W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 9-Special Edition!)

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. In honor of MusicMan's and my upcoming wedding anniversary, we're going to jump way ahead to May 25, 2007, for today's edition so that I can tell you about how we became engaged!

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Friday, May 25 (two days after my 29th birthday), had been a normal day.  When I got home, I started packing my weekend bag as I waited for MusicMan to call.  MusicMan had been a little "off" all week--tired, kind of preoccupied, etc.--so I hoped that he'd be in higher spirits because of the arrival of the long weekend...Finally time for him to rest and relax; work has been really busy/stressful for him.

MusicMan called at around 6.  We decided we'd head to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.  When I arrived at his place, I was super happy to see that he was in a much better mood than he had been the past couple days.  He greeted me by tackling me on the bed and giving me a giant hug.  I kissed him hello and we headed out to dinner.

After we ate, as MusicMan was signing the credit card receipt, he said, "I'm getting so sick of my signature today.  I spent all afternoon signing employee timecards!"  I don't know what possessed me to own up to it, but I told him that I had been bored in meetings earlier in the day and had entertained myself by practicing my signature with his last name.  He said, "What?  Really?  Why?"  I told him to forget about it; that I had just broken a major "girl code" by telling him what I’d done.

He said, "Gosh!!!  I'm getting pressure from my mom and my grandma, your mom and your grandma...even your TIVO!!!"  (The Tivo has been recording lots of wedding related shows lately, and I have no idea why.)  I said, "Well, you know, we've talked about it, and I know it's going to happen someday…I'm in no rush.  I just was bored and thought it would be fun to start 'practicing' my future signature."  We talked a little bit about what it would be like when we finally do get engaged--our moms will cry, people will be surprised/excited, etc.  We headed out of the restaurant and decided to go for a ride on the bike.  It had been so long since we'd ridden together, and it was really nice out, so I was super excited to be on the back of the bike.

MusicMan asked where we should go, and I told him to just go wherever he wanted. I had no particular destination in mind.  After riding for about twenty minutes, MusicMan took us to the parking lot of the mini golf course where we'd had our first date.  We got off the bike to have a cigarette.  MusicMan asked if I was going to take my helmet off, and I told him I didn't need to take it off since we were just going to be there for a few minutes.  We looked across the parking lot, and I pointed out where we'd both parked for our first date.  MusicMan said, "This parking lot always makes me nervous." 

We talked about how nervous we both had been on that first date a little over nine months ago and how great the date had turned out.  MusicMan asked me again if I was going to take my helmet off, and I told him that I had to pee and that, since we'd be leaving soon to go to the grocery store to get some desserts and for me to use the restroom, there was no reason to mess with taking the helmet off.

MusicMan got really serious as he looked at me and said, "Well, I did bring you here for a reason."  I don't know why I said it, probably because I'd been concerned about the way he'd been acting all week, but I said, "Oh my gosh!! Are you breaking up with me?!?"  MusicMan said, "No.  Actually..." and got down on one knee.  I was shocked!  My hands flew up to my face and I covered my mouth and screamed, "NO!!," as in "NO WAY!  Is this really happening?!?"  Seemingly out of nowhere, MusicMan produced an open ring box.  (I'd find out later that it had been concealed in his pocket the whole time.  We were both shocked that I hadn't felt it when I was holding on to him on the bike.)

MusicMan looked up at me and, with tears in his eyes, asked, "Will you marry me?  Will you be my wife?"  My hands still over my mouth, I jumped up and down and vigorously nodded my head up and down.  I'd started to cry.  I screamed, "YES!!  Of course!" and started to kiss him all over his face.  It was then that I realized I still had my helmet on!!    I fumbled with the strap to get the helmet off as I said, "Now I really wish I would've taken my helmet off!"  (We'd joke later that I was wearing my "promise ring helmet" when I got my engagement ring.  MusicMan would also tell people that he always knew I was "special.")  We laughed and kissed and hugged.

MusicMan looked at me with teary eyes and said, "August 23, 2008, is a Saturday." as I put the ring on.  I started crying again—Well, more—I’m not really sure if I'd stopped at that point.

Not only had he just proposed, but he also already had a date picked out.  Not just any date, but a tremendously meaningful one—it will be the two year anniversary of our first date.  How cool and special is that?!?!  I looked down to admire the ring, and I just gasped; it is absolutely GORGEOUS!  MusicMan asked if I liked it, and I told him I absolutely loved it.  It's perfect!  He was glad that it fit, because he hadn't known my size, but he'd fallen in love with the ring and decided to get it knowing that we could bring it in to be resized.

I told MusicMan that I had to call my mom.  He told me he'd tried to call her the night before to get her permission for him to ask me to marry him, but she hadn't answered her phone.  My mom screamed so loud when I told her that MusicMan could hear it through my cell phone.  He started laughing.  I told mom about the proposal and that MusicMan had tried to call to get her permission.  She was super excited and happy.  She asked to speak with MusicMan, so I handed him the phone and he talked to her for a bit.  After we got off the phone with mom, we hoped on the bike to head to the grocery store.

I asked MusicMan if this is why he hadn't been sleeping, and he said it was.  I asked him why, because he had to have known I was going to say yes.  He said that, while he was 99% sure I'd say yes, he didn't know if I'd think it was too soon, and deciding how to propose and worrying about whether or not I'd like the ring were very nerve-wracking.  When we got to the grocery store, my face hurt from smiling all the way there.  I went to use the restroom, suddenly realizing that I'd had to pee for quite a while now.  I couldn't stop staring at the ring...it is just so beautiful, and it was so surreal to have it on my hand.  MusicMan and I decided on lemon bars for dessert.

(A couple weeks after our engagement as we scouted wedding reception locations.)

I called Rockstarr (BFF) from the parking lot of the store to tell her the news.  She was very excited and was super happy for me.  She told me she'd do whatever I needed her to do, and that she was going to start honing her "I told you so dance," which she's looking forward to performing in lieu of a wedding speech.  I tried calling my middle sister, but she wasn't home, so I had to leave a message for her to call me back asap.  MusicMan and I headed back to his place.

When we got back to MusicMan's, we called his mom to tell her the news.  She already knew that it was going to be happening, because MusicMan had called her weeks ago (while she was in Hawaii visiting his sister) to tell her that he wanted to marry me and wanted her help picking out the ring.  MusicMan dialed his mom's number and handed me the phone.  When she answered, I said, "Joni?  This is Elle calling, or should I say you're soon to be daughter-in-law."  She was sooooooooooooooooooooooo happy.  "He did it tonight?!?!  OHMYGOSH!  Do you love the ring?!?!"

I told her I did love the ring and told her all about the proposal.  She welcomed me to the family and told me that they were absolutely delighted to have me become a member of the family.  I handed the phone to MusicMan so she could talk to him for a bit.  Then, I tried calling my sister again, but I got her answering machine, so I called her cell phone.  Within about ten minutes, she called me back.  I told her I wanted to give her plenty of advanced notice that on August 23, 2008, I'd need a wedding cake.  "Are you serious?!?" she said.  She said she knew something was up when I called her cell phone, because I never call her cell.  I told her MusicMan had proposed and told her the story of how he did it.  She cried, which made me tear up a little bit.  She was so genuinely happy for me (and MusicMan) and super excited to do the cake.  I decided to wait until the next day to ask her to be my maid of honor. I didn't want to overwhelm her!  

All the phone calls finally done, MusicMan and I sat on the couch to eat our lemon bars.  I was too excited/shocked/overwhelmed to eat mine, so I only had a little bit and put the rest away for later.  Folks, you know I've been shocked beyond belief and am gloriously happy if I ain't finishing dessert!!!!  

MusicMan told me the story of him making the decision to propose, calling his mom to tell her and ask for her help, the "lies" he told about going out shopping with his mom and going to help her with things around the house the past couple weeks when really they were ring shopping.  He told me about how he'd picked out the ring.  It's a custom-made white gold ring from a small family-owned jeweler in our city.  They literally broke the mold after they made this ring, so there will never be another one exactly like it in existence.

He said when he saw it he knew it was perfect.  Then it was time to pick out the diamond.  They showed him several, but the one that really caught his attention was called the Cross of Light diamond.  This diamond is a round cut, but it has more facets than a regular diamond cut into it.  There are 16 "mirror facets" that are arranged in the form of three crosses.  It was created last year by a Minneapolis diamond cutter and is still pretty rare.

As the jeweler went to put the diamond away after showing it to MusicMan, it popped out of the tweezers, hit MusicMan in the chest, and ended up on the floor.  MusicMan told the jeweler he'd think about the diamond and would get back to him in a couple days.  He and mom stood outside of the shop chatting for a bit about how incredible the ring was and how beautiful the diamond was.  MusicMan finished his cigarette, turned around and went back into the shop, and told the jeweler he'd take the diamond.  (It had chosen him, afterall.)

I couldn't believe all the time, thought, and effort he'd put into the ring and making sure it was just perfect.  It made it that much more special to me.  I'd asked how he'd known my size, and at first he joked that he'd taken a picture of my hand next to a dollar bill while I'd been sleeping one time.  Then, he told me that he didn't know my size; the ring was just the size they made it to be.  It fits almost perfectly.  My fingers swell up a lot when the weather gets hot, so I think we could probably have it sized up just a bit, but we'll have the jeweler give us an opinion on that sometime this week.

We were both way too excited to sleep anytime soon, so we decided to head out for a few celebratory drinks.  We went to a local bar/restaurant.  I stared at the ring the whole night as we sat at the bar and discussed the wedding.  MusicMan told me that he wants to be a very active participant in the planning, which I think is awesome.  When we finally went to bed quite late, we kissed and he said, "Goodnight my future wife."  I said goodnight to my future husband and thanked him for making me the happiest girl in the whole entire world by asking me to be his wife. I told him that it's an honor and that I'm super excited to plan our wedding together.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of activity.  We went to my mom's on Saturday, where my youngest sister had decided to throw an impromptu birthday celebration for my twin brother and I and a welcome to the family celebration for MusicMan.  Saturday night, we went out with MusicMan's friend from work, Ty, and his partner, Chayse; we met them for drinks at Houlihan's, and we had a ball.  These two are the gay version of MusicMan and I; they're so great together and are fantastic people to be around.  Sunday we had brunch with our moms, just MusicMan, his mom, my mom, and me.  It was a little more stressful than I'd anticipated, but overall it was okay.  Sunday afternoon/evening MusicMan and I babysat Li’l D at mom's house.  Monday we finally got the day to ourselves to run a few errands and just spend time with each other, which was super nice.

Let the wedding planning begin!!!!!  I am soooooooooooo tremendously excited to marry my soul mate, the man of my dreams, on August 23 of next year.  It can't come fast enough!!!!  And yet, I know it will probably come way sooner than either of us expects.

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!!

W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 7)

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 Saturday, September 9, 2006...

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Well, today was quite the day.  Even though I'd gone to bed incredibly late, I woke up pretty early this morning.  I sensed that it was far too early.  I'd set the alarm to be sure that I'd be up in time to get some much-needed cleaning done.  When I glanced at the alarm clock to check the time, I realized the power was out.  Oh, that's just great!  I looked at the cell phone and saw that it was 9 a.m.  Yep; far too early.  I rolled over to go back to bed.  I woke up about an hour later.  I just couldn't sleep even though I was still a little tired.  I was worried that I'd sleep too long and not get my cleaning done.  I got out of bed at around ten.  The power was still out.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this is soooooooo not good!

Worse case scenarios started screaming through my head at warp speed:  How long until I get power back?!  What if I don't get it back in time to shower and to get ready to go out with MusicMan tonight?!  Do not tell me I'm going to end up having to cancel a date because I won't be able to do something as simple as bathe!!  I started thinking about how I'd just have to shower in the dark.  Then, I wondered how no power would affect hot water.  Oh god! What if there was no hot water?!  My brain started working in overdrive.  I started thinking about how much water I'd have to boil to take a bath.  I was cursing myself for having not cleaned the bathroom earlier this week.  There's no way I can boil water to take a bath without first boiling water to clean the tub!!  Oh, this is all just so great!  Yeah, I was seriously freaking out.  I thought my head would explode!

(Editorial Note: MusicMan just pointed out to me that I wouldn't have even been able to boil water, because I had an electric stove! Also, hot water heaters typically are gas, so I would've had hot water anyway despite the power loss.)

I decided to get out of bed.  As I sat down to have breakfast, I turned on the TV to catch up on some of my Tivo shows.  Oh, duh, no power.  Right.  So, I grabbed a book and read while eating breakfast.  Deciding that I was still tired, and that there wasn't much I could do with no power, I grabbed my mp3 player and headed back to bed.  I thought I'd listen to some tunes, hopefully lull myself back to sleep, and hopefully wake up a couple hours later (with the help of the cell phone alarm of course) to power.  Just as I was starting to doze off, I heard a really loud noise outside my open bedroom window.  Was it what I hoped it was?!

I jumped out of bed to take a peek, and sure enough, there was the electric company working on restoring the power.  A short while later, the ceiling fan above my bed whirred to life again.  YAAAAY!  Even though I was still tired, I decided I just had to get out of bed to get the cleaning done. I was quite the happy girl when, two hours later, my floors were vacuumed, the bathroom was sparkling, and my bed had clean sheets on it.  Yay, me!

Have I told you before that I sing and dance while I clean?  Yeah, it's my dirty little secret.  I make sure the mp3 player is loaded with a good, eclectic mix of tunes and I sing and dance my heart out while I clean. When I say dancing, know that I have no rhythm, so dancing really means flailing about to my own rhythm.  In fact, if you pictured a gangly but chubby muppet flailing about, it would probably be pretty close to what I’m calling dancing.

I'm sure it looks absolutely ridiculous; but I don't know for sure because I've never had the courage to try it in front of a mirror.  I fear doing that would effectively end my dancing days, so I'll probably never try it.  Anyway, the ridiculous singing and dancing makes the cleaning go by really quickly and also makes it so much more fun.  Of course I'd be absolutely mortified for anyone to actually ever witness this.  I realized after finishing up today that I'd had the patio door and my bedroom window open, which means there is a rare chance that someone at least heard me signing.  I'm sorry for them; I really am, but not enough to stop this silly routine of mine.

I took a shower in my sparkling clean shower and blow dried my hair.  Then, realizing that I was exhausted, I settled onto the couch to take a nap.  MusicMan called at around 5.  We chatted about our weekends a bit and then decided I’d head over to his place when I was finished getting ready for the day (hair, makeup, etc).

I arrived at around 7.  Since he'd had a long day at his family thing, and I'd had a long past couple days of running around, we decided to just stay in.  So, we hung out at his place watching TV, cuddling, talking, and flirting.  Music Man introduced me to Northern Exposure, which I really enjoyed.  After we got Northern-Exposured-out we ended up finding that "our show," Next, was playing a marathon on MTV, so we watched a bunch of episodes.

We got more and more horrified the more we watched.  It truly is a horrendous show! Music Man mentioned once again that it had been a horrible comparison for him to make in that one email.  I said that it gave us our own inside joke, and Music Man pointed out that we have several others as well, which he listed.  Turns out we have at least three really fun inside jokes; however, the “Next joke” is by far the one we use most often.  It works nicely and is fun.

For example, I said once that "Ice, Ice Baby" was one of my favorite songs of all time.  Music Man looked at me horrified, and said, "NEXT!" which indicated that he didn't particularly agree with the love I have for that song.  In all honesty, I don't love the song.  I like it fine, but it's not one of my faves.  So, yeah, we use it a lot and it's a light-hearted way of basically saying, "I hope you're joking."

I wish I could remember exactly how this conversation happened, but I can't.  Music Man said something about me not having to worry about being "nexted" anytime soon and then said that he knew he was the only one that still had to worry about that.  I told him he wasn't going to be “nexted” anytime soon either.  He made me pinky-swear on it, which I thought was too cute.  So, yeah, it would seem that we're going to keep seeing each other for a while with no planned end in sight.  I think it's really cool how the whole conversation played out, and it made me feel really good.

Eventually, we realized that it was 2:30 a.m.  WHAT?!?!?  How'd that happen?!?!?  There’s that time warp again. It always happens when we’re together. It feels like a couple hours have passed, but really it's been double or triple that amount of time.  Crazy!  So, I got ready to leave.  We were standing at the door saying our goodbyes.  Surprisingly, this time it didn't seem too awkward, which was a relief.  We ended up kissing; quite a bit, actually.  And, all I'll tell you is that it was good and I enjoyed it.  A lot.

So, that's all there is to tell, really.  I left there exhausted, but my brain was just buzzing.  I really really like this guy.  (Have I said that?) I really like the way things are progressing.  I feel wonderful about the conversation we had.  In a roundabout way, that was him saying he likes me and he wants us to continue to see each other.  That's awesome!!!  I'm so happy!

I can't wait for everyone else to meet him.  I want everyone else to like him just as much as I do!  It's too early though.  I know that I'll know when it's time to start introducing him to people.  I'm super excited for that.  Well, except the fam; that's going to have to be done in pieces.  I'm not just going to throw him to "the crazies" and leave him to fend for himself.

If I'm being honest, I also have to tell you that I'm scared.  I can't really explain it at the moment, because I really just don't want to focus on it.  I think it's just the differentness of it.  He's like no one I've ever met before.  This whole experience is nothing I've ever experienced before.  I'll say this though: I really like him, and I'm really hoping that things continue to go well.  The scared part, I think, is natural.  I'll get past it.  I know I will.  Baby steps.

Music Man called tonight and we chatted for a bit.  I felt horrible revealing that I'd had a very lazy day.  You know what his response was?  "Well, after how busy you've been lately, you totally deserved it!"  I'm not kidding.  That's what he said.  Oh, he's a keeper!  He filled me in on his shopping trip with his mom.  He told me he was forced to reveal the “secret” of us dating and apologized for having to do so.  I told him there was no reason to apologize and that he was bound to have to explain it sometime.

He didn't reveal many details about the conversation, and I didn't press.  Mom knows about me now, and that's the important information I needed to know.  He's really close to his mom, which I think is extremely cool.  I worry about that though, because it means that it will be important for mom to really like me when (if?) she meets me.  I'm not too worried about it, because I have a pretty good history with moms liking me. Of course, in typical Elle fashion, I'll worry anyway.

We already have plans for this Saturday.  There's a band playing that Music Man wants to go see.  He told me I could join him if I'd like, and I told him that I definitely would.  So, that will be something to look forward to as this long week drags on.

W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 6)

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 7 and 8, 2006...
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Thursday (September 7)
I woke up super excited to face the day, even though I was running on complete lack of sleep due to helping my sister and her boyfriend move (and getting home relatively late) last night. I had an appointment after work, but was thinking I'd be back in Eagan at around 6. That's when Music Man was going to call, and we were going to make plans on what we'd do for the evening. I don't know why I didn't realize that my hour long appointment started at 4:30, so I wouldn't be leaving St. Paul until 5:30, which meant primetime rush hour. Yay me! I was so worried that I wasn't going to hit Eagan until well after 6. Of all the days I didn't want to sit in rush hour!!!!

Music Man ended up calling as I was walking into my apartment building. He told me to take as much time as I needed changing (I told him I'd done so while we were talking on the phone, which he was really impressed by), freshening up, and settling down, and that I could just head over there when I was ready. Well, there was no settling down. No way! I was way too excited to see him, and I was way over-caffeinated (thanks to drinking waaaaaaay too much coffee).

I headed to his place at about quarter to seven. We ended up having a very low-key date. We'd both had long weeks, and he'd not had the greatest day, so we ended up just hanging out at his place. Mostly we just sat on his couch and talked. At around 9, he put in a comedy DVD he thought I'd enjoy (I did), and we watched that together. Somehow we ended up holding hands, which was unexpected but completely fine by me.

I swear, you guys, I feel like a teenager sometimes! This is just a totally new world for me, and I'm absolutely enjoying every single minute of it!! Seriously, seriously enjoying myself. Things continue to go really well. I reeeeeeeeeeally like him! The more time we spend together, the more I like him, which I think is a really really good sign. For the record, and not to sound vain, but it would seem that he maybe likes me a little bit too. *insert super bouncy happy dance here* (Is that getting annoying yet?!?)

As I was getting ready to leave, I started to get nervous. I think it's because the parting ways thing has seemed a bit awkward in the past. In typical Elle fashion, I tend to babble and not really think about what I'm saying when I get nervous. Music Man asked if I'd like to get together again sometime soon. My reply: "Yes, definitely! Would you?!?!"

DUH!!!! He asked! Do you think that means he wants to get together sometime soon?! JEEEEEEEZ! I felt so dumb. Okay, so that settled, it was time to go.

Oh, but wait!!!!!

There was a kiss. I'm not going to describe it to you, because that's just weird and it's private, but I will tell you that I was very pleased that it happened and that I thought it was very nice.

Of course, I got all flustered and proceeded to practically run out of there. That's what it felt like in my head anyway. I don't think I really physically ran, but I just don't remember getting to my car after that. Perhaps I floated there on the cloud I was on. (Wow, that's like one of the most ridiculously girly things I've said in a long, long time.)

(Editorial Note: Music Man remembers this incident quite clearly. I apparently did physically run away. He was heartbroken and thought he’d totally done something wrong by kissing me. Thankfully I was able to repair that perception the next day.)

Friday (September 8)
I emailed Music Man this morning to tell him that I'd enjoyed our evening together and to wish him a happy Friday. I’d hoped that, if I had in fact physically run away, this would partially make up for it. At the very least, hopefully he’d know that I wasn’t upset about the kiss and didn’t mean to actually run away. Apparently he'd been having a bad day at work, which is where I'd emailed him, so he really appreciated my email. YAY ME!

I headed to Cousin-friend’s after work. It's been a while since we got together, so we had some catching up to do. After going out to dinner with Cousin-friend’s adorable son and her mom (my super awesome aunt), Cousin-friend and I headed back to her place for girl talk time. (Awesome aunt took Cousin-friend’s son for some grandma time.)

We just sat around talking and catching up. It was so nice! Cousin-friend kept telling me how happy she is for me about the Music Man thing, which was cool. Obviously, she could see how happy I was too. We talked about my blog a little bit. Cousin-friend always tells me that she thinks I'm a great writer and that I missed my calling, which always embarrasses me, but in a good way. (I'm just am not very good at receiving compliments.) I mean I'd like to think that I write well and that it's enjoyable for others to read, but you never really know. We are all our own worst critics; aren't we?

Cousin-friend’s husband called from work, so I took the opportunity to go outside and have a smoke. I decided to call Music Man to make sure he'd made it through the day okay. He thought that was really cool, and he sounded really excited to hear from me. I was so glad that I was able to make him so happy with my seemingly small gestures. That's definitely a good sign, and I hope it made up for me running away after our first kiss!!

W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 5)

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 Monday, August 28, 2006…


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I've gotta admit that I was worried that I'd never hear from Music Man again after spending ten hours with him on Saturday. Don't get me wrong...I was my lovely, funny, playful, fabulous self all day long (or at least I tried to be), but I worry about things I shouldn't (it's just what I do). So, it is with much pride and excitement that I tell you that we've talked twice since then—once yesterday and once today. We will be getting together again on Thursday night. We have no idea what we'll do, but we agreed that we'll definitely have to force ourselves to end the evening at a reasonable time considering that (1) we have to work the next day, and (2) we seem to have a "horrible" problem of losing track of time when we're together.

I find myself trying to be restrained and to temper my excitement at seeing him again. I don't know why. I think it's because I really really really like him and really enjoy spending time with him, and I just don't want to get too excited. I don't want to get my hopes up or to think too far ahead, because I think that's just a recipe for disappointment and/or hurt. Still shielding the heart; I'll totally admit it. I think that's totally understandable and natural though, considering my relationship history. I mean, I think I have a pretty big heart, which means lots of surface area exposed to the sometimes cruel, harsh universe.

I also realized that the more time we spend together, the closer we're getting to that "next level" territory. You know, like more physical contact than just a hug. Now, while that's exciting, it also scares the hell out of me! I'm seriously terrified! About what? I'm not quite sure. I'm not talking about sex, mind you. I think it's too early to talk about that, and I can't even think about it without getting all worked up (not in a good way) and practically hyperventilating. I know you'll find it hard to believe, but even for me some things are sacred and not to be planned in advance or discussed with others. Sex is one of those things.

What I'm mostly talking about is that "first kiss." Ever the planner, I keep trying to figure out all the details of when it should happen, how it will happen, etc. I know that I think I'm ready for it to happen. Well, that's just clear as mud, isn't it? See what I'm talking about now?! You know what I've discovered? There's no planning it, and I think that's what's making me so anxious. I know it's another one of those things that you're supposed to just let happen and enjoy it when it does.

You never get a second chance at a first kiss. I think that's why I'm so concerned about it. Having never done this whole dating thing before, I just have no idea what to anticipate or prepare for. I mean, it would certainly help if I could somehow prepare for it, but I know that can't happen. Right now I just have to force myself to accept that (or BFF will force me to). One way or another, I'll get there. For now, I'm just not going to think about anything except seeing him on Thursday and enjoying our time together.

W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 4)

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 Sunday, August 27, 2006…

Ten Hour Date

Wow.  I just really don't know where to start.  I'm just overwhelmed with how damn great this date was!  Seriously.  I left the house at a little before 1:30 in the afternoon.  I walked in the door to my apartment at around 11:30 p.m.  It was a ten hour date!!!!!!  Can you even believe it?!?!?  That's gotta be some kind of record!  I'm telling you, people, this guy is cool if he can handle me for ten hours and still want to see me again sometime in the future, which he does.  (I hope.)  Maybe, given time to really think about it, he'll change his mind.  Let's hope that's not the case, because that would make me a bit sad.

Okay, so I'm completely exhausted right now, but I just have to brag.  This date was awesome!!!!!!! 

Music Man called me Saturday morning.  He told me that he had bad news:  He was unable to get us tickets for the Body World exhibit at the Science Museum.  Trust me, he tried hard.  Per my advice, he even tried convincing the guy that a second date was on the line.  Unfortunately, the ticket guy at the Science Museum had no heart.  I, personally, find it hilarious and incredibly endearing that Music Man even tried to play that angle.

It's totally understandable that they were completely sold out, considering that everyone thought this would be the last weekend the exhibit could be seen.  I'm so glad they've extended it to December so that we will be able to go see it in the future.  Yes, you read that right; I said "we" and "future."  (*much bouncy giggling girly madness ensues* )  So, that not being an option, we had to come up with another plan.  I remembered that one of the other things on both of our summer to do lists was the zoo, so I recommended that we go to the Minnesota Zoo.  Music Man seemed really excited to go, which I thought was super cool.  The plan was to meet at his place at 1:30.

When I arrived, I called up and Music Man said he was in the middle of something but that I should come up and let myself in because the door would be open.  So, that's what I did.  My hand anxiously on the doorknob, I paused for a moment to consider what I might find behind the door.  He said he was a clean guy, but we all know that guy clean and girl clean are two totally different things.  My jaw dropped when I entered his apartment.  I have never in my life seen a single man's apartment so neat, clean, and organized.  Oh, and it contained live plants, which made me super jealous and amazed because I kill everything no matter how hard I try not to.  I really was astonished; his place was very nice.  Granted, I've only seen the dwellings of a handful of single men in my life, but still.  I was beyond impressed.  We left Music Man's apartment and headed for the zoo.  I was super excited!

We had an absolutely spectacular time at the zoo.  Phenomenal.  It was soooooooo much fun!  We laughed and joked all day.  It was a fantastically gorgeous day to be outside, and I even remembered to wear sunscreen!  I had a bit of a freak out in the bat building, but Music Man dealt with it extremely well.  It helps that he hates bats too, so he totally understood my fear.  Music Man bumped into one of his music friends.  The guy was telling him about a website he just had to check out, so I dug in my wallet and pulled out a pen and little notepad so that Music Man could write the info down and get the guy's phone number.  Music Man was impressed that I was so prepared, which was awesome because I thought he'd surely think I was a dork.

We had to ride this trailer pulled by a tractor to get up to the farm exhibit.  On the way back, two little girls got on with their mother.  They were very energetic and very chatty little girls.  One sat right next to me (I think she liked my sparkly sandals, because she kept looking at them) and the other sat next to Music Man.  They and their mother were chatting with us all the way back from the farm exhibit.

When the ride started, it was kind of a jerky start.  The girls' mom made a comment that she didn't know it was an amusement park ride, or something like that, so Music Man raised his arms as though he were riding a roller coaster.  The kids looked at him and laughed, so then he got them started doing the wave.  This one little boy, who was really shy at first, had us doing the wave all the way back.  How frickin' cute is that?!?!?!  Music Man made a great joke later about how he hoped the kid would spontaneously break out into the wave at the dinner table, in class at school, etc.

At one point, the little girls had been talking about bees and how bees like people that smell sweet.  Music Man said to the one sitting next to him, "Well, that's why they like me, because I'm so sweet!"  Had I been thinking, I would've said something like, "And that's why I like him too!"  But I wasn't really "on the ball," instead I just smiled.  I expressed my regret later for having not taken that moment to say something.

I had a moment where I really should've thought a little more before I spoke.  We were looking at the Moose.  It had huge antlers, or horns, or whatever the thing on top of its head is called.  I couldn't think of what it was called at the moment, so I said, "Wow!  That thing has a huge rack!"  Yes I did.  I'm so not kidding.  Music Man started cracking up as I realized what I'd said.  I told him I could not believe I'd just said that.  In retrospect, I totally can believe it, because that's just so "Elle."  Music Man really seemed to enjoy it, and joked with me about it a few times later in the day.  Later, he'd say this was his favorite part of the whole zoo experience.

The zoo is a lot smaller than I remember it being, but it was cool.  I know you're wondering, so I'll confirm that I did indeed see the sharks.  Yeah, don't think the irony of me seeing sharks up close and personal during shark week escaped me.  Speaking of shark week, thank god for the diva cup.*  (Don't read the information after the * at the end of this blog if you don't want to hear my diva cup commercial.) So, yeah, we had an absolutely excellent time at the zoo.

It came time to leave, and we headed out the nearest exit.  Well, it was totally the wrong exit, which we discovered after walking around the parking lots for a good fifteen or twenty minutes looking for Music Man's truck. He kept apologizing when it wasn't entirely his fault, because I hadn't exactly been paying attention to where we'd parked either.  We both agreed that we'd just been too excited about the zoo.  All we could do was laugh about how we'd lost his truck.  He kept telling me this had never happened to him before.  I had to tell him that it happens to me all too often.  We decided to sit down and have a cigarette to think about where we needed to go. 

Music Man asked to look at the zoo map, so I took it out of my purse and handed it to him.  He was able to ascertain that we had gone out the wrong exit and that we'd need to go back in the zoo and ask them how to get to the parking lot we needed to go to.  He asked for directions!!!!!  Yes, he did!  We were super excited to finally find the truck.  We did a high five as we walked to it.

When we returned to Music Man's apartment, neither of us was really ready to end the date, so we decided to head up to his place to regroup for a minute while we figured out what we wanted to do next.  We ended up hanging out, drinking Diet Coke, and watching TV for about an hour and a half.  Music Man kept apologizing that all we were doing was talking and watching Myth Busters, but I told him it was fine because the zoo had kinda tuckered me out.  Truth be told, I was enjoying just hanging out on his couch with him.   

At one point, a humming bird appeared outside his patio door.  That was pretty cool—I’ve never seen one so close before!  Music Man asked if I'd read my horoscope that day (something else we both have in common:  we're horoscope junkies), and I hadn't, so he read our horoscopes.  We were both supposed to have five star days, which we thought was cool.  I definitely felt like I was having a five star day.  We finally decided we'd got get something to eat.

Music Man took me to the coolest place ever, I'd read about it months ago and had been meaning to get there "someday."  Well, someday happened yesterday.  We went to this place called Chatterbox in St. Paul.  Much like the guy that was taking me there, this place was super cool!  They had couches and TV's setup all over, and you could choose from a menu of Sega and Nintendo games to sit down and play if you wanted to.  In addition to good sandwiches, burgers, and assorted other offerings, the menu also had a list of board games you could select from.  So, if you chose to, they'd bring a board game right to your table for you to enjoy.  They had everything from decks of cards to Operation to Trivial Pursuit.  Very cool!

The atmosphere was also very neat and the bathrooms were very clean, which seals the fate of a restaurant in my mind.  We didn't play any games, opting instead to talk while we waited for our food and while we ate.  When the bill came, Music Man insisted on paying.  I told him that I'd totally remember that it's my turn to pay next time.  Thinking that presumptuous, I qualified it with, "Well, if there is a next time."  I think he smiled at that, so that was good.  I'm sad to say I don't remember his exact reaction, but I got the feeling that there'd be a next time.

It's insane all the things we keep discovering that we have in common.  Yesterday we discovered that we both have a parent that's a school bus driver.  We both hate tomatoes and olives, don't like large crowds, and like to clean.  Read that last one again a couple times...he. likes. to. clean.  My head almost exploded.

After dinner, we still weren't ready to call it quits, so we headed to Enjoy in Apple Valley to hopefully listen to some live jazz while having an after dinner cocktail.  (Can I just say right now that I love that Music Man says cocktail instead of drinks?!?!  As in, "Should we go have a cocktail somewhere?"  There's just something about that that I really really like.) As we got out of the truck to walk into Enjoy, we were dive bombed by a bat.  I kid you not.  It was horrible, traumatic, and funny all at the same time.

I felt so bad for Music Man; the wretched thing seriously looked like it was heading right for him!  He has quick reflexes and totally managed to avoid it.  Sadly, we went through all that only to find out that Enjoy didn't have any live music.  So, we headed to a different bar that Music Man knew of.  “The Russian Pirate Bar." (Not it's technical name, but that's what Music Man calls it.)  This place was neat; a little hole-in-the-wall kinda place decorated all "piratey" and ship like.  There was a big, sweet, obviously Russian lady behind the bar.  The place wasn't crowded at all, and there was an eclectic selection of music playing on the juke box.

We had a couple beers and talked for about an hour or so.  I had put ten bucks on the bar to pay for my beer, but the bartender had taken Music Man's twenty to pay for everything.  As we got ready to leave, Music Man handed my money back to me.  I insisted that he take it.  I told him to consider it payment for my drink and maybe part of the tip from dinner.  He would not take my money.  Instead, he said, "You can get it next time," and smiled.  I smiled back and told him he was "sly" and then giggled like a little girl.  He admitted that he was pretty proud of himself for the comment and proceeded to pat himself on the back, which I did too.  It was a cute moment.  You had to be there...

We agreed that there will definitely be a next time.  We both commented as we left the bar that we couldn't believe we were finishing up a ten hour date.  That's a lot of time for two people to spend together!  You know what?  I enjoyed every single minute of it.  Every minute.  I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Music Man walked me to my car to say goodnight.  We agreed that we'd definitely get together again.  We left it open-ended, but it's "my turn" to call him, which I'll definitely be doing sometime soon.  We still haven't quite figured out the parting ways thing yet, so it was a bit awkward again.  We ended up hugging and then I got in my car and drove the long way home.  (Total exaggeration right there.  It took me all of maybe five minutes to get home; he lives that close.)  I was absolutely exhausted, yet bursting with energy, when I got home.  I could not calm down.  I had just had the greatest day ever!  It was, hands down, one of the best days of my life in a very long time!

I'm eager to see and talk to Music Man again.  I really like him.  He's such a great guy.  Nice, funny, polite, clean, fun, interesting...I could just go on and on.  I'm so excited for "next time!"

* Okay, I've just gotta say it, the diva cup totally rocks my world.  Shark week sucks, there's no doubt about that, but the cup makes it so much more bearable.  There's no way I would've had a ten hour date, or even walked around the zoo getting hot and sweaty, yesterday without this fantastic invention.  Seriously.  I would've been crabby and feeling icky and dirty and nasty.  Not with the diva cup!  No worries at all.  Put it in, forget about it for 12-14 hours, and go on with your life.  It totally rocks and was worth its weight (and a million times more) in gold yesterday.

W for Wayback Wednesday (Part 3)

Welcome to another edition of Wayback Wednesday! If you'd like to, you can catch up by reading Part 1 and Part 2 first. We’re gonna jump into the Wayback Machine and travel to Thursday, August 24, 2006…

The post you’ve been waiting for…THE Date!

As promised, I'm back with the long awaited details of last night's date.  I hope it's just as exciting for you to read as it was for me to experience, but I doubt that will be the case.  There's no way you could feel what I felt without being there and being me, but I'm gonna do my best to take you on the trip.  Now, we all should know by now that I can get a little “wordy.” I apologize in advance for that.  I just can't help it; I like writing, I type fast, and I try to tell the story as completely and accurately as I can.  No unnecessary detail goes unspoken unwritten.  I'll try my best to break this up into appropriate sections.  I'm considering you, dear reader, and your time by doing this.  Read a section, go take a break (have a little popcorn or a good stiff drink, whichever is more appropriate for you) and come back.  We'll get through this, or you'll get bored and give up.  Either way, buckle up now, 'cause here we go...

LEAD UP

I woke up yesterday morning excited and nervous.  What's this I'm feeling?  Cramps?!?!   You've got to be kidding me!!!!!  After not even a two week respite, shark week is returning?!?!?  (Editorial Note: I called my period shark week back then in order to avoid freaking/grossing out my male readers at the time. Better to let them think of sharks tearing into internal organs than to think about or imagine a woman's menstrual cycle.) Oh, this so cannot be a good sign.  Not at all.  I tell myself to calm down--it's probably just nervous jitters.  I wear "protection" just in case, take a hot shower, pop some extra strength Tylenol, and head off to work.

I was a nervous wreck all day.  It doesn't help that I got practically no sleep the night before, because my brain just wouldn't shut off.  I kept playing all sorts of different scenarios over and over in my head.  It was horrendous.  I truly am my own worst enemy.  All day, I alternated between being extremely excited to wanting to vomit.  I keep praying that it wasn't going to rain.  In my head, I'm yelling, "OHMYGOD WHAT IF IT RAINS?!?!?  THE WHOLE DAY WILL BE RUINED!!!!!!!"

BFF does her best to keep me in check.  Bless her heart!!!  Damn, this girl loves me—she must—I really don't know how she puts up with me sometimes.  I love her too. I don't know how I got lucky enough to meet her, and to become her friend, but I'm keeping her.  At one point yesterday, she told me I'm worse than a child.  She was totally right.  I needed to hear that.  I love that she just says those things that I need to hear, whether I want to hear them or not.  She assured me that I was going to have a great time and that she'd be doing her "I told you so" dance on Thursday, because as usual, I'm getting all upset over nothing and she's going to end up being right.  It was one of those times in my life where I was actually hoping I was wrong.  I wanted so badly for her to be right!

She made the best analogy in the middle of the afternoon, when I was once again whining about how nervous I was, she said, "You know people pay thousands of dollars to feel what you're feeling right now!!!  It's called skydiving!"  Perfect!  The girl is infinite in her wisdom sometimes.  I mean that was seriously the best analogy ever.  I realized that, unlike skydiving, this date more than likely wouldn't kill me.  I'd like to say I was significantly calmer the rest of the afternoon, but that would be an outright lie.

I obsessively checked both my cell phone and email all day--waiting for Music Man to cancel. (Suppose I don't need to tell ya that's his name, huh?  Yeah, now that the date has come and gone, I no longer have to superstitiously hide his name in fear that it will somehow "jinx" things to reveal it.  I've found out this past week that I'm apparently quite superstitious.  I suppose you'll see that here and there in this blog.  Make it a game:  Spot Elle's weirdo superstitions.  Maybe it will help you get all the way through.)  Yeah I know it was paranoid and utterly ridiculous to think he'd cancel, but I've never done this whole dating thing before, 'k????  Cut me some slack!

(If you can't cut me any slack, you may want to quit reading, because you're going to need to cut me some serious slack if you're going to get through reading this.  My ridiculousness yesterday knew no bounds.  Example to follow right now...)  

Somehow, I managed to convince myself that the reason that Music Man had chosen the location he did for our date was that it shares a parking lot with the police station, which was important because he obviously thought I was a psycho.  I was sure he was simply going out on this date to placate me, to keep my psychotic tendencies at bay long enough for him to go into hiding, but really he was terrified of me so he was taking steps to feel as safe as he possibly could.  Why would he think I'm a psycho?

Because in our two-hour phone conversation, we had at one point talked about TV shows we watch.  I mentioned that I love Forensic Files and all those types of shows.  Then, for reasons I'm completely not sure of, I said something along the lines of, "I know I've watched too many of those shows when I start thinking about, and planning for, the evidence I need to leave behind if I'm ever being raped or murdered.  You know; skin under the fingernails and that kind of thing, for DNA purposes."  What the hell?!??!    Even as I was saying it, I wondered what in the hell I was saying.  Why'd this guy have to be so damn easy to talk to, huh?!??!?!  (I'd come to find out later that this did not make him think I was a psycho. In fact, he didn't remember it at first, but then he said he thought it was funny.)

I checked my cell phone one more time at around 3.  No voicemails.  Okay.  So, the date was obviously happening.  I was definitely going to the mini golf place at 7 p.m.  Okay.  Breathe.  Just BREATHE.

PREPARATION

I left work at 4, which is about an hour earlier than usual.  I wanted to go home and shower.  I wanted to start with a "clean slate" to prepare for the date.  Yes, that meant doing the work of showering, hair, and make up all over again, but I knew I'd feel better if I did it all fresh and new.  Besides, getting ready all over again would take time, which meant less time sitting around just being a nervous wreck.

I realized on the way home that I should stop at the cash machine.  I went to the drive through ATM at the bank closest to my apartment.  It was out of order.  I freaked.  What a horribly bad sign!  I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I almost cried, which seemed like a perfectly normal reaction at the time.  I pulled around to the bank parking lot and went inside to make a withdrawal.  It took way longer than I'd have preferred.  I felt the minutes ticking away and my anxiety level increasing tenfold with each stupid second that ticked by.  "Do these bank people want to see me die right here?!??!  Would a massive coronary be entertaining for them?!??!  I hope so, because they're about to get one if this godforsaken line doesn't start to move!!!!" I thought, not so calmly.  Oh, my date fate was so totally sealed.  This whole thing was just going to be a miserable debacle; I was sure of it.  I was in trouble.  What on Earth was I thinking getting myself into this?!?!?  (Me?  Dramatic?  Maybe just a tiny, little, eensy weensy, bit.)

I got home at around quarter to five and began stripping immediately after walking into my apartment.  I had to jump in the shower!!!  I mean, thanks to all the slow motion jerkoffs at the bank, I only had about TWO HOURS to get ready!!  Keep in mind that it typically takes me only an hour, if that, to get ready to go anywhere on any given day.  So yeah, two hours was plenty of time, but I had to worry that it wasn't; logic and reason had left me long ago.  I was able to confirm that shark week still seemed to be threatening to unleash it's fury again all too soon.  Great.  Just great!  I wasn't gonna let it ruin my day. I was doing a good job of that all on my own, thankyouverymuch. I popped some Midol and hopped into the shower.  I'd like to be all poetic and tell you that it was a totally zen experience as I let the water wash away my nerves.  That would sound really cool, calm, and collected.  The truth, however, is that I was nowhere near zen.  I was whatever the opposite of zen is, and then some, multiplied by about a million.

After my shower, I decided I should try to eat a little something.  My body was hungry, in that my stomach was growling, but I so didn't want to eat.  I wasn't hungry.  I was nervous.  I felt like I was going to vomit.  I decided Cup of Soup would probably be the safest bet.  Good thing I keep that damn dreadful stuff around!  So, I slapped that in the microwave and headed to the balcony to have a nerve-calming cigarette; making sure, of course, that I didn't shut the patio door all the way. (Editorial Note: I’d been locked out on the balcony of my second story apartment before as a result of the patio door locking itself after I’d shut it.) I still don't trust it, and with all the bad signs I'd already gotten it, I wasn't taking any risks.

I was happy, and relieved, that Music Man is a smoker.  That meant I didn't have to freak out too much about smelling like smoke.  Very nice.  If you think the cigarette worked to calm me down, you don't truly understanding what a wreck I was.  (Maybe that's a good thing.  That means I'm not painting myself as a complete and total psycho-lunatic.)  I cursed myself for wasting time smoking instead of actually trying to use the moment to calm myself.  When I got inside, I went to retrieve my soup from the microwave only to find that it had boiled over.

How in the hell did that happen?!?!  I did everything right the way I was supposed to!  DAMMIT!!!  Bad sign number --- well, I lose count, but you get my point.  So, I carefully lifted the glass spinning tray outta the microwave and dumped the whole mess into the sink to be dealt with later.  (Note to self:  Go clean kitchen sink.)  I reheated another cup of soup.  I drank maybe half of it while I "watched" TV.  By watched, I mean incoherently stared at while I sipped my soup.

It was now time for hair and make up, which thankfully was uneventful.  I moved on to brushing my teeth.  I had no idea that little task could go as badly as it did.  Apparently, my stomach decided it didn't want to accompany me on this date, so it decided to try to escape, quite dramatically and quite violently, if I do say so myself.  In case you're not catching my drift, I'll spell it out:  In the middle of brushing my teeth, I ended up vomiting in the bathroom sink.  How ridiculous is that?!?!  It totally came out of nowhere, as these things tend to do I suppose.

I was quite thankful I'd only had that measly cup of soup, and only half of it at that.  I tried blaming it on the weird, horrible, ill-timed arrival of shark week part two and the amazingly harsh cramps it was ambushing me with, but I know that my nerves were definitely a major factor.  Way to go me!  What kind of rational adult gets so nervous about a date that they vomit?!?!?  Answer = none.  Remember, rational was totally gone.  I rinsed my mouth with half a gallon of Listerine mouthwash, gently brushed my teeth again, and rinsed with more Listerine.  I checked my breath a few times, and finally satisfied that there were no telltale signs of the horrible betrayal my stomach had pulled, I went to finish getting dressed.

All dressed up and ready to go, I only had about fifteen minutes to wait before leaving the apartment.  I felt as though I looked good, which really helped.  I talked to myself out loud as I listened to some of my favorite tunes. "This is gonna be fun.  I'm excited.  This is different and different can be good.  It's gonna be great!  Seriously.  We've talked on the phone and we have a lot in common, there’s no way this can go badly."  I left the house at quarter to seven...

THE DATE

The ten-minute drive to the mini golf course was the longest drive of my life.  I hit every red light that I possibly could.  Nice;  that's a sign, and in case you haven't caught on by now, not a good one.  When I got there, I was a bit surprised to see that the parking lot was quite empty.  "Well, this will help make him easier to find," I thought as I parked in the middle of a completely empty row.  A row or two in front of me and off to the right I noticed a red truck.  A hand holding a cigarette was sticking out the window.  I was sure it was him.  I busied myself with freshening up my lip-gloss and checking my hair in the rearview mirror.

I saw the truck window roll up.  I forced myself to open my car door.  As I got out of the car, I was sure I was going to pass out.  My legs were wobbly, my hands were trembling, and my stomach was doing fantastic acrobatics.  I paused for what seemed like an eternity, but really had to only have been a couple seconds, to give my legs a minute to stabilize.  I looked over and noticed the truck door opening.  I watched the guy I assumed to be Music Man get out as I walked towards the truck, hoping I wasn't wrong because I'd look really dumb if I was.  He walked towards me, smiling as he pulled up the legs of his jeans to expose the yellow argyle socks he'd said he was going to wear.  I couldn't help but to smile.  "This guy is cool and has a great sense of humor," I thought.

First impressions:  I was pleasantly surprised!  He was cute in a boyish sorta way.  He's about my height, which is good because I don't like shorter men.  His hair was lighter than in his pictures.  He's a bigger guy, which I knew and expected based on his initial ad and the picture he'd sent, but not obese or grossly fat by any means. I'll call it "cutely cuddly chubby."  (Yes, I am blushing.  I feel like a complete dork, but that's really the best description I can come up with at the moment.  )  I like my men to have meat on their bones, and in my opinion, he was nicely proportioned.  Okay, analysis over.  I feel skeevy for even analyzing another human being in such a way, but I know you all were wondering.

He didn't look shocked or disappointed at seeing me, which I took to be a good sign.  As I got closer, I noticed that he was wearing one of those "Hello my name is" nametags on the pocket of his shirt, with "Music Man" written on it in big blue letters.  Brilliant!    This guy was just too cute and too funny.  What a thoughtful, entertaining, and original idea!  We said our hellos.  I noticed, and pointed out, that we were both wearing blue as we walked to the mini golf entrance together.  So far so good.  I could feel the nervous tension drifting away (FINALLY) as we walked.

I dug my wallet out of my purse, taking out a twenty-dollar bill to pay.  The girl hit some buttons on the cash register, and when she realized Music Man had his wallet out too she said, "Oh, are you paying separately?"  Not wanting an awkward moment, and not wanting to rudely say that we were definitely paying separately, I said, "No, I'll just pay for both of us!"  It was six dollars.  I think I can handle that.  "Are you sure?!?!" Music Man asked.  I told him that it was totally fine; she'd already rung us up, so it would just be easier.  He said okay and thanked me.  I silently cursed myself for possibly calling his manhood into question, or belittling him, or something horrible like that, as the girl handed him two golf clubs.

I decided to be girly and picked a pink golf ball.  Music Man chose yellow.  (I'm sure you really care.)  We went to tee off.  Of course Music Man decided that it should be ladies first.  As I dropped my ball onto the green, he asked the cashier, "Is this your favorite part?  Watching people tee off?"  She laughed and said that it could be pretty funny at times.  She informed us that some people apparently get a little over zealous and end up hitting the ball over the fence into the parking lot.  I assured her that she wouldn't have to worry about me doing that.

I asked Music Man about his day as I teed off.  The conversation flowed from there.  Mini golf was really fun!  Music Man kept saying, "Gosh, this is really going fast.  I didn't think this would go so fast!"  He was right.  It's not like we were playing extreme speed mini golf by any means, but the course was empty, so we were getting through it quickly.  We got a good view of the attached water park at the third hole.  I'd never seen it before, so we stood for a moment just taking it in.  It's a pretty cool looking place with all sorts of giant water slides and other things. 

At around the seventh hole (it was only a nine hole course), Music Man was getting ready to hit for par on the hole.  "Ladies and gentlemen, quiet on the course please.  Music Man, putting for par." I said in my best golf announcer's voice, thinking I was insane and envisioning him running across the parking lot to the police station as I said it.  He looked at me like maybe I was a bit crazy, but smiled and hit his ball.  He missed the hole.  I was horrified.  "OH MY GOD!!!  I'm sooooo sorry!  I totally broke your concentration!" I screeched, truly horrified.  He laughed and hit the ball into the hole.

We finished up mini golf within a half hour.  We stopped on the sidewalk by the parking lot and both had a smoke.  Music Man started adding up our scores.  As he did so, he realized he'd stolen the mini golf pencil.  We debated as to whether or not it was really theft and whether or not he should return it.  I told him they probably had millions, and that part of our three-dollar fee probably paid for that pencil, so he could probably just keep it as a souvenir.  He agreed.  When I thought he'd finished adding up our scores, I asked what the verdict was.  He said he had to recount.  I laughed and playfully asked, "Do I need to audit these scores?!?!"  He smiled as he showed me the card.  I'd won by a point.  We agreed that we were pretty evenly matched in our mini golf skills.

As we finished smoking, Music Man asked the question I was hoping he would, "So, do you want to hang out for a while longer?"  I answered in the affirmative, and after a bit of discussion, we decided to head over to a bar/restaurant called Jake's for drinks and conversation.  We arrived there at around quarter to eight, and the place was totally packed.  We ended up parking at practically opposite ends of the parking lot and meeting at the front door.  I let Music Man lead the way to finding seats inside.  When the waitress finally asked if we'd like to order drinks, about twenty minutes after we got there, I ordered a Corona with lime.

I thought beer was a cheap and casual choice.  Music Man asked about what kind of wine they had, and the waitress said she'd get a wine list, but he told her not to worry about it and ordered a Jack and Coke instead.  We settled into conversation.  We talked about everything.  The conversation flowed incredibly well.  We laughed a lot.  Jake's is the kind place that lowers the lights as it gets later.  I noticed the lights getting dimmer and dimmer as we talked and laughed on and on.  We kept finding more and more commonalities between us, which was awesome.  One of the most important is that we both have crazy families, with lots of drama, but we both would still do anything for our families.  That's just amazingly cool.  There are definitely enough differences between us to keep things interesting too.

After we'd finished our drinks, Music Man asked if I'd like another.  I told him I'd have another drink if he did, so he asked the waitress to get us another round.  We continued talking.  I found out that Music Man had developed a back up plan in case of rain.  How cool is that?!?!?  He'd called Grand Slam, which is at about the halfway point between where we both lived, and found out that they had indoor mini golf.  Way to plan ahead!  Color me impressed.  I thought that was really cool that he'd wanted to be prepared, and that he’d wanted the date to go forward regardless of the weather.

I don't know how the conversation came up, but we ended up talking about just how nervous we both had been.  Neither of us has ever done "this kind of thing" before, so it was totally out of character for both of us.  We both admitted that we couldn't believe we'd taken the steps we had:  Him posting the ad, me emailing him, him asking me to call, me calling, him asking me out, etc.  Of course, I didn't reveal that I'd thrown up when getting ready to go out.  That was not a picture of me that I wanted in Music Man's head.

I was super relieved to find out that he was just as nervous as I had been.  He said, "I thought for sure that as soon as I got out of the truck I was gonna hear you yell 'NEXT!' as you turned around and walked away."  I told him that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind, and he seemed pleased to hear that.  Apparently, he too had thought that I might cancel our date.  We agreed that it was ridiculous how nervous we both had been; especially considering how good our phone conversations had gone.  We laughed at ourselves for being so ridiculous.  It felt good to laugh over something that now seemed so incredibly silly.

When the waitress came to ask if we wanted another drink or if we wanted to close our tab, we both just looked at each other.  Sensing that it was getting late, and already feeling quite warm from the two beers I'd had, I said that I was okay and didn't need another drink.  Music Man asked her to bring the check, confirming my decision.  When she walked away, he said, "I wonder what time it is anyway."  I pulled my cell phone out of my purse, checked it, and was very surprised when I announced that it was 10:30.  Music Man seemed just as surprised, "It's bedtime!" he exclaimed.  "I know!  It totally is!" I replied.  We both expressed our surprise at how quickly the time had passed; we'd completely just lost track of time.

When the waitress returned with the check, Music Man got out his wallet to pay.  I started pulling mine out of my purse and he said, "I'll pay for the cocktails."  "Are you sure?" I asked in mild protest knowing that I should, and was going to, let him pay.  He nodded.  We continued to chat as the waitress collected the check and we waited for her to bring back change.

Out in the parking lot, things got a bit awkward as neither of us seemed sure how to end the evening.  We continued chatting as we walked to the halfway point between our cars.  I didn't know what to say.  I started getting nervous again.  Music Man rescued me by saying that this had been really fun.  I agreed.  He asked if I'd like to get together again sometime, and I said that I definitely would.  He asked what my weekend looked like.  I told him that it was pretty open, so he said, "Well, how about Saturday?  We could go to the Science Museum to see the body exhibit?"

We'd discovered in the course of our conversation throughout the night that seeing Body Worlds was on both of our summer "to do" lists.  I was pleasantly surprised that he'd come up with such a fantastic idea.  We agreed that he'd call me Friday night so that we could set a time and firm up the details.  Then, we both stood there awkwardly.  Finally, we moved towards each other and hugged.  As we did so, we both said again that it had been a good time.  As I started to walk to my car, I said, "Okay, I'll talk to you Friday then."  "Yay!" He exclaimed as he walked to his truck.  I could hear the smile in his voice.  What a great way to end the date!!

When I got home, the apartment parking lot was packed as usual.  I was forced to park in front of the building and to use the front door, which I don't normally use.  How serendipitous that, as I entered the building, I saw a FedEx notice on the door with my apartment number on it.  My new contact lenses were here much sooner than I'd thought they would be.  Cool!  What a good sign.  It was a message.  I'd gotten the good, fun date that I deserved.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

It's far too early to say how things will turn out with Music Man.  It's far too early for me to declare any feelings either way.  I'll say this:  It's new, and that's exciting; not scary.  He seems like a really nice guy.  I have never met anyone like him before.  I like him, and I get the impression that he likes me.  We have lots in common, but there are also so many new things he can expose me too like the clubs that he plays at in Minneapolis, for example.  I had so much fun!  I'm really glad I went on this date, and I'm excited for our date on Saturday.  No matter what, I think that worst case I'm going to end up with a really cool friend to have some fun times with.  That's not half bad!

One of the most important things I got out of last night was a renewed and profound sense of pride.  I'm so proud of myself for stepping so far out of my comfort zone!  I learned that it's good to take risks.  You may end up quite pleasantly surprised, which I definitely was.  I learned that, while neurotic at times, I am strong and confident.  I can totally do this dating thing!!  Who would've thought?!??!  Surely not me.

It was only weeks ago that I was saying that I'd never date and definitely wouldn't search online.  I believe I said, "I'm not going to search for a relationship the same way I'd look for a job!"  I regret saying that.  I am officially announcing, right here and right now, that I was wrong.  It can work.  You can meet decent, nice people.  I'm so glad that I didn't hold myself to that archaic, naive, and scared level of thinking.

Right now, I'm just gonna let the chips fall where they may.  No matter what happens, I'm happy, which I know I deserve.  I just feel so good—centered, calm, strong, capable, and confident.  I've completely surprised myself with my actions and am completely amazed with the results.  I went out on an actual date, with a stranger, and had a really good time.  There's no way I could ask for much more than that!