PB&J and Fake Nails

Because I did that survey earlier in the day, I was already kinda in tune with my thoughts today, and thought that I would add some more random things. (and because I’ve seen other bloggers do this, and I want to be a part of the in-bulleting-crowd, I decided to do it too!)

I have NEVER:

• Had a PB&J sandwich. I know. People are shocked the world over. I’ve had friends who made it their life-long goal to make me try one. Still hasn’t happened. And, to be honest, I don’t see that changing any time soon.
• Had fake nails. When I was younger (maybe about 12) my mom would take me to get mani’s and pedi’s every once in a while (always at the same nail salon). And she always got fake nails, and I wanted them SOOO bad. Well, she always said no because of how bad they were for your nails, and I did have nice nails naturally.  When I was 16 and started going by myself, I decided that I was going to get them without her permission…and because I knew the ladies at our regular place wouldn’t do it because they knew me and my mom, I went to somewhere across town, and the ladies refused to do them because I had such pretty nails. This made me feel so good about my natural nails that I never tried to get fake nails again!
• I’ve never seen Star Wars. Any of them. Ever. I’ve been called un-American for this. I don’t care. They look incredibly stupid and boring.
• called someone the C word. No matter how mad I am. Ever.
• Broken a bone.
• Touched the Atlantic Ocean or any of the Great Lakes. Despite having spent many summers in Massachusetts and 4 years of college in Michigan.
• Blacked out from drinking. This one I’m kinda proud of. I don’t know many people who have made it through 4 years of college without either: a) not drinking at all or b) getting completely black-out, pass-out drunk. I had a nice balance between the 2.
• sworn at my parents or told them “I hate you”. And yes, my parents and I have fought. I just never could disrespect them like that, no matter how mad I was.
• NOT gotten my regularly scheduled maintenance on my vehicle. I feel extremely guilty if I even go past the mileage they always put on the sticker on the window.

So…there ya go folks…some more random information about me! Enjoy!

Bored During Work

A. Attached or Single?  Attached. Very much so…for the rest of my life…lol 

B. Best Friend?  Other than GTO guy, of course…probably JP

C. Cake or pie?  Cake…unless it’s pumpkin pie   

D. Day of choice?  Used to be Friday, but since GTO guy works Friday nights, now it’s Saturday.

E. Essential item?  Conditioner.

F. Favorite color?  Dark blue, black…and more recently, hot pink.

G. Gummy bears or worms?  Worms.  For some reason bears give me a headache.

H. Hometown?  Right back where I am now…

I. Favorite indulgence?  Probably garlic cheese bread…

J. January or July?  January…I think I look cute in sweatshirts

K. Kids?  Yes. 1. Maybe. See “U”

L. Life isn’t complete without?  For me and my man? Cars…and making them faster.

M. Marriage date?  At the moment, March 2^nd, exactly one year after we met.

N. Number of brothers and sisters?  Nada!

O. Oranges or Apples?  Apples…especially in turnovers or pies and such

P. Phobias?  Bugs. Motorcycles.

Q. Quotes?  “Any Kind of Love without passion ain’t any kind of love at all” -Eagles

R. Reasons to smile?  Thinking about spending my life with the man of my dreams.

S. Season of choice?  Fall.

T. Tag 5 people:  No thank you- but if you’re compelled to do this little ditty- let me know so I can check it out!

U. Unknown fact about me?  The idea of getting pregnant, having a kid, and raising it actually terrifies me.

V. Vegetable?  Broccoli and brussel sprouts, but only when covered in cheese.

W. Worst habit?  Not wanting to clean during the week, so I have to do it all on Friday night.

X. X-ray or Ultrasound?  Well, considering my answer to “U”, I would have to say X-ray

Y. Your favorite food?  Spaghetti. Hands down.

Z. Zodiac sign?  Gemini.

Our First Date

So, I’ve told you how we met, now let me tell you how we started living together and eventually became engaged in oh…less than 5 months. (Edit: or START telling you, cuz I just read this post and realized how long it is…so, it will happen in installments…)

He did call the next day. At about 11 in the morning. [Thank God! I was really worried he was going to stick to the "3 day rule" which meant that I wouldn't have heard from him until Wednesday or so of the next week. Now, this wouldn't normally be that big of an issue (except that I really liked him and didn't want to wait that long) but he works nights. And had just started a week-long vacation, which meant that we only had a week to hang out at night, cuz then he would be back to work (And while I was jobless at the time, I was really hoping that would change within the next week or so), so I was hoping, for logistics reasons (and purely for logistics reasons, not because I really really wanted to see him again, of course), that he wouldn't waste time on the "rule" and just call me!]

So, he called. And I was ecstatic! And he wanted to do lunch. Great! We met at a restaurant that we both liked and was halfway between both of us (he lived about 25 minutes away from JP’s house). Had an awesome lunch. And by awesome, I mean there were no awkward silences, no lulls in conversation that you drive a truck through that normally happen on first dates (cuz technically, that’s what this was). There was no nervousness. We pretty much already knew we liked each other from the night before. This was just getting to know more about each other. After lunch was over, we both knew we didn’t want to go our separate ways just yet…so we tried to come up with other things to do. Desperately tried to come up with other things to do. I suggested go-cart racing (we both are extremely competitive and loved driving, so this seemed natural to me). He declined saying that I would be really upset when (yes, he said “when,” not “if”) he beat me, and he didn’t want to make me upset on our first date (eventhough, if you remember, he thoroughly beat me several times the night before in our impromptu street race). So, we ended up going with his suggestion, which was…are you ready?…A shooting range.

Yep. He took me to a shooting range. For our first date. I, being the city girl that I am, have never shot a gun. I have never been to a shooting range, and didn’t really think people (other than cops or FBI agents) went to them. But, because it was different and original (and of course, he implied that he would do better than I would) I was all about it. When we got there, we rented a gun and bought bullets and targets, and I had to sign a waiver saying that I knew the person I was with was not a homicidal maniac and/or suicidal. Now, normally, having to sign a piece of paper like this about someone I’ve known for less than 24 hours would worry me for a couple reasons: A) because how do you really know those things about people you’ve known for years, let alone 24 hours and B) being in a situation where you would even HAVE to sign something like that is weird in and of itself. But, oddly enough, I didn’t really think twice about it.

We were then assigned a room, set up our targets, and he showed me how to work the gun. How to load the clip, put a round in the chamber and how to undo the safety and fire. Then he proceeded to shoot the crap out of the target. Next it was my turn. *gulp*. We loaded up a new target and a new clip. Then he just handed me the gun. I shot a few rounds, and every time the kick back of the gun made it jump up and I kept hitting the top of the target, if I hit it at all. (Now, I swear this wasn’t planned) After seeing how bad I was at keeping the gun level, he stepped up behind me and told me he would brace himself behind me so the gun wouldn’t jump like that. He firmly put his chest up against my back and put his hands on my wrists and told me to try again. Well, I could barely think about shooting the stupid thing anymore. All I could think about was him pressed up against me and how strong and solid he felt against me. That clip went by much too fast. We went back and forth like that for a box of bullets. Him shooting 1 clip, then me shooting one with him enveloped around me. Wow.

Anyway, there’s only so much time you can spend at a shooting range, and that, too, came to an end. We still didn’t want to leave each other, though. So, we started making more suggestions. I, again, suggested go-carts. He laughed, and again, refused. He wanted to go to the beach. I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t. He kept at it til I finally gave in. Now, the beach isn’t really far away from us, but it’s not right up the street either. It’s about an hour away. But neither one of us had work the next day, so why not? We stop by my house, I grab a sweatshirt, cuz it’s cold on the beach at night, and we’re on our way.

We get to the beach area, but neither one of us really went out there much, so we didn’t really know where we were going. We drive around kinda lost for awhile, but eventually just kept driving west til we find a beach. One that looked fairly deserted. Then we got out and walked by the water for a bit. Continually talking and laughing. (Let me say, that was the best part of this date. We didn’t run out of things to talk about. And we were constantly laughing.) Then we decided we wanted to lay down under the stars…but we had no towels or blankets. We go back to my truck which was still full of miscellaneous odds and ends from my move cross country, hoping to find something suitable. We found paper towels, zip ties, rags, a book…and a cargo mat! Score! So, we take out the cargo mat, walk back down to the beach, and sit down on it. Ok…better than nothing. We can sit…but no laying down. It’s just not that big. We decide we really want to lay down. Back to my truck, and we’re off in search of a Walgreens (because they have blankets, right?) Some more driving around partly lost, but thanks to Verizon and their navigation service, we find it without too much time being wasted. No blankets. This Walgreens does not have blankets. So…the next best thing? Towels. Brightly colored lime green and fluorescent orange towels. OK. That will work. We get our towels, a couple sodas, and make our way back to the beach. This took us longer to find because Verizon Navigator didn’t have “our beach” as an item that we could get directions to. But we made it back. We take out our brand new towels, and make our 3^rd trek down to the beach that night. And we lay under the stars. And it’s perfect. He’s rubbing my back, I’m laying on his chest. And we lay in silence, listening to the waves and looking at the stars. It was the first time all night that we weren’t talking and laughing, but not because we ran out of things to say, but because just being together in that moment said more than words could.

I wish I could say that’s where our first kiss happened…but I can’t. Because it didn’t.  we laid on the beach for over an hour. Just holding each other and being together, until the beach warden (don’t really know what he was) drove up in his big truck and told us to get off the beach cuz it was closed. We got up, gathered our bright towels and went back to my truck. We started talking and laughing again and made our way back to the restaurant where we had lunch (cuz that’s where we left his car). And that’s where I got my first kiss. He got out of my truck, and so did I to give him a good bye hug. We didn’t want to leave each other now, either, but there was nothing left to do! Everything was closed and it was too soon to go back to each other’s houses…so I resigned myself to having to say goodbye. As I was giving him the goodbye hug, I got my good night kiss…and it was perfect. Butterflies in the tummy, tingling kind of perfect.

So, there you have it…our first date: lunch, shooting range, beach, kiss. Perfect. *sigh*

How I Met Mr. Right

Feb 7^th-11^th, 2008:

Take a trip to Cali to start looking for a job, move some stuff into my best friend’s (hereafter referred to as JP for the remainder of this blog) house, which is to be my new permanent residence, and to begin getting back in touch with old friends I haven’t talked to much since leaving for college.

Late on Feb 24^th::

Just get into California (after driving about 18 hours from my former state), drop my Dad off ay my aunt’s house (where he will be staying until the following Tuesday, when he goes back) then go to JP’s to begin unpacking and the overall move-in process, and of course, to sleep. When I get there, she’s gone (I assume she’s at her boyfriend’s. they’ve been together about 9 months and regularly do the sleepover thing). And while I’m a little bummed because I was hoping to catch up with her, I don’t mind too much because I’m exhausted and basically pass out on my bed in my new room.

Feb 25^th and 26^th:

Hang out with family and repeat the story approximately 100 times of why I’m moving, what I plan on doing about school, a job, and get lectured about having just bought a new truck. And then take my Dad to the train station (yep, train station, because that was the mode of transportation he chose to get back to his state), which effectively ended the obligatory family time.

Feb 27^th-30^th:

Begin looking for a job. Go on interviews. Filling time by starting to hang out with friends, which I thought would be much more plentiful than they were. Basically, the only ones I spend any real time with are JP and CH (a friend from my hometown that I never talked to more frequently than about once every 6-9 months or so, but we just picked right up where we left off…like I hadn’t been gone for about 5 years, which was really nice). 

And Barney. Now, here’s a little history on Barney. I have known him since I was about 14 or 15. He was the first guy to ever give me flowers and tell me I was beautiful. He is the first guy to ever have a crush on me (although, to be fair, I’ve since learned that he has a crush on pretty much every female to cross his path…he’s just a lonely guy wanting a girlfriend). When I left for college, we kept very loosely in touch. By that, I mean, we basically lost touch for about 3 or 4 years, until one of us found the other on My Space, and we started our very loose friendship up again. I liked talking to him because he was no threat at all, and he would constantly “fill my bucket” and make me feel better when whatever guy was in my life at the time did his best to make me feel worse. I know it was a selfish friendship on my part, basically only contacting him when I needed someone to make me feel better, but that’s how it was. When I got back in town, we hung out a few times. Basically just “catching up” lunches or he would tag along while I ran errands. 

Anyway, Barney knows about my interest in cars, and, in a blatant attempt to get me to hang out with him more, he starting telling me about some of his “car friends” and that they have meets fairly regularly and invited me to tag along to a few. I was definitely interested, mainly because I was getting really depressed for a couple of reasons:

1) I hadn’t found a job yet (I know it had only been a few days, but it was driving me crazy)

2) I wasn’t as close to as many people as I thought I was here, and the ones I was close to (JP and CH) had their own lives (jobs, boyfriends, school) and they didn’t have as much time as I thought they would to hang out.

And, Barney, sensing that I was interested, starting telling me more about these “car friends” of his and filling me in on little stories here and there. One of the guys he mentioned drove an 04 GTO (most of them drove Cobalts, and, well, let’s just say I was less than impressed). Now, he told me about GTO guy a couple of times, mentioning his name (which I promptly forgot, and urged him to just refer to him as GTO guy, because, well, that was probably the only way I would remember him). He was telling me how GTO guy had tuned his car and got quite a bit of horsepower and torque gains out of it, and how he loved working on cars, and about this and that. Anyway, long story short, just from Barney’s descriptions and anecdotes about GTO guy, I was becoming more and more interested. This sounded like a pretty awesome guy (and definitely an awesome car-I love GTO’s!), and I mentioned a couple of times that I’d definitely like to meet GTO guy, and at the very least get a ride in his car! (Of course, I’m sure this was NOT Barney’s intention, but, c’est la vie!)

March 2^nd:

Barney invited me over to his house to watch a movie and just hang out, and mentioned that GTO guy might be dropping by later in the night, if I wanted to meet him. I said yes, but with some restrictions. I mentioned that I had plans with CH at about 9:30 that night, which of course, I made just to have an escape plan because I couldn’t take Barney in large doses. I mean, he’s a really nice guy, but there’s only so much complimenting a girl can take from a guy she’s not interested in before it gets annoying…

 Anyway, I get there around 8:00 pm. We start a movie, and he starts talking to me about wanting to date me, and how it must be fate that I am back in Cali and single, and so is he, and he really likes me, in fact, he thinks he might love me…yadayadayada…and I try to let him down easy and say that I think he’s a great guy and that I like spending time with him, but I just really want to be single right now (which comes back to bite me in the ass later, big time!) since I haven’t been since I was 16, and that if and when I decide to start dating again, he would be the first to know…yadayadayada…So, of course, with how awkward and uncomfortable this turned out to be, I couldn’t wait for 9:15 to get here so I could leave to go hang out with CH…literally, I was watching the clock. At about 8:35, BARNEY got a call. He talks for a minute, and (thank GOD) it sounds like someone was coming over. I didn’t know who, and I didn’t care. All I cared about was someone was going to come over and save me from this incredibly painful conversation. As a bonus, I found out that it was GTO guy on his way over! Score! He gets there at about 8:45. I remember this because I looked at my phone and remember thinking hey, this gives me about 30 minutes to get to know the guy, and then when I leave, at least Barney has a friend, and I don’t feel like I’m completely ditching him. Score X 2!

 Well, the “leaving at 9:15″ plan was completely shot when he walked through the door, and my first thought was “Wow!” I immediately shake his hand, introduce myself, then run out to look at his car (I found out later that his first impression of me was “wow, this girl’s kinda crazy, but in a good way”) and ask if I can have a ride in it. Of course, he obliges, cuz what car guy is going to miss the opportunity to show off his pride and joy to someone (especially a chick) who’s interested in such things? After the ride in his car, I promptly want to take him for a ride in my truck. We go out to a pizza place and have some “breadsticks” and basically debate the whole time (breadsticks is in quotes because it’s one of the things we debated about), which I absolutely LOVED! No one (and I mean no one) has ever been able to debate with me and keep up, let alone maybe actually beat me (I’m not saying he did, I’m just saying he was closer than anyone else). Then we went back to Barney’s house (yes, he’s been there the whole time, but he might as well not have been) and basically flirted the rest of the night until about 1 AM. Then I reluctantly say I have to go, and so does he! Yay! I leave before he does, then wait outside of Barney’s neighborhood for GTO guy to catch up, then ask him if he wants to race on the freeway. Of course he agrees…and proceeds to beat the crap outta me (a couple times because I just don’t give up)…which was more of a turn on than anything else. We then pull over to a 7-11 parking lot and hang out/drive around/talk until about 4:30 AM. We covered topics such as whether or not we are dating anyone, what kind of people we like to date, what we look for in relationships…and other such 1^st date kind of talk. *sigh*

And as I drive home, I’m thinking, in not quite equal parts: “damn…how do I tell Barney that I’m completely in love with his friend without completely crushing the guy’s feelings”…and, of course, “man, I totally want GTO guy to call tomorrow…” I’ll let you guess which one I was more concerned with…

I’m Not Green

*sigh* I know, in this day and age (especially in Cali, where I currently reside), that this is equivalent to saying that I kick puppies and steal old people’s teeth for fun, but it’s true. I drive a vehicle that gets 14 miles per gallon. On a good day. And this isn’t because it’s the vehicle I got stuck with as a hand-me-down or something similar, no. I wanted this vehicle. Badly. In fact, I wanted this vehicle so badly that I agreed to be in debt for 6 years of my life in order to be able to drive it every day. Did I know it only got 14 miles per gallon when I bought it? Yup. Didn’t care. Did I live in a cave and never hear of Global Warming? Nope. Didn’t care. Now, in my defense, I lived in a state that was NOT California at the time, so the hybrid epidemic was basically nonexistent there. And people didn’t care too much about the environment or gas prices, and there were no state incentives to put solar panels on your roof.

And my fiancé isn’t much better. He drives a muscle car that gets about16 miles per gallon (in fact, we met because of the car he drives-more on that later). And he is constantly looking for ways to make it faster (which equals even less gas mileage). And we don’t care. We love our cars and wouldn’t even think about trading them in. Together, we are probably an environmentalist’s nightmare. We don’t turn off the water while brushing our teeth. We don’t turn our computer off when it’s not being used. We don’t walk or bike anywhere to try to save gas. We don’t take our own bags with us to the grocery store.

 My friends all know this, and have accepted it (and my hope is that if they have forgiven me, then so will you). I think it helps because they know that it’s not out of some desire to harm our planet, per se. It’s just that I am lazy. Extremely lazy. And I don’t even think of doing these things until it’s too late. And even then, it’s only a passing thought, not a beat-myself-up-over-it kinda thought.

 You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing all of this with you. Well, I guess the reason is because I feel guilty. As you know by now, I live in California. The company I work for is a “green” staffing company, and we mainly work with renewable energy-type clients. (I know. Irony, right? Especially when combined with this post, it’s like I don’t like anything about my job) And, a couple days ago, I was at a solar convention. I was surrounded by people who were basically modern-day hippies, whose sole dream was to be completely “off-grid” and making everything just a little bit “greener”. And I felt bad. I knew that I didn’t belong here, but as a part of my job, I was here to try to drum up business. And, contrary to what all of this information may point to, I’m really good at my job. Maybe it’s a lack of fear no matter who I’m talking to, or the fact that I have no “comfort zone” to speak of, or that I’m just naturally outgoing. Who knows. But, I know that I’ve been feeling guilty lately, and this seemed to be the best outlet I knew of to let that out. Whew. I feel a lot better. Thank you.