Before We Were Plural

Kevin might tell you that we met at 8^th grade graduation practice, at what was soon to be our high school, but I remember him from way before that. We had gone to the same school together since we were in 5^th grade when he moved to Phoenix from California. We were in the same grade together (even lived in the same neighborhood), so I knew of him in elementary school. We never had a class together though, even through junior high and high school. It wasn’t until 8^th grade that we had the same circle of friends. He was closer to some and I was closer to others in that group, which is why we never hung out outside of school until that day. Although at some point I did sign his yearbook, “Hey! I’m really glad we got to know each other. Hope to see you around next year. Call sometime [phone #] Love, Heather Rae” After graduation practice was over that day I invited the group back to my house for popsicles; that’s when we started the building blocks of our friendship.

I couldn’t tell you much about that summer, if he ever called, or how we came to be better friends, but I can tell you during freshman year of high school we were talking on the phone and hanging out together. We mostly hung out with a group, but he did walk me and my next door neighbor (another pretty girl) home from school almost every day (even though he could have taken the bus straight home).  I’m pretty sure on occasion he carried some of my books for me, but I hardly paid mind to it, cause I was too young and naive to realize the importance of a gesture like that.

Over the course of our freshman and sophomore years of high school Kevin remained in the “friend zone”. He was sweet and attentive. I always knew that I could call him when I was having boyfriend trouble and needed to vent. Most of the guys I dated then had no idea how to treat a girl (we were only 14,15 &16 yr olds then). Some boyfriends I liked more than they like me, and just treated me like I was unimportant. While others just wanted to mess around and had no desire to actually have a relationship with someone. One flat out bet his friends that he would be my first (that was over immediately after I found out). My friend Kevin, on the other hand, always cared and treated me with respect. He was witty and funny, but was never the type to make a joke at my expense or talk behind my back. At that age those traits were rare, and although most of our conversations those years were light and frivolous, I always knew that he was the type of friend I could go to if I ever needed to talk on more serious subjects.

Becoming Plural

If you know Kevin at all, you know he is geek. Unfortunately in the early 90’s it wasn’t cool to be geeky. In part because of that, Kevin was shy and guarded with his romantic feelings, so he never came right out and said he liked me or asked me out on a date. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he had a crush on me, but I was busy chasing my own crushes (I wasn’t as shy). I was happy just having him for a friend.

Side Story: Early my freshman year I dated a football player who was a junior. He wasn’t part of the most I mentioned in the previous excerpt. He was someone who had a crush on me that I friend zoned, but at the urging of my friends I agreed to go out with. He was sweet and treated me well, but I wasn’t attracted to him. I couldn’t stand to string him along on the off chance that those feelings would eventually develop, so I broke it off and broke his heart. He had no interest in being my friend after that, and I was devastated.

You can probably see now where this is going… Kevin was a reminder of what happened with that relationship. I was even closer friends with Kevin than I was that ex-boyfriend. I was afraid to even acknowledge the possibility of a relationship with him. After 2 years of dating a string of “not right for me” boyfriends and the fact that Kevin had a girlfriend (which stirred up some feelings of jealousy), I started allowing myself to be more open to the idea of dating him. He ended up breaking up with said girlfriend, and I started flirting with him A LOT (which he was oblivious to). He really made me work for it, but he asked me out on our sort of first date. On Monday, June 3^rd, 1996 he paid my city bus fare to go hang out at the Arrowhead mall area with a couple of his guy friends. We all hung out for a while, and on the way to the bus stop to head home we stopped at the Baskin Robbins that’s still on 77^th Ave & Bell Rd and he offered to buy me ice cream. I was nervous and didn’t know what size or kind to order so as not to look like a pig, so I just declined. That’s pretty much when I realized that I liked him more than just a friend. He walked me most of the way home from our bus stop, and just before we got to my cul-de-sac we stopped to part ways and had our first kiss.

5 days later on Saturday, June 8^th, 1996 after a 2^nd date (which for some reason was completely unmemorable to me) we stood in the middle of my cul-de-sac, and he said to me “I know it’s just a formality, but do you want to be my girlfriend?”

I said yes.

He was 15. I was 16. And that was how we became plural.

einsantics:

Addendum to March 18th’s Philo Picture Post: Apparently it doesn’t really matter if the laundry baskets are collapsable or not, cause he’ll find a way to curl up in the clean laundry.  [My husband came home and found him there and took this photo for me.]

I made Ein a personalized bandana. She’s gonna look so cute at the picnic tomorrow and no one’s gonna call her a him.

einsantics:

Ok, ok, I know this isn’t a picture of my exuberant Ein girl, but my husband’s dachshund Philo can be entertaining also… This is one downfall to having collapsable laundry baskets. There’s nothing to deter your dog from napping in your clean laundry. I guess one solution would be to put the clothes away, but who wants to do that?

einsantics:

If you know my Ein at all, then you know that she LOVES water but hates baths. It’s almost 10:45pm here right now and she was just playing in water bowl, so I took it away from her. She was upset by this, and attempted to undermine my authority by jumping in the bathtub and playing with my wet…

einsantics:

99% of the time I plan my outings around Ein’s nap/sleepy times, cause I don’t like to crate her while she’s so full of energy. If I can’t plan my outings around naps, then I try to plan her naps around my outings.

Tonight I want to take my husband clothes shopping for our 10 year anniversary trip to Cozumel. He usually gets home shortly after 6pm, so I figured we’d go shortly after he got home. So here it was 5pm and I’m trying to keep my Ein awake for another hour and half, but she was soo sleepy. So I decided to give her bath. That’ll wake her up! She hates bathes, and always runs around like crazy afterwards. After her bath I swaddled her in a towel, sat down on the couch with her and proceeded to massage her dry with the towel. She seriously fell asleep while I was doing this. She must really be tired. After I was finished, I just laid her down on the floor and she started chewing her bone. She’s not running around like crazy, but at least she’s not sleeping. That’s a compromise I can live with. Silly sleepy puppy.

So I recently came across this news story w/video and it really upset me. Seriously upset me! I feel for Casey and what he must have endured at the hands of those bullies, but I don’t think his body slam was the answer. I don’t know the whole story, (and unless you’re a part of Casey’s life I don’t think you do either) but I know what the video clearly conveys and that’s that Casey obviously felt he had no other options than to resort to violence. That should make the parents, the teachers, the principal and all other adults in his life feel like failures. Kids being bullied should have an advocate, and kids doing the bullying should have consequences other than physical harm!… At least that’s my take on it.

The Geek’s Wife, Heather

So back in January I went to my first card making class, and I was hooked. It’s even better than scrapbooking! I loved learning how to stamp using embossing powders. I love how it makes the cards look so much more professional. Ever since then I’ve been keeping an eye out on craigslist for stamping supplies (rubber stamps, ink pads, embossing powders, embossing heat tool, embossing & cutting roller machines, etc.) I thought I had a stroke of luck when a lady in Queen Creek (an hour’s drive or more away from me) was selling a lot of slightly used supplies for the very reasonable price of $40. Unfortunately by the time I made arrangements to get out there, she had sold the lot out from under me. It was a little frustrating, but I’ve never been one to expect much of people on Craigslist. It’s always a gamble. You win some; you lose some. So today I was on Craigslist still keeping my eye out, and I came across a post for a large lot of stamping supplies for $100. That was a little more than I planned on spending, but I thought I should at least take a look since the seller only lived 3 miles away. I figured if it wasn’t worth it I wouldn’t be out much gas money for just taking a look. When I arrived I was a little taken aback by the amount of supplies he had. No person NEEDS that many stamping supplies, but at $100 I was not about to leave without them. So I now own 300+ rubber stamps, 20+ ink pads, w/10 ink refill bottles, 20+ containers of embossing powder, 2 embossing heat machines, and a few various other tools and supplies. Who wants to come over for a stamping party?

The Geek’s Wife, Heather

I’m frugal, and being frugal I usually get creative and utilize what I have before I resort to buying something new. This is particularly true when it comes to pajamas. You know that really comfy t-shirt that has a giant stain? That’s a pajama shirt now. You know those old, outdated, extremely comfortable, elastic waistband capri pants? Those are pajama pants now? You know that shirt I had to wear in gym class in high school freshman year? It’s a pajama shirt now. Kevin’s too. My dad’s old shirts, shirts I got for free, shirts that are too stretched out… Yeah, those are all pajamas now. The ones that are worn so thin they’re see through are some of my most comfortable ones. I have a few cute, long night shirts, but those were all gifts, and a couple are 3 and 4 years old now. So, recently I’ve decided that that’s enough of that. I bought my first nice pajama set in probably 10 years a few weeks ago, and then I bought another set this evening. I am the proud owner of a budding collection of real pajamas. I just hope it doesn’t turn into an addiction, cause I look damn cute when I sleep now.

The Geek’s Wife, Heather