Week in Review

It's been a weird week . . .

• On Tuesday, I made a girl cry. It wasn't even intentional. After class, she came up to tell me why she wanted to give a speech on how to milk a cow. (WTF?) I suggested she might want to consider the audience, and if that would be relevant for them. She burst into tears and ran from the room. So awkward.

• I had my office broken into last night. I was on campus for our annual evening of forensics performances. The performances were AWESOME! When I got back to my office and opened my door, there was stuff all over the floor. Someone had broken in, dumped my purse, stolen the contents of my wallet (credit cards, gift cards) and meds. Thank goodness my good friend Karen was there to keep me from falling apart. I had started picking everything up when she told me I should probably leave it for when the cops got there. Have I mentioned I'm good at forensics, not forensic science? The cop got there (he was ridiculously good looking), got my statement, took DNA swabs. (Oh the irony of forensic evidence being collected in a forensics office.) We all thought it was weird the thief didn't take my purse or wallet, just the contents. It left me feeling a bit vulnerable.

• I'm ignoring a guy on eharmony because he lives more than an hour outside of Eau Claire. I'm just not up to doing the distance thing. Sad, because this is the first guy on eharmony I've actually gone through all the eharmony "stages" with. On PoF, I continue to get interesting messages. ("Interesting" as in "Uhm, no") For example, "Outdoorguy70: Loven Fun" works in a "faktry" and his only introduction is "I like moves any thing outdoors like snugel go four walks". Call me a picky snob, but spelling and grammar count. Interesting.

• I still find it really weird to be friends with Joe on FB. I figured I could quietly delete him after a week or two, but he comments frequently on my status. I think he'd notice if I deleted him, and I don't want him to feel bad. But I just don't know how to be friends with an ex. Ugh.

• Anonymous reported her first date went fine, but she was concerned there was no "fizzy" feeling, but they did laugh nearly the entire time. Laughing is good. I think it takes a while for the fizzy-lifting-drink feeling to make itself known. I recommended an activity based date (bowling, art gallery, brewery tour) as it gives you a chance to relax about having to come up with topics of conversation.

• It is rainy and gray outside, which makes me want to crawl back in bed and read a book. Unfortunately I have so much to do I can't even consider that option. I'm going to Netflix Law & Order so I can have my own all day marathon while I cook and do laundry.

• For those who celebrate Easter, HAPPY EASTER!!

Advice

Such! Exciting! News! I got my first "Ask Ms. Wright" question. I didn't even know I wanted questions, but it turns out, I do! (I'm a generally bossy person, so this really shouldn't be so surprising to me)

Here's the email question I received:

I have my first "meeting" with someone from a dating site tomorrow night. This is the first time I've done this... nervous, but just need to put my big girl panties on and do this, or I never will... anyway - thought I'd ask for some advice in good/helpful 'first date questions' that have been helpful for you in determining whether another "meeting" is worth trying :)

Signed, Anonymous in Wisconsin. Or Minnesota. Or Ontario.

And here was my answer:

GOOD FOR YOU for jumping back into the dating pool. It is so freaking hard. I waiver back and forth between seeing it as an adventure and being annoyed by the process. The best advice I can give is to try and limit your expectations. I feel like when I control my expectations, I get a better read on how the experience went.

Here are some of my favorite first-date questions:

Do you like your job? How long have you been doing your job?

Do you have pets?

Are you close with your family?

Did you grow up in MN?

Last movie you saw/book you read/TV show you Tivo?

Have you been doing the online dating very long?

What are you looking for in a partner?

Are you a sports fan?

 

Of course, don't ask a question you aren't prepared to answer, because most guys will add "what about you?" after answering a question. I also try really hard to be myself, which I think is easier said than done in a date situation!

I have a pretty good vibe by the end of the date if this is someone who is going to be voted off the dating island, or if they will vote me off the dating island. If we are on obviously opposing political sides, it’s probably not going to work. If one person does 90% of the talking, probably no. If I belly laugh more than a couple of times, I want to see the guy again. Unless he’s into Fox news. Then probably not.

The nice thing about first dates is that even if they are HORRIBLE, you can get out of them with a good story and a lesson learned. I’ve only ever been on 1 date that I seriously considered sneaking out of. If you are super nervous on how to get out of the date, have someone text you about an hour into the date. If you’re having a good time, don’t check your phone. If it’s horribly awkward, ask if you can check your phone to see if your friend let you know how her husband’s surgery went. Then panic when you find out it didn’t go well. I’ve never actually used this exit strategy, but then again, I tend to be pretty blunt about stuff and would just tell they guy he’s creeping me out and leave.

You need to definitely let me know how this goes! Just remember, the fate of the universe does not rest in the outcome of this date – so just relax and have fun!!!

I'm still waiting to hear from Anonymous how the date went. If it was a bad date, I hope there's a good story!

 

My dating life is non-existent at the moment. In the last week I've received emails from two 18-year olds and a 40 year old guy who apparently doesn't own shirts. Every single picture of him was shirtless . . . and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. I'm actually OK with my lack of dates right now because I have a humongously busy 6 weeks coming up. Serious searching for Mr. Wright will resume in May.

 

Until then, I welcome your questions on anything you would like explained. Since the name of my blog is "Ms. Wright Explains It All," I think I'll try and do just that.

 

Quilter Guy

This is not the worst date I've ever been on. I'll admit it, I had a bad attitude going into this first date with Quilter Guy. I think I was grumpy because here I was, again, getting ready to sell myself as a "great catch" and dang it all - it just takes so much energy. As I was getting all prettified, I gave myself a pep-talk. It went something like this:

"You will have a good time on this date!

It's fun getting to know new people!

He might be a great guy!

No, your ass doesn't look huge in that skirt!"

It kind of worked. This was the end result of my primping . . .

So I met Quilter Guy for lunch. Here was the good:

• He was taller than me
• He paid for lunch
• He really loves his job
• He has 4 kids and 10 grand kids, and it is obvious he is a proud papa!
• He had some get-to-know-you questions ready to ask me

The not-so-good:

• When I asked him about his religious beliefs, he said "The world started with Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" (and I nearly had a stroke trying not to roll my eyes)(Also - if this is what defines your religious beliefs, we are not on the same page)
• He mentioned how trashy he thought tattoos were on women. (and boy, did the conversation get awkward when I mentioned I had three tattoos)
• He clarified 3 times that he "was NOT gay!!" (He doth protest too much?)
• He apologized for using harsh language after saying something "sucked" (what the fuck?)
• He seemed uncomfortable making eye contact with me
• He asked a lot of questions, but never really let me answer. I think he was asking questions so he could answer them.
• Several times he felt the need to clarify that he hoped he didn't "sound like a sissy" or "sound like a woman" when he talked about liking to cook.

I feel like I should also take a look at this from Quilter Guys perspective. Here's how I think he would interpret the date:

 

The good:

• She's cute! Love that sweater she's wearing.
• She's great at conversation!

The not-so-good:

• She's trashy, too many tattoos
• What's with the Harry Potter obsession?
• Why does she keep eye-balling me?
• She reminds me of my good friend Greg. If I were gay, I would love Greg. But I'm NOT GAY!!

 

About half-way through the date it dawned on me - I think this may be a case of a gay man who was born and raised in a small town and has never been told there is a closet he is allowed to open. And I have to be honest, the thought made me really sad for him. This wasn't a horrid date, but it was awkward. And ended with the most awkward side-hug ever. I'm 100% sure there won't be a a second date, though perhaps we could meet up to exchange crafting tips?

 

 



Random Friday Thoughts

I have a first date with Quilter Guy today. We're going for lunch. I'm not really excited for it. I anticipate being bored. I need an attitude adjustment.

I was SUPER productive the first half of spring break. Grading? DONE! Assignment prep? DONE! Laundry? DONE! But yesterday and today? Not so much. I'm on a movie-watching binge. Finally saw The Sessions - it was so good! On a dare, I watched The Human Centipede. WTF?? All I can say is that the acting and special effects were better than Twilight - Breaking Dawn Part 2. Later today I'm going to finally watch Argo.

I have taken a nap every day this week. It has been glorious. I'm trying to figure out how to sneak in a nap at the office. If I tried this, I'd probably end up crashing backwards out of my desk chair. This makes me want a Lazy-boy in my office even more.

I've also discovered this week that Emergency is on Netflix. Roy! Johnny! (*swoon*) Dr. Kelly! This show was a fixture of my childhood. My mum & dad were instrumental in starting the volunteer EMS in my hometown in the 1970's and this show was crack for my family.

 

I need spring break to be over because late at night I get the compulsive urge to shop online. The UPS guy has been here every day this week. Not even joking. The good news is, I have some really cute new clothes/accessories/shoes to wear at AFA & NFA. The bad news is I'd best get my fat ass back to the gym or nothing will fit.

 

I have successfully skipped the gym every day this week.

 

My cats are cute, but they are jerks.





 

Cute



Cute

 

Cute

Jerks

While I've given myself permission to be completely lazy and unproductive today, tomorrow I have big plans. After cleaning my house, I'm going to devote my day to baking. I love baking. I have 2 cookie recipes to try, beer bread I want to make for the neighbors, and cake pops to experiment with. I may blog my culinary capers just so everyone can drool.

Jumping back into the pool

I'm trying to jump right back into the dating game. But it's hard when I have email exchanges like this:

medford123: want you

Me: want to know more about you

medford123: im jim Im 51 single 5ft6 muscular im a sweet guy like to meet you for intimacy

Me: good luck with that
*note: I didn't change any of the grammar/spelling of our exchange. I wanted to preserve the creepiness of it all.

I'm a little stumped which part of that was supposed to lure me in. I did get a short but sweet email from a guy I'm going to nickname "Quilter Guy." Guess what he does in his spare time? Makes quilts! I find that interesting and a little adorable.We chatted on the phone last night and tonight, and are meeting for a lunch date on Friday. He's very chatty, so if nothing else, I will have plenty of time to eat while he talks.

There's another guy on eharmony who contacted me and we are working our way through their 10,000 steps before we get to have an actual email conversation. He is definitely not someone I would usually be attracted to, but I'm very intrigued by him. We'll see if I actually make it to the end of the eharmony process.

Whew!

It's official. Joe and I are done. After some intensive girlfriend talk over coffee this morning (Thanks Karen - for asking just the right questions!) I was even more confident that I needed to end things with Joe. I tried to bribe Karen into going to see Joe for me, but she wasn't interested in making $1. So I went. . .

What was awkward was that I knew this conversation was coming, but Joe didn't. So as I was getting ready to leave EC, he was texting me about what he should make for supper. He didn't know that I wouldn't be staying for supper. So I ignored the texts. Juvenile? Perhaps. But I had no idea what to do. The entire drive, I practiced how I would get into the conversation. Karen actually gave me the catch-phrase I wanted to use: "This relationship has run its course." So I practiced using it in every scenario I could imagine.

When I got to Joe's house, he was on the phone with computer customer service. So I sat at the table, getting more and more nervous. He was upset that his new computer was delivered with a broken screen - he was having a bad day! And all I could think about was that I was going to make it worse. Ugh. About 15 minutes later, he was finally off the phone but I could tell he needed to decompress. So I did what any kind person would do . . . I listened. I wanted him to process his feelings of computer frustration so they didn't get mixed in with the conversation coming. Finally . . . It was time. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it included things like "I've had a great time getting to know you" "It's not you, it's me" and "This relationship has run it's course" - and then the most amazing thing happened . . . HE AGREED WITH ME! I don't know what I was expecting, but I was terrified this would blindside him. It didn't. He said he had been feeling the same, but didn't have the guts to say anything. (On a side note, this is one of the issues I had with him - I'd like a guy who will occasionally take the lead) He was relieved that I had the guts to say something. The most awkward part of the conversation was trying to figure out how to end it. So I gave him a hug and told him I hoped he found the right person for him. Then I got in my car and did a happy dance as soon as I turned the first corner. SUCH RELIEF!

So now, I'm back playing the dating game. In fact, I have a tentative first date on Friday. . . so yes, more stories to come . . .

Per your request . . .

I've had several friends request that I make commenting on my blog easier. I've opened up the comments so that anyone can reply, but in an effort to prevent spam, have set up comments to be moderated before they are posted. That means that I will ultimately approve comments before they appear. I will post all comments (positive or negative) as long as they come from a "real" person. Though I reserve the right to censor comments that are abusive or bullying in nature.

In other news, it is snowing. Again. We have approximately 4,367,002,719 inches of snow on the ground, so what's 3-5" more? At this rate, I plan on sledding to celebrate the 4th of July. Last year on this date it was 80 degrees. Mother Nature is being a jerk. Part of the reason I'm hating the snow is that big changes in barometric pressure make the arthritis in my hands, feet and spine flare and hurt like  a son-of-a-bee-otch.

Because my arthritis pain is driving me crazy, I'll be hyped up on Vicodin today. I would like to personally thank whoever invented/discovered this drug. Not only does it take away my pain, it makes grading fun. Ok, not fun. Who am I kidding - it helps me come up with reasons to procrastinate with grading. I! Love! Vicodin!

I realize that previous paragraph makes me sound like a drug addict. My response? I. Wish.

I'm realizing Vicodin makes writing blog posts fun. I'm guessing it will also make reading blog comments fun. So go ahead, comment.

Actually, I need some advice. Joe and I are "friends" on Facebook. Is it weird/bitchy/acceptable/passive-aggressive to want to "unfriend" him once we are done? Seriously, I don't know what is acceptable.

OK, random funny story - then I'm done. . . When I took Joe on a driving tour of EC yesterday, I had to deal with the horrible pot-holes that are born every spring. I hit a particularly bad one that and exclaimed "Mother Fucker!" Anyone who knows me, knows I swear like a sailor. But it's the first I've sworn around Joe. (Just another sign that I'm not letting myself be "me" around him.) There was awkward silence following my outburst, so I added "Sorry about that. I thought I broke my tire on that pothole." More awkward silence as I glanced at the clock and figured how long it was until Joe would go home. Maybe if I swear a lot during my "break-up speech" Joe will be relieved we are done?

It's not you, it's me.

Dear Blog:
     I've been intentionally ignoring you. I'm sorry.
                     ~KJ

Have you ever been in a situation where you do something because it makes others happy, but makes you not-so-happy? One of my forensics kids (let's call him "Alan") asked if he would ever get to meet Joe. I joked that I had made him up - Joe was a figment of my imagination. Alan replied, "Oh, you made him up so we would stop feeling sorry for you!" Ha Ha Ha.

Wait. What?

I know that Alan was joking. I know that I was joking and laughed along. But then I had a huge, scary, sobering thought . . . Is that why I'm still dating Joe? Am I pressuring myself to feel something for Joe because I'm tired of getting pity for being single?

Shit.

There is some truth here. There is a lot of truth here.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I am surrounded by loving, amazing family and friends. I know they want to see me happy. I know they don't understand my contentment in being single. I know they want me to find someone so I'm not alone anymore. I really, really want to find a significant other who makes my life fuller, happier, richer - and I am not interested in settling for less than that.

And here's where it gets tricky. . . The past several years of casual, part-time dating have made me realize just how rare it is to find a "normal" guy. Joe is normal! He's emotionally available, he's polite and well groomed, he has a stable job, he owns his own home, he's a good parent. There is a part of me that thinks, "Hey! This is what you've been wanting! Someone normal!" But there is another, stronger (crazier?) part of me that knows normal isn't enough. If there were a "real" connection with Joe, I wouldn't be stressed when he's coming over - I would be excited. Logically, on paper, Joe should be a great match. But the reality is that he isn't. And I can't quite explain why. It really is a case of "It's not you, it's me."

Today, Joe came to Eau Claire. We watched a movie, went out to eat, I took him on a driving tour of EC. And the whole time I felt like I was just waiting for him to leave. It's my spring break and Joe took some time off work and the plan was (is?) to spend most of the week together. I don't want to. And here's where it gets even trickier . . . I want to end things with Joe, but have no idea how to go about it. Or when to do it. I don't know how to play the role of "bad guy." I'd like to have the courage to go to Joe's house on Tuesday, and have a face-to-face conversation about ending things. I need to be able to tell Joe that it's nothing he did or didn't do. I need to tell him it's me, not him. But I am scared. I'm scared he will feel blindsided. I'm scared he will hate me. I'm scared he will be indifferent. I'm scared I will chicken out. I'm scared of rejecting someone who should be a "good thing."

But I'm more scared of settling for someone who doesn't make my life fuller, happier, richer.

A seriously serious post

Just when I think the fizzy lifting drinks have gone flat, they fizz again. It's like they are trying to turn into full blown butterflies, but don't have quite enough kick. I think that's because I won't let them. I have issues . . .

I am NOT good at the dating thing. I have a really, really, really hard time opening up and allowing myself to even consider that I'm "worthy" (for lack of a better word) of a relationship. And I know that's still left-over crap from my marriage and divorce.





-------------------------------------->>>
That's me. On my wedding day. Shout out to my Uncle Jerry who photo-shopped Harry Potter's head onto my ex-husband.







When I got married in 1997, I was pretty sure it was forever. I learned that forever lasts 2 years, 9 months and 11 days. That's how long it took for me to discover my husband was cheating on me. That's how long it took for him to refuse counseling and walk out. Follow that with six months of near suicidal depression and a year of serious counseling. Counseling that made me realize I had to take responsibility for my part in the failure of that relationship. I spent about 7 years processing the experience of marriage & divorce, and learning to be happy as a single person again. That was the scariest part - learning to be happy as a single person again. Before I got married, I was a happy, single gal. I wasn't desperate to get married, I figured if it was supposed to happen, it would. And it did. And then it fell apart and I couldn't remember that woman I was before marriage. It felt like I had lost a child in the grocery store, and I couldn't remember what aisle I left her in. Hell, I couldn't remember what store I left her in. It was terrifying. And crippling. And humbling. . . . But I did find her again. I slowly, painfully, awkwardly found my way back to the happy me. The joyful me. The laughing me. It was such a difficult path back to that place, that I am legitimately terrified of straying from the path again.

A year after having gastric bypass surgery, I started thinking about dating again. There were a fair number of awkward dates with awkward guys, but there were several I dated for a couple of months. Looking back, I can see a pattern. Start dating, have a good time, feel like I've drank some fizzing lifting drinks, get freaked out by that gassy feeling, decide there was something completely unimportant that bugged me about the guy, and get out before butterflies ever had a chance to land. To continue the analogy - I'm too scared to chase a butterfly off the comfortable path. What if I can't find my way back? What if I forget what path I was on? What if there's a Big Bad Wolf waiting in the woods to eat my heart? Is there enough super-glue in the world to repair it again?

These questions take my breath away. They literally make me hyperventilate if I think about them too much. I have experienced great love, but what my heart immediately remembers is how painful the end of love was. The logical side of my brain knows this is part of my dating problem. But the emotional side of my brain is scared of not being able to recover from another broken heart. I am so scared of becoming emotionally dependent on another person, scared of losing myself to "couple-ness." I am so fucking scared.

But I think this means that Joe is becoming more important to me than I had anticipated. I think I'm going to have to step off the path into the woods. I will have to go slow. One step at a time. And I may leave a trail of breadcrumbs . ..

*Deep breath*

But seriously . . .

 . . . why do I keep getting messages on OK Cupid from 25 year olds? I have no interest in dating someone young enough to be my son.

Creepy.

And gross.

Movie Guy

Shortly after I wrote my last post, Movie Guy texted me back. Here is our brief, awkward conversation:

 

Note, he said yes to my informal date invitation before figuring out who I was. Doesn't really instill confidence.

 

And I didn't answer the phone because it freaked me out when he actually called.

 

Movie Guy texted again this morning, wanting to know if I wanted to go bowling. Normally, I would find this charming, but - Hello! - I didn't get a snow day like the rest of the world. I told him I'd be home this evening and he should call.

 

So he did . . .

 

And it was the longest 45 minutes Of. My. Life. Actually, I wouldn't call it a conversation. I'd call it a monologue. I listened to a monologue for 45 minutes. I think I said a total of 10 words. Here's the synopsis of the monologue, but I can't vouch for it's accuracy because this guy? He's a mumbler. He may have been drunk. Seriously.

 

He was divorced 4 years ago after his wife cheated on him. Two years ago he was dating a woman who cheated on him, then he got back together with her, then she cheated on him again. Now he's suing her to get the engagement ring back.

 

Still with me? He has gone out with several women in the last few months, but he's just looking for someone to do stuff with - like go bowling. He warned me that telling him I'm in love with him after the first date is not a turn-on. Thank goodness he warned me. He also doesn't want to date someone who talks about their problems. He went out with a woman last month who called him after she wrecked her car in a ditch. Movie Guy didn't know why she thought he should solve her problem.

 

He also has 4 cats. He is a crazy cat man. No irony. I think he's actually crazy.

 

Basically, this was a monologue that was 90% ex-stories and 10% cat stories. He did ask me one question, which he didn't actually allow me to answer. I actually have a headache from this phone call, and it's probably from rolling my eyes.

 

I'm pretty sure that's the last of Movie Guy. And I'm quite OK with that.

 

 

Fairy Tale

When I started this blog, I had visions of a year of hilarious inter-webs dating stories that would culminate in Prince Charming riding up on his White Horse and rescuing me from my evil step-mother on Christmas Eve. He would whisk me away to his castle, dress me in a ball gown and we would live happily every after.

Problem is . . . I don't really believe in fairy tales and ball gowns are horribly uncomfortable. And I'm terrified of horses. And happily-ever-after is bullshit because if I've learned anything from people in long-term relationships, it's that they take a crap-ton of work. Oh, and I met Joe in January and he's really the only date I've had to blog about. Kind of boring. Not what I envisioned.

Perhaps that is why I have done either the smartest or dumbest thing ever. (OK, not "ever," but the dramatic effect was needed.) I've mentioned in previous blog posts that I have active dating profiles on Plenty of Fish and eHarmony. Well, I also have one on OK Cupid. To be honest, I forgot about it until I was cleaning up junk mail on an old email account and found some notices from them.

Let me give you some background on OK Cupid . . . it's a free site, which is fine - except they don't do a great job of weeding out the serious creepers. Which means I get frequent messages like this:

"hi pretty, am alex can we get to know more of each others? i found you lovely while looking here add or write me at (alexmoore778 at ya who dot kom) so we chat and get known more. thanks  "

And no, I didn't alter his email. Feel free to contact Alex if you like. He's all yours.

I mostly check OK-C to laugh at the emails. (I received one last week from an 18-year-old in Chetek WI who wanted to know if I'd be his MILF. Seriously.) But last week, I got a "real" contact.

*Note: Here's where I get to the really smart or really dumb portion of our program.

"Movie Guy" (he is a manager at a movie theater) sent me a really interesting email. We've emailed back and forth a couple of times and he gave me his phone number. He told me I should text or call if I wanted to get together.

So, I texted him exactly 38 minutes ago and told him I was game to meet up for coffee or cocktails some time this week.

I know what you're thinking . . . "But what about Sauce Guy?!? He gave you that fizzy-lifting-drink feeling!" Joe is a good guy, I'm just not sure he's the right guy for me. I'm not giving up on him, but I also don't want to limit a potential opportunity when I'm not sure about him either.

So, there may or may not be disastrous first-date stories to come. . . 41 minutes and still no reply from Movie Guy . . .

Friday crapshoot

I tried to donate blood this morning, and all I have to show for it are 2 sore fingers. I'm apparently anemic. The Red Cross requires a hemoglobin level of 12.5, and the highest they could get out of me today was 11.1. Damn. I should have known.

I tried to give blood for the first time in my life 59 days ago. I barely got through the hemoglobin test (exactly 12.5 on the second finger stick!) but then they couldn't get enough blood for it to count as a donation. Then this happened:

Apparently, the nurse had to dig around to find the right spot, and 12 hours later I had an egg sized lump and a bruise that lasted 2 weeks. I know it's gross, but if I had to live with it for 2 weeks, you can look at it for 2 seconds.

The really sucky part of this is that I'm going to have to start taking iron again if I want to donate blood. For years I was too chicken to donate, then I was on arthritis meds for 8 years that prevented me from donating. Now that I have the guts and the inclination, my iron levels suck. And the only thing that sucks more than my iron levels, is iron supplements in any form.

I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and am going to try this ---> at the recommendation of the "vitamin specialist" there. I took one a while ago, and the good thing is there's no iron-y aftertaste. As long as it doesn't mess w/ my digestive system, I'll be good. I'm also taking a B-12 supplement on top of my multivitamin.

I WILL SUCCESSFULLY GIVE BLOOD IF IT KILLS ME! Well, that was dramatic. I'm going to give the iron 2 weeks to kick in, and try blood donation again.

 

The other exciting thing I did today was make a trip to the Twin Cities to have lunch with a former student who is now an actual adult. It freaks me out when that happens.

Laura works at Disney in Florida and I have not seen her in FOREVER. It was so much fun catching up with her! After lunch, I went shopping at Trader Joe's for the first time. Have you been to Trader Joe's? This place is AMAZING!!! A couple of friends post often about how good "Jo Joe's" (chocolate sandwich cookie) and "Cookie Butter" (like peanut butter, but made with COOKIES) and damn, if they weren't absolutely right. I can't decide if I'm sad there's not a Trader Joe's that's closer, or glad it's so far away because my ass is growing with every spoonful of Cookie Butter that I consume.

I also picked up some pamphlets and tourist guides for the Twin Cities area. Joe's son is going away on a school trip the same week I have spring break, so we've been talking about doing some exploring in the Twin Cities.