#9 and #14...

GO ON ONE DATE ... AND ... TRY A NEW ETHNIC FOOD

At this point, I am a few blog posts behind. In fact, a few of them are at least a month late. I have been stalling simply because there is one particular person who is involved in most of them. At the time, it seemed a bit difficult to post my feelings knowing that he was going to read them. By now, he has a pretty good idea how I feel and anything in here wouldn't (or shouldn't) be much of a surprise.

Let me start with a little (actually, quite a bit of) background info...

In late March/early April 2008, a friend of mine invited me to hang out at a little pub called Brick Store down in Decatur. A group of people were going to be there and her friend, Jason, was very patient with me as I kept forgetting the directions to get there. I met several other people that night and experienced a new side of that friend. Let's just say that "Drama" is definitely her middle name. After that night, I saw Jason at church and other places out and about. We were friends with the same group of people. He was friendly, funny and interesting but I was not interested in anything more than friends. My hope was that he wasn't interested in more than that either. I definitely did NOT want him to be interested actually.

In August, a musician named Mindy Smith was going to play at Eddie's Attic in Decatur and Jason invited a large group of people to go. Only one other person other than myself and Jason wound up being able to make it. At the last minute, Allison couldn't go. So here we are, Jason and I are the only ones out of a large group of people who are actually going. I was a little nervous to say the least. We weren't more than acquaintances and now we were going to be spending a good bit of time together. I drove and he paid for my cherry coke, sweet potato fries and Eddie's Attic beignets. (a GREAT combination by the way)

The show was awesome and the company was just as good. By the time I dropped him off, the conversation turned to a girl that Jason was interested in at the time. I remember thinking to myself, "Good. I can be friends with this guy and not worry about him liking me." Little did I know...

So the months go by and we become better friends all the while with me thinking this is great. I have a guy friend who I don't have to worry about liking me. In the mean time, I started liking him. Our group of friends would get lunch after church. He made me laugh and was good with my kids. When we had one-on-one conversations, they were deep and thought provoking. Friends of mine whom I worked with were noticing I was talking about this guy, Jason, quite a bit and finally got the nerve to ask, "Are you sure you don't like this guy? You talk about him all the time." I simply answered, "NO! We're just friends." And then I would give them a list of reasons why it would never work out. None of which I can remember now.

Over Christmas break, a good portion of the people I hung out with were going to be out of town and I knew it was going to be tough. Jason and his parents were kind enough to let me and my kids come over on Christmas Day and hang out. I brought my grandpa's almost famous apple pie and forgot the dish there. When Jason brought it over, he played video games with the kids. After they went to bed, he and I played until about 1 o'clock in the morning. It was awesome.

It was the next week around New Year's when I finally admitted to myself and out loud to friends that I liked Jason. No one seemed shocked. In fact, my friends all had these crazy smiles on their face because they already knew what I was denying. I tried to act totally cool when I was around him.

By mid- to late January 2009, I finally told him how I felt. It was the sweetest rejection I had ever had.
haha... :)

We went through a series of peaks and valleys in our friendship over the next couple of months. It isn't easy trying to be friends with someone you have feelings for especially when he knows. But I told myself and him that his friendship was so much more important to me than being with him. As difficult as it was, it was still true. Some called me a masochist. That could be true also. Who knows?

So here we are... late March 2009...

One evening after coming back in town from a business trip, Jason came over to help me pick out the dress I was going to wear to chaperone the Junior/Senior Prom. We watched a movie like we had done a dozen times before and then... had the talk. He finally came to his senses. :) He wanted to see where this could possibly go.

The depth of the conversation is definitely more than that but that's all you need to know.

He wanted to take me to this Thai restaurant that he really likes and let me know what time he was going to be picking me up. After all, it was a date... :)

For all you women out there reading this, let me tell you that chivalry is not dead. I had decided several years ago there was not a man left who was available who would fit my crazy standards. Strong but sensitive. A gentleman but not a pushover. Funny but could have serious conversations.

He looked great when he picked me up. Complimented me on how I looked. Opened the door for me EVERY time I got into his truck. He knew I was on a restricted diet and asked the lady at the restaurant about other options that would suit my diet but still let me order for myself.

I'm probably saying more than he would want me to at this point. After all, he wouldn't want me to ruin his "tough guy" image. HAHAHAHA... Every one who really knows Jason though, knows that he is more of a teddy bear than a grizzly bear. If not, then they know it now.

We had a great time and have been on several dates since. I am very excited to see where this goes. It has been a looooong time since I have felt as content as I do now. There are so many things I have learned about myself over the course of my friendship with Jason. He is one of the friends who actually influenced this 100 Things list to begin with. I can only thank God for bringing this man into my life... for however long that may be.

It seems weird to refer to him as "the guy I'm dating" or even as "my boyfriend". I mean, he's not some random guy that I go on dates with. I feel funny saying boyfriend just because I haven't had one since I was in college and I am quite a few years older than that now. To borrow from someone very special to me, "He's just Jason. And that's good enough for me." ;)

TASK #9 AND #14 ... COMPLETED 3/25