This winter has been snowy, bitterly cold and almost miserable. We've had a ton of snow days, more than I can remember in a long time. Days off aside, the two hour delays have made continuity at school a bit challenging. I feel like I can't really get in the swing of things at school and it's hard to remember what I need to do and in what order. But I can't really say I've been complaining about these last few snow days. I've had company.
Most recently, we were expecting 12 to 18 inches of snow the day before Valentine's Day. The original plan for Valentine's Day involved Jose going to a meeting in Maryland and me being alone for Valentine's Day. Again. While I was a bit bummed, I wasn't ready to slit my wrists. We said I would make dinner on Saturday. I'm not a mushy, romantic and I was fine with that. With a white weather forecast, plans changed. The meeting was cancelled, there was no way we would have school and it was decided that Jose would come to my house before anything made driving dangerous.
In general terms, he arrived Wednesday night and left Monday evening. On Saturday, he went home for what was supposed to be most of the day. But after a couple hours, he called to tell me he didn't feel like doing any of the things he was supposed to do (laundry, birthday cake with the neighbor, groceries) and he wanted to see if it was ok to come back to my house early. So basically, it was four and a half days together. And it was all wonderful.
I am not the kind of girl who is sappy, always cheery or all sunshine and lollipops. I really struggle to find words to explain this. This sounds like one of those stories that dumb girls tell all their friends about how blissfully happy she is to just sit in the same room as her boyfriend. Or how she feels like she has known him forever. Or how they talk endlessly and he really listens to her. Blah, blah, blah. Most times, I would be making a vomiting motion by now. Except I'm the one saying those things.
I mean, really, who wakes up on Valentine's Day to hear that he called your favorite restaurant to make reservations? I was really hoping for a card too, but the timing of the snow screwed things up. And he did shovel my driveway three times to clear the massive amount of snow. He gets a pass. This year only. We went out for breakfast over the weekend and sat at the diner long enough I thought they were going to give us the lunch menu. He comments how much he likes my outfit when I'm wearing yoga pants. Yoga pants!
As you shake your head at me, I understand this is not reality. Reality is when things don't go well, and someone snaps. Well made plans go awry and then you really see what someone is like. I know this is looming. But the talks we've had make it seem like it won't be a big deal. We've disagreed about shoveling my driveway. Dumb as it was, it worked out. We had a rational conversation and reached resolution. Dare I say, we even compromised? I've never been so good at the compromising thing. Then, there was a misunderstanding about a joke. He thought he was leading me to compliment him, and I thought he was side stepping an issue. So I brought it up and we talked about it openly. It clarified the misunderstanding. And there wasn't a problem. This is new to me. Reflecting on it kind of even baffles me. A possible summer vacation was discussed. If we pick a cruise from Florida, he offered to pay my airfare- which of course caused me to make a face. I didn't even realize I did that, but he asked me about it. So I told him what I was really thinking, which was that I didn't expect him to pay for any part of it for me.
That's not to say we are only talking serious stuff. We went to the Pagoda. The road was still icy and I did joke about it being a good place to hide bodies. Air hockey proved to be a lot of fun. When we reached a tie of 3-3, I suggested we quit there. He thinks I was joking when I said I was a sore loser. And he let me pick a chick flick for our first movie. He did lose a few points when he told Niko that he smelled like cheese. But all is forgiven when I see the note he left for me on my toothpaste. It's not a love note. No, it's a note from the toothpaste, begging for mercy from being strangled. Apparently, you're supposed to only squeeze toothpaste from the bottom of the tube and not just grip the middle haphazardly. There are a bunch of things we laughed at that remain just between us.
And now the part I'm almost ashamed to admit. When he works from my kitchen, I like sitting in the same room with him. I like hearing him work, talk to customers, tell me about his co-workers or the emails he gets. I've spent more time grinning like an idiot this past weekend than I care to admit. During the second round of shoveling, I was prepping potatoes for dinner. I stood at the kitchen counter smiling. Because I was roasting potatoes for our dinner. A contented feeling washed over me as I was cutting them into chunks. Good God, what is wrong with me? Don't answer that.
The theme is still that I'm not freaking out. I've known him three weeks and I don't want to get ahead of myself. But I can't stand that it will be about 51 hours until I might see him next. It almost makes me wish for another snow day.
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