There was a time, somewhere in my early childhood, when I thought all boys had cooties.
Or so I'm led to believe.
Because, there's a time in every little girl's life when boys have cooties, right?
Except, the thing is...I don't remember that time.
No, to be quite honest with you, I just remember ALWAYS liking boys.
I liked to chase them around, play tag and hide and seek, climb trees and ride bikes with them.
Maybe it was because I was a bit of a tomboy, but boys didn't really have cooties, they were just FUN to be with.
Then I got girlie. But even then, I liked boys. Of course, by then, I liked boys because they were cute, and silly, and they made me giggle and blush.
So, I'd like to tell you that I miss a time when I thought all boys had cooties...but, I don't remember there ever being such a time.
Which is too bad, because then I'd have a point of reference for going back to when now, as a full grown adult, heading back into the dating world in my "gulp" thirties...I really wish I could just say "boys are dumb and they have cooties" and go play barbies with the girls.
I won't bore you with the latest details of my "non-dates" with RunnerBoy, because well...there isn't much to tell.
But, the truth is, all this back and forth is exciting, and exhausting, it's nerve racking and giggle inducing...dating is...FUN. And...so ANNOYING.
It would just be so much easier if boys really did have cooties.
I've said this before on this blog, I live a charmed life.
I really do. I have an amazing family, incredible friends, a great job, a wonderful home...and so many more blessings.
Tonight, my charmed life took me to a Boston Bruins hockey game.
Wait, let me explain. I'm not actually a hockey fan. In fact, before I met my friend Traveler, I don't think I have ever watched a hockey game. But Traveler is a HUGE hockey fan, and she's one of my best friends, so we started going to hockey games together years ago.
Then three years ago Traveler moved to Florida, and our hockey outings took a break. But she's moved back home, and so, it was only a matter of time before we would find ourselves rink side again.
Tonight Traveler scored us four tickets to a Boston Bruins hockey game (because she has all sorts of connections, and is always getting her hands on free tickets to this or that for us). So, the two of us, along with my brother and his fiance, went to the game, unsure where our seats would be located.
We picked up our tickets to discover we were actually going to be sitting in a VIP Luxury box, and let me tell you, you haven't watched a hockey game until you've watched it from a luxury box.
I'm not the world's biggest hockey fan, but tonight? I was totally engrossed in the game, and had a wonderful time chatting with my brother (who is a fanatic) about the rules of hockey, and enjoying a beer in the comfy seats I would never have bought for myself.
No, I’m not joining NaNoWriMo…all my reasons laid out in this post are still very much present, and I just can’t do it.
But…it turns out, I appear to have gotten a little bit of my Blogging MoJo back…so, since I’ve written a blog post every day this month so far already…I’m joining NaBloPoMo, which for those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s National Blog Posting Month. I am going to post a new blog entry every day during the month of November.
Considering that for the last 6 months or so (okay fine, the last 2 years or so) I’ve been averaging about 4 posts PER MONTH…this should be a challenge.
But hey, I’m always up for a challenge, and I really would like to get this blog “breathing” again and out of the coma it’s been living in.
So, I’m off…NaBloPoMoing it up.
There won’t be a “theme” to the posts. There won’t be any set format or expectations. Some blog posts will be long and wordy. Others will be short and possibly full of pictures. Some will be sarcastic or funny. Others will be deep and emotional. Some will have pop culture themes, others may very well be about my faith journey…we shall see…
But I will post every day this month…so stay tuned. Oh, and if you're also doing NaBloPoMo, check out my page here, let's be friends.
Didn’t we just have that whole hullaballoo about Y2K?
Wasn’t that like…last year?
Wasn’t I just sitting around with my two cousins discussing how old we were going to be at the turn of the new millennium, thinking “Oh My Gosh, I’m going to be 25? That’s so old!”.
And now, it’s 10 years later, and I’m 35 and 2011 is a mere two months away.
When did all of this happen? And how did all of this happen?
Stop the world, I wanna get off!
No, wait…deep breaths…deep breaths…exhale…
Okay, okay, I can do this.
November. Time for the countdowns to being.
And there are so many countdowns for me.
For starters, I work a youth retreat every Thanksgiving weekend, and there is A LOT of prep work involved with that. The countdown to the retreat has begun.
Then, there is, of course, the countdown to Thanksgiving.
Which, very quickly gives way to the countdown to Christmas (GULP).
Followed closely by the countdown to the end of the year and 2011.
I’m not ready. I’m not counting down to anything. I’m going to savor each and every day.
A few weeks ago I told you about my potential “Running date”.
I’ve been asked for an update on how it all turned out, and well, my dear readers, ask and ye shall receive…
Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot to report, but what there is to report, is good.
The “date”:
We met up on a Saturday afternoon, and greeted each other like old friends, hugs and all.
It had been 17 years since we’d last seen each other, but we picked up in conversation as if no time had passed, easy, comfortable, normal.
Our run was about an hour long, during which we covered the span of our lives in the last nearly two decades. After our run, we sat and chatted for another hour, discussing everything else under the sun.
I learned, in those two hours, that he still is the same nice guy I remembered him being back then. I learned that we have a lot in common, and a lot of the same interests in life. I learned he’s been married, and divorced, but has no kids. He is also mature, has a level head on his shoulders, and appears to be mostly “undamaged” by his past relationships. If you’ve read any of my other “All The Boys” posts, you know this is major to me, because I tend to date all the “damaged” boys.
There were moments when he’d say something and I would think to myself “wow, guys like you still exist?” Refreshing.
We talked about running together again, or more specifically, he told me that if I was running again the following Saturday, to let him know and he would definitely join me. We also talked about working out together in the winter in the gym, once the weather got too cold out for running. Once again, he suggested we do so. Plans for the future…bonus, right?
It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, and I walked away with tentative plans for a run the following Saturday and a smile on my face.
I also walked away completely unsure if this was something with romantic potential or just “old friends catching up” and a new workout buddy.
Such as it is, in all honesty, I walked away with a crush. But I also walked away content in the knowledge that I’d reconnected with a great old friend, and would be perfectly happy if it went the way of “just a new work out buddy”. Truthfully.
This past Saturday was to be our follow up date, and we did, in fact, make plans to go run together again in the afternoon. However, about an hour before our run, he called and bailed on me.
He had a legitimate enough reason, and didn’t want me to miss my run because he was running late and unsure if he’d make it at all. Told me to go on without him, and if he could make it on time, he’d let me know. If not, he suggested perhaps running together the following day. I let him know the following day would probably not work for me, I had plans, but okay, to let me know about that afternoon or maybe we could go in the morning on Sunday.
He didn’t make it. I went running solo anyway, and had a great run.
Although disappointed, I was relieved as well, because now, officially, the ball was in his court. If he is interested, he’ll have to follow up. The stress if off me.
I figured perhaps I’d hear from him on Sunday, perhaps I’d hear from him this week, perhaps I’d never hear from him again, perhaps I’d hear from him next month. Who knew?
I’m not one to spend too much time stressing over guys, so I decided to just let it unfold however it would, and go on with my life as I have been.
He texted me Saturday night, asked me how my run was.
This was unexpected, and made me slightly giddy. Because a guy looking for “just a new workout buddy” wouldn’t text me at 11:30 on a Saturday night.
It was a short conversation, and as of right now, we still don’t have other plans, but the ball is still officially in his court, and I’m not stressing about it.
