Dr. Phil lives with me

Dad was off today and so we followed our usual Monday routine on Tuesday. we watched Dr. Phil and then Maury, and discussed at length.

we came to a discussion that had been started long ago but never completed: what right does a woman have in pursuing a man who is already taken? and by taken, we were excluding married men.

my opinion was this: none. i cant see myself helping another man cut out on a woman he is involved with. i know girls that do this without a single shred of guilt. Dad felt that i have just as much right to this man as his girlfriend/fiancee/baby mama. shocked? i know i was.

he said that any man or woman is fair game if they arent married. and if you want them to NOT be fair game, some rings need to be exchanged. he said you never know when someone might be meant for you, but they are involved with someone else. i agreed, but also pointed out that before it gets to a sexual or serious nature, you should have the decency to step back and say "you know what, i am really feeling you, but you have someone. so if you want to leave her and be with me, thats fine, but im not crossing that line". im not encouraging people to leave their partners, but if you wanted to be with me and had someone, you owe her the decency to not be a bastard/whore in the process and let that person go. Dad kinda threw me off even more when he said that unless you are married to that person, you shouldnt go after the person they are messing with. you take that up with your partner.

now he also pointed out that once you are married?? well hell, if that person crosses that line, its game on. call her and tell her that he/she needs to back off. tell your partner to cut it or be cut.

after Dr Phil went off, we watched Maury. we love Maury. its the only show where 1000% means anything...

Maury is truly like watching a parade of sluts, whether its the man with 4 kids he is denying that are ALL the same age, or the woman on the stage for the 8th time looking for her child's father. it just never ends, and says a lot for American culture. premarital sex used to be an issue. now, i think its crossed the line to promiscuous.

fictional Maury guest Bob: how on earth do you cheat on your wife and they say you love her? once is not acceptable, but it can be worked out. mistakes happen. drunkenness happens. caught up in the moment happens. but twice a week, in her bed, while she is at work, for 3 years? YOU DO NOT LOVE THAT WOMAN. you are a coward who is scared to tell her that you want to move on and do other things/people. you might have decent reasons to stay anyway, like the overwhelming amount of money in child support you will be paying, but you need to be true to yourself.

fictional guest Mary: girl are you kidding...once you let him stay after the second time you caught him cheating, its a wrap. HE DOES NOT LOVE YOU. and if he does, he has a sexual addiction or something he needs to work out. Dr Phil says you teach people how to treat you. and when you give chance after chance after UNDESERVED chance, that man knows that you wont be leaving anytime soon, if at all. he will continue to stray, and you wont learn your lesson until he ends up giving you aids or something.

that is how i came to my conclusion to part ways with Nel. i had showed him how to treat me. i let things slide and was not true to myself. i didnt like what was going on, and he knew it, and i completely relapsed into thinking he would change. has he learned his lesson? only he knows, but i know i dont see any evidence yet.

the best thing dad told me today was this: you cant change a man. you can stick around and give him some time, but he has to figure out what he needs to change, and if he thinks you are worth it, and cannot live his life without you, he WILL change. if he doesnt? well you know where you stand...

Missing

Nel called this evening to tell the girls goodnight. i was in here, at my wits end, with a migraine brought on by who knows what. i had emailed him yesterday and told him to let me know when he thought he was coming back up this way to see the girls. i desperately need a break.

i know he is unhappy because he is missing so much, but he is missing more than he realizes. he misses all the bad things too, like helping with homework (not necessarily bad but it can be a headache), changing pampers, giving baths, feeding them, loading them up to take them places...its hard. it really takes a toll on you as a person. parenthood is not a one person job. it is a two person job, and hell, somedays you need three people. i am not judging him for taking the job down in va beach, because at the time i was intending to possibly go down there myself. but i still feel like im here alone. sure, there is a house full of people, but it doesnt take the place of someone else being there, rubbing your back at night, running you a bath to kick back in, or make up a silly drink with the corner of vodka and rum you have collecting dust on the counter. its those little things that count. so everyone is losing out in the end. he misses the girls, i miss the support, the girls miss dad.

mom mentioned that the other day, that he was missing so much. and i told her that i was not going to put myself back into a relationship that needs severe work and move down there just to resolve that. i understood when we got together that his career takes up a lot of time. i also lived with him thru the times when we had no money because his job wasnt paying enough, and he was searching for anything to make more. im not completely naive about these things but it still doesnt make things any easier.

i dont know what the solution to this problem is. im sure he has no clue either. it seems to me that it is one of those things that works itself out in the end. but i hope there is no damage done in the meantime...

Only the lonely, part 5: the finale

the call came a few days after the big split: grandma wasnt expected to make it thru the night.

we had been expecting it, she was diagnosed with cancer in 07, and for the months preceeding the call, i had spent lots of time with her and helping to take care of her. she was terminally ill, so i knew i had to make the most of what i had left with her.

many days i would put the baby in her carrier, and we would ride to her house, she would be sitting in the corner by the tv commenting on Emeril or watching the religious channel. i would do her laundry, or help with her physical therapy. some days she wouldnt do much talking, but others she would have me cracking up with her quick sense of humor. it was a welcome break from sitting in the apartment waiting for Nel to come home so i could have time to myself. it was heartbreaking to see a woman so meek and mild suffer like she did. but i had one thing that she had given me that will always live on: her personality. we were the most passive people anyone could hope to meet, and i knew that when she passed i had to fulfill that legacy.

i texted everyone about a week later to let them know she had passed in her sleep. it was a difficult time for me. a major breakup, and then her passing on top of it all. i couldnt eat or sleep for days. the one time in my life when i needed Nel the most, i couldnt stand him. i had to tough it out on my own. and i was mad about that. it wasnt fair.

once things settled down, he asked if he could come take me to dinner. i agreed and we had a pleasant evening out. he apologized again, still trying to see what he could do to fix things. and i let him know a lot of damage had been done, some that might never be the same. i simply wanted to know WHY? i couldnt believe the answer i got.

He wasnt getting enough attention. i absorbed it all in shock: i hadnt been talking or paying him any mind so he had to seek it elsewhere. although it was true, i was appalled at his reasoning. i ran down the list of what had been going on with me: a dying grandmother, losing my job, having a baby, still having to take care of Ari on top of things. how did he expect me to act? my mind was in 4 places at once. i barely remembered to eat during that few months, let alone check and see if he was getting the "attention" he needed. i laughed (not because it was funny, but to cool my nerves before saying something very evil) and asked if we had gone on with the wedding, would he still have looked for attention elsewhere? he said no. that, my friends, was a major problem.

how can you not treat someone who is the mother of your child, and in a relationship with you for almost 6 years, with the respect of a spouse? that should have made no difference. anything i would do married, i would do single, and vice versa. he doesnt know how close he was to getting walked out on.

then i did something i shouldnt have done: i slept with him. what the hell was i thinking? i wasnt. the whole time we were having sex, i kept thinking about her, and whether or not she'd had what i was having right then.

things evened out over the next several weeks. and then, he asked me to come down and stay with him, his brother and sister in law for a few days. things were nice the first few days. once again, i slept with him, deep down knowing i shouldnt. i was giving him his cake to both have and eat. after a few days i did it again. i checked his phone.

boy, you would think after all that had happened, he would have cut her off quick. but he hadnt. still texting, still conversating. i asked him to tell the truth and let me know if he had stopped. of course, he lied. he said he hadnt talked to her in almost a month and a half. but i knew from the phone logs that there were several conversations with her. it seemed like everytime i let my guard down and tried to trust him, he messed things up all over again.

he didnt realize that there was only one thing he needed to do to "fix things", and that was to cut off all ties (and i meant ALL) with her. he couldnt figure that out for himself. and so i came back home, more depressed than before.

that brings us up to now. the past five entries have been 6 years in a nutshell. as of today, we still dont talk much. Ari calls him at night, he checks on them during the day via text messages. things are formal between us. i know he still talks to the girl (not assume, or guess...i know for a fact. i am sooo smart). i hope she was worth it.

im not interested in dating AT ALL these days. it has left a bad taste in my mouth. i just want to get over the hump that life has sitting before me, grow up a little more, and move on. i find myself being bombarded with people that found out about the split and want second chances, but i dont want to start anything new at this point. i just want to be alone. and that is exactly what i got, except not the way i wanted it.

only the lonely, part 4

the 4th isnt a big holiday for my family. that day, we decided to just throw some things on a grill and eat. nothing major. Nel came thru, he was leaving that next day to start the new job and wanted to spend some time with us.

i went inside to check on the girls. when i entered the den, my eyes were immediately drawn to his cell phone. it wasnt my intention going in that day to check but something told me to. and so i did.

what i found was the remaining messages of what seemed to be a lengthy conversation with a girl i had discovered before. the message i found in the preceeding months was disturbing to me: one that ended with "Miss you! xoxoxoxoxo"...when i confronted him, i was given an excuse of her being an old friend, blah blah. i tried to explain that "old friends" dont end their text messages the way you would end one to a girlfriend/wife, with kisses and hugs? really? of course, i was "overreacting", and if you ask me, i underreacted. how dare i ask you to respect me and not deal with other females like that...what on earth is my problem...

the new messages sealed the deal for me. whatever picture messages had been deleted was surely something scandalous and x rated. comments were made about size, "handling" things, and a question from her for him to come over. he had responded yes.

i sat on that couch and i think time froze. what had always been a deep rooted suspicion was now basically dead in my face. it hadnt stopped. i dont know why i thought it would, he had never said he was wrong, he had apologized because i mentioned it, and he sure didnt say he would cut ties with her. what was i expecting?

i dont know how i made it thru the rest of the day. he noticed my cool demeanor and asked what was wrong, but with my parents and sisters so close, i didnt want to start a scene. i waited until he left and pounded out this letter:

nel,
i have a lot on my mind right now...so i am going to make this quick. as of right now, i have stopped all searching for a job in Va Beach. i dont think i will be moving down there. i know you want to know why, and let me tell you. i am not moving away from my family and my help to go down there deal with an unfaithful partner. i already know, i know who it is, and details of when you were going to go see her, and different things like that. i told you the last time, that it was the last time. im not tolerating it anymore. i guess i have just wasted six years, which is okay, i got a beautiful child out of the deal. i dont ask anything of you. ANYTHING.

i have given you my best, i have given you my all, i have sacrificed more than you know to be with you and be there for you. you have never once had to wonder if i was faithful to you. i have had numerous occasions where i have had to wonder and worry about what you were doing out with who. the condoms, the pictures, the letters, the text messages...are you kidding me? would you have stayed with me with this blatant obvious evidence in your face? hell, you broke up with me when i had no job...if this was sitting in your face you would leave too. i let it slide when you consistently carried condoms everywhere out of town with you. i let it slide when you had a conversation at 4am with another woman and conversated about your dick with her. i let it slide the first fucking text message with Tee that had xoxoxo at the bottom. i let it slide when some girl mailed you a letter about how in love with you she was. i let it all slide. now i have to find you talking about your equipment passing inspection, and what i guess was a picture of her who was wet and juicy and you couldnt wait to see/try it, whatever. and then the little meeting you two scheduled. wow. why didnt i leave you the first time? i feel like a complete fool. you knew i would be checking up on you again, and if you didnt, i dont know what you were thinking. you would do the same. and if you wouldnt do the same after finding something like that about me, i would say you are in denial. or you were doing your own thing and didnt care. you have lied about so much. i am tired of being lied to. TIRED. any woman with sense would have left years ago.

you obviously dont mind hurting me, after all i have been thru. dont give me that bullshit about your privacy. when you are putting what is supposed to be mines into someone else, or in a picture to someone, or talking about it to someone, it is officially my business. it is my business when you risk exposing me to an std. it is my business when we had a child together. you are letting some woman who does not care about you, ruin your family, your life, a relationship that i had thought at one point would last for a very long time. do you think she cares? hell no. any real woman who knows you have a family would not risk you losing all that if she cared about you. your previous bullshit is why i have to check on things. i know they say when you go looking for something you find exactly what you are looking for. i was looking for a reason to not have to do this. i was looking for a reason to pack my kids up and move to the beach. i was looking for a reason to ignore all the other shit youve done and trust you. i havent trusted you for a while now. it is nobody's fault but your own. i dont think im overreacting. i think im protecting myself and the girls. why cant you act right for the girls? you act like they mean so much to you but you do this?? i am so numb right now i cant even cry. and i havent cried. i dont think i will because deep down i think i saw this coming and had to wait things out until i saw for sure what i felt in my heart was going on. i am giving you what you want. if you want to go be with Tee, do what you do. i dont care anymore because i am thru. let her know you are a free man now! she can do what she wants with you, to you, send you pictures, its not my business anymore. you took my kindness for weakness, and now i have to show you how strong i can be. didnt think i would leave, did you? now you know. i guess this is the price i pay for loving you. there is nothing to discuss. dont call me. dont text me. dont come by. seriously. i am not playing or joking in any way. i will contact you.

Bee

within minutes of finishing, i texted him and told him to read his email when he got home. he responded immediately. i was on the phone with my bff and telling her what had happened when he came back to the house. what happened after that was a two hour long discussion about what i had seen, what it meant, how i wanted to find it, and how i was going to think what i wanted to think no matter what was truly going on.

i was personally insulted. i didnt make any of these things up. i wasnt "seeing" anything. it was right there, front and center, cold hard evidence. he told me he hadnt gone to see her, that he had come to see us that night, but he hadnt spent the night with us, so that meant nothing to me. i didnt yell, i didnt scream, i just stated my case and left it at that.

i couldnt believe almost 6 years of a relationship could be wasted like that. over a woman that didnt care about him. that much was obvious, no woman worth anything would assist in ruining a mans family like that. he didnt see it that way. til the very end he denied it all. i got a half-assed apology out of the deal. i never truly believed that apology. it was more of a "sorry i got caught" type of deal, not a "oh my god please dont end things like that". i got the feeling that he almost knew it was coming, or had been playing the field so long that he was already prepared if he was caught.

when he finally left that evening, i sat in the floor and cried. a hundred different things were racing thru my mind. relief, that it was over; sadness that he would let that come between us; anger that i had been his fool for so long; bitterness, that another woman had meant more to him than i used to; disbelief, that he let things continue with her, knowing the consequences. it hurt my heart that after all the sacrifices and honesty and faithfulness i had given, it was so easy for him to betray me. i knew more than he thought i knew, though. i knew there had been actual conversations with her, so it wasnt a sex thing. he let her have his mind, not just his body. see, people dont understand that...

if i were to go out, and meet up with an ex or meet someone new, and decide i want to get physical with them, thats all that is going to happen. there are no conversations. i am not letting you get inside my head like that, i dont care how you are, or what your day was like. im not in this for a relationship. im in it for the sex. in this case, since he was talking to her almost every other day, there was the beginning of a relationship of sorts. and once she knew he would go out of his way to keep it from me, she knew it was game on. if he doesnt care, why should i? i can make my move at his most vulnerable point and he wont be able to tell the difference. but see, im a woman. i know the rules of this game that so many men fall victim to. i have played it before. successfully, too.

i thought that this would really be it, and that i could attempt to start doing something for myself and the girls. but the worst was yet to come...

Only the lonely, part 3

two pink lines...

who would have imagined after a nice round of sangria, we would manage to get pregnant. in the weeks between conception and discovery, i was a raging bitch. i couldnt stand the sight of Nel. his smell made me nauseous. hearing his voice annoyed the crap out of me.

things didnt change in the months to come. he did more bullshit, and played it like i was overreacting. i was a hormonal mess, finding myself several times wondering how i let myself get pregnant by someone who would treat me this way... i was no better than the countless number of women i shook my head at in similar situations. i got tired of crying in secret. i would go to the ladies room at work or my office and just sit in the dark, but it was something i couldnt let anyone else see.

you see, as a black woman, and as a pregnant woman, i was faced with a dilemma: as a black woman, i was supposed to be tough and not let things get me down. and as a pregnant woman, i was supposed to let everything out. i chose to let it all out in secret. nobody knew the whole pregnancy what was going on.

by this time, including all the medical issues i had going on, i was miserable. pregnancy was supposed to be a time to enjoy the life growing in me, and i did enjoy it, but with the work drama and home drama and not to mention my parents disappointment, i didnt know what to do. i felt like i spent the whole nine months alone. Nel worked late and spent time with his coworkers more after work, while i sat at home alone. when he was at home, we didnt do much talking, but he found time to text awfully sweet messages to a friend of his...the likes of which i hadnt seen in months. i went to my appointments alone, looking jealously at the scores of fathers who decided they wanted to tag along and be supportive. i wanted out. out of being pregnant, being a mother, being a signifigant other.

coming closer to the end, i knew i had some decisions to make, but they were never made. after having Nisa and losing my job within a month, any plans i had of moving onwards and upwards were crushed. i started to plan around my income tax check, looking at apartments to see if they would take a full 6 months rent in advance without running any kind of credit check on me. i knew it would be hard but i wanted it so bad i could taste it. i couldnt take anymore. when that fell thru as well, i was close to giving up.

eventually, we had to leave the apartment. he went to stay with a friend before moving on to Va Beach to start a new job. i took up a post on my moms couch. he kept asking me if i wanted to look for a job down there, and at first i was all for it. i had nothing to lose, literally. but in the back of my head, this nagging feeling kept poking at me. and so i asked the lord to show me what i needed to know before uprooting my girls and moving to a new area. he showed me on the 4th of July.

Only the lonely, part 2

the next few weeks were full of dinner dates, some with Ari, some without. he absolutely loved her when they met, she was one going on two and was a fun addition to our outings. even from the beginning people mistook her for his daughter, and most of the time he would laugh it off with a thank you.

things weren't as swell at home. we were bumping heads constantly, and my parents felt it would be in my best interest to move out. i was heated at first, my job sucked big time, i would bring home about $700 a month, not even close to what i needed to make to get my own place. by then, Nelly and i had been together for about two months. since he had just gotten his apartment, he invited me to move in. i was skeptical at first, not because of him, or the situation, but because we hadn't known each other nearly long enough to move in together. i cared a lot for him, and i assumed he did as well but i would hope that it wouldn't ruin the way things were.

it worked out okay for a while. the rent was cheap, the apartment was cute, we had company come over all the time, celebrated his 25th birthday that following February. we got to know the lady at the Chinese restaurant up the road very well. all in all, things were going pretty well.

eventually, the stress of my bad job started to catch up with us. i searched high and low for a new job so that i could contribute more. the lack of me being able to help out more combined with me not being the "housewifey type" started to wear on him. since i had never lived with anyone before i wasn't exactly familiar with how different things were delegated. i had been messy and unorganized my whole life and felt it needed to be accepted. what i failed to realize was that since i wasn't bringing in as much money, he felt i should do more around the house. he said as much, i think the exact quote was if he wasn't getting anymore help, he might as well do it himself. when he got home the next night, i was packing my mothers car with my and Ari's things.

as far as i was concerned, i was done. if it had to be that way, then oh well. i had done my part, uneducated as i was on this step in a relationship, i felt i was right. he called begging for forgiveness within a matter of days. i still didn't go back. i ended up getting a very good job in the next few days.

now throughout all of this, i always had questions of certain activities that went on. i never could prove anything 100% so i was constantly berated for checking behind him, going thru this things...a lot of the time it was right there in the open where anyone would have been able to see them. my women's intuition was not tingling, it was on fire. but i ignored it.

fast forward about a year. i was still back at home. we were working on things. we decided to move back in together, i was at my wits end living with my parents again, he was driving way out to work, so we decided to meet somewhere halfway and find somewhere. i was eager to get things together again, so that i could try and do things better than before. it started out well, we got a great place that we loved, Ari loved it too. we always had a party going on, friends stayed over frequently, and our jobs were going well. we started looking for jobs closer to home, this was right around the time that gas was starting to go up. it made sense for at least one of us to work closer, he found a job about ten minutes away, and i found one that paid more. within 2 months, i was laid off. and in a move i still don't understand, he quit his job. when you go from making close to 50k a year, to absolutely nothing in a matter of a month, it is a crucial reality check. not to mention certain "activities" had resumed.

i could never figure out what i was doing wrong. besides the fact that i didn't like cleaning up (our place was never dirty, it could have used a good organizational session, but was always neat enough for company.) i did whatever he asked. mentally i felt like we were equals. i never experienced that with a partner before. we could talk for hours on end about anything and i loved that. physically we were both still in pretty good shape, i had picked up a little weight, but he loved it on me so i kept things the way they were. sexually, well, things were 110% in that department. i was told by him that things were great and he would NEVER have to go anywhere else. hm.

...but emotionally? at times i felt completely played. an argument about anything (the dishwasher wasn't loaded right, a bounced check, shoes in the living room floor...etc) was draining. i found myself over and over again wanting OUT. if i could just get time away from him, i could think things thru, and put everything i had known/found out about him on a table somewhere and think. i couldn't think with him around. it was like reading the newspaper with someone hanging over your shoulder. i put on a good front for family. no one was the wiser. it was around that time i made a crucial mistake: i mentioned marriage.

don't get me wrong. at that point, we had been together for about 3 years. i have never been that kind of girl to crave a wedding. it just had gotten to the point where, if all these suspicious things were going on, was i wasting time in this relationship? was he serious about me? did he have any plans on EVER marrying me? of course, he took it like any man does. i was pressuring him, and he didn't want to be rushed. i didn't want a date set, i wanted to know what his intentions were, but i dropped the subject. he didn't forget though, and the damage was done. i think that is when things took another turn.

in 05, he went out of town to bike week with his friends from college. i felt like it was an unnecessary trip, due to money issues he almost couldn't go, but someone said they would loan him the money, so he went. i personally felt insulted that he would make that much effort to go out of town to bike week. where were all these "loans" when your car note was late and i had to pay it? or the rent was due? or for my birthdays? promises of half naked girls and cars did the trick though...but i was being "that girlfriend", the one who didn't understand all his friends were going and that he wanted to go too. of course i understood that, i have a child. i understand "all my friends are..." kids say it all the time. i made up my mind a few hours after he left, that i was going to go stay with my parents for a while. i should have left when i planned, because he made it back early. he saw the suitcases, a hellified argument ensued, and he stormed out.

i should have left anyway. but i didn't. i stayed. to this day i wish i had still rolled those suitcases out to my car and left.

we ended up moving out of those apartments and stayed with friends of his for a while. it simply added to the hell and heartache i endured for him. the situation was bad enough to write a completely different story about, but lots of lessons were learned and things started to work out, again. sort of. we moved a block from my parents house around that Christmas, had new jobs, new outlooks, promised to each other and ourselves that things would never get that bad again. we were wrong...

looking back, i notice times where things weren't 50/50. honesty, faithfulness, efforts. sure, i didn't like washing dishes, but it wasn't a deal breaker. i might like to shop and buy things i didn't necessarily need, but i bought things for him. i might have had lonely nights while he went out with friends, but i was here when he got home. he never had to worry about me. i could never say the same.

i told him not too long ago about an ex i had. he was perfect in every way possible, and we had stopped dating a good while before Nelly and i met. this ex wanted to get married. he wanted to swoop Ari and i up and whisk us down south, where his job had transferred him. he would buy a house, another car for me, help me finish school down there, he had a serious master plan. but we had been through so much, that i decided to take a break and see how things would work out. when i met Nelly, i decided to give him a chance and see if life maybe had other things in store for me. i was only 21 at that time, and leaving my friends and family for a new life 3 states away scared me. where is the ex now? still living down there, dating a girl who isn't me. she has the life i would have had. sometimes i get mad at the life i would have had, because i sacrificed it all for someone else. and that someone else hasn't always appreciated it...

i sat in our new apartment in the dark on Christmas, just a mattress and a lamp. Ari stayed with my parents so that her holiday wasn't a gloomy one. it was cold and miserable, our holiday meal was a sub from the Wawa around the corner. not where i would ever have imagined myself. once we got settled in, things were quiet for about a month and a half. not long after Valentines day, we started planning a wedding. there was never an official proposal, unless a cocktail straw at TGIFridays counted. (once again, where were those loans then, huh?) As it just so happened, my car died, and plans had to be put on hold. i had never really felt like i was getting married anyway, and i didn't know if he was agreeing just to appease me, even though the idea was his to begin with. he was very quiet about the whole thing, he wouldn't talk while we were looking at the room, just nodded and said whatever. i went and picked out a dress alone. there were going to be no bridesmaids or groomsmen, just our immediate family and two best friends a piece. it really didn't scream HAPPY or MARRIED at all. it was almost like we were being forced into it, and we weren't. i wasn't excited and screechy when people asked, i just smiled and nodded. he rarely referred to me as his fiancee, i was always his girl.

i think my car dying was a sign. we had to cancel the festivities, thank goodness no money had been put into it. my dress was not expensive at all, and the plain wedding bands i purchased went into the closet. our attitudes went south a bit. he started to always be with co-workers in the evenings, i would be at home, alone, helping Ari with her homework and putting her to bed. time we spent together alone was rare and quiet, usually on the couch watching TV in the evenings. i wouldn't say i was miserable, but i wasn't happy. i was tired.

it wasn't too long after that time period, that i peed on a stick and watched two lines appear...

Only the lonely...part 1

i mentioned in the last post that i am now single...here is the situation in a nutshell.

Nelly and i have, lets say known each other, since Oct. 2002. we met when he moved across the street from us and into his best friends house. he had this black jeep with big rims that he kept immaculate, and i thought he was SO cute. for months we just looked at each other while he drove past the house, eventually it led to an occasional wave. i have never been the type of girl to approach a guy. i guess i just cant deal with being rejected by anyone, especially in a situation that i created!

eventually, i started "adjusting" my schedule so that i could see him. some called that stalking, but i call it giving fate a helping hand. sure enough, i saw him leaving every day at the same time, white uniform and apron in hand, i thought he was a busboy or waiter. not exactly my caliber of guy, but he had a job and had a car, so that was at least working in his favor.

i asked my neighbor, J.A. to ask about the "guy in the black truck". she came back with some supreme info: he was from out of town, a chef, trying to get started up here. 24 years old, single...things sounded okay to me! i continued to work my way outside whenever possible, usually when he was outside. we would still stare at each other, never saying a word. this went on for about three months.

then, one day, i lost my keys. i figured i had left them somewhere outside, i had been in the front yard with Ari playing earlier. i called my mom to let her know i would be leaving later than usual since the keys were nowhere to be found. while i was walking around the yard talking to her, i spotted an orange shirt: he was outside at the truck. i panicked for a moment, i hadn't really gotten cute enough to see him that day, but i was too late, he had already noticed me. he sat in the jeep for a minute and looked at me. i kept peeking at him, waiting for him to leave. "mom," i said, "That guy across the street is sitting in his car staring at me!" she told me to hurry up and find my keys, that he could wait. when i looked up again he was walking towards me. i hung the phone up and swallowed the feeling of imminent nausea that hit.

Hi, I'm Nelly
Hi, I'm Bee
Nice to meet you Bee.
blah blah, insert 10 minutes worth of usual getting-to-know-you speech

he gave me his number and said to call him. and then, in a move i had never witnessed, he kissed me on the hand, turned around and left. i stood there for a minute like "say what? what type of game does he think he is running!!!!" and then i blushed a little bit and smiled.

i sat there that night, nervous as hell, holding the little green cell phone i owned, dialing his number over and over and hitting end after i lost my nerve. finally i let the phone ring, he answered, and we talked for a few. we made plans to go out the next night. i couldn't believe i was talking to him, it was like being in high school all over again and finally getting your crushes phone number.

the next night, we went on what i have classified as my best date ever. the restaurant was beautiful, he looked good, i looked good. the food was excellent, i tasted his shrimp dish and sipped his apple martini. he told me he couldn't taste my food with the prosciutto because ham didn't agree with him. we left, listening to Musiqsoulchild on the CD player, realizing that i had the exact same set of Cd's at home in my stereo. we witnessed a car accident while we rode around and talked.

i almost don't remember the end of the date. i wasn't drunk, we didn't sleep together or anything. we went back to his house and watched the end of a James Bond movie. he walked me home across the street. we kissed. and as i went back in the house and laid in the bed next to Ariana's crib, i reflected on the evening and thought how nice it had been. i felt like i had known him for years before. My phone rang a minute later, and i looked out the window, he was sitting on his front porch, i could see the blue from his cell phone across the street. we stayed on the phone for hours that night...and i knew then that something special would come from this chance meeting, i just wasn't sure what yet.