random

3 things:

1. My Dad and Brother are dive-bombing me. They will be here by the time I get off work and will be spending the night as they pass through town. I love 5 hours’ notice, keeps the blood pumpin as I make the quick decision to pile all of my clothes in the closet or actually wash them, it was a split decision.

2. Meredith's Head Puppeteer Skill are questionable and may be heading to the chopping block. Her musician friend messaged me and told to call him and I did and I got crickets. I am not trippin by any means, just keeping everyone in the loop and Ms. Mathers on her toes.

 3. Thank you to Sarah for sending me such a sweet card....I love mail and Sarah xoxoxo

Day 264 air-brushed bound

I had a small heart attack on the way to work. I have a portable radio buried underneath some pans and an ax in a cooler in my back seat (naturally). I pumped the brakes a little too hard during my drive and the radio turned on full blast to the sound of bunch of static! It scared the crap out of and I had to drive all the way down the freeway listening to blaring white noise, so relaxing. 

Nevertheless, tomorrow will start out better because I will get to walk into my place of employment and actually be able to breathe! Not a moment too soon, it’s going to be over 100 degrees here for the next 3 days! Air conditioning, one more thing to add to my list of things that I will never take for granted. It’s sad that the scene from ET had come to an end, no more containing the woman with plastic walls, we are free and no one got hurt! Although, the girls and I actually had a few good laughs….I guess it’s true what they say, misery does love company.

I am now mentally preparing for my next stop on my free concert tour...Def Leopard and Poison! Woo hoo! This Unskinny Pop will be Pouring Some Sugar on herself while trying not to poke anyone because Every Rose Has A Thorn and even though Love Bites its Gonna Be Nothin But A Good Time!

It’s on Tuesday so I have a few days to find the best outfit that the Goodwill has to offer. Surely there will be endless leopard print miniskirts and slashed air-brushed T-shirts to choose from!

The Experiment

Yesterday was interesting. I felt like we were being set up for some kind of experiment. Like there was a panel of people watching us from the other side of the wall to see four polar opposite girls operate in close quarters with little to no air.  They literally quarantined us from the office. They put plastic on all three openings and put a portable blower thing in this room. It was still hot as crap cause everyone kept coming in and out of the plastic door and letting our air escape, even though we put a "no boy's allowed" sign up. Today, I am gonna have to upgrade the sign to DO NOT F’ING ENTER UNLESS THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE OR YOU HAVE GATORADE!!

It was 82 degrees in this office, I was 101 in the rest of the building and we kind of bonded in there. The boys had a pool going with times of when they thought each girl would have a meltdown, shockingly no one did!

I like the new girl, we had a good time sitting next to each other all day, and I felt like it was a perfect time to ask if her boobs were real. I had to, they are ginormous and she’s is this little 80lbs 5 foot nothing girl and I needed to know. They’re not. Aflac hooked her up with a bunch of money when she was really sick and she treated herself to two boulders.

We have one day of sweaty bonding and getting nothing done.

day 262 AC...fail(s)

The AC failed at work...good thing it was only 99 degrees out today. So tomorrow, while they install the new unit, the plan is to corral all of us office girls into one room with a temp AC unit. Fighting for air time on the phones and probably getting a whole lot of nothing done is not making me super excited about tomorrow. I may volunteer to work from home and see what they think.

Another AC affected my life today; there is apparently no AC in the laundry room that houses 20 dryers...hhhhmmm sweet. Now I can only stand to do two loads at once instead of the usual six. The six really wasn’t working out anyway since I upgraded from the dollar store fabric softener to the good liquid kind that requires a downy ball. I was all excited but come to find out the one downy ball is not compatible with six washing machines at the same time (I didn’t think that through). Anyway, I washed my bathing suit with the long-ass straps that I tie around my neck today. The strap managed to tie the entire load together; it weaved itself in and out and all around all of the clothes, tying them tightly to the stupid spinner thing in the middle. So there I was sweating like crazy while untying a huge knotted rope of clothes strapped to the inside of a watching machine. Good times!

Ok I am going to kill my neighbor. Why did he think it was a good idea to tell me a fight broke out with a bunch of dudes outside of the building next to mine late Saturday night and he saw them pull out a couple of guns. WHAT??!!  I mean I know I don't live in Bel Aire but up until now I felt perfectly safe in my own little naive gun free world and now I gotta think about putting a glock on my shopping list? This is not good. Should I pack some heat or get a very large dog? This is not something I am ready to decide. Maybe they were just squirt guns, it being summer and all.

Day 261 action packed weekend

Digits, a prickly arm and some sun does not equal the low key weekend I was aiming for but I am ok with that!

Friday night I get a call from my former co-worker Ben that he has two tickets to the concert. I politely accepted the free $135 face value tickets on the very same field The Tennessee Titans play! We were supposed to be on row 18 but snuck up to row 12. It was really cool to look up and see this massive stadium completely sold out.  If the Titans have ever sold out (doubtful) the player must feel like super stars on the field.

Shout to my girl, Casey, who missed to bus! She was going to jump on the Megabus and take it up here to go with me, but poor thing over slept! She was so disappointed. Don't worry girl the concert was not amazing, Faith Hill did not make an appearance to sing her duet with her husband. Kenny Chesney did not walk by our seats with security surrounding him. IF he did, I would have casually up to him and put my hand on his arm (it would have been prickly, cause he shaves it and had missed a day or two). And then I would of taken a picture of the back of his head and post it on Facebook.

 Managed to squeeze in some pool time both Saturday and Sunday, can't wait for Brandy's pool to be done. I am ready to lay on a raft in a pool that doesn't not have 1 million kids screaming in my ear. I am no longer the color of trim around my bed room and it’s not because I painted myself with burnt sienna paint!

Got me some digits! Meredith has been appointed Head Puppeteer on my budding relationship with her friend, Clay, the musician. Per her instructions, I sent him a message over Facebook. Told him it was nice to meet him and I can't wait to have his babies. Then I deleted it and wrote that it was nice to meet him. He wrote back 3 short days later with his number and told me to call him this week. My next set of instructions is to call him Tuesday. Ok will do!

Bro's of the Sun!

Going to the pool and then heading to the 3rd free concert of the week! I somehow scored VIP seats to the Brother of the Sun Concert at LP Field! I will be enjoying an evening with a few of my favorite guys, Tim Mcgraw, Kenny Chesney and Jake Owen, oh and I am dragging Kelly with me!

Ok that is it for now, the sunshine is excited to give me some color and I am gonna let it!

day 259 break out the stake out

On and on and on and on....relentless Meredith, carrying on and on and on and on about setting me up with her friend Clay, the musician. Finally, just to shut her up, I executed Operation Window Shop. I have been stalking him on Facebook and his pics looked a bit cheesy but Meredith insisted that he is hilarious and that I would like him. The plan is simple, Kelly and I stalk him, check him out in his element and essentially do some window shopping.

We show up, we are the like the 2nd ones there and they are warming up, awkward. We post up in the back of the room and break out the stake out. He is totally cute!!! I have always thought that if you put a mediocre guy on a stage and hand him a guitar that guy goes from mediocre to hot in two shakes of a lambs tail. I am keeping this in mind while I check him out.

The band gets crankin and they are AWESOME!!! It’s called The Cumberland Collective, it’s like 10-15 different singer/songwriters came together and formed a folksy alliance. All different walks of life on this stage all holding different instruments. They were amazing and really entertaining. During the break we talked with a couple of the members and they were hilarious. Clay finally makes his way near where I was sitting. I am trying to catch his eye and be smooth about it, but instead I uncontrollably yell out his name. It’s amazing how you can get someone’s attention by yelling out their name.

He walked up to my table, I introduced myself as Meredith's friend and he said he was glad to meet me. He sat down for a couple of seconds, he was all over the place though, everyone in that place wanted to talk to him. The short time we did talk was cool though, I definitely want to get to know him! I text Meredith to tell her my conclusion and she wrote back "Told you. Geez I'm always right."

Ha, we had to sneak out early and didn't get a chance to say goodbye, now I need advice on my next move....

Day 258 shower cap

If I were sitting around the Thanksgiving table and we were all sharing what we were thankful for and it had been the day after last night, I am pretty sure that I would of said that I was thankful for beer.

Last night was the concert, my fist bumper texted me to let me know he was here to pick me up. I walked out to the parking lot all kinds of confident in my cute dress from the Goodwill and my cowboy hat. He was just sitting in the car not opening the door for me or greeting me with any sort of hug. I let myself in the car and he is checking out coupons for Big Lots on his phone.

Ya know, I am not even gonna spend one more second on the fact that I wish I would of worn a shower cap on my head just to get some sort of reaction.

Here is the summary of the concert:

No name starter band was awesome! I need to figure out the name of the band so I can become instant fan. The Big Lots Saver Shopper bought me a beer the size of my head and I was thankful cause it gave is something to do during intermission. Gretchen Wilson was up next and she was AWESOME! She did not sing Redneck Woman but instead she sang a bunch of songs I never heard of and they were really really good. I am a born again fan.

Three Doors Down were ok and ZZ Top was exactly how I pictured. Two old guys jamming out on stage. I am glad I got to see them cause I feel fortunate to get to see a band who is two songs away from parking it in a museum. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the geriatrics rock out.

Long story short, I am glad I went but me and homeboy are on the fast track to Friendsville and that is fine with me. Did I mention that I have enough friends? NEXT!

day 257 not red flags, ginger flags!

Well the inventory of potential suitors has dimished to nothing again. BUT I am going to the ZZ TOP/ Gretchen Wilson concert tonight with my fist bumping friend. I mean how can I cancel on a guy who calls me Basybeautiful (Basy is my user name on POF) Sometimes he calls me Basycakes or basycupcake or basyeyes or basybeautifuleyes. Anyway, I am going to go and have a good time with the nickname bandit.

My Ginger from Iowa threw me for a loop yesterday. We have been talking over email everyday since we met and it’s been going great. He has been hinting that he wants to see me again and he has been throwing ideas out there to make it happen. So of course in my romance whirlwind riddled mind I am picturing this destiny story brewing of how we end up living happily ever after.

Well my part-bloodhound-Bestie’s first reaction to me telling her he was in sales was to check his ring finger for a tan line. I laugh it off. Then she told me to get a picture of him and forward it to her. He complies and sends a picture of himself in the bathroom mirror. Brandy takes a look and sees a blue bath robe in the background. Brandy says if that is his blue bathrobe, then it’s a red, well ginger flag and if it’s not, then it’s a double ginger flag. Then my wheels start turning. I may have missed a few ginger flags of my own.

Let's see, his name is Phil but yet his email address says Dan Harper. He has never called me or texted me even though he has my number. He wants to fly me into different states he flies into for work, but not his home town. He lives in Iowa, end of story. Oh my gosh he may be married!!!!

So I ask him straight out, he admits to it and says he figured I knew. WHAT????!!!!!! How in the heck would I know?? Apparently I am no Sherlock and I always assume that any guy who shows interest is unattached! Well not no mo!

My next email was very diplomatic as I tried to get some answers out of him. He said he hasn't been happy for years, that divorce has been discussed and they have stuck it out for the kids. WHAT??!! Kids too!!! He says he likes me so much, that he can't stop thinking about me and that he hopes I don't hate him. I told him I am not the one he should worry about hating him, that his wife may have a complaint or two about him pursuing an affair. I told him I was not going to participate in any home wrecking activities (I wish I didn't delete the emails, I could have just cut and pasted it, I was pretty proud of it). Long story short, I politely but directly told him to F off!

day 256 fist bump with a side of irony

Saturday was a little bit of a roller coaster, action packed with a fist bump and a side of irony.

After a morning of buying my entire summer wardrobe for $35 at the Goodwill, I went home to get ready for my date. Before my date, my cousin and I scheduled an appointment to start the re-hashing process to try and repair our relationship. I don't want to go into the details, but just know that the entire time I am on the phone with her, and there was a snake on my deck. I have not once seen a snake since I have been in TN and I have spent a lot of time in the woods and in the country. I live on the top floor and don't get cell reception in my apartment. But that day my cell was working fine, which was good cause the entire complex did not want to hear this conversation. The entire time I am in my living room, standing up looking through the sliding glass door watching this 4 foot snake slither up to the top floor deck. This long scary snake was having a hay day on my deck, slithering all over the place and I just watched it during the entire conversation. The moment we hung up, the snake slithered away and I haven’t seen it since. Whoa. Ironic? I will let you draw your own conclusions.

That was just the first conversation, we still have some more work to do....but if felt good to finally know the truth and I got to say the things that have been swimming around in my head for the past 10 months.

Then I had to go to on a date. We went to the park for some live music. He was 30 minutes late. He is kind of a whiny, only-child mentality, pouty mama's boy, not exactly my ideal checklist. I was a good sport and made the best of it, we had a fine enough couple of hours, he picked me up at 330pm and he dropped me off at 630pm. I asked him for a hug, I got denied because he said he had been sweating, true story, he definitely knows how to sit perfectly still and sweat like a big boy do. I had to settle for very romantic fist bump. Whatevs. BUT we have plans to go to the ZZ Top/Gretchen Wilson concert on Wednesday! He got free tickets, it’s a the Bridgestone Arena and he asked me weeks ago. Do I go?? I have to go right??

I love you like a daughter do!

Well I’m pretty sure the topic of discussion today will be revolving around my very own dad, The Great Jerry Baswell. The one of a kind biker Dad who's mission in life is to live it as simply as possible. My dear ol Dad has taught me how to enjoy life no matter what obstacles are thrown in my path.

Growing up we didn't have a lot of money and I seriously did not even realize it! I thought everyone Dad made their TV stands out of PVC pipes and used crates as chairs to sit around the dinner table, AKA folding card table. How could I possibly know we were borderline poor when we had everything we needed, an opportunity to enjoy the little things.

My dad always made sure that I never missed a softball season, that I had whatever I needed to attend dance class, always had Christmas presents for us to open and we never missed a meal. I guess he knows what’s important, a softball glove rather than and a couch that actually came from a store. He’s always just figured it out by creatively using his resources. I mean no one would ever have imagined that my Mom’s beautifully upgraded wedding ring is made purely out of the gold fillings the dentist took out of his own mouth!

Him always being there for my brother and I will always be the way I remember my childhood. Coaching my softball team, showing up at my ballet reticles with a proud grin on his face was his priority. Having enough patience to teach me how to drive a stick without killing me was quite an accomplishment. All the years of picking me up from these activities in beater cars and embarrassing the crap out of me when they would back fire never mattered cause we were happy!

Dad, you taught me how to make a dollar out of 15 cents and that has really come in handy! I will never forget the 3 day trip in a black air conditionless van in the middle of July from Arizona to Georgia. All we had was a few boxes, a suitcase, and a bird. You wanted a fresh start for your family and you and Mom built a life for us there out of nothing. You’re the reason I know how to make a way out of no way, it’s not an easy thing for most people, but for me, its second nature.

The way you make our lives better can’t be described with words. Every action you’ve ever done has been out of love and selflessness.

I thank you for being resourceful, creative, loving, wonderfully weird and most of all happy.

Please know that my life had been amazing thus far and I am giving you most of the credit.

Big props to my POPS! I love you like a daughter do!

Happy Father’s Day!

day 254 Tour de Nada

Saturday night, route has been scouted, plan has been made and it’s time for The Baswell’s to rock the night away in Nashville!

We show my Mom the Spoons Lady, Tootsies, Legends and several of other famous Honky Tonk spots. We pass by an Elvis on the street, I try and get my mom to take a picture with him, but she stops and looks at Elvis and says “um no I don’t want a picture, no offense to you, I am just not in the mood.” HA, it was hilarious; he was like, um ok.

There are a couple of events that are causing some traffic and this is some important information for the story of the carriage ride. I thought it was a brilliant idea to take my parents on a horse and buggy ride through downtown. They are always lined up along the street like cabs every night and I always pictured my parents sitting back, relaxing and soaking up some atmosphere amongst the neon moons. In my mind it was a good way to observe the city while learning a thing or two about the history. I skipped up to the lady sitting behind her horse and ask the details, $30 to take you on a figure 8 tour through downtown. Perfect!

We pile in and head out, it’s a gorgeous evening, they energy is electric, the music is coming from all directions and this lady sucks!!! I mean I gave my Mom and Dad a way better tour when I said, "there’s the river" as we were driving in. After she got done eating her hotdog and talking with mouth full, she took us down some side streets, "On the left we have the Hilton and on the right we have Sheraton" Yes thanks, we can read!  A few yards away, "On the left we have a building with a restaurant inside. I can't remember the name of it but it’s usually packed" Awesome. Then we find ourselves spending a good amount of time with a construction site on one side and a parking lot on the other, WTF, why?????

 This lady now is trotting down no mans land and taking up two lanes of traffic and pissing the people off behind us. We were actually cussed out by a guy trying to get around us. He called our fearless leader inconsiderate and rude for blocking everyone. I love a good ass chewing while riding in a buggy; it added just the right amount of fluffiness to our ambiance. I am just sitting there stewing with a smile on my face. I have never really been good at hiding my feelings and my poker face sucks, so I think my parents are catching on that I am furious. She then says she is gonna take us by the river; oh ok sweet, maybe the tide is about to turn and all this was a funny joke leading up to the real ride. Um nope, the river was code for let’s sit in traffic. Oh ok, did you not see the long line of traffic that has been sitting there all night do to the "Taste of Nashville" on the bridge?! We are seriously sitting in traffic in a horse and buggy. We kinda saw the river as we turned the other way and head back to the starting spot. She stopped the horse and said that will be $30, my dad handed her $40 and she just stuffed it in her pocket and assumed she was getting a $10 tip. Um no, I told my dad not to tip her (coming from a former server, that’s saying a lot) but Dad ended up giving her $5 and the Tour de Nada was over.

 We were all kind of shocked, we decided the only thing left to do was to get some ice cream and reflect on what just happened. We are standing in line at the ice cream parlor and my Dad turns around and says "I feel like I just got bent over........and it really hurt!" HA

We sat down and had a good laugh over the ridiculousness that just occurred. We are good sports and made the decision to make it a funny memory and not cool memory.

day 253 spoons

Nashville meets the Baswell's.

Saturday.

We got up and I show my parents my favorite view of the city. Right down the street from my place is the walking bridge and we did just that, walked on the bridge and as predicted, my dad wants to move here. He always says that about every city he visits me in. Me and my mom had a bet on how long it would take for him to say that, my mom won with 10 minutes.

 We walked down Broadway in the morning before the Saturday tourist hit the streets. By this time my Mom had to sit down for a few minutes, she sat down on a bench at a bus stop and she heard what she thought was a bus. She jumped up so fast and darted to where me and my dad were standing. She didn't want to:  A. Trick the bus driver on thinking she wanted to get on the bus and B. Get forced to have to get on the bus because she was sitting on the bench. My dad and I got a good belly laugh out of it, it was hilarious especially since it was just a big truck with air brakes (pretty sure you had to be there).

The day was broken up into 3 parts:

The morning walk of downtown. We dropped my Mom off so she could rest for the Saturday night portion. During lunchtime, my dad and I walked around Broadway as the streets filled with people checking out the city. We scoped out places we wanted to bring my mom back to later. He really enjoyed the street performers. There is this one "band" that plays on the corner, the guy with the suitcase as his kick drum and the lady who play the spoons. My Dad was obsessed with this hippie lady playing the spoons; he just couldn’t get over her talent (it is actually amazing and one of a kind). I showed him how you can go in and out of every single bar on Broadway and listen to music in every single spot and are not forced to drink or buy anything; all you need to do is throw a dollar in the tip jar for the band you are in!

Ok I just realized I have to go into work early, so I have to continue this after work.....please stand by for like 8 or 9 hours….

day 252 Baswellesque

It’s time to describe the glorious weekend my parents were here. Friday, I pulled into my parking lot and there they were standing next to their camper that they dragged up here on the back of their car. It was a camper straight out of the 50s and my Dad had spent the pasts several months restoring it. The inside looked great; he put in new floors and ceilings, made a homemade table and several other Baswellesque homemade items. The table was made out of a sign that he has toted around since the Olympics were in town. It was a sign that says Parking $10 for the 1996 Olympics. It had a comfy bed and a cozy kitchen. He did a really a good job restoring it; he put in a toilet all by himself, which is not surprising him being a retired plumber and all. I was really impressed with his toilet installing skills. It must have taken forever to find that bucket and the time he took to pick just the right kitty litter for humans was well worth it. Yep, the bathroom was for emergencies only, just in case, for whatever reason, the outdoors was out of order and couldn't use it for a bathroom; we have an orange bucket with kitty litter. Bumpabunuh. Thanks to Sanford and Son, I will always know what beat to bop to in situations like these …..bumpabunah

After my tour, we went upstairs and my Mom and Dad were all excited to tell me about the 400 mile long garage sale in Indiana and the bed in breakfast they stayed in in Kentucky. They had a ball and the trunk full of antique nuts and bolts proved it to be a success!

This is the first time my mom has been on a trip since she got sick 3 years ago, so my Dad's mission was to make it extra special. She is off of Chemo for at least 6 weeks and they aren’t gonna waste a minute! They had never been to a bed and breakfast together and it was a total surprise, aaaaawww good job Dad!

Ok this is gonna be a 3 parter because Saturday was a 3 parter as we ventured into downtown.

day 251 pokemon

Why am I now waking up at 5am to blog? It doesn’t make any sense. I had all evening to do so, I had nothing to do and I chose to set the alarm instead. Oh, I know, I spent the evening trying to get the layout of my blog to look how it used to look, I need some IT assistance! I have tried 100 times and can’t figure it out. I hate rocket science.

My Iowan Ginger (he has red hair in case you missed that connotation) emailed me! Ha! I was shocked! He sent me an email at like 8am Monday morning! He said he had a great time with me and he couldn't stop thinking about me. Wow, nice, so we exchanged a few emails, I guess I now have a corn-fed ginger pen pal; hopefully it will provide some good material.

NOW, Meredith has been slowly pushing me to meet her musician friend who she knows from UGA and now lives in Nashville. She claims that he is funny, cute, and a musician who writes funny songs. She has put on the pressure lately seeing as my POF method literally went down in flames...again. I do get the whole concept of needing outside influences when it comes to my decision making process and that might be the biggest reason I say to Meredith, book it Dano!

I stalked him on Facebook and he is laughing a lot, so what the heck. I gave the green light and he has since poked me on Facebook. How very 3rd grade of him :) So I poked him back. What happens after you poke someone? Do we get to kick each other next?

Day 250 stalk, hover, and pounce

CMA Country Fest was a trip! They set up a stage on the river (not sure why they don't have a permanent one there cause it was perfect). Boats floating behind the stage, tons and tons of people filled up the hill leading down to the stage. This was only one part of the fest, it flowed all through the rest of Broadway, and a sea of country fans equals the best people watching ever!!! People from all over wearing cowboy hats, wife beaters, boots, and every girl had a dress on with boots. Attention ladies, not every dress goes with cowboy boots!!

Kelly and I went into what used to be called Cadillac Ranch for some eats. We did the whole stalk, hover and pounce for a place to sit cause of course any place was with AC was packed. I did my whole once over/ loop around to locate my victims. My eyes are searching for two people signing a credit card slip with almost empty drinks. We found the perfect seats and started to hover, it was obvious what we are doing, so I let the couple in on what our intentions were. We continue to hover and the instant they showed movement we pretty much helped them out of the way and went in for a landing. Victory! Perfect seats for our lunch break! Seconds after we are sitting, the couple next to us gets up and two other people casually walk in and ask if those seats were taken. DAMN YOU!

After we finish off a big plate of nachos, the band cranks up and we meet a few boys from a 35 person bachelor party from Chicago. I don't know why I instantly start mocking Northern accents but I do and that’s just the way it is. These guys were fun, so fun we went honky Tonkin with them at Honky Tonk Central and ended up somehow inviting several of them back to my pool at my apartment! This reminds me of the time in Atlanta when I lived in the Highlands. I was at a bar and it was getting close to closing time, so naturally, I stood up on the stool and yelled POOL PARTY! Somehow the entire bar ended up at my pool at 3am, it was hilarious.(actually there is more to that story that will have to be better explained later).

So now we have Yankee boys at my pool, sitting with our feet in the water chit chattin and taking a break from the crowds. The boys stayed for a bit, we called them a cab so they could get back to their bachelor party and continue their night since it was only like 6pm.

I gave the one boy who lived in Iowa my email address, I figured that he needed a pen pal living in Iowa and all.

day 249 music city bound

I almost got stood up but I persevered! I did not sit at home for the 3rd Friday in a row. His car had to be put in the shop so it was a huge possibility. He was gonna have to pick me up in his mother's minivan with her "I love hand bells" bumper sticker on the back. Hahahaha, needless to say I volunteered to make the 30 minute drive to Murfreesboro and pick him up for some Sushi.

We had a nice time, he looked a bit different than his pics but wasn't gonna hold that against him since he made me laugh. He let me do all the talking which was a nice change of pace. He gave me all kinds of compliments, which was another nice change of pace. Here comes the moment of my inner struggle, do I spit out the truth about my observations of him knowing that he may stumble upon my blog? Or do I keep my mouth shut cause I know I am going to see him again? I guess I will keep the fact that he has a fruity undertone to his voice similar to the Fem Soldier to myself. Why is this a common occurrence in TN? He is an only child and a huge Momma's boy, maybe that’s the reason…red flag? Not sure yet. We have plans to go to the ZZ Top concert so I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Now I must get ready for a day of CMA Fest and pool with Kelly. Gonna walk downtown just to say we were there and then going jump in the pool. That is the plan anyway, we’ll see what actually happens, who knows!

dat 248 what is the question?

The stand-up bandit strikes again! Well I don't know if he technically stood me up since he called, but since he is the one that has established this pattern by technically standing me up, I am calling it a stand up on a technicality.

Whatever, I am over Tim; he cancelled yesterday because he had to play football. He was gonna get out of playing but I guess the team couldn't live without him. I was actually relieved, I was stone cold exhausted and it would have been the equivalent to going on a date with Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s.

Last Friday my date with Hank was ripped out from under me an hour prior to walking out the door. That is 2 Fridays in a row by two different guys if anyone is keeping track. Friday nights are turning into the low point of my week and that ain't right. Instead of going on a date, I went shopping at the dollar store and found myself standing in line with toilet paper and a plunger. That is not really how I pictured my Friday night.

So I have decided that I am not going to talk about the dates that I have on the books, because it just jinxes it. I refuse to tell you about the date that I have tonight. I am not going to tell you that I am finally meeting Hank for the first time. I will not say one word about the fact that after texting, talking and emailing for a couple of months I finally get to put a face with the name. My expectations are higher than they should be so I will spend the day tricking my mind to lower them to the ground.

Tonight is the THIRD Friday in a row I have had a date scheduled. WILL I or WON'T I get stood up? That is the question.

day 247 yeehaw! country fest!

I am just gonna welcome myself back now! It’s good to be back! I missed you all, hope everyone is doing well! J I have been on hiatus. My parents were town from Friday to Tuesday. Enough said.

We had a glorious time! We did so many fun things and really enjoyed each other's company. I am going to go into all that later. Last night I needed to decompress! Let the air out of my tires and chill! I arranged myself in a total Den of Zen and crashed hard. Love you Mom and Dad, but as you know, visitors of any kind can wear a girl out!

I need to first backtrack to a few things that lead up to this whirlwind extended remix parental weekend.

Tonight I am letting Tim take me out again. After we went out the last time we had fun, but after the date I really wasn’t feeling it. This guy is super-hot, really funny, has got a good job, tall, drives a truck, listens to country/rap and loves sports. That’s like my perfect list of stuff I like! I always said that I just need a guy to make me laugh and that would be enough, turns out it is not. During the 2 dates that we went on, it was a combined total of about 15 hours and somehow he managed to not ask me one single question about myself, not one! How is that possible? Wait! He did ask me one, when we were on the way home he asked me why I live where I live, he said it was off the beating path and he doesn’t even know how I even found it.  Ok, I don't think that I mentioned that he lives with his parents. He had a situation where he was leasing a house and the owner of the house let it go to foreclosure all the while letting him pay rent. So he is now staying with his parents looking for a new place and I have only made fun of him a little bit, not a lot.  After he asks me the one and only question, I turn to him and say "Well I was going to live with my parents, but they live in Georgia" He chuckled and called me an ass, jokingly of course.

So in my mind this guy has zero interest in getting to know me and that was a turn off. So I stopped talking to him. Earlier that week, he told me that hates the fact that I am busy dating other guys and I told him that he needs to focus on making me not want to date other guys. When I am with him the brutal honest side comes shining through and I just say whatever I want and don’t think twice. So me ignoring him..well it drove him CRAZY! 

He texted me at least once a day for the next few days and I just ignored it like I do any other guy I am trying to fade out. Now let’s be clear, if a girl texts a guy once a day after being ignored we are considered psychotic, if a guy does it, he is considered persistent. That is just the way it is and I have accepted it. This guy wasn't gonna settle for being ignored. He wanted to know why I stopped talking to him. I told him the truth of why I wasn't feeling it via text. He called me and left me this loooonnnnngggggg voicemail explaining that he does want to get to know me. That he didn't realize that he wasn't engaging like he should, that all he knew was, he was having fun with me and wanted another chance.

FINE 3rd times a charm. I guess persistence is going to be added to my list of stuff I like. Long story short, we are going out tonight. I insisted that we go romping around downtown for the CMA Country Fest! It’s in town and its 5 days of non-stop concerts and festivities and I must check this out! It started yesterday and the traffic is horrific so we are gonna give it our best shot. I figure that would be a fun date with plenty of distractions just in case it goes south, plus I wouldn’t  mind walking through the crowds holding hands with a tall strapping young fella (he’s 31). He better step it up! If it were me and someone called me out for not asking questions, I would show up with an obnoxious list of questions on actually paper. So we shall see!

day 246 dive bomb!

Ok, I let Tim take me out for Sunday Funday. He totally got a second chance, I was pretty impressed when he left his “all guy” camping trip to take me out. We went to lunch and then boiled in the heat at Sounds game. We had fun, laughed a lot, mostly at my feet. They looked like I had been rolling around in the Georgia red clay. I had to wear pants it looks so bad. Pants in 96 degree weather! Usually I don't care if I look a little off, but this was that bad. I felt that sock and shoes would have been a little drastic and I left my poor feet exposed. It didn't take him long to call me out on my dirty feet. I gave him a heads up the night before so he wouldn’t think that I had some horrible skin disease. I told him that my spray tan and I had a fight and it was not cooperating. This all made me flash back 7 years when Gary and I had our first date at a Braves game. I was called out for the same exact think and my nickname quickly became leather foot. I can't believe I still haven't learned my lesson.

The date was fun, I kept thinking that during this marathon date he would ask me at least one question about myself. Um nope, not a one. This bothered me. We can go back in forth with snappy, witty banter all day long, litterly, because that is all we did. I need someone to at least ask me what my favorite color is and no it is not Burnt Sienna. Oh and he is addicted to his phone like the rest of the world. Put the phone away! You are on a date! Know you audience! Biggest pet peeve ever!

AH! I have to cut this short. My parents just called and are dive-bombing me! They are out on a road trip in KY or South Carolina or something and they are going to be here tomorrow when I get off work. I am excited to see them but I gotta clean!!!