Date Number Four, Where We Never Sat Down

Yesterday, I met with Justin for what became our fourth date.

I got up, and did my usual thing for a day off (civility, power walking, you know the routine), and then found myself killing time at a McDonald's in Springfield, doing the Washington Post Sunday crossword puzzle while nursing a drink and three cookies. I pulled up to his house at about 11:45, and he grabbed a roll of toilet paper (he is recovering from a cold and was using it instead of tissues) and his bowling ball.

We went bowling, where we had so much mechanical trouble (we had to call for a ball return about six times) that they gave us a couple of games for free. I had wanted to go for pizza afterward, but he didn't know any local pizza places, so we went to Ruby Tuesday, where we had the salad bar and split their cookies. Yes, I kind of overdid the cookies. We then went to Wal-Mart and walked around a little before heading back to his place.

There was a park near his house, and we also walked along there for a little while, climbing up a steep incline to go sit on a rock that had a very nice view. Unfortunately, getting down from that rock was more difficult than getting up it, and I got my clothes all muddy. From there we went back to his place so he could show me his room.

We were greeted by Lucy, his rather high-strung chihuahua, and then went upstairs. His room looks like that of a teenage girl: a giant poster of a himbo, a shrine to Clay Aiken, and lots of gay iconography. He has a full karaoke setup in there as well, and he showed me some photos of his family and friends. I also got to meet one of his roommates, who happens to be five years old and wanted to play with Justin. So at that point I realized it was time for me to go. This time, the date lasted six and a half hours.

I drove home, missing him already, and when I got to Target, I sent him a text message saying so. He said he missed me too and wished we could cuddle that night. I told him that before I go out of town, we should arrange for an overnight stay at one or the other of our places. I also told him that I had bought (as I put it) "precautions." I think he got the message. And today at work, I put in for some time off for his family reunion, which will be in July.

At Target, having eaten nothing but salad and cookies, I ate a couple of hot dogs, and then did my shopping. When I got home, I was telling Julie a little bit about what was going on, and the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "are you leaving us?" Nice.

I told her that no, not immediately, and she asked me if I would be giving her notice if I was. I told her that I would give her at least thirty days. She said that she might need more in order to get someone moved in here before I left. I told her not to worry about it for right now, and that she would not come home from a weekend to find me gone. What she doesn't know won't hurt her, but thirty days is all she deserves and is getting.

So that's what happened. I think that with all of the activity yesterday, I think I mitigated the dessert I ate. And today I calculated that I consumed about 1600 calories. I did walk both yesterday and today, and as of Saturday my weight was 156, and that was with three days' worth of constipation (which ended with a trip to the kabob place that evening). So I think I should be all right. The sweater appears to have washed just fine, and it has been sitting on a towel ever since. It will probably be dry enough to wear sometime next fall.