I am so happy with Chad. Things aren't perfect, and we have actually had one big fight and a few little ones, but they are really, really great overall. I posted a picture of him for my friends on the flickr account. He's adorable.
My birthday was really good this year. It didn't start out that great because the kids were bad in the library and then because no one on my team remembered (and I always remember their birthdays and give them gifts) and my birthday person didn't remember. We all picked names, sort of like secret pals, and were supposed to give our birthday person a gift. Well, whoever got me didn't remember. But my friend Mandy did remember and got me the perfect gift--a gift certificate to our favorite happy hour place. It was very sweet. Then I went to hang out with Chad for my b-day. Like I said, I took the next day off so I could really enjoy myself. I had such a great time with him. He took me out to dinner at Pambiche, a Cuban restaurant I had gone to one other time (with Jose). It was really good. I had a drink that they have there that is so good. It's like a Mojito but made with white wine instead of rum. I also had pork. Chad got the same thing as me. We ended up going back to his house and then I fell asleep for awhile. Chad and his roommate both work nights so they were up and after awhile I woke back up. Chad had bought some ice cream for us, so I ate some of that. He gave me such good presents, too! He got me three books: Guns, Germs, and Steel, Ender's Game, and Lolita. I have wanted to read Lolita for a long time, and he said it was really good. He got me the other ones because he really liked Ender's Game and he had heard that the first one was really good. I have never had a boy buy me a book before (other than once from my wishlist) so that was really cool. He also got me the new Liz Phair cd, which was the best gift ever, and silver hoop earings. I had told him I wanted the earings and CD when he asked me for some ideas, but the hoop earings ended up being perfect. They are the perfect size and easy to get on and off (sometimes hoop earings have difficult clasps). I really love them, and they look good on me. Oh, he also gave me the memory from his computer because he updated his. He installed it and it is really fast now. Anyway, I was pretty impressed with his presents and it made me realize how much he must like me. I also was happy because I got phone calls from a lot of friends and my brother and sister.
On my Friday off we ended up going to this middle eastern restaurant. I really haven't eaten middle eastern food but it was REALLY good. I have been craving it ever since. Then my mom came down and we went to dinner and had cake. We had thai food for dinner, and my mom gave me season two of Felicity and the next day she took me shopping for a new outfit. Guilt free shopping is so nice! I ended up getting three sweaters and jeans since my mom is so nice.
Um, I was just reading through my archives and realized I hadn't mentioned anything about my crazycousin and her crazyrelationship. So around the end of July she met this guy at a country bar. She immediately began one of those intense crazy relationships that I was so jealous of. After one week she brought him to town to meet our long-lost uncle/my mom/me. I was like, "Um, aren't you rushing things?" Her son was out of town for most of the summer visiting his grandparents and this guy, who has THREE CHILDREN, had his kids with their mom for the summer (he has full custody). There were many red flags for me with this guy. For one thing, the three children part. Another was that he is twice divorced and the most recent wife just moved out. The third thing is that he gave me a weird vibe when I met him, especially the way he talked about his experiences in Iraq. I am a little wary of guys who have been in wars, partly because I don't think you can go through that kind of experience and not get sort of messed up by it. Maybe some people would disagree with me on that. So anyway, they literally spent every day and night together from the time that they met on. Pretty intense. I thought things might change when the children came back, but she wasn't calling me that much since she was with him twenty-four hours a day. Well, she called me a few weeks ago and let me know that they are living together and getting married this Saturday. Okay, crazycousin. Now you know why I call her crazycousin. At this point what is done is done, so all I said was that I was happy that she is happy. He was too broke to get her an engagement ring, and I am not sure what the huge rush is, since they are already living in sin and all (she's a Christian). I don't know about you, but I really wouldn't want to go from being a parent of one kid to a parent of four, but she seems to be fine with it all. So I'm going down for their shotgun wedding this weekend. I just hope and pray that it all works out. I guess they have been together about three and a half months or something. The biggest concern in my mind is for their kids, and I do think it is pretty irresponsible of her to rush things so much, but I do hope it works out for her. She has never had a very good relationship, and her only major relationship was really horrible, so it is nice to see her in euphoria. However, I am worried about what his motivations are, and I am worried about her being his third wife.
Okay, so back to my relationship...things are so good. He does so many things to show me how much he cares about me, and he's so thoughtful and sweet. We talk all the time (he never skips a day of calling me like Ben), we see each other all of the time, and I just love him. I have also never gotten so many compliments in my life, which is really nice. My insecurities have been a problem, though, and we've talked about them a lot. We actually almost broke up over it, but he realized that losing me would be a HUGE MISTAKE. I am trying to work on my insecurities, and I might try to go back to counseling. It's just so expensive. I do know how much he cares about me, though. I have also never connected so much with someone on a sexual level in my entire life. We are so attracted to each other, too, which is really nice. So I'm happy, I'm in love, everything is really great.
I have to go now, but I will try to do a better job updating!
