Diet Coke to the rescue

Diet Coke...

• Indicates that the working day is to its halfway point and offers a bit of redemption to another 2-minute-microwave lunch tasting slightly of cardboard and riddled with preservatives that will help me live until I'm 108
• Can clean coins, grout, erosion from car batteries, and strip dye from hair
• Will sometimes stave off an at-work, mid-afternoon beer craving - if consumed ice cold, in about 3 gulps, and followed by a shocking deep belly burp
• Is now flavored, fortified, or available with not-completely-fake sugar (Splenda*). I recommend you stick to the original.
• Is a working girl's version of the silver bullet...

* Splenda has resulted in the recent artificialization and downfall of sweetened coffees, baked goods, and carbonated beverages 'round the world. Ug.

On the move again

Goodness.

I dipped my toe in the vast sea of blogging static last year. My original (and only) post is dated August 30, 2006. Well friends, today is December 12, 2007.

A flurry of activity in recent months...

• A move from London to Chicago
• A 500 mile drive through the Midwest on a windy day with a 16-foot Penske moving truck and attached car carrier
• Two emergency room visits and a 3-day hospital stay
• The first friend in my "wine night" circle had a baby - I'm an auntie!
• Business trip to Greece
• 5,487 business trips to New York (and the frequent flier miles to prove it)
• My first trip to Wisconsin*

Friday marks the move from Chicago to Kansas City. Again with all the boxes and the tape. Again with not finding my winter wardrobe favorites until April is in full bloom. Again with the inefficient disconnecting and hodge podge reconnecting of utilities and various services on "the other side." *sigh* This is not meant to be my forum to grumble.

I'm excited. I really am. I'm going home - it's just been a very strange path getting there. I found my true love in London - Chicago was the "proof of concept" - and maybe we can actually exhale in Kansas City for a bit. :) That might be nice.

My goal is to check back post-KC move - and well ahead of wherever life takes us next - to make this blah, blah, blah a more regular post.

* Wisconsin has been my favorite state since grade school. When learning states and capitals, I knew that Wisconsin made cheese and was shaped like broccoli - two things that I particularly enjoyed - especially when served together. It's been a crush for 25 years - and finally we met. Door County did not disappoint. :)

On decision making...

I find it difficult, when inundated with a host of equally appealing options, to make a decision. It can, as a friend pointed out, be paralyzing.

Bangkok.
Kansas City.
London.
Burlington, VT.
Portland, OR.

To the untrained eye, there is probably a clear front runner in the list above. Really, how could someplace as dusty and agricultural* as Kansas City trump a city as sexy and cosmopolitan as London Towne? Really...common sense, right?

The lists...PROS vs CONS...they are strewn through my flat on back of envelopes and receipts. They litter my purse. They occupy my thinking on public transport, drifting off to sleep, and in the moments of peace before logging onto my computer to endure another 12-hour day of virtual hoop-jumping. Why is this so difficult?

Ahhhh, decisions.
Call it on three...heads or tails...


*Kansas City is neither dusty nor agricultural, but in fact a city peppered a wide array of music, art, sporting events, culture--all whilst enjoying the convenience of modern day plumbing, dentistry, and paved streets.