When we met (abridged)

The other day (about 3 weeks ago) we (MWH, N, K, T and me) were in the car. We drove by the restaurant my husband and I went to for our first lunch date. He and I started reminiscing about that first lunch date and how we met, and the girls were spellbound. I think they were listening so intently that their mouths were agape. If they weren't open-mouthed, they were silent and with 3 little girls, having silence is amazing! N (4 and 2/3s) was especially curious about the fact that we had to meet.

N was so interested in how we met that she drew a picture about when MWH and I met. I'll post it in another entry. It's cute and funny.

[Begin tangent]

The other day N said something to the effect of, "I wish I had met daddy first and I could have married him." (We really need to explain to her time travel paradoxes and the problem with marrying your grandfather (or in this case father).)

[/End tangent]

Our anniversary of 8 years of marriage and 10 years of hanging out is quickly approaching. I met my husband in an exercise class at the fitness center of the company where we both worked at the time. I chose to go to this exercise class because it was the latest exercise class offered. I used to go to work around 10 or 11 am (sometimes even later) and work late. I was bummed because the latest class was at 6:30 pm. I liked to work until 7 or 8 pm. I wanted to work out though so I went to the class.

In that first class, he offered me some chocolate at the end of class. (Our instructor of the class brings candy--we call it job security for her) and I told him, "No." He took it as a personal rejection. We still talk about it. I wasn't rejecting him. I was just saying no to chocolate after working out. Anyway we don't count that as the date we met since I "rejected" him. We count 10/9, the date I went back to class (about a week or week and 1/2 later) as the date we "met."

On 10/9, we talked for probably 45 minutes after class that night. I was very intrigued. The very first time I met him (and "rejected him") I was intrigued. He looked so nice, cute and honest. It was refreshing. We talked and discovered some things we held in common. Our love of all things M________, and the fact that we both had all black cats.

After our 45 minute conversation, which I thought was going very well, he just kind of said, "Bye." and walked away. I was confused. I thought our conversation was going well. He claims he wanted to "leave on a high note," and "leave me wanting more." However, I was just baffled by his abrupt departure.

The next day, he called me at work, many times, but I was away from my desk in an all day meeting. He left me a voicemail. (I was actually trying to get a listserv set up for a project. Remember, this was 1996 and Internet technologies could be difficult!) I was working with a system administrator and trying to get everything set up for the listserv correctly. I was thrilled when I got back to my office and had a voicemail from him!

In his voicemail he asked me out to lunch, but didn't give a time/day... just one of those theoretical lunches. I hemmed and hawed about what to say and just called him back and said, "Sure I'd love to do lunch sometime." He was not in his office so I got to leave him a voice mail. I wasn't surprised that he was gone because it was already after 5:30 or so when I called back.

It turned out that he was still "in the office" but he'd run to the bathroom. This "phone tag" thing still happens all the time. I am REALLY good at calling him when he's just stepped out of his office for a second/minute. (Either that or he screens his calls.) (Side note: He's probably the last person on the face of the earth who doesn't have a cell phone. Can you believe that???)

Anyway (boy this is long), he tried to call me back that evening, but I had plans to go dancing (Salsa) with a friend. I'd never been before and was excited to go dance (I love dancing) so I bolted from the office right after calling him. The next morning I got to work around 11 am or so. He called me shortly after I arrived (little did I know he'd been trying to get me all morning) and he asked me to lunch.

I was just finishing my breakfast of a Mocha (10 years later I'm still drinking them) and a large cinnamon roll (not the best breakfast, but hey, I was young). I was stuffed and though I wanted to go to lunch with him, the thought of eating again at any point soon made me feel queasy.

We decided to go around 1:30 or 2. We worked at the same company but in different buildings so he drove over to pick me up. He looked so cute in his sunglasses and dark green car. We went to F________, an Italian Restaurant. We talked for a long time. I would have loved to have played hookey from work and just hung out with him the rest of that afternoon, but he took me back to the office. We made arrangements for a date on Saturday (the next evening) before we parted.

When I got back to work, some of the people I worked with decided to head out to the movies. I went to the movies too because I couldn't actually concentrate anymore. I was floating! That night, late, I called him at home. He had given me his phone number and I wanted to talk with him a little more. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just imagining that he was a nice guy and fun to talk with.

We talked for a couple of hours I'm guessing.

The next night we went to dinner. (We met in the parking lot where we worked. I'm not sure why I though that was safe to meet him there and drive with him to the restaurant, but that's what we did. I was a little worried about the potential of him being a serial killer). By the time dinner was over I was pretty sure he was a nice guy and not a serial killer. We went back to get my car and we sat talking in his car for a long time.

As we talked I realized that we had been hanging out so long that I'd missed seeing my favorite Saturday night show (Relativity). It turns out he liked the show too and had video-taped it so we went to his house to watch it. (I KNOW... I went to his house. This was weird on so many levels. First, he owned a house and second, I barely knew him. But he was so nice!)

Anyway after those two wonderful dates, I was head over heels. (I think he was too.) We hung out the next night, and the next one and the next one.... We were cooking dinner together pretty much every night within a couple of weeks. I was still working on my dissertation and had to go out of town (back to where my school was) and was gone for a week or so. We missed each other incredibly and we hadn't even been dating a month. Within a week or so (right before my trip), he had accidentally called me his girlfriend. I liked it and so did he. We agreed that it was "official." On Halloween, he came up with a lame excuse to give me a key to his house. It was pretty cute.

As things were going pretty quickly, I was worried about this new relationship. I was just out of a long and bad one. I sat myself down and had a talk with myself to determine my intentions. I was pretty sure this guy was smitten and also pretty sure that he could be "the one." I wanted to make sure I didn't end up hurting him or me. As I talked with myself, I determined that I was okay with a serious relationship. I really liked this guy.

Here's an excerpt of an email that my husband sent a friend (he also sent it to me) right after we met...


I met her last Wednesday. I asked her out to lunch Friday.
Things went so well I asked her to dinner Saturday.
Things went so well we spent Sunday afternoon and evening
together.
Then we had lunch Monday and got together after work...

(He's a little briefer than me, but the same sentiment.)

So 10 years ago, we'd "met" but we hadn't really met. 10/9 is the day we "meet." The next day (2 years later) is our wedding anniversary. Kind of crazy.