and expectations....

Then, on top of that horrible news, I get an email from my manager in Orlando telling me that one of my co-workers, Gladys passed away yesterday. These people are too young to die....it doesn't make any sense to me. It's not fair. I just feel like it's not worth it, whatever happened to them is not worth them dying so young.

I haven't been able to get online the past couple of days so I have been slacking in the posting area, and I really needed to get that off my chest...I feel alittle better in just talking about it (even if only on an online journal), but it's still really sad to me.

I have been busy with classes and so exhausted when I get home that I can barely keep my eyes open to eat dinner let alone study some.....my classes are going fairly well though. I really like the majority of them and it seems to me that this semester is gonna be a good, lax one compared to my last hell semester. But I figure if I got through that one okay, I will live through this one, just in time to get my degree and move back to Orlando where I am happy.

Today I have my sexual violence class, my feature writing class is not held today cause we have to do research in the library for it (yay!) and then my mass media and society class (which seems similar to my media and pop culture class that I had with the wonderful Dr. Friedman<-I adore and miss him) so it seems like it will be a good day...a better day at least from the sad news I have received....

It's so depressing because I know I am getting back into my routine of going to school, working at Philips, and hanging with my friends, being with my family, being on the computer all the time, but I am not happy. GRRRR, I hate it! I wish I could make myself just appear in Orlando right now...and change the time back to summer time, where I was having the time of my life with my friends....

It was fun to be able to chat with our supervisors on a more personal level and we got to do that yesterday at the desk. Even though I would have loved to have been busy the entire time, we got to spend quality catching up time. I did miss my peeps from work! It is good to see them again! Last night when it was getting closer to the end of the program, Talie called Stephanie and I up to her office to do something for her. She wanted us to take pictures of the ushers and tickettakers to show our new trainees the kind of family we have here at Philips and to get to know us a little bit better, but the camera would not work for anything, so in scratching that idea, Talie talked to us about getting jobs and stuff. It was a very cool time just sitting down with your manager and getting her look on issues in the workplace and whatnot. It really gave me some insight on what I need to do in the future. Before we knew it, it was time to wheel people around again, so it was good times last night, but still a long day!

T called today. She will be in town doing interviews this week, so hopefully I will get to see her, we are gonna try to do lunch! yay! School starts this Monday. It's cool cause it's school and new and whatnot, but not cause I have to start studying again <.grin> and I know that before I will know it, school will be over and I will be a graduate, but I don't wanna get back in this groove. Ah well, I know I have to, grrrr

I have two more days of this same event and I have heard that it will get busier and more stressful as more people come to Friday night and Saturday morning shows, so we shall see.

So B wrote and said she talked to Domingo...he is a daddy now to a little girl! How cute is that? CONGRATULATIONS DOMINGO! Yay! Hopefully we will get to go see him at the Riveria for Latin night very soon! yay!

So I have to wake up at 5:30 in the AM tomorrow to get to work...ugh..it's gonna be a LONG day!

Todd was hungry after the concert so we decide to go to the Disco Diner (formally known as IHOP on North Ave) and it is this crazy restaurant with Disco balls and a purple inside/yellow and orange outside...really stands out, but not so much the nicest of places to say the least, but exciting at the same time. So we go in and there is only one group of four there....so it's about 11:30ish and we see a couple other groups come in...nothing big. Till all of a sudden I see one of the guys at another table go up to an older lady who was getting a to-go order at the front and he asked her for her autograph and so I looked at her alittle more closely and it was BLANCH FROM THE GOLDEN GIRLS. Who would have thunk it, <.giggle> at the DISCO DINER, of ALL places! We were laughing our butts off. So I get up to get Heather an autograph cause I KNOW she LOVES them (them being the Golden Girls) and she is gone..out the door, so I felt bad...but I SO wanted to call Heather right away (but I knew she would be in bed in Alabama) but she used to watch that show constantly in our room in Florida....aww Heather!

So can you believe it? Jordon Catalino and Blanch in ONE night <.grin> Can it get better than this?

Yea so I am sitting here still missing Florida and not a minute goes by where I don't think of what I would be doing if I was there right now...isn't that horrible! I hate it here...and it's so bad that I don't wanna do hardly anything at all but drive down to Orlando. Depressing, aren't I?

So tomorrow I am set to go to the Cotton Club with Jessica to see the band "30 seconds to Mars" which just happens to be Jared Leto's band. Ya know, Jordon from "My So-Called Life", yea so I am mucho excited!

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I get to work...whoo hoo, making some dough, although I am mucho sad cause Joaquin and Bert might not come up because I won't have much time to hang....major bummed about that

Okay so next week school starts, ugh! I mean, I guess it's good cause after I graduate then I am off to Orlando, but just to get back in that saddle again, with tests and whatnot, ugh! Yea so I do love school, but hmmm not so much the pressure of school.

okay heading off to sleepy land...till next time on Carolyn's blog....

The beginning part was boring as can be, all we did was stand there and keep people from entering in the inner bowl of the arena. Yea so after about an hour of standing, I began to feel really overheated and not good at all. When I started to see spots I knew I was about to faint, so I got my supe, Mike and told him I was about to faint. I went to the bathroom and drank some water and sat down-after that I was okay. I had eaten earlier and I drank two bottles of water, but I guess something just was too much (the heat or something) and I was about gone, but after that it wasn't too bad.

When the presentation actually started, there was a lot of talking about the Olympics and whatnot which was kinda interesting and kinda long-windedly boring, so finally they had the good stuff-they had Olympians preform some of their stunts on a trampoline for us (that was cool!) and then they introduced some other olympians-one of them being Derrick something? <.grin> He was at the charity basketball event that I attended in Orlando so that was cool!

The best and almost most uncomfortable part was when they introduced "The Greatest" and with R. Kelly's "World Greatest" song coming on in the background, Muhammed Ali came out on stage. All he did was stand there while we clapped and stood up for him, then he amazingly enough did a magic trick. He made a hankerchief disappear and reappear, then as the presenter tried to hit him in the chin (not really of course) Muhammed gave the crazy look and pointed at him, and that was that. He left. It was kind of sad to see him shaking on stage and not talk to us, but him just being there was enough I guess.

So that was tonight. I found out I am working a heck of a lot this weekend and I feel bad cause Joaquin and his bro, Bert are gonna visit and I am gonna be at work a whole lotta the time they will be here. <.saddness>

We saw Sam (yay!) It's been forever since I had seen him and we really surprised him it seemed. His NICE GUY bandmates seemed to remember us as well "hey it's Sam's managers!" so it was fun!

Although the Somber Reptile is not the best place in the world, it was fun to be in a small place and be able to actually get to know the band members. So I liked it for that if anything. So fun night!

We got there kinda early, assuming that they would go on around 8ish, but didn't happen till about 11ish...that's okay though cause it gave us time to chat. I felt bad for Jason though cause he wasn't feeling well and he had to sing.....tonight and tomorrow night. Not good, but he sang well despite the illness, although I think he is too hard on himself. Stephanie and Jessica really liked them and they were glad that I told them to come! Beth and Rachel made an appearence, but Rachel wasn't feeling well so they left before the band went on, they said they would come to the next show though. It was good to see them again!

Coolest part of the night is when they first started to come over and say hello to us, Guy remembered who I was and what SCHOOL I went to....how odd is that? Like I was impressed that they even recognized me let alone remembered that I went to Georgia State. Guy said that they drove by it and said, "Isn't that where that girl said she went to school?" How awesome is that? It made me feel good, nice memory Guy!

Our shout-out was very unexpected and very thoughtful, although there were only about a maxmium of ten people in the room, Jason thanked us personally for coming out and he remembered all our names with no problem...like they made a huge effort to be so kind to us when we just wanted to hear them make the awesome music that they do and it was so cool to have them want to hang out with us and get to know us.....great guys!

So they said next stop in Atlanta will be August 29th at the Dark Horse Tavern and I can't wait! They are really talented and nice guys all around...did I mention how nice they are? okay I am done now...I am just glad I had a really good night since I have been so bummed about being back in Atlanta, this made me happy again!

Had lunch with Tonya at TGIF. Got a call from my manager Talie and from one of my supervisors Penny. Aww they missed me! How sweet is that? I missed them and it's nice that they care enough that I am back. They already started offering me more time to work, which I so appreciate!

So then I go and visit my neice and sis-in-law! My neice is SO cute! She is talking so much more now and is so adorable! I missed her so much! My other nephews are in Oregon right now so I have to wait to see them, but it was good girl bonding today!

My Uncle took me out to dinner at Applebees, so I was definitely fed today! It was yummy. I had the chicken wrap that Amy got last time we went there <.saddness> When Amy was here.....I am sad again! Doesn't take much! At Friday's today I saw a sign for a Long Island Iced Tea and there I was again, thinking of Orlando...everything seems to remind me of it. I can't get away from home! The music, the memories...ugh, I want to go back!

I got the rest of my pictures back today. I am still saving the NSYNC ones for when I have more money...but these that I got back today were pretty good! But it just made me more sad....ugh! I hate the transitional stage....

So Kate is back home and we are doing the online thing that we have always done....and bonding over the sad feelings we have of being home. I wanna go back now! John Mayer says it best even though I do have to change the words a little <.grin>, "I am driving <.down> 85 in the kind of morning that lasts all afternoon...just stuck inside the gloom, 4 more exits till my <.house> but I am tempted to keep the car in drive...and leave it all behind" WHY GEORGIA WHY!

Okay so today I got up late....then ran errands and was violated by nasty boy's eyes...then Steph and I went to see "Changing Lanes" What a scary movie! Not scary scary, but like freaky scary...I need to just stick to Chick Flicks. Then we went to Walmart and came home...yea so that is life here in Gwinnett county...not that I don't love hangin with Steph and going to see movies...but it's just not home to me anymore. I miss home!

Jen emailed me and said she was going to see I-4 tonight....that's what I should be doing... going to see I-4 tonight and BlueStone Circle tomorrow...that is what I SHOULD be doing. Oh well!

Yesterday, Kate and her momma were in Atlanta and that was fun! We ate at Logans then explored the ATL. We went on the CNN tour and hit the streets for a driving tour of Atlanta. I had a good time and it was hard to say goodbye to yet another roomie. I called Heather and got to talk to her for a bit while she was on her way to Alabama, then Amy called! I miss everyone, grrrr. I hate the college program when it does this to me....it's like wondEARful and then depressing.

I got my pictures back today..some of them anyways. They turned out really good of BlueStone Circle and some good ones of I-4 as well so I am pleased on that note! YAY! I got some good ones of some of the *NSYNC events...but I haven't gotten all those pics back yet so I still have some time to be positive about the outcome of the others!

So these next two weeks should be fun! Tomorrow I am hanging with Steph, Thursday is lunch with Tonya and hopefully Allison, Friday and Saturday I am helping my Uncle move into his new loft, Saturday night is Fifth Year Crush and Nice Guy at Somber Reptile here in Atlanta so I am excited...Jessica and others will be there for that. Then Joaquin and his bro, Bert will be visiting me the next weekend. I am excited! Although I would much rather be in Florida, this is as good as Atlanta can get! Yay!

Wednesday was my work bowling night, which was so sad. It was pretty much the last time I was to see most of my work people. All the managers were huddled around the bar except Rudy�we finally convinced them to come join the group, but it was hilarious to watch them take shots. They were late the next day for work because of it, oops. <.giggle> Rick said he doesn�t really hate me <.yay!> and Margaret even seemed a little sad that I was leaving. It was great to hang out with everyone though and Ileana was too sweet and bought me a drink for my goodbye�it was fuel�for real, but enjoyable in the end <.giggle> Then we all went to Margaritville and Amy and Dave �tons of fun� got tanked, It was too funny. Fun times�.

Thursday was our last night at Margaritville. Very sad! I requested �The Joker� and when they played it, all of us roomies got together and sang while swaying together. I cried during Nickleback�s, �You remind me� and then the last song had to be� �Why don�t we get drunk�and screw� what the heck? C�mon now�but whatever. AJ was so sweet and said goodbye to us, I really enjoy him and he said I had nice breath, what a cutie!

After Margaritville, we went home and found the roomies packing, we went to bed at 4 to wake up at 7 to get prepared for our inspection�yea they didn�t come until 9:45�so then we sat and waited on Tonya�s inspection to be finished then Joaquin took us out to lunch at Steak and Shake�it was so sad. Amy drove up to Atlanta with me and on our way we were being stalked by some dude�it was freaky�he would not stop following us till we FINALLY lost him while hiding behind a semi! Yay! People kept laughing at us cause we were wearing our Graduation Mickey ears, but it was fun!

Amy left today, it was really sad. But she is in Nashville today with Nate. Hope they have a blast! Today I am cleaning, putting things away and doing laundry, not fun stuff. I SO miss Orlando already and am sick of being at home already. Amy and I were SO ready to head back to Florida right when we got here last night�so sad but what can you do? One more semester then I am back down there and no it won�t be the same but I know now that it will be equally the best times of my life as the other two programs!