The second date

Well if I were to say it wasn't a resounding success, I'd be lying. We talked, laughed, and learned. Not only about each other but about our backgrounds. I don't even know what she listens to or what she watches on TV. Somehow we managed to skip over all that and talk about our lives. We're pretty similar from what I've gathered.

Both of us have been through a divorce, me from the outside, and her as a child in the middle. Similar experiences there, arguments and crying. We both have this innate ability to let things slide, to get over all that has happened without losing our minds. It's a blessing I think, to be able to do that, to just live on. What's happened didn't kill us, it made us stronger. It's something that I think makes a strong bond between us.

She made a comment specifically about how good a listener I was. How she feels comfortable talking around me, able to just let it all flow out. Not even with the best friends she's had was she able to feel that. She talks a lot, and I don't mind it. It's easier to jump into a conversation when I don't have time to think about the answers as much as I do. I don't slip up as much. Yeah, what I say is more stupid, and often times awkward, but I wasn't too embarassed considering I was out with a girl who yells at big black guys* faking "gangsta" (i.e., flat-billed hat off to the side, pants off the ass, with a POLO etc.).
(*that looked like they could rip my arms from my body and use them as drumsticks)

Instead of seeing Wall-E, we ended up seeing Hancock. To say we both enjoyed it would be an understatement. We laughed together, she got a little teary during some parts, but a lot less than the girl blubbering a few rows back. She was very absorbed into the movie. It's on my recommended list.

We did just end up eating in the food court. She insisted on paying again, saying she couldn't trouble me for the $11 meals at the microbrewery I wanted to take her to. I can see where she comes from there, though. I don't like people to pay for me, but I feel obligated now to pay for other people, since everyone was so nice to me while I was growing up.

The mall that I took her to today wasn't as snooty and stuck up as the other one was. She felt comfortable there, which was a significant improvement over the last time. Unfortunately, due to stupid neighbors, loud fireworks, and a lack of self-restraint on the part of said neighbors, she wasn't able to get to sleep until 4 AM, which kinda degraded from the experience. We ended up leaving early so she could go take a nap, but she needed one and I didn't want her to suffer for my sake. If I'd known sooner I'd have let her sleep, but she didn't let me know until we were halfway there.

I got a hug when we picked her up, which surprised me. I'm taking that as a good sign. When I dropped her off, I got out of the car to walk her to the door. I took the safe route and left it as a hug, but she held on for so long, and rested her head on my shoulder. I'm thinking I don't want to rush this. I have a really good feeling about the whole thing, and I don't want to mess it up.

Speaking of tired, I'm really tired. I almost fell asleep writing this. >.<

WAHOOOOOOO (2)

Yeah, I kinda missed a key point... the description of Anna... That might be important.

She's about my height, seventeen, green eyes, blond. I could look at her face for HOURS (the good way) but I wouldn't want to stare. She's been in a show of some kind or another since she was young (church plays, school productions, camp productions, etc). She's a little clumsy... if I mentioned she sprayed me with her pop in the other entry, immediately after that as she was reaching to get a napkin she managed to get her fingers in her ketchup, and while cleaning up after that knocked her chick-fil-a bag on the floor.

She almost fell down the escalator, I managed to grab her before she plummeted to a guaranteed hospital visit.

While we were talking I gathered a few things on how she sees me, another possibly important piece of information. I fall into the category of adorable... which might be a good thing, because if her comments on clothing are any indication, cute clothes are okay, but adorable clothes are worth a second look.

I'm over-analyzing this I think.

Uh... I guess the way I carry myself off is strange to her, and I need to work on that eye-contact thing. There were issues when we started but once I got comfortable the eye-contact thing got easier. To the point where I wasn't looking away at random times.

I think that's all.

WAHOOOOOOO

Yes, it happened. The date! It happened! Nothing got messed up, no plans got changed, nobody was late. We ended up going to Chick-fil-a because everything else sounded nasty. (...?) It's what she wanted, and she INSISTED on paying. I offered, but I didn't want to force it on her and piss her off. Anyway, we talked for AGES at the food court, (which the snooty mall called the "Dining Hall". Ritzy). She loves the way I talk and how sheltered it sounded, how proper I was with my grammar. Apparently I need to loosen up. We hung out in the mall that contained said restaurant. It was ritzy, and she had fun, but the snooty people kept glaring at her... probably because she was covered in wall paint.

She made fun of the people who pay $50 for a strip of fabric. Which was pretty much everyone there. After we were glared at for a while it was obvious we weren't welcome there, so we took off. On the way back in the direction of her house, she surprised both I and my stepdad when she asked if we wanted to do anything else. I did the gentlemanly thing and let her pick the next thing we did, since my idea led to glaring and discomfort.

Apparently her friend was jonesing for a game of pool. Well, It's not really in my nature to say no, and besides, her friend wouldn't have given us directions unless we let her go too. We pick her up. (Might I say, her friend was HOT) Anna sits in the back, squished between me and the carseat. I didn't plan it that way, but it ended up being a good opportunity to grope her ass. (Hush you) She had directed my attention to her boobs and ass earlier, while showing off her scars of battle (paint splats). Yeah... I took the opportunity and she just smiled. I guess it was the right thing to do considering she had just sat on my hand.

Right, so we get to the pool hall, and the first game we play, I CREAM her. It was bad... I think I had a five-hit streak. Unfortunately I set the precident, so if we go again I can't intentionally lose or it will LOOK like I let her win and that might not be the best idea. Played her again and tried to ease up a little, and it got down to one ball each plus the eight. Lost on a technicality. Her friend wanted to play me next, and she was decent. Wasn't able to beat her but it was close. The last game of the night I played with my stepdad, and she played with her friend. I tried my best not to pay too much attention, but the whole time they watched me.

The ride home was... interesting. We crammed in the back of the car, did the fun buckle-groping, and set off for her friend's house. My stepdad ended up taking a road that was in disrepair for the first leg, which meant lots of bumping back and forth intentionally. She ended up holding on to me to avoid being shaken around too much. We hit a smooth strech of road and she set her head down on my shoulder. That was comfy.

At her friend's house I offered her the front seat. She said it was too much work to get out and walk around the car to sit up front, and seemed happy when I just told my stepdad to start moving again. Now I'm no expert, but getting out of a car, and getting back into it on the other side... isn't that hard. I'm thinking she was happy where she was. Just a hunch mind you.

We get to her house, and all pile out of the back seat. I walk her up most of the way because her mom's standing in the doorway and Anna's not ready for me to meet her yet. She seemed in a hurry, being urged to the door by her mom, so there's no opportunity to move in for a kiss. She gets halfway between me and the door, turns around, arms outstretched. I was already walking away at that point, so she tries to get my attention with a cough. I turned around, saw her with her arms out, and felt like a dumbass. So I run back up and hug her. She's squeezing tighter than I was at first. I wasn't too sure what kind of hug she wanted... but it was fairly clear by how tight she was hugging me that it wasn't just a "yeah, good to see you" kind of hug. As she turned to go back in, she said "Don't worry, you did great."

And I guess that's the rundown of the evening.

WOOOOOOOOO!

YEAH!

Despite speculation that Anna would never call me back, either due to lack of interest or her having a boyfriend or something, she did call. We're going to meet up at the Village Inn out near her, then go hang out at the mall. She also asked me if I would be in a music video she's making for a college scholarship.

I'm incredibly excited. This is really the first true DATE I've ever had.

I'll probably blog the shit out of what happens, so keep an eye on this place for a how it went post. Should be here tomorrow night or Tuesday.

Well now. It's come to my attention that my newest interest (Anna) has somehow broken or lost her phone. I guess it's not too bad because I have her home number now, but I'm actually going to have to TALK to her.

Though considering I called her cell number to see if she just wasn't answering texts, I guess I called her in a way. I must say though, she has the cutest voicemail box greeting EVER. She sings the "I'm late" song that the hare sings in the Disney animated Alice in Wonderland. I was smiling all day after that.

I almost ended up getting tickets to go see Sweeney Todd on stage, but decided against it. Had a nice deal on front row seats. Anna would have loved that, but I would have had to bring my sister along for the ride... and that might not go very well. A and I will probably go to a movie and eat somewhere instead. I should call tomorrow and see if Friday would work...

I got a Logitech MOMO racing wheel. Goes well with Grid, my most recent game purchase. I will however note that Grid is an unforgiving bastard that will eat you and your babies for lunch before devouring your mother for dessert. Trackmania is going to help cull my Grid Anger, and pull me away from my other obsession. Audiosurf is an addiction.

Blagh. Anyway, if you've missed seeing me around, I'm trying to get to a point where I can go through the day without caffeine, so I'm trying to sleep more. Tonight I'm going to bed at 1:30, as opposed to my usual 3:00 bedtime. Hopefully I can get to that point and be able to stay up late on the weekends without developing too much of a sleep deficit.

Anyway, lots of fun plans in the works. Going to try to get to the local amusement park, then the water park, do some mini-golfing, see a few movies, etc. Mostly because my sister is here for a month or so and she gets bored easily. There goes any buying money I'd have...

Rawr.

The day has come.

Well, this weekend has been good so far.

So Saturday I was at a friend's graduation barbecue. Well, I was expecting a quiet awkward family event. What I got was copious amounts of SingStar, cake that stained everyone's mouths purple, and more beef than most people eat in a year.

SingStar was AWESOME. I managed to get up the courage to go up there, and ended up singing almost every song on the Pop and 90's discs. I sucked. Hard. But that didn't matter. I made a total fool of myself and didn't feel horrible about it. It was FUN. Most of the time though, I was singing opposite Anna, a beautiful, tall, somewhat clumsy girl around my age. Hell, we pretty much monopolized the game. Her voice is beautiful. Erm... anyway... I got her phone number and we've texted for about three hours already today. She's done some theatre in school, likes most of the same music I do, (sings it wonderfully), and apparently has some interest in dating me.
We're both broke at the moment though, so if anything happens it'll be after the 17th. It'll give me some time to get cleaned up. Get rid of the nasty acne problems I have going on.

After the graduation party it was off to a Rockies game with my cousin Jer. He got tickets for cheap because of a scholarship. I ended up getting there first and standing around outside the gate for a half hour waiting for him. After the first inning I and one of my cousin's friends walked around some. He ended up pocketing a baseball (much to my dismay) and got away with it.

Not too happy about that, but he's never done it before. Let's hope he doesn't do it again.

I'll probably head out to Jer's house next weekend to spend some time with the guys.

Still, this whole past weekend has me jumping off the walls everywhere.