I Met Him At The Grocery Store...

My friend, Cece lives on the other side of the valley.  That is... the same side of the valley where apparently, all of the single LDS  men live.  I hadn't seen Cece in awhile and decided that it was time to make the trek across the valley to spend a Saturday afternoon with her and let our girls hangout together.

We had planned to meet at a park, but when I got up Saturday morning, it was raining.    I called her and we changed our plans.  She actually needed me to pick her up at her husbands work.  He works at a bank, inside of a grocery store. But, not just any grocery store, it just so happens to be a grocery store just down the road from Brian.  In case ya'll don't remember, Brian, he was the first guy I ever used my "What's the difference between a duck?" line on.  And for the record... I only other used that one more time. ( I'm kind of over it by now.)

The wheels in my head started turning... I really wanted to meet Brian in person.  I didn't really want to meet him with my kids around (HA!  Like I have a choice)  ...... but I REALLY wanted to meet him!  I packed the girls in the car, and climbed in the front seat.  I sat there for a minute... my heart was racing...I took a deep breath and picked up my phone and typed out this text.  "I will be at the Fry's on the corner of Something Dr. and Whatever Blvd in just over an hour."   I looked at it, shook my head at myself, at hit send.  Then I backed out of the driveway and hit the road.  I was only driving for a few minutes when I got a response.  I cannot and will not text and drive, so I picked up the phone and called him.

Brain - I thought you didn't want to meet me yet.
Me- I'm just saying that I will be there in a little bit.  Maybe you could just happen to be there too.

I could tell he was hesitant.  He was right, I had told him that I wasn't ready yo meet him yet, but like I said before, I make rules up all the time, and then I brake them.  After I hung up the phone with him, I still wasn't sure if he was going to show up or not.  My nerves were going crazy.  By this point in time, I had already talked to him on the phone almost everyday for several weeks now.  I felt like I really knew him.  On the phone we had so much chemistry, would it be the same in person?

As I exited the freeway, I could feel my heart rate increase and my stomach start to churn.  I pulled into the parking lot and scanned all the cars, looking for his.  I didn't see it.  My heart sank.  Then as I got my girls out of the car, he sent me a text ."Let me know when you get there."  My heart started racing again.  I sent him back a text and let him know that I was already there.  I started getting all giddy, like a school girl.

We walked into the store, I hustled my girls over to the restroom.  I stood and looked at myself in the mirror.  This was so crazy.  It had been over 14 years since  I had worried about meeting a guy.  What if when he saw me, he was disappointed?  What if we had no chemistry in person.  Holy crap!  I have 3 kids with me.  This is not how this was suppose to happen!  I took a deep breath, fixed my lipstick, and pushed my kids out of the restroom, back into the store.  We walked through the store, my eyes kept scanning, looking for him.  I parked us in front of the door, nearest to the bank where Cece's husband worked.  The next few minutes felt like a hour!

I saw his silhouette in the doorway.  I started grinning from ear to ear.  I walked up to him only to see that he was smiling as big as I was.  For a spilt second, I wasn't sure what to do... then I just reached over and hugged him, and hugged him, and hugged him some more.  CRAP!  What were my kids thinking?  I pulled back and smiled at him again.  There was a moment of awkward silence and then with a sly wink,  we both started talking like we were old friends who hadn't seen one another in a long time.  We chatted for a few minutes, the whole time, I couldn't stop smiling at him.  It was kinda fun, we had this little secret. 

Cece showed up and I introduced her to my "old" friend, (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, she knew better...).  She played along and went to go talk with her husband.  Brian and I chatted for a few more minutes.  When the time came for him to leave, I reached over and hugged him again.  This time even longer then the first.  I just couldn't let go (not that he seemed to mind,)  then the worst thing happened.... my 5 year old said "Is he going to be our new daddy?"  OH CRAP!  "NO, NO, NO!" I said, "This is just a friend."  I was so embarrassed.  I looked at him and he was laughing.  "That's so cool!"  he said.  Wow!  He wasn't even freaked out by that.  There was one last quick hug, and then he left.

What I learned-
-While not the norm, a grocery store might actually be a safe place to meet someone I met online.
-DO NOT bring children along to meet someone for the first time.
-Keep some of the excitement to myself.  To much hugging, and I look like an eager beaver!  Just because I haven't been hugged by a man (family and friends, not included,) in over a year, doesn't mean that I need to make up for lost hugs all at once.