Does anybody read these?

The Beginning

This morning, as I was making sausage, pancakes and eggs while a two-year old covered my cat with a dish towel and I could hear snoring coming from an air mattress in the middle of my living room floor, I realized that life doesn't get much better than this. I let my mind wander back and think about a time several months ago that led me to where I am right now.

One day after work, I rushed home to throw on some jeans and meet a stranger at Applebee's. Well, he wasn't really a stranger. We'd been talking online for a couple of weeks, and we were going to meet in person since he was going to be in Nashville (he lives about 15 miles out of town), and I didn't have to work (a rarity during December in Toyland).

So, with my butterflies in my stomach, I headed in to the restaurant. There was a very handsome man waiting for me. A true Southern gentleman, he stood up when I got there until I took my seat. We sat down, started talking and then he took out his computer and started to show me pictures of his daughter, an absolute cutie. He told me all about her, and I have never seen a man so proud of his daughter before. As we were looking at the pictures, his laptop knocked over his drink, which went spilling onto the table (and the man) next to us.

That's when I decided the minute we got done with supper that I'd take him over to Toys R Us and get him one of those digital picture keychains for him to put all of Shelby's pictures on. And I did.

And then we went to Petco and he carried my bag of food and box of litter to the car.

Glamorous, first date, eh?

The next night, I was finished with work and I'd gone over to the sports figures to look for one of the Dallas Cowboys for Will. Ironic, eh?

While I'm standing there, here comes the cute guy from the night before. He was just headed home after going Christmas shopping with a friend (I found out later he was on a date with someone else) and decided to stop at the store and see if I was still at work.

I have told him this already, so I guess it's OK to tell y'all: I knew the minute he came to see me at work less than 24 hours after our date had ended that he liked me and we were going to be together.

Maybe I made my mind up about it just then.

Regardless, the last five months of my life have been great. There are challenges; that happens in any relationship. But the good memories outweigh the bad. We are there for each other and love each other, and I'm happy. I like getting up in the morning and making breakfast on the weekends. What made me think back to the beginning was because I thought of the morning after the first time he spent the night, and I made him a big breakfast in the morning. He told me, "You might not want to do that, because I might not ever leave."

He wasn't really joking.

But, I knew, before that first breakfast that he wasn't going anywhere. I knew that night he came looking for me at Toys R Us. I knew when he brought Shelby there to meet me. And when the three of us had our first "date" making gingerbread houses and eating grilled cheese sandwiches. I knew when I used to call him on Friday nights when I was leaving Toys R Us late at night and asked him if he wanted to join me for pizza and a movie after Shelby went to bed. And, I knew the night before that first breakfast when we sat on the couch watching TV and he kept looking at me like he wanted to kiss me.

I let him stay (with the intentions of sleeping on my couch) because my friend from Lynchburg, Jack D, had hung out with us and neither of us needed to drive. But when he came upstairs and woke me up knocking on my door, I answered it.

Because, even though he likes to say he's "damaged goods," he's good to me, and we make a good team. When I was hurt a few weeks ago, I couldn't have gotten through it without him helping me. And even though dinner's getting cold on the kitchen table, I'm so glad to have him in my life.

Like I said, it's not all easy. But he's going to a job fair tomorrow, and I'm hoping this run of shitty luck he's had (with the exception of finding me, of course) will start to turn. He deserves it.

After all, I suspect this is just The Beginning for us. At least I hope so.

posted by Laura at 8:43 PM