Sleep must be overrated

I tried getting some sleep last night.  I was in bed before 11:00 at least.  And wouldn’t you know it, we had two major thunderstorms roll through the area last night.  The first one came in around 1:30 a.m. and the second rolled through around 4:00 a.m.  So I didn’t get much sleep last night.  Now it is 11:22 so I hope I get some sleep tonight.

It was a pretty decent work day.  I had classes in doing testing and I worked on the magazine order for next year.  I dropped a bunch of magazines that nobody ever read like Texas Monthly and ordered a bunch of new stuff for the students.  Hopefully that will encourage a few to read more.  I left around 12:45 and had to go to the bank.  I was charged a “maintenance fee” on my account this month and I had them take it off because I’m not supposed to be charged as long as I have monthly direct deposits.  I think the issue was the fact that I was paid much earlier last month and it more than 31 days passed before the next deposit.  Thankfully they put the money back in my account.  I picked up some lunch and then headed to our monthly librarian meeting. 

After the meeting I stopped by the store to get salad fixings and stuff to back a pineapple upside down cake for dinner.  Matt and his friend Jason were going to come over for dinner.  At 6:30 Matt arrived but said that Jason couldn’t make it for dinner but we would go over to his place for Scrabble practice after we ate.  So Matt and I had spaghetti, salad, and garlic toast for dinner.  We took the cake with us to Jason’s house and everyone enjoyed it as we practiced. 

Matt brought me home after practice and we cuddle for a bit.  He left a little while ago and I’m going to try to finally get some sleep tonight.  Tomorrow we have our regular Scrabble practice and we are meeting at Taco Cabana for dinner.  I’m not sure if I’m ready for the tournament this weekend, but I think I’ll do ok if I draw reasonably well. 

A hangover

I have to admit I drank too much this weekend.  But I guess I should start with Friday.  Matt and I went to see the move “The Artist” on Friday and then we went out to eat at an Italian pizza place.  I stayed at his place and came home Saturday morning since he had to work on Saturday.  On Saturday, I did a little work on the website, started reading the next Sue Grafton, and mostly just lazed around.  Matt went to mass at 5:30 and I didn’t go with him because I was supposed to go with a friend from school on Sunday morning.  The friend (who is the school nurse) called and cancelled around 5:00 while I was in the shower and it was too late to meet Matt.  She was coming down with the flu or some other crud she picked up from the students and didn’t think she would be feeling up to going.  I texted Matt, but he doesn’t always carry his cell phone with him.  We were supposed to go to his friend Jason’s house for Scrabble, but those plans never came through so Matt came over around 8:00 with steaks and we cooked those for dinner.  We had some wine with dinner and then more wine.  And then we both had way too much.  I probably had a glass too many because I ended up getting sick.  It was not fun.  But Matt was good and he took care of me.  He wanted me to come over to his place with him this morning and hang out, but I still wasn’t feeling all that great and I had to work on a presentation I’m doing tomorrow during inservice.  I slept in a few more hours, worked on the presentation some, took tylenol, took a bath, slept some more and then finally pulled myself together enough to get ready for church.  Matt took me to the Cathedral for mass at 5:00 and then I took him to dinner.  After dinner we hung out at his place for a few hours before I had to head back here.  I have to get to bed early because I have to get to school early to set up for the professional development tomorrow.  Even though it wasn’t an ideal situation to get totally blitzed, we did have fun and lots of good conversation.  I think he is going to be a keeper.  I haven’t scared him off yet and he still seems to adore me.  He tells me all the time how lucky he is to have me in his life. 

Last Minute Attitude

One of the things that drives me the most crazy about working in this district is the last minute attitude it perpetuates.  For example today during 7th period (the last period of the day), I was told that I needed to have dictionaries in each teacher’s room for testing tomorrow.  I also found out after school that instead of relieving other teachers tomorrow, I will be testing students.  It is very frustrating to have to make changes and do things at the last minute.  I had to stay until five getting all the dictionaries ready to hand out to other teachers tomorrow. 

I came home from work and just felt tired.  I didn’t even want to cook so I had an ice cream instead.  I finally made myself get up and go to band rehearsal.  I stopped at McDonald’s on the way and ordered a happy meal for supper.  Band rehearsal was ok, but once again, we are playing too much music without enough rehearsal time.  I don’t know how much longer I will want to stay with this band.  I would rather play fewer pieces well, than more pieces badly.  The only good thing is that playing first part is more of a challenge for me. 

I’m still debating whether I’m going to give Matt the link to my blog.  I do wonder how much I would self-censor knowing that he reads it.  I do some censoring already because people I know in real life do read it.  But a part of me thinks that I should be completely open with him.  He should know the real me – all the good and the bad.  And if it doesn’t scare him off, then he is definitely one to keep.  I’ve only let one other boyfriend have access to my blog – and that was Marty.  I did it because I felt I could trust him.  And honestly, I didn’t censor much – I actually did some venting on the blog knowing that he would read it.  So I will give it some thought for a few more days and decide.

To Share or Not to Share

I’m debating about whether I should give Matt the link to my blog. Surprisingly, he hasn’t made the effort to find it though I’ve told him that I’ve blogged for several years. I asked him why he hadn’t tried to find it and he said that he would wait for an invitation from me. It’s not that I have anything to hide, but I realize that there are probably some things I’ve written about that he may not want to know, or would be surprised to know. Then again, I doubt he’s going to get through 7 years worth of blog entries which totals 2,009 posts including this one. I skimmed through several entries over the past few years and I discovered a few themes if you will.

1. I don’t like to clean my house and only do it out of desperation.

2. My garage will never be clean.

3. I don’t understand men and probably never will. (Hoping that Matt is an exception to this general rule.)

4. I like to sleep in. Sleep is good.

5. Teaching was frustrating and overwhelming.

6. I’m an overachiever.

7. I’m very proud of my son.

8. I’m not afraid to give my heart away, but unfortunately, I’ve given it away the wrong men too many times.

9. I’m a hopeless and sometimes hopeful romantic.

10. Sometimes I’m really lazy, but I also thrive on being busy.

I’m sure there are a lot more themes, but these are a few that seem to stick out in my blogging. Perhaps some of my faithful readers can share a few more. I must be feeling pretty serious about Matt if I’m going to let him read and get a view into my daily life.

I’m going to go take a shower and then head up to his place. We are going to go to dinner before I have to go to orchestra rehearsal tonight.

New Territory

For those that have read my blog for a while, know that I’ve have my share of dating and relationship experiences. It seems that most of them ended up being very one-sided. Either the guy was more into me and I wasn’t into him so much, but most of the time it was the other way around. I seem to have have the ability to attract perverted and/or commitment phobic men. Or maybe it’s just that I had to kiss a lot of frogs to find my prince. I mention this because my relationship with Matt is unlike most of the others. It’s the first time I’ve been with someone that I like a lot and the feeling is completely reciprocated. Matt wants to spend time with me. He talks about me to his friends. He tells me how happy he is that I’ve come into his life - that I found him. He said that he waited a long time for someone like me. His friends told me last night that he has changed for the better since I came into his life – like he’s a new person in many ways. I’m not sure what to make of all of this. It is a very wonderful feeling and I know that this is still the “honeymoon” stage of our relationship, but I’m thinking that is the way things are supposed to be. Perhaps it is just finally my turn. Sometimes I still wonder if there’s a “catch” in all of this. Is it really ok to find happiness in multiple aspects of my life?

Successful Scrabble

Tonight I played pretty well. I won two out of three games and two of them were over 400 points. I had four bingos as well. The game I lost was only by 22 points and I had some good potential bingos, but the board was very closed and I couldn’t play much. We had a good turnout tonight. Two new guys showed up and played and there were several other “regulars” that I hadn’t seen before. I visited with Cathie (Matt’s friend Jason’s mom) and got a little more information from her about the conversations that occurred about me on Monday. I’m guessing that like most “girls” do is that they planned out Matt and my future together. She did say that he liked me a lot and that Rose is very anxious to meet me. Before the practice we met for dinner at Taco Cabana and Josh joined us. They seemed to hit it off with talk about movies and such. Josh has met him before but I think it’s good that they can converse well with each other.

It was another busy day at school. I was working on the library order this morning when I found out that I couldn’t buy the materials for the subject areas that I was planning to. Instead I had to focus on reading, math, and ESL. So I shifted gears and went about choosing books that have high interest but lower reading levels for the struggling readers. I also went over research skills with two English classes and then worked on the math make up stuff for tomorrow. I stayed at school working on it until 5:15 when I had to leave to meet Matt and Josh. I’m not finished, but I’ll try to get there early to get everything done.

Matt is coming over tomorrow evening and I’ll make something quick for dinner and then we will probably watch a movie. We’re going to play some Scrabble with his friends on Saturday and hopefully I will get to meet Rose. Matt has to work Sunday, but we’ll probably go to church that evening. I have Monday off so I’m looking forward to sleeping in. I still feel like I’m not getting enough sleep. And yet, I’m up late once again. Oh well, it is a busy but really good life so I can’t complain too much. After all sleep is overrated, right?

Is it the weekend yet?

Now that I’m dating, it takes too long for the weekend to get here. Things have been busy at school with math testing this week. I was also told on Tuesday that I have to spend $695 by Friday on library materials. Today I also had to go to a training session so I had to make sure that the math teachers could handle things while I was gone. I got a parking ticket while I was at Matt’s place this weekend so I tried to go pay for it today and it wasn’t “in the system” so I couldn’t pay for it. After my meeting, I went and picked up a free parking permit where I can park at parking meters downtown for free since I drive a hybrid. Hopefully that will prevent another ticket.

Matt said that some of his scrabble friends were talking about me on Monday night at their practice in Austin. When I asked him what they were talking about he said he couldn’t tell me. When I asked why, he said that it was embarrassing and he wouldn’t tell me. You know that is going to drive me crazy now, don’t you? He said that the people in the Austin club were very happy for him. Unfortunately, he’s also telling them that I’m a pretty good player which means a lot of pressure for me to do well when I go to the tournament up there at the end of the month.

Tonight I had to stay late at school because of a parent meeting where only about 4 parents showed up. I came home and made spaghetti for supper and overindulged as always. Tomorrow is scrabble practice so I’ll get to see Matt again. I think we’ll go out or do something on Friday and then we’re supposed to play scrabble and his friend Jason’s house again on Saturday. Matt has to work on Sunday and do some volunteer stuff for the library on Monday. I have Monday off which I’m looking forward to.

To answer Jan’s question – the animals have settled in and for the most part they are not having accidents in the house as much. Of course part of that is the fact that Josh is home during the day and can let them out. Lucy is able to go outside on her own but doesn’t stray far. Mollie has bouts where she’s afraid of the backyard, but then forgets in a day or two. Max desperately needs a haircut so I’ve got to get him an appointment soon. I can’t lock them out of my bedroom any more since Lucy’s litterbox is in my bathroom so Mollie sleeps right next to my bed on the floor and Max is usually by the window.

I think I’m going to call it an early night if I can. The last two mornings have been coffee mornings as I’ve been so tired when I get up.

Going and going

It was a busy weekend, but I enjoyed it very much. It was nice to sleep in on Saturday. I didn’t do a whole lot during the day, mostly just piddled around and goofed off. I started getting ready around 3:00 and headed out at 4:45. I stopped at a convenience store to have my car washed and it was getting kind of nasty. Of course it rained today. Oh well. I guess we need the rain. I met Matt at yet another new church Saturday evening. The church was very pretty inside but the priest was very hard to understand. He is Vietnamese and does not speak English very well. After mass we went back to his place. He did tidy up, but he is definitely a bachelor. We tried a new Mexican restaurant in the Pearl Brewery area and it was pretty good though my entree had beans on it and I’m still not a fan of beans. I kind of ate around them. After that we headed to the movies to watch the current release of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” We both liked the movie but there are some scenes that are difficult to watch.

On Sunday, Matt and I went to breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake Haus which was very good. I had an apple cinnamon waffle. We then headed up to Austin to go to some friends of his 20th wedding anniversary. It was nice to be able to meet some of his friends and I actually also ran into my library facilitator for our district. There were a lot of librarians there so that’s no surprise. We headed back to SA around 5:30 and decided to cook the burgers he brought over a few weeks ago. We ran to the store to get buns and such. After dinner, he helped me take my Christmas tree down. (I think this is the earliest I’ve ever taken a tree down.)

Today was a very busy day with 6th graders doing math testing all day. I headed home right at 4:30 and heated up a t.v. dinner since Josh had already eaten. I then headed to orchestra rehearsal and just got back. I’m pretty tired and ready to call it a night.

Matt sent me an email today that really made me smile. I know I just saw him yesterday, but I already miss him. Have I mentioned how much I like him? He is just so nice. He told me that I was pretty the other night and tells me often how lucky he is to have found me. I think he’s a keeper.

Start of a busy weekend

I am certainly glad today was Friday. It was another busy day of work in the library, but I’m hopefully ready for the math testing on Monday. I put a roast in the crock pot this morning. I got home around 5:00 and did a quick clean up since Matt was coming over for dinner. He came over at 7:00 and seemed to enjoy the roast. He told me that I’m a very good cook. After dinner we watched the Swedish version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” I thought it was pretty good.

Tomorrow I’m sleeping in (thankfully) and then meeting Matt at church at 5:30. After that we are going to dinner and then we’ll see the current version of the movie that’s in the theaters right now. He has invited me to go to Austin with him on Sunday for an anniversary party for some friends of his. Monday I have to get to school early to get things set up for the math testing.

Nothing more to report here. Life is getting really busy again, but it’s the really good kind. I’ll probably be perpetually tired, but I will certainly have a smile on my face.

Busy schedule resumes

So the last you heard is that I finally got a kiss from my new boyfriend. I’m still grinning as I write that sentence. Matt came over on Sunday evening delivering a pizza. We ate and then played 4 games of scrabble. He beat me three times in a row, but then I turned the tables on him in the 4th game. He helped me a little, but I ended up with a pretty good score over 400 points. I spelled “jeez” for 60 points on a triple word. After that we cuddle some more. It was getting kind of late so I offered for him to stay the night. And he did. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. I’m not saying whether anything more happened or not. You can speculate to your heart’s content, but I will not confirm nor deny anything. Whether anything did happen or may in the future, it is not something I’m going to write about.

On Monday morning, he took me to breakfast at a place called the Guenther House. After that we stopped by the parking division office to see about me getting a free parking meter permit for my car since I have a hybrid. I didn’t bring my registration with me so I’ll have to go back and get it. From there we headed to the new theater that opened near my neighborhood and saw Sherlock Holmes. After that, he took me home.

Josh got in yesterday around 9:30 so I stayed up long enough to visit with him and then went to bed. The alarm went off way too early this morning. I managed to get out bed (after hitting snooze twice) and headed to school on time. I spent most of the day working on a substitute brochure and did some digging on information for audio books. I left school around 4:40, made a quick trip to the grocery store, and then Josh and I headed to downtown for dinner and a show.

We ate at a Mexican food restaurant called Acenar. I had the fajitas again because I thought they were pretty good last time. Josh had chicken enchiladas. From there we headed to the Majestic Theater to see the musical “Les Miserables.” Though our seats were not very good, I thought the music was simply amazing. I loved it. It brought me to tears. I’m going to have to buy the music online.

Well, it is way past my bedtime so I’m going to call it a night. No plans other than work tomorrow. Thursday I’m going to Scrabble practice. Matt is coming over for dinner on Friday and I’m going to his place for the first time on Saturday. We’ll go to mass Saturday evening.

And then he kissed me….

I have to say that welcoming in the New Year was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, my friend Brent couldn’t come down because he threw out his back while exercising yesterday. So tonight it was just me and Matt. He came over around 5:30 and we went to Mass at a relatively close church. After church, we went to Walmart so that Matt could use his last two free coke zero coupons. He won a contest sometime last year that gave him coupons for a year’s worth of coke zeros and was down to the last two and the expired tonight. He’s been giving them away here and there and he’s given me three of them. He also joined the 21st century by finally getting a cell phone. He got a Straight Talk phone that doesn’t require a contract. I helped him get it set up. He cooked steaks on the grill, I made fettuccine and salad. At 11:00 we watched the ball drop in New York and he gave me a quick kiss then. At midnight here, I finally got a full blown kiss. We had sparkling wine and cuddled a bit. Then the real fun began. Turns out he’s quite a kisser and very affectionate. We had a very enjoyable evening, some good kissing, and wonderful conversation. I really like him and he really likes me. It’s a very nice feeling.

Hugs are getting good

So we had dinner at Olive Garden tonight and it was very good. Some nice conversation at dinner and then we came home to play some Scrabble. I beat him the first game, but then he proceeded to kick my butt for the next five games. I did have some pretty good bingo words playing “maestro” and “sojourns.” He wants me to go to a one day competition with him at the end of the month and play in a novice division. At the end of the night, he gave a very nice tight hug and another quick kiss on the lips and told me before he left that he was glad that I found him.

We are going to go to Mass tomorrow evening together and then Brent is coming over at 7:30. I think it is going to be very nice evening. Tomorrow I have to make the dessert (raspberry and cream cheese squares) and finish doing laundry. I guess I should head to bed and get rested for the full day tomorrow.

Lazy Day

I slept in this morning and stayed in pj’s most of the day. I wasn’t completely unproductive though. I mowed the back yard today. It has been so wet lately, I couldn’t mow. I finally got it mowed though the mower clogged twice with wet grass. Some areas were pretty thick. I still need to get the weed-eater out there but I’ll save that for another day. I also went to the store to get stuff for dinner on New Year’s eve. For dessert I’m making raspberry cream cheese squares.

The last few days I’ve been in anxious anticipation. You know that feeling when you’re first dating someone and you can’t wait until the next time you see them? I’m there. I’ll see him on Friday evening though I don’t know if we will be playing scrabble with other friends or just one on one. I kind of hope it is one on one. I’ll see him again for New Year’s eve of course. I’m hoping that I’ll get to kiss him at midnight. If it happens, it will be my first NYE’s kiss since Marty in 2004/2005.

Tomorrow I may head to the one half-price book store that I haven’t been to yet to see if I can find the elusive hard copy of the 2nd Harry Potter book. That’s the only one I don’t have in hard copy right now. Even if I can’t find it, I can probably find something to spend my gift card on.

Reflection

Now that the year is coming to a close, I’ve been thinking about how much things in my life has changed. Sure – things always change for people throughout the year, but this year was full of much bigger changes for me. I went to the movies by myself tonight. As I was driving home I was thinking about the fact that I’m simply happy. Life is good. It’s not just because I have a boyfriend – that is certainly a plus, but I’m finally in a place where I’m happy about where I live, I enjoy my job, and have the freedom to pursue other interests.

I’ve been randomly reading some of my blog entries from earlier this year and the following I wrote in February:

“I’m feeling that itch of needing a change. Problem is that I don’t know specifically what kind change. I just need something different. A different job, a different house, a different city, a different hairstyle, I just don’t know what it is or even how to go about it. I’m sure the itch will go away, but right now I just feel very incomplete.”

It’s amazing how fortuitous that statement was. I hadn’t yet started applying for jobs though I did mention in a January blog that I was interested in a university job opening in San Antonio. I don’t think I applied for it though. I spent much of the first have of 2011 in frustration with my job and my relationship with Michael (aka Matthew as a pseudonym). I sent out numerous applications for library jobs and even though I second guessed my decision to even apply in San Antonio. Luckily I overcame it and everything worked out in the end. I think this is where I’m supposed to be at this time in my life. I wasn’t sure I could ever actually move away from the home I’ve know most of my life. I’ve fantasized about moving away but wasn’t sure if I truly had it in me. I guess I did.

I don’t know where things will go with Matt, but I’m happy to have met him as well. I enjoy spending time with him. I’m really going to try to not overanalyze our relationship (wish me luck on that) and just take things as they come. The fact that we’re not moving very fast is probably a good thing.

I will post the traditional year in review in another day or two, but I wanted to comment in general about the current state of things. I do hope, however, that this isn’t one of those situations where someone finally says “I’m happy” and something in their world comes crashing down. Let’s hope that things continue to be positive here in San Antonio.

One more week of vacation

Time seems to fly when you’re on vacation. Yesterday I was completely lazy. I didn’t even change out of pajamas all day. Today I at least took a shower, but now I’m back in pj’s. I’m actually thinking of getting dressed and going to the movies. One of the theaters here has $6.00 tickets all day. I can’t decide if I want to see New Year’s Eve or Young Adult. I think Matt and I are going to a scrabble party on Friday evening. For New Year’s Eve, my friend Brent is coming down and he will spend it with Matt and I. I think we’ll grill steaks and I will make fettuccine.

Here’s a picture of Matt for those of you that I don’t have as friends on Facebook.

I think Mollie is in love with him. When I’m cooking in the kitchen, she waits by the front door. I think she’s figured out that I usually cook when he is coming over. They cuddled all day on Christmas. Hopefully next time it will be me cuddling.

An interesting day

So I tried to sleep in this morning, but was awake at 8:00 a.m. in spite of my best efforts to not wake up that early. I made myself get out of bed around 9:45 and take a shower. Matt came over around 11:30 and we exchanged gifts. He got me a gift card to Half-Price books and he seemed to enjoy the gifts I got him. He also told me that “I” was the best gift he had this Christmas and gave me a huge hug. I made breakfast burritos (without eggs) and cinnamon rolls. We had a late breakfast and visited for a long while as we ate. After that we watched “A Christmas Story” together. Mollie found a new best friend as she sat on Matt’s lap the entire time and he petted her. After the movie we watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I realized at 3:00 that I needed to start making the apple crisp so I got to work on it. It turned out very well I think. At 4:30 we headed to his friend’s house. There were a lot of different people there, but they were all very nice and we had a lot of interesting conversations. There was a lady there that had just moved back to Texas from Australia so we had lengthy conversations about Josh going to Tasmania. At one point, I was introduced to someone by Matt and he called me his girlfriend. We ate barbeque and played several games of Scrabble. We headed out around 11:30 and came back to my house. He came in to gather his gifts and then he gave me another hug and I even got a quick kiss on the lips. So it is official. I have a boyfriend!

Finally a hug

It wasn’t at the end of the night, but I did get a hug from Matt during the “Peace” at the church service tonight. So here’s hoping to more hugs in the future. We had a nice time at the service. We went to the Mission San Jose. We got back to my place around 1:30 and he came in and had some hot chocolate. He left about 15 minutes ago. He’s coming over in the morning around 10:30 and I’m making breakfast burritos – without eggs. I offered eggs to him, but he said he didn’t have to have them. I will report again tomorrow on how Christmas day goes.

Digging

Well, I got a little more information last night. He told me at dinner that he had been holding out for a Scrabble player – that he had other girlfriends before, but none of them really got into the game. Turns out that Matt also had a rather lengthy relationship with someone before – 7 years in fact. I didn’t get much else in the way of details, but it was someone that he worked with. He said that it seemed to fizzle in the end.

My impression is that he is shy about new relationships and likes to take things slow. I think he really likes me but isn’t sure how to proceed. I’m still holding out for that hug and I think it has to happen soon. He also said that he liked the fact that I was intelligent. I told him that it was nice to hear and that I thought being smart intimidated some men, and he said again that he likes that about me.

I made parmesan chicken for dinner last night and it turned out pretty well. After dinner he helped me put a new t.v. stand for my bedroom together. After that we watched Blazing Saddles. He’s coming back over tonight around 7:00 and then we are going to midnight mass at 10:30. I’m making beef enchiladas for dinner.

Tomorrow he’s coming over in the morning and we will exchange gifts, have breakfast, and watch A Christmas Story. We head to his friend’s house at 2:00. I should probably study some scrabble words as I think we’ll be playing lots of games tomorrow.

I want to wish a Merry Christmas to all my wonderful blog friends. If I leave your name off below and you’re a loyal reader, let me know! I hope that Andrew, Patti, Mago, Jamie, Jan, LM, Leann, Christina, Carol, Rebecca,and Summer have a very happy and blessed Christmas.

Scrabble Success

I finally beat Matt at Scrabble last night. I even had one of my highest scores ever at 453 points. I met him for dinner at a restaurant across the street from where his Scrabble club meets. It turns out his friend Jason and his mom showed up for dinner even though they couldn’t stay for practice. Matt made a comment as we were entering the restaurant that they would finally get to see that I’m “real” and he’s not making me up. Jason and his mom were very nice. Of course she asked how we met and I wasn’t sure if Matt would be embarrassed to tell them that it was on an online dating site, but it didn’t seem to phase him. Michael didn’t really want to tell people we had met that way. My brother and his wife met online, but I’m the only person in the family that knows that. It doesn’t bother me. If I find someone I like through the internet and it turns out he’s not psycho, then who cares? So we had a nice dinner and they got to know me a little more. Even though I have yet to hug Matt, Jason’s mom (I’m drawing a blank on her name right now) hugged me before leaving so I take it that I have her approval. So then we went over to the practice center. When I sat down to play one of the other guys in the club, I was really nervous. I can’t explain why, but I was actually shaking a little. I had to open and I was frantically trying to make a bingo word because I had pretty good tiles. Finally it came to me and I played “stouter.” After that, I did pretty well and beat the first guy – though not by much. For most of the game we were scoring pretty evenly. After that, I played another guy who kicked my butt and I didn’t even break 300 points. Then I played Matt and scored two bingo words – one of them in the very last play. Score was 453 to 368. We played another game – actually Matt played me and another guy simultaneously and he beat me, but not by much. Perhaps I’m getting better and actually learning a few things. Or maybe I just had a good night.

Today I have to go to the grocery store and get stuff to make chicken parmesan tonight. I’m also going to get stuff to make caramel apple crisp for dessert to take to Christmas dinner. Then I’m going to clean the house and do laundry. Matt is coming over for dinner at 7:00. If I can find a t.v. stand for my bedroom, I’ll try to get one and get my new t.v. hooked up. I should go get dressed and head out for my errands.

Early Christmas

Josh and I celebrated Christmas this morning since he was going to be heading out this afternoon. I have to say it was a very nice Christmas this year. Josh bought me a 32 inch flat screen t.v. for my bedroom, the first season of Columbo, a Marvin the Martian wallet, and a model Titanic thing I saw at the bookstore several weeks ago. He’s now headed back to Canyon but I won’t be lonely for long.

I’m going to dinner and Scrabble practice with Matt tomorrow night and then he’s coming over for dinner on Friday. Saturday will be midnight Mass and then he is coming over Christmas morning to hang out and exchange gifts. Then we have dinner with his friends on Christmas evening. So my mission in all of this is to get a hug. I think that would be a good start. If I really feel brave, I will start asking some of the deeper questions that we’ve avoided thus far. We’ll see how it goes.

I had insomnia again last night. I was awake around 5:00 and didn’t get back to sleep until after 7:30. At least I don’t have school right now. And for the rest of the day I haven’t done a thing. I’ve stayed in my pajamas, read some of my book, and watched a couple of episodes of Columbo. Tomorrow I have to pay bills and see if I have any money left.

I think I’ll finish my book and perhaps watch one more episode of Columbo.