Playing Catch Up Again

Where did October go? I think I might have been busy working, spending time with Mr. Darcy, and going to Disneyland with my sister and her family. I also attended my cousin's wedding (and caught yet another bouquet) and had a little discussion about my blog with my brother and cousin. Apparently I am appallingly honest and lack discretion in my writing. I could try and change, but then I wouldn't be me. However, I will begin to put my best foot forward and see if I can find my brain filter.

Before I move on, I found out my cousin Melissa is expecting again. She has already had two miscarriages at about 16-18 weeks. I have been remembering her in my prayers and would ask you to do the same... that she will be able to carry this baby full term. I can't imagine anything more painful than losing a baby or a child. She will be a wonderful mother and I hope our prayers will be answered.

And in the interest of time, I am just going to add a slew of pictures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words... although I'm sure I could come up with a thousand words for each picture. But I will let them speak for themselves (mostly)!

A gorgeous day for a hike up Donut Falls with my favorite guy.

At the Falls. OK. I went a little picture happy. But he's so cute and it was so beautiful and fun. In all fairness, he took pictures of me. His were silly though, like when I got stuck with one leg on a rock and couldn't get the other one up. Or the horrible look on my face when I left the outhouse. THOSE will not be on my blog, lol!

At the top.







Next hike was a treasure hunt of sorts up City Creek Canyon. It's called geo-caching where you use a GPS system to locate the coordinates of something someone has hidden. We found a Christmas tin with trinkets. It was a blast! And even more fun because we took Rick's dog, Fargo.


I love "Fargo Puppy." She reminds me of my little dog that died. She is so playful.



Two of his favorite girls.

Doesn't he look like a modern-day Mr. Darcy? What a stud.

He shaved off his goatee today. I have yet to see it in person, but so far it's looking pretty good.

Next stop was Disneyland. At the Lego store I saw one of my favorite characters, R2D2. I felt like Princess Leia, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." ha ha ha!

My favorite little princesses.

The ladies: with my mom and sister. I guess we all do look alike--same smile.

Little Tiki kids.

Halloween party in Portland with my cousins, Sami Jo and Jill, and their adorable babies, Hazel and Cici. (Really it's Lucille after my grandma, but I suggested Cici for short and Jill kinda liked it. We'll see if it sticks.)

Have a great week and a Happy Halloween!

P.S. Was that enough pictures of Rick for ya'all?!?!

What Was I Thinking?!?

Uh, yeah... so I showed my friend Rick my blog. Yes, I knew I wrote some stupid, sappy girl stuff because I'm a stupid, sappy girl and my friends already know that. But as I read back through some of my posts I am questioning my impulsive decision. (Me, impulsive?!?) My mumbo-jumbo is clearly not meant to fall on even a whiff of testosterone. So, Rick, darling, if you are reading and you like me at all, please, please STOP READING!!

Thank you.

O.K., girls. Now the good stuff. (And if you are male and reading this, consider yourself warned!) Actually, today I just wanted to report on my weekend...besides the kissing-infused romance update. So my sweet, adorable niece was baptized and that brought a slew of family in town for the big event. I pitched in by making rice krispy treats (the secret to good ones is real butter and microwaving the marshmallows) and peanut butter bars (the yummy ones with oatmeal and heavenly chocolate icing.) You all know I love a good excuse to be in the kitchen. But I do agree that "too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth." It was pure chaos with two grandma's, my sister and I, and a spattering of other peeps offering to help. The best part was not the food, however, but how happy my niece was. She had a little white princess dress on and looked absolutely angelic. When Andrea bought it last month, she told Brit she can wear that dress when I get married. I tried to tell her that it probably won't still fit if I get married, but Britain seems to think it's a done deal. (I guess I'll have to find a good seamstress and a few extra yards of matching fabric, lol.)


We managed to squeeze in a family picture but I look retarded with my cell phone hanging out of my pocket. Apparently I was waiting for a big phone call or something. (So why didn't any of you call, duh. Speaking of which, how come none of you ever call? Do I satisfy your curiosity about my life with my blog thereby squashing any desires for anyone to inquire further. Well, I'm warning you, if you don't start calling, I'm going to quit blogging. Yeah right. But please call once in a while, my favorites.) So yeah, check out our family picture. And I'm not the only one who looks like a dork because we were so rushed. Not one for the archives but it'll do for my mom's Christmas cards.

I was pretty proud of myself for managing a super-duper, 12-hand massage from my and my sister's nieces and nephews. I bought five bags of Halloween candy bars for the baptism only to have my plan nixed by my sister because she didn't want wrappers all over her house. So I told the kids if they massaged my back for ten minutes, they could each have a candy bar from every bag. A bonus would be given to the last hands to give up. And if I found even one wrapper, everyone's candy would be confiscated. So how's that for bribery and manipulation. (Won't I make a great mom?) So I ended up with a darn-good 15-20 minute massage. And they were good... all competing to be the best. I highly recommend this activity if you have a lot of kids' hands around that need something to expend their energy and relax you in the process.

So, how did I do? Almost an entire blog without mentioning a boy? I'm worse than a teenager. But I am seriously amazed to meet someone with so many cool qualities. I told my cousin it was like finding my favorite things about all my exes, but without all the stuff I didn't like. He responded, "Well, that makes him Triple X." Hmmmm... how tantalizing. Crap, did I just write that? Sorry, Mom.

P.S. Shana, I don't have a picture of him and he told me last night that I can't take one of him to put on here yet. You see, he is just my "Fall Fling" for now. You know, nothing serious except someone to rave about on my blog. (I'm always looking for good material.) He said he wanted to go ice skating with me at the Gallivan Center this Winter and I reminded him that then he would have to be upgraded to my "Winter Wonderman" or whatever follows a Fall Fling. You know, 'cause we're taking it nice and slow. Maybe I'll just start referring to him, and any other guy I write about as Mr. Darcy or Wickham. Then I won't be quite so transparent. But then again, I wouldn't be me if I weren't so transparent. Sigh. Well I have a red-eye flight to catch now (still think my job is glamorous?) so I'm off.

Romance Update

Rick is awesome! We're going hiking tomorrow. He makes me laugh and thinks I'm the best. Here are just two funny pictures he texted me. One, he wrote "Patti Rules" on a $100 bill. Then, he broke a sign at work and said, "This is why I can't have nice things." Also, today he told me he was wearing his "I Love Delta Flight Attendants" t-shirt. I laughed at that one for a good while! (He was only kidding, of course.)

He has an adorable dog named Fargo that reminds me of my dog that died last year. But Fargo (see pic) only sees me as a threat right now to her main man. I'm trying to change that but for now, I have only won over his mom who gets bummed when I have to leave and says I can come back "any time." She also said she'll take care of him if he is ever anything but a perfect gentleman. I assured her he has not missed getting even one door for me.

We went shopping this past week to buy all the stuff for his ward campout that he was in charge of. We had a blast... grocery shopping. Except he thought an 8 ounce tub of sour cream would be enough for 50 people--he doesn't like it and apparently doesn't think anyone else does either. But that meant he gave me all of his sour cream and guacamole when he took me to dinner. He didn't even care that I had double of the fattening stuff and still said he was with the hottest girl in the restaurant. He says I pretty much have him wrapped around my finger. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Not exactly a Jane-Austen-dream-boy romance, but who needs dreams when reality is so much better? And I'll officially verify, YES!!! he is the best kisser EVER!

Life is good. :)

All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

So what is up that my five-year-old niece, Brooklyn is fighting off the boys? I'll admit that I have taught her the value of "sparkly make-up" and good lip gloss, but it was she who pointed out at the bra shop I unwittingly dragged her to one day, that I "should totally buy" the pink and black lacy underwear and bra set because "they are so cute!" (I was only looking at the boring white bras, btw.) And about two years ago I got a call from my sister telling me I wasn't allowed to kiss my boyfriends in front of her children because Brooklyn was making weird faces one day and told her mom when she asked what she was doing that, "I'm kissing my boyfriend the way Patti kisses [her boyfriend.]" Oooooops! I didn't ever know she was watching.

So I think her parents might have their hands full when she is a teenager. Heck, they have their hands full with her now! This point was proven by the following note she received the other day from a boy in her kindergarten class:

To Brooklyn
Brooklyn why are you in love with Ethan? Brooklyn I want to have a playdate with you at my house. Are you in love with me? Mrs. Roberts is her last name. Tiffany is her first name. I liked your hair on September 22, 2008. How do you feel about being in school? You did not stare at Ethan at school the whole time you stared at me the whole time.

Love,
Tyler

It would sure be nice if full-grown men were that honest and direct. By the way, Mrs. Roberts is her teacher and she said her "boyfriend" is neither Ethan or Tyler but Jess (or was it Justin? I can't keep track.) All I can say is that I apologize to her parents for ever kissing a boy in front of her and for getting her hooked on lip gloss. (It seemed innocent enough at the time.) And furthermore, they should be more worried about her teaching me a thing a two. Because apparently she's learned a lot more about wooing boys at five than I have at 33. Yeah, uh, good luck with that Andrea and Ryan. Hahahahahahaha!

Besotted

I told you I fall fast and hard. But my cute new guy friend, Rick, is so awesome, I can't help it! We can talk about anything so I told him about my little issue and he promised to slow it all down to save me from myself. But he might be a bit smitten himself? Being a guy, however, he said it takes him a little longer to completely fall face first! So slow and steady will be our course (because you know it was going to move along pretty fast between Utah and Colorado anyway, lol!) In the meantime, I am trying to keep some balance and am setting up some dates with a few other cool guys I have met. I'm trying to get excited about them but it is hard given the amazing guy in front of me. However, I think it's a good idea so I don't get ahead of myself as I usually do. And I really don't want to mess this one up.

So, here is what I like most about Rick: He makes me smile and laugh *hard* all the time. He is always happy and optimistic. He has a great way of reacting to life's challenges. He is wise, mature and very perceptive. It is easy/comfortable to be around him and to talk about anything. I can totally be myself around him. And he's a tad on the dorky side like me... we drove around in his car singing 90's dance songs (think, "Oh. My. Gosh, Becky--would you look at her butt?") and other funny songs. We like all the same music. He even burned 4 CD's of songs for me. He also has all of the Office seasons on DVD and is "sharing" season 4. It's nice to have a single friend to hang out with and have so much fun with. And he might even be the most amazing kisser ever (and I've kissed some good kissers) but I'm so not going to confirm that because--HELLO!--my mom reads this. Ha ha ha ha! But I will say that when he told I'm "really beautiful" and then gave me a goodnight hug, it made me weak in the knees. :) Ahhhhhhh. The beginning is definitely the fun part of dating.

If You Look Good, You Feel Good

Or is it that when you feel good, you look good? Either way. As I was getting my before and after haircut pics ready to post I noticed how completely happy I am in the "after" photo. It's because I have a little secret. A secret all who know me will know that I can't keep. You see I have a terrible time keeping secrets or surprises... unless they are not mine to share. Then mum's the word. Torture couldn't get it out of me. But if it is mine to tell, you can pretty much plan on knowing it. You see, I'm much more for the anticipation of waiting to get something than springing on a surprise. (Have I explained this theory before? Sorry if this is a repeat....bruised brain syndrome kicking in--or age--one of the two.) Anyway, it's like an awesome vacation... would you rather know about it and be excited about it for 6 months or find out the day before and have "the element of surprise." So you might just know all your gifts from me before you ever get them. Then you can think about them and get excited for them for longer than a surprise lasts. Unless you think my gift sucks when I tell you about it, then it's like, "just get it over with already, Patti."

Oh, so you wanted to know my little secret. Well, I first have to explain my pictures! My hair has been driving me crazy for quite some time and the blonde highlights have all grown out so much that my gray hair was waaaay too evident against my natural, darker hair. I wanted to have my good friend Kim do my hair because she is a whiz with color. I even planned to fly on up to Michigan to have her do it. But, as it were, I could not wait until I had enough time to plan a little getaway so I had my cousin Jamie do it when I got marrooned in SLC after missing my flight due to leaving my laptop on my previous flight. Talk about a workout running from terminal B to D just in time to catch the gate agent leaving for baggage claim with my computer. Whew, close call. I was actually walking onto the jetway for Denver when I realized my mistake. And what's more, I called my Mom breathlessly en route to find my laptop to see if she could come and get me because I now had missed the last flight of the day. Just as I hung up, I saw my uncle Greg going the other direction on the moving sidewalk (moving being the operative word there, for those people who stand in the middle and don't move for those of us who are trying to move past them--oh the joys of airports.) Anyway, as we moved past each other we managed to arrange to meet so he and my aunt Freddie could give me ride home and save my mom the trip. It was fun to see and catch up with them.

So, where was I. Oh yes, so I stayed in SLC for the day and saw how cute my mom's hair was and decided to have her hairdresser, my cousin, work her magic on me. So here are the results. She is awesome, by the way if anyone wants her number. But she is having a baby in November so you may have to wait. (BTW, I couldn't get a good "before" pic so I had do a silly face to hide the bags under my eyes--it's a work side-effect. ha ha!) It's always fun to go back to the house I grew up in. There's a sort of safety or coziness sleeping in my old room. But the best part was actually having my parents sort of fight over me. I couldn't even sit down and eat some late dinner because my dad was so excited to tell me about his journalism adventures only to be interrupted by my mom wanting to show me all of her new stamps and paper. It was kind of fun. And then my mom took me out for Chinese food the next day after I got my hair done. You can tell they are empty-nesters because they never used to get that excited when I came home and they never used to buy me lunch and dinner and stuff unless it was someone's birthday. So I guess I should visit them more... which leads me to my secret.

Now that I've made it sound so exciting, it might be a let down, lol! And maybe you've guess that, drum roll, I met someone I really, really like! It was through LDS Singles though he says he will vehemently deny that's how we met. We have been texting and talking on the phone and tomorrow I am stopping in SLC for a few hours on my way to NYC so I can meet him in person. From his pictures, he seems really cute, but he could have put his brother's pictures up instead of his, lol. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. No, he is pretty candid and doesn't seem to have anything to hide. Actually, he used to be an undercover narcotics cop and did swat team (do I really know what that is, exactly?) He has a great sense of humor. He makes me laugh and smile and doesn't seem to mind that I can be pretty dorky. So I am super excited to meet him, but a little scared, too. Not just because I am nervous about a face to face meeting, but I know that I have a tendency to fall fast and hard and not come up for air for say, three or four years. And I am really not up for another heartache. So I am trying to keep perspective here. But it is so exciting and fun that I just can't stop the butterflies in my stomach. So I'll have to let you know how it goes. It might be a few days, though, because I have to work. My mom is meeting me in San Francisco on Friday and spending the day with me on my layover there... ya know, free hotel, free flights. Yeah, I'm living it up. :) Oh yeah, I'm working, right.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted. Not that I need to tell you that because this is a blog afterall. Or should I call it my BOG since my brain is pretty much a wet, marshy mess? Hmmmmm....

Welcome to My World

So I have once again entered the fabulous world of online dating. I am just starting to email and get to know some really cool guys that I hope I will meet soon. However, I just have to share the most recent exchange from a man who is 57, divorced, and has 3 kids at home. I have blocked his name in case you know him or he is your dad:
**********************************
From: Cxxxx
Subject: not pretending
Hi Roma, Me either... let's do dinner sometime. Catch ya, cxxxx

My reply:
This email didn't make it to Roma. Try again or you'll be wondering why she didn't respond to your dinner invite. :) Best wishes, Patti

From: Cxxxx
Subject: RE: RomanticComedy or Patti?
Hi Roma or Patti? Totally don't know how to handle this one! Hoping to hear from you, whomever you are, Cxxxx

My second reply:
Cxxxx, Beyond calling me Roma, I thought for sure your email was a mistake because of your age. I may not be 20, but you are 25 years my senior... my mother's age. Perhaps you have been lucky with girls my age in the past, but I am not interested in someone who has already been married, raised a family, and who could have raised me. Sorry.
I used to work for a dating service where men would always ask to be set up with women 20-30 years younger than them. However, there were never enough (if any) ladies who wanted to date a man that much older than them. I don't want to sound rude, especially given that this could be a misunderstanding, but having realistic expectations makes for a more successful dating experience. Good luck in your search. ~Patti

From: Cxxxx
Subject: RE: your wishing me good luck
Hi Patti, Not interested would have sufficed, but thank for the caring words. I've enjoyed dating both younger and older women, but obviously am still single. I guess as you are enjoying dating and have enjoyed good fortune with guys over six foot. Agreed, your age was pushing the envelope, mainly because of your not having been married and even more so, not having kids (which I'm sure you still want, and my not wanting more but glad to step parent though at least out of diapers. Anyway, no it was no misunderstanding... I'd have loved to get to know you. So, you're mother or any aunts (that are as cute as you, you know, in their own right)? Whereas you may not want to go under six feet, I don't mind whether there's an age difference or not... I'm just interested in clicking... and if that's there, seeing if it's enough to make arbitrary boundaries of age and height not seem so important anymore. So as not to sound hypocritical, I've been engaged to someone both as old as me and 20 years younger. Of course neither worked out... I don't think in either case because of age. As far as realistic expectation, my only absolute prerequisite is that there's a mutual attraction and clicking. If there is I might even be willing to change diapers again (which I was doing in the one situation). Again, 25 years was a leap... but I think your attractive enough that I was glad to take the risk of getting chewed out... A quality many women find a lot of guys on this site to be lacking. Look forward to hearing from you as always... especially know that I know I'm writing one person, not worrying that it might go to someone else. Catch ya, Cxxxx
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Are you kidding me?!?! Thank goodness that the delete button is much easier than trying to get out of an uncomfortable date or unwanted advance. And thank goodness I didn't write what I really thought... "You are a sick, dirty old man." I think he might be saying that I'm a hypocrite because I am only attracted to guys taller than me. But who wants to feel huge? In all fairness, I guess dating an older guy would, at the very least, have the advantage of making you feel young, right?! Even though he only requested to meet my mother or aunts, I'm tempted to introduce him to my adorable grandmothers who are both around 80 because, heh, they just might "click." :)

All I can say is, "Welcome to my world!" ~p