W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 8)

Welcome to another edition of Wayback Wednesday! This series is made up of old blog posts from a few years ago. If you'd like to, you can catch up by reading previous editions first. We’re gonna jump into the Wayback Machine and travel to September 14 and 15, 2006...

Thursday (September 14)
I am so clearly not used to the kind of guy MusicMan is. He never ceases to surprise and amaze me. We planned to go out to the Mall of America (MOA) to do a little shopping Thursday evening. We were working out the details of the plan via email at work. I had an appointment after work, so I told MusicMan I wouldn't be available until around 6 or 6:30. Then, my plan was to stop at home and change out of work clothes and go pick him up so that we could meet Rockstarr (BFF) at MOA at 7. Rockstarr has wanted to meet him, so we figured this would be as good a time as any for them to meet. He tells me the plan sounds good and just to stop by when I'm ready. About fifteen minutes later, he writes me an email saying: "Hey are you going to have time to eat? Do you want me to make something for you to have for dinner?"

I'm not joking. That's the exact email he sent. My eyes popped out of my head and I nearly fell out of my chair. If I would've smiled any bigger, my face probably would've gotten stuck that way. I was doing some major happy dancing in my head. The thoughtfulness behind that simple question is just astounding to me. I sooooooooooooo can't fathom the caring and concern that he has and continues to show me. And, he says that I'm the one that's too nice! This guy is a keeper for sure!!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I did not accept his offer. I told him that his offer was super thoughtful and that he's super duper sweet, but I'd already planned to grab a sandwich or smoothie on the way to the appointment, so I'd be fine. I thought it was a good reply, considering that my initial reaction was: "Ummmmmmmmm...Do you want to marry me?!?!? I love you!!!"

I arrived at MusicMan's at around 6, and we sat around in his apartment talking for a bit before leaving. We both HATE the mall!! So, before we got out of the car, we kissed for luck that we'd make it through the mall unscathed. Ummmm...yeah...I'm relatively sure we both knew we'd make it through the mall just fine, but it was a damn good reason to kiss! (Not that we need reasons.)

Rockstarr wasn't there when we got to the designated meeting spot, so I called her. She was very close, so we stood and waited for a bit. I was really nervous about Rockstarr and MusicMan meeting for some reason; I'm not quite sure why. The initial introduction went very well. After walking around the mall for a couple hours, Rockstarr was hungry, so we headed to the food court. She sat down to eat, and I shared her fries. Rockstarr had wanted extra napkins, and MusicMan had heard her say that, so he'd gone up to the counter to get extra napkins for her, which we both thought was just super nice.

MusicMan handled Rockstarr and I together really, really well! Overall, I think we all had a pretty good time. After we said goodbye to Rockstarr, we headed out to my car. We held hands along the way. MusicMan said that he'd thought Rockstarr was really fun and that he could see why we were friends. I thought that was really awesome. On the way back to MusicMan’s place, I told him I'd hoped the mall experience wasn't too bad and that Rockstarr and I hadn't made him feel left out at all. He said it had been fun and that he'd enjoyed himself and hoped Rockstarr liked him.

Shortly after we'd arrived at MusicMan's, Rockstarr texted me on my cell phone: "MusicMan so rocks!!!" I had to agree! I was glad that she liked him. MusicMan had been asking if I thought she'd liked him, and I told him I definitely thought she did. I told him I'd know if she didn't, and I showed him her text message. MusicMan and I cuddled and watched TV. He told me he was so glad that I hated the mall and wasn't a "shopper," and I told him that I was also very glad that he hated the mall.

At around 11:30, Rockstarr texted me again. I was surprised that she was up so late. She indicated in her text message that she couldn't sleep because she was so excited for me. I thought that was really sweet. She obviously liked MusicMan, she could obviously tell I liked him, and she apparently thought things were going well between us. Yay!

When I got home, I saw that Rockstarr had sent me a message through myspace. She told me she thought MusicMan was "soooooooooo damn cute" and "sooooooooooooo damn funny." She said that she loved the way he looked at me, that he's unbelievable, a "cool cat," and that she got a good vibe from him. I was so glad to get her message. I was really looking forward to talking to her at work on Friday about what she meant about the way he looked at me.

Friday (September 15)
I met Rockstarr for coffee right away when I arrived at work. She went on and on about how great she thought MusicMan was. She said his eyes seem to light up and sparkle when he looks at me. I almost cried. We did the happy dance. She was almost crying! She was just so happy for me that I'd met someone so nice and so perfect for me. We had a great discussion about the previous evening. I told Rockstarr that MusicMan is definitely one of those nice guys that won't finish last. There's no way!! I like him soooooo much and am just sooooo happy when I'm with him. The more time I spend with him, the more I like him!

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I've really wanted to go see MusicMan’s band play, and after discussing it with him, I decided that today would be the day I'd go. They were playing at a bar in Minneapolis. I had mentioned it to my sister last weekend, and she'd said she would definitely be interested in going if she could find a sitter for the kids for a couple hours. Over the week she found a sitter and we finalized plans for what time I'd pick her up, etc.

She called me at around 6 to tell me that mom cancelled on babysitting for her. Thankfully she had a backup plan. So, instead of picking Sis up at 8:30 (the band wasn't playing 'til 9:30), I'd now pick her up at around 7 so that we could take the kids to the sitter. I was actually okay with the change in plans, because that meant I'd get to see my niece and nephew for a bit and Sis and I could go out to dinner beforehand.

After dropping the kids off and having dinner, we were on our way to Minneapolis by about quarter to nine. I was supposed to call MusicMan once we parked, because he was going to bring us in through the back door of the bar. "Just like real groupies!" I told Sis. I wasn't at all nervous about MusicMan and my middle sister meeting. I was way too busy being nervous about meeting the band’s lead singer and the guitar player. These are obviously very important people in MusicMan's life, so I wanted the meeting to go well.

Once we parked, I looked up and saw the band’s lead singer, King (I just knew it was him even though all I had to go on was the myspace picture), walk past my car. I told Sis that that was the lead singer as I called MusicMan. MusicMan met us in the parking lot, and I introduced him and Sis. We headed to the back of the bar where we stood outside finishing up a cigarette and chatting. Then, MusicMan lead us inside.

We walked up to the bar, where King was sitting (I had been right), and MusicMan introduced us. We shook hands. He seemed really cool and super nice. Sis and I ordered drinks. As we were doing so, MusicMan brought the hand stamp guy over to stamp our hands. We'd escaped the cover charge, and the necessary hand stamp, by coming in through the back door, so MusicMan wanted to make sure we were covered. We sat down at a table and started talking. MusicMan had kept telling me that the bar was a complete and total dive, but it wasn't really that bad. We listened to the band that was currently playing while we chatted and drank.

Being that we were in Minneapolis, thus indoor smoking ban, we had to head out behind the bar to smoke. When we went out to smoke, King was out there. MusicMan had bumped into a musician he'd known in his college town and hadn't seen for a long time, so while he was chatting with her, Sis and I started chatting with King about all sorts of stuff—raising kids, dogs, life in general, etc. King was super cool and really funny, and we had a great time talking to him!

MusicMan rejoined us, and we all stood around chatting for a bit. The bands were all running late, because the first band had started late. So, the guys didn't end up going on until around midnight. I was really excited when it was finally time for the guys to play! The band before them was horrible, so we were all happy and relieved when they'd finished playing.

Sis, the guitar player’s girlfriend, and I headed up to the area closest to the stage to get front row seats to watch the guys play. The show was very good! King was awesome and the guys played their hearts out. It was really cool watching them play! They totally got into it. Sadly, since they'd started so late, there was practically no one else in the audience to enjoy them, but the three of us girls enjoyed the show.

Sis and I headed to the bathroom once they finished playing, and we discovered then that the place definitely had dive qualities. The bathroom only had one stall, which wasn't too dirty, but they only had half a bar of soap. Yes; a bar of soap to wash your hands with and one of those old fabric towel roller things to dry your hands. EWWWWW! Sis and I opted to use the anti-bacterial hand wipes I had in my purse instead. I was glad to hear that Sis had enjoyed the show. I had told her on the way out to the bar that King's music, and voice, were very unique. She agreed and said again that she'd really enjoyed it.

The guys had just finished packing up their stuff when we got back. We told King that we'd really enjoyed the show and he thanked us. He put his hand on my arm and thanked us for coming out as I shook his hand. MusicMan, Sis, and I headed out to have a smoke. MusicMan apologized for their performance saying they'd "played like shit." Sis and I told him we'd thought it was great! He thanked us for coming out, and we told him that it was us who needed to thank him for entertaining us.

MusicMan said that, if we could wait another five or ten minutes, we could follow him to the highway in order to find our way out of Minneapolis. (I'm not so good at navigating my way around Minneapolis' snaking one-way streets.) As we headed out, MusicMan said he'd need assistance loading his stuff in his truck. I volunteered for the job just as Sis said, "I'll volunteer Elle!" It was lightly raining, so I handed Sis the keys to the car so she could go wait for me. I helped MusicMan load his stuff into his truck and gave him a huge hug as King walked past us to put stuff in his own car. MusicMan thanked me again for coming out to the show, and I thanked him again for having us come out.

I told him again that I'd really enjoyed the show as King walked past us to head back inside, giving us a little nod as he did so and telling MusicMan it had been a great show. MusicMan and I kissed a few times and he said he'd call me tomorrow to make plans to get together. I headed to my car to take Sis home.

Sis and I talked all the way home about how cool the band was, how cool King was, how cute MusicMan was, and how much fun we'd had. Overall, it was a super fun night!!!! It was a late one—I didn't get home until around 2:30 a.m—but it was totally worth it!!