Butterflies

Wow... I have had one incredible weekend, extending into today which is Wednesday. Seems that is a good thing. Last Tuesday I went on a date with a guy, as noted in my last entry. Things went very well. I honestly hadnt been on a real date since probably Spain. Long time. I forgot how fun it can be. Anyway, went home for Carey's graduation, and spent a family-filled weekend with her and Dad. It was quite wonderful. I loaded Carey up with gifts, and helped Dad out around the house. Apologized to Aunt Janet for being a jerk at Megan's wedding. Overall, good weekend. Angela came down from Petoskey for a night, and we hit some of the local bars, and it was REALLY good to see her. I totally feel for her being home lonely right now in a new town. Yuck.

So then, after missing my flight on Sunday morning out of Traverse, I got bumped to a flight that put me into Milwaukee at 11am. I then took the bus to FLUID to open at noon for the parade, and proceeded to work until 9pm. OMG, was that a long ass day. I made good money though, and it was pretty worthwhile in the end. Besides, I had called (Mitchell) before my shift and we were going to hang out afterwards. So I had 3 tequila shots to wake myself up (it worked too) and he picked me up. We went back to his place, where a whole crowd of his friends were hanging out playing video games. It was actually perfect for me: I could chill with (Mitchell) without actually having to do anything in my exhaustion. Had three more beers there, and then he drove me back to Renee Row with my luggage, where I proceeded to walk into the wrong apartment. Ooopps.

Monday morning, I woke up to get ready to go with Billie at 9am to Six Flags. He ended up being like two hours late because he missed his alarm, but i was cool with it. I got to get some errands done, and grab some breakfast and George Webbs. Then we took Bill Janney's hot little red Spyder down to the park, chatting in the sunshine. It was good to get some time in with Billie. He is truly an awesome person. Things seem to be going slowly better and better for him, and I think that the change is largely attitudinal. Anyway, almost the entire reason I wanted to go to Six Flags was so that I could be with (Mitchell), and when we got there, Billie and I connected with his friends. Hung out for about 3 hours, had fun, and then we had to head back. Took a nap in the car, and then opened my shift at 4:30. Billie stayed with me literally ALL night, which was cool, cause we just kept chatting, and it helped the Happy Hour just speed right by. When the bus finally unloaded at 9:30 from the park, full of drunken patrons and my replacement, (Mitchell) took me to grab a bite to eat at Flannery's (which he used to manage) with a couple other guys. While eating we happened upon talking about Adam, my roommate to be in Minneapolis. Two of the guys just kept warning me to be careful, and going on about how irresponsible he is, and what a drug addict etc. This totally wouldnt faze me, because I had a chat with Adam about the drugs, but this is probably the 15th time I have heard this conversation. Everyone is telling me not to do this. My gut says that it isnt an issue: it is only a year, he had held down a job, he has always been a good guy to me. Plus a lot of this is probably just catty rumors. But on the other hand I have had SOOO many people warn me...

I slouched through the rest of my shift, fairly tired, but the shift was largely unremarkable (except for Adam coming in), and Brian and I were happy to see the end of the night.

Yesterday morning, I woke up, dinked around a little, and called (Mitchell) to play tennis. He and I ran some errands (coffee, gas and such) and then found an open court somewhere in Shorewood. Found out he grew up in Whitefish Bay, his grandparents are Catalunyans, and they immigrated to Puerto Rico, and his father moved here. Which means I am practically dating a Spaniard. Yeah! On the road, we had the opportunity to help push this woman's car out of an intersection, where it had stalled. I got major good-guy points for urging him to pull over so we could help. I like being that person. Then he coached me through probably an hours worth of tennis beginner stuff. I wasnt horrid, but we did have some laughs as I kept sailing balls over the fence during one of the exercises. We had a good time, and there was just something hot about bonding through an actual activity that didnt have to do with drinking or sex. I think quite a few of my relationships have been based on just that.

Then back to his place, where we watched a Dinosaur special on the science channel (i love that this guy considers himself a geek--it is very cute, because he really isnt) and he got me hooked on a Showtime series "Dead like Me." To cut the rest of the day short, we met his friends for a dreadful movie (but horror films are the best for dates...snuggling) and then dinner. Went back to his place and crashed, after some fun antics in the bed.

So... Here I am the next day, after sleeping soundly with him (which is unusual) and I am completely taken by this guy. I know that probably once every couple of months I have some GIANT crush, but I feel like this is already way more than that. I have yet to find any of the flaws that usually turn me off a guy. He likes to travel, he has had some good life experience. He is confident, but not cocky. He has strong family and friends, and a personality of his own. And most importantly, he likes Buffy. In fact he owns every episode! ;-) How could I not like this guy?

I think my challenge, then, is going to be not to over-think this. Not to over-feel it. Because of the time line we are on, with exactly two months till I leave, it is going to be important not to overwhelm him, or myself, with the possibility that this could be something really really big. Just to enjoy it, take it for what it is, and evaluate how we feel come August.

But as we all know, keeping my mouth shut about all that could be quite the challenge.