At Last, We Meet

We met online in early 2005.  At the urging of a mutual friend, I emailed him on a whim, in December of 2004.  Nothing fancy, just a short note from me, telling him about "Mel" -the mutual friend, and how she told me that we shared a love for writing and that we should get to know each other.  I hit send and went on with my life.  It took him a month and a half to reply, but he did.  And that's how it all started, our budding "online" relationship.  We called each other email buddies.  That's what we were.  It was through our email exchanges, that we began to get to know each other.  One of the (many) things I found the most attractive about him was that he actually took the time to write back.  I'm not talking about one liners or a few sentences here and there.  No, this guy, took the time to write very enticing emails.  He was well versed and I found that so sexy!  In the beginning it was the usual, trivial questions.  You know, like "Where did you grow up?", "Where did you go to school?",  "When was your last relationship?" -stuff like that.  But then, we'd take turns asking off the wall questions to each other.  Telling each other about our crazy weekends, our crazy friends, sharing, as if we were long lost friends, trying to find out about each other all over again.  He was very witty, and charming with his words, he was intelligent and sarcastic and I couldn't believe we had not made any effort to meet or even speak on the phone.  While at first I found it a bit odd, I grew to like the veil of anonymity that surrounded us.  Three months into our little email relationship, we exchanged pictures.  At this point, I could care less what he looked like.  I was already one smitten kitten.  But then I saw his picture.  My heart leaped and that was it for me.  I was done.  The guy was hot!  He was standing with some friends, in front of Reliant Stadium, wearing at Texans football jersey, jeans, and a crooked grin.  He had a goatee (the bad-boyish kind), intense, sexy eyes and hair the kind that made you (or me anyway) want to run your fingers through.  Of my picture, he told me I was pretty and some other stuff, but all I heard was pretty.  Neither one of us made a move to meet.  And so our cyber friendship continued.  About a month after the picture exchange, I threw all caution to the wind and gave him my number.  He called me almost immediately.  We were both kind of nervous,  but not really.  Finally, I could put a voice to the face.  And vice versa.  And so a new chapter in our relationship ensued.  We progressed from emails, to phone calls.  Lots of phone calls.  We talked about each others lives, dates, relationships or lack of, all kinds of things really.  He introduced me to late late LATE night phone calls, and other stuff that went along with that, too.  Nine months after we "met" online, we finally met in person.

It was a hot and humid, June summer night.  I'd never been so nervous and excited to meet someone in my entire life!  Here was this guy that I had been emailing and talking to almost daily for months and finally, we were going to be face to face, in person, and not online.  He told me not to be nervous.  Yeah, like that was going even possible.  We'd often talk about what it was going to be like, when we finally met.  But of course, nothing ever happens the way you think it will happen.  I met him outside of my house.  It was after we had both been out with our own friends.  I again, pressed him about finally meeting.  And he started the usual teasing banter that we usually played whenever one of us broached the subject.  Except this time, instead of playing along, he agreed to meet me and as he said, " to put you out of your misery"  My retort to him was:. he was the one suffering and it was "I" who needed to do him the favor of letting him meet me.  We laughed and agreed to meet that night.

He was leaning against his car, and I remember my heart pounding loudly, I even wondered if he could hear it.  He saw me walking up to him, and flashed a big grin.  I smiled back, and then we hugged.  He was a great hugger.  You know how some people just don't know how to hug?  Well, he had no problem in that area.  We stood there, in front of his car, talking nervously, laughing nervously.  I remember wondering if he was going to kiss me.  I really, really, wanted him to kiss me.  It started misting as we stood out there.  But we didn't even flinch.  And then, he leaned down, carressed my face, kissed my cheek, before finally brushing his lips softly over mine.  I think I sighed out loud.  I remember he smiled and then kissed me again. This time, cupping my face in his hands.  It was the best kiss I had ever had.  To this day, it still remains so.
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For the Red Writing Hood prompt this week: write about a face to face meeting which, for better or for worse, doesn’t go as planned. Fiction or memoir. -----Write On Edge

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Wah! But I don't wanna go to school tomorrow!

Not me.  My school career ended a long time ago.  Unless you count the school of life.  heh.  So the new school year begins tomorrow morning.  At least, it does here in Houston.  All across the city thousands upon thousands of little monsters   kids will wake up excited  and almost giddy, as they get ready to don their new haircuts, new shoes, new school supplies, all in the name of getting their learn on.  -Ok, maybe they're not excited or giddy.  One can only hope.

A lot of my teacher friends have already started their new school year, as they have been reporting to work since last week.  They are the ones that whine the most.  "Oh no! School's starting!"or  "Only 120 days before Christmas break!"  "Wah Wah Wah!" ---oh brother, get over it already!  Sorry, I don't feel sorry for teachers that get three months off.  Jealous? Just a lil.  ;)

 PSA for the week:  Remember to mind the school zones people.  The rugrats are back.

Have a great week everyone!

what i did today and other musings

hey kids!  what's the good word tonight?  i love my weekends.  we should just have weekends erry day.  forget that 5 day work week gig.  7 day weekend is the way to go.  am i right?  of course i am.  anyway, so according to a very reliable (or unreliable.  it's all in the way you look at it) source, aka facebook, today is "national kiss and make-up day"  too bad i haven't fought with anyone that i want to kiss and make-up with though.  have you?

in other news, i am a little pissed right now.  if you remember, last weekend i went car shopping. my new car was supposed to come in in yesterday, and i was going to pick it up today.  well, in a perfect world and all, that was the plan.  the salesguy's story is that "someone" messed up the inventory and caused "delays" in shipment of vehicles all over the country.  <----- suuuuure it did.  whatever. so now, my car will not be delivered until wednesday.  nerdy salesguy (not to be confused with potential date salesguy, apparently he was out today, due to a family emergency.  uh huh.) was profusely sorry for the mishap and offered to throw in some free floor mats for my troubles.  yay me.  needless to say, i left there in a bummed mood.  to cheer myself up, i drove to one of the few remaining bookstores left in the city.  and there, i browsed and debated purchasing no less than three books.  in the end, i put them all back.  as much as i am a multi-tasker, i really can only read one book at a time.  and since i have yet to finish the governor's wife, which i purchased last week, i left the store empty-handed.  the rest of the afternoon, i spent it with two of my loves -my nieces.  no matter what kind of day i'm having, or how tired or angry i am, spending time with the girls, always cheers me up and makes my heart smile.  my oldest niece is 11 and her sister, is 4.  both of them are growing up so fast.  i love spending time with them, asking them about their world and listening to their stories.  we laugh and laugh.  i don't see them very often because of the whole "my ex sister-in-law hates my brother" thing, so when i do get to spend time with them, i cherish it immensely.

next stop after dropping off the girls?  my friend's wine bar.  he's only been opened about a month. but by the looks of the full parking lot, it would seem that business is thriving. not to shabby for a saturday afternoon.   good for him.  i visited with him for a little while, in between his tending to his customers, and we caught up on each others' lives.  when it was time for me to leave, he presented me with a gift. a bottle of one of my favorite wines.  i almost squealed with excitement!  i thanked him and bid him and his girlfriend (who is one of the bartenders at the bar) adieu.

the rest of my day was spent tending to things that i put off never have time for during the week.  and now, here i sit, about to lose myself  in my book, while enjoying a glass of malbec.

all is well in my world, hope all is well in yours too.

salud!

let's make a deal!

i went car shopping over the weekend.  by myself.  that's right kids, this girl, did it all on her own.  no help from either of my little brudders. or even from "cute guy i've been on a few dates with".  nope. i just woke up saturday morning, got dressed, and began "operation find a new car".  it's time.  poor "old faithful" is on her last leg.  yeah, i name my cars.  what? doesn't everyone?  the first car i ever had, i named "andy", short for andy garcia.  it was a silver honda civic.  best.car.evah.  andy and i were together 11 years, before it died on me.  "old faithful" is a toyota camry.  more out of necessity than anything else, i chose that car.  let me just say, i can't wait until i dump that bitch!  (sorry so crass, but i hate that car) yeah, "old faithful" is a woman.  after all the problems that car has given me, what else could she be?  so anyway, back to my story.  the last time i went shopping for a car i was ill prepared.  anxious. and just wanted a car.  this time, i did my homework, know what i want and am going to get it.  the car salesman was very impressed with my due diligence.  he even asked if i was single. not sure that is in their car salesman handbook" or not.  eh, probably not.  whatever.  a little flirting can go a long way. and hey, whatever it takes to get my car, right? right.  kidding.  sort of.  it's so obvious that they (the car salesmen -who are now called sales reps.  did you know that? i didn't.) expect a woman to be a bit, what's the word?  clueless.  that's it. clueless when it comes to shopping for a car.  and nine times out of ten, we are. HOWEVER, as i said earlier, i was prepared this  time.  i visited three places, before going back to the first one.  i got a better rate, a better deal and a possible date. win-win.  and no, i did not go back to the first choice because of the potential date thing.  i really did get a better rate.  so boys and girls, come this saturday, i will be rocking the new car.  it's a black, 2012 honda civic 2 door coupe.  it's black exterior with leather seats, a moon roof and a whole lotta "sexy".  it will be a fun car!  i tried posting a picture but my computer is not cooperating with me.  and i need to come up with a name for this bad boy.  any suggestions? am really looking forward to picking it up this coming weekend.

that's my happy for today.  what was yours?

....i'm out of wine

why do we like to torture ourselves with the past? or is just me?  it's probably just me.  figures.  so i was feeling very melancholy tonight, for reasons i don't want to talk about.  anyway, in reading some of my old stuff, i came across this heart-wrenching piece.  and my mind went to HIM and from then on, i was puddy.
 ----only a handful of my longtime followers will get the HIM reference.  and it's okay, trust me.

the weekend looms, do me a favor, enjoy it.

Hope you likey...

http://yvonne-writingmylifeaway.blogspot.com/2010/12/love-not-mine.html

Catching up and other news...

Howdy boys and girls!  How is everyone? Can you believe Summer is almost over?  How has yours been so far?  Good? Bad?  Do tell!  Mine has been hectic, chaotic, emotionally draining, productive and at times, hella fun!  These days I can be found pool side.  With this scorching weather, it seems all anyone wants to do is hit the beach and/or the pool.  I haven't made it out to Galveston yet this summer.  I know what you're thinking, "Oh gross! That's not a beach!"  or "That salty murk?"  Yeah, yeah, I know, you're not telling me anything I haven't heard before. But, it has sand (on a good day) and the gulf and seagulls.  What more do you want?  Oh and they recently added an amusement park on the pier, where a landmark hotel used to stand.  Thanks to a little hurricane named Ike, the hotel was blown away.  Literally.  So in it's place, The Pleasure Pier was born.  I think the name is stupid.  I know when I hear, "Pleasure Pier", the first thing to come to my mind, is not an amusement park.  But I digress.

Anyway, where was I? So, I went to a local grocery store the other day and would you believe they already have Christmas stuff out? Not full-fledged, just enough to make you notice.  I guess they are just teasing everyone first, giving them a taste of things to come.  WHAT-EVER.   Can we at least get past Labor Day?  Ugh.  If I had heard Christmas music playing, I would have screamed.  -Trust me, it would have gotten ugly.

Moving on.

Some of you good people, have emailed and/or sent me messages via Facebook, wondering how my novel is coming along.  Well, it's coming along.  I'm still working on the two short stories that may become one HUGE story, in addition to trying to get my first novel published.  So the second one, is not yet completely done.  But I write and I write and I write.  I'll finish it by the end of the year, that's for sure.  The short stories are what is taking up most of my time.  And driving home tonight, I got an idea for another short.  Thanks for  asking me about that.  I love your encouragement and confidence you have in me.

Tonight I attended a book signing at a small, but thriving "mom and pop" bookstore.  The author is Mark Gimenez.  He is an attorney who lives in Dallas and was raised near Austin.  He writes legal thrillers.  A la John Grisham. (Who I absolutely LOVE!)  I've read all of his books.  Every one of them has left me speechless.  I am a legal thriller book buff.  (that just doesn't sound right, does it)  So the chance of meeting him was very exciting for me!  The name of his book is: The Governor's Wife.  Here's his website, if you feel like checking him out: http://www.markgimenez.com/  I had been looking forward to meeting him all day!  Five-thirty couldn't get here fast enough!  Finally, my work day ended and I made my way to the bookstore, which luckily, was not too far from my office.  When I arrived, I went straight to the cashier and asked for my copy of his book. I had pre-ordered it, over a month ago, when I first learned he would be coming to town. With book in tow, I happily made my way to the area where Mark (What? We met, we're old friends now.  I can call him by his first name if I want to) was going to be appearing.  Well, I quickly found a seat near the front, and sat down.  I took out my phone and became engaged with the ramblings of Facebook, reading important stuff, you know, like what people are having for dinner, who checked in where and with who, or who went to the gym or why I should "LIKE" a page, etc.  The usual.  After a few minutes of this brain numbing exercise, I glanced up and noticed that I was surrounded by senior citizens.  They were all around me. Clutching their copy of the book that I had on my lap.  I was the youngest person there. Seriously.  Not that I'm bashing the older generation folk, I just found it odd that I was the only young person there.  Ha.  People often tell me that I never meet a stranger.  And I don't.  I'll chat up anyone, just for the sake of being friendly.  Tonight was no different.  I met everyone in my row and a few in the row in front of me.  We compared favorite books and discussed immigration laws and our thoughts on the new Dallas.  We didn't even notice when Mark Gimenez came out until he came over and introduced himself to our little group.  Ha!  Then he took the podium.  He spoke for about half an hour and then had a questions and answer session.  And finally, we lined up to meet him and get our book(s) signed.  Is it wrong that I felt like a school girl with a huge crush on her teacher?  Meh.  Who cares.  best.night.evah.

Well kids, it's been fun.  But I'm tired.  I hope all of you are having a good summer and will come back and visit me again.  Come on, you know you wanna.

Short and Sweet -like me!

The end of the first week of August is upon us.  Was it good for you?  I always get a little excited and a whole lotta crazy at the beginning of every month.  Probably because I love that we're getting closer to the Fall season and all that it entails, and probably because it means that something has ended and we must start anew.  I have a problem with things ending, as some of you regulars can attest to.  But tonight, I choose to ignore the "crazy" and focus on the "excited".

New month, new possibilities, new beginnings...

Hope August is everything you want it to be!

Happy Monday everyone!