It's all in the wrist.

One day, months and months ago, trudging through another work week as per usual, a then-coworker suggested that several of us meet at a local watering hole for a beer. It was early on in the 'getting to know people at work' stage, and promises of a cold beer and some conversation sounded appealing to be sure.

One such person I met that particular night was Kelly, and at the time, my buddy Glenn had the very early stages of interest in her. With that in mind yet very low on the priority list of things to consider that evening, we hung out, enjoyed the imbibing of fine alcohol and bearing with crappy service (although the waitress that night meant well, I'm sure).

My pre-loaded knowledge of Kelly was via Glenn's briefing earlier that afternoon:

Have you seen that blonde chick that rides the rice-rocket over there? as we walked over to the other building.

No, I surely had not but my interest was certainly piqued, and sure enough, an almost-6 foot, smokin' hot blonde that rode a bike was outside smoking with us that night at the bar.

Now, for most of my career as a human bean, I've been naturally observant of others, always mentally taking notes on how people act, the things they say...more to get past the day-to-day facades we all present to the outside world and really see who and what that person is about. It didn't take long to see Kelly had quite a protective barrier around her, and as luck would have it, our little beer-after-work society would expound upon that very topic in the near future for reasons unknown to this very day.

But it didn't matter. I liked Kelly, and as much as I get the "pshaw - riiiiight" reaction when I say it wasn't because of the obvious Hot level. I mean yes, of course - she's beautiful, extremely intelligent, and has a comedic wit and playful sarcasm about her that rivals mine - but I had absolutely zero attraction. Sure, I was at the tail-end of a crash & burn relationship at the time, and I knew it, which probably helped place my perspective above that particular mindset. Whatever it was, I was perfectly happy getting to know the Kelly beyond that immediate set of circumstances. Over the course of months and more beer than I care to quantify, we shared stories, she talked about traveling abroad and the places she'd seen and the things she'd done. Collectively, we worked out issues, dealt with problems at work, and why men\women are such psychos, exasperated by the fact that we, the opposite sex, want them and their psychosis in our lives so badly.

The entire time, I was pulling for my boy Glenn, but it was early on in the foundation of the Slugger's Society that you could see she wasn't interested. It didn't matter much - we all managed to act like adults (most of the time), and we all still had a great time hanging out, eating greasy bar food, drinking too much, bitching about work, throwing darts and watching the bar life go by once or twice a week.

With that, varied and sparse runnings-into at work. A very fun but brief episode of kidnapping her beloved Victor (a tale for another day). One HELL of a day\night\morning in Vegas that saw dancing & drinking, a PG-13 strip-tease for a badass T-shirt, one limo and about six and half hours of my life that I just cannot recall...lost forever in the vastness of the Vegas nightlife.

Fast-forward quite a bit, and the Slugger's Society kind of went on hiatus, mainly because of the odd circumstances in which I met and fell dearly in love with Amy, I think. Even so, I still enjoyed the time spent with these people, and considered them friends in the dearest of sense of the word, even outside of work and social gatherings. Skip ahead further, and I've had the pleasure of hanging out with Kelly more, and the more I learn about her, read about her inner-musings (hurray LJ), the more endeared I become to her as a friend...someone I truly enjoy just being around, laughing with, and learning from. When I first started building this blog thing, I was thinking about who and what I wanted to share with the world, and she was one of the first that came to mind. It doesn't matter if you've never met Kelly or ever will, for that matter - read her LiveJournal for the mere enjoyment, perspective and comedy of it all. I stand by the fact that she and I were probably related in some former life, or at the very least, cut from the same bolt of cloth way back when. I think that's primarily why I find no base of attraction in the hot 6ft. blonde that kept spilling her drink on my bed.

Sure, you think about it for a second. But then...it'd be like kissing my sister.

Ew.

Besides, if it weren't for Kelly, I'd have never met Amy that one fateful Thursday night. For that, I will eternally be grateful to her, because I've never been happier.

So here we are, November 15th and the world should be celebrating the creation of this very special soul that is Kelly. I wish I had more to give, but at this point, all I have to offer is my thoughts and words here, and I hope she enjoys them.

I've been fortunate enough to have some very wonderful people in my life, and she is one of those at the top of that rather short list. Sure, there's plenty more to learn and share as we continue to build a friendship, and having a mutual project that we're both working on certainly helps. In a very matter-of-fact way, we barely know each other even now, but I still wanted to sit down and spend some time thinking about her, wish her a happy birthday in the only real, honest from-the-heart way I know how.

I write. That's what I do.

Love you, Snatchpatch. Congrats on surviving another year, and here's to many more.

Happy Birthday :)


//end.