Monday, November 3, 2014

The first of many

Let me take you back to my very first blind date. I remember it well. Mostly because I spent a lot of time wondering before, during, and after the date, who first decided that it was a good idea to bring two strangers together to go on a date. Why is it a good idea? Really in my mind it still astounds me. It seems to me like it is a twisted great grandchild of betrothal. Anyway, back to the story. It was the summer before my senior year of high school. I was going to hair school and had become pretty close with one of the girls there named Becca. We share a similar sense of humor and so we were of course ALWAYS laughing together. There was hardly a time that we weren't together there for a while. One day Becca approached me and asked me how I felt about blind dates. I told her that I had always thought they were a little weird, but I had never gone on one. She was so excited and told me something to the effect of "Everyone needs to go on at least ONE blind date in their lives!" I quickly saw that there was little I could do to talk her out of this idea. Becca called her now husband but then boyfriend, Tyler, and told him to tell his best friend and my future date Garret, the good news! I had said I would go! Tyler and Becca set up the date for the coming Friday and I spent the week nervous and naturally, thinking of ways that I could get out of it. Alas, Friday came all to quickly. After school we gathered our change of clothes and headed to Springville to Garrets' house. On the way there, Becca, being the good friend that she is, quickly gave me some information about Garret. She described Garret as being about 6'4", with dark hair and being very outgoing and very cute. My hopes raised a little that perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. We approached the door and rang the doorbell. My stomach was all butterflies as I waited for Garret to come to the door. The door opened and there stood a maybe 5'4 chubby redhead with braces staring at me. Becca with excitement in her voice said "Hi Garret!!" I'm sure the look of shock on my face was evident. I then proceeded to do something that I will forever be ashamed of. I looked away from Garret and pushed past him and said "Where's your bathroom? I need to change." There was no handshake, or hello, or anything of the sort. Not one of my proudest moments really. Becca and Garret led me through the house to a room in the back and told me that the bathroom was right through a door in front of me. I opened the door, and out popped the most gorgeous man that I had ever seen. Tall, with dark hair and rippling muscles, and a really wide smile. I got a whole new set of butterflies! Suddenly the reality of the situation came over me and confusion set in. Everyone in the room erupted with laughter. While my face was red with embarrassment, the REAL Garret introduced me to his 14 year old redheaded brother Robbie, who had been posing as him. This only embarrassed me further. We changed quickly and made our way to Trafalga, the place where every teenager goes for dates at least once because it's cheap. Garret was nice, but I quickly noticed that I might as well have gone with his little brother, because he was either really nervous and acting weird, or he was naturally just really immature. We played miniature golf for a bit which was the highlight of the night. We then hit the arcade where Becca looked disappointed as Garret stole my arcade tickets and ran in a circle holding them in the air so I couldn't reach them. It was weird. After probably another hour of madness filled with things that honestly I probably blocked out, we all got back in the car to go to Garret's house to drop him off. We got out of the car and stood on the street. Becca and Tyler walked away a few steps while I stared after in envy. I HATE the dreaded doorstep scene, especially after an experience like that one. I looked back at Garret just in time to see his head swoop down trying to plant a kiss on me. I quickly did this bob and weave movement that made it so that he couldn't kiss me and I gave him a tight hug. Not because I really wanted to hug him, but more to hold him off. With a gentle shove I pushed him away from me and mumbled some kind of thanks and practically ran back to the car. Becca, Tyler and I all got into the car and waved goodbye to Garret. This was the first time that I heard the dreaded question. Becca looked back at me and said "So? What did you think?!" ughhhhhhhhhh. I will never enjoy this question. I broke the news to her that he was interesting, but I really didn't see it going anywhere. She was really disappointed, and so was Tyler. They continued to try and talk him up for the whole way back to the school. I could hardly wait to get there so I could get home. When we got to the school I said thanks and practically jumped out of the car while it was still moving in my want to escape. I went home and made a silent vow that I would never go on a blind date again. Looking back on this date, I realized a few things. It is never a good thing to judge somebody based on their looks. I hate it when people do that to me. I was really rude to Garret's poor little brother because he wasn't as cute as I was expecting. It also goes the other way though. When I saw Garret, in comparison to his awkward teenage brother, I saw a male modelj. Looks shouldn't have that much weight on how a person is treated. I have learned through experience that it's what is on the inside that really matters the most. If I could do this over, I would for sure do it differently. I still hate blind dates, but I probably would have tried to be nicer. Unfortunately even after my vow, I have been on countless blind dates since this first one. Why? Even I don't know. They are horrible.

An EXCELLENT Idea!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of having two days off in a row from work. Normally this is a very exciting thing. Having two days off in general is a privilege, but in a row, is great!..... to most people. However, I don't go to school, and a good majority of my friends here do. Which means two whole days for me to be by myself, doing practically nothing. In days like these I often feel like the Grinch (Jim Carrey version), sitting in a cave, checking off all of the appointments that he made with himself. It's all rather tragic really! Instead of dooming my self to that fate, I decided to go home. I needed to take care of some business in Payson, and it seemed like a much brighter option. I packed my bags and in a few short hours I was home and spending time with the family. The boys were at school and Dad was at work so I went with my Mom to get her hair done at her good friend Dixie's house. We all enjoy Dixie, and I especially like her because she has the ability of making you feel like a long lost friend. As we were talking, the topic of my dating career came up. I shared several stories and we all laughed at the horrors of my experiences. It's funny to see how something as simple as my dating experience could make people laugh. Here's the kicker though. Dixie then said, "Tia, you know you really should write a book about your dating life. You have some really great stories!" I laughed and agreed, knowing that it never would happen really. A few weeks later I was talking to my best friend Joey and I was telling him about Dixie's idea. Instead of laughing like I though the would, he told me about these memoirs that he has been reading. People write blogs about anything and everything. Food, travel, their own lives, and eventually some use this information and write a memoir and share it with the world! He helped me understand that blogging really is the way of the future, and memoirs are actually super great. People are always on the internet or the book store or on their phones looking up something that will make their day a little brighter. I then decided, why not? I have some awesome stories! Why not share them with people. People love to laugh, but I have always believed that the most important person to make laugh is yourself. So whether or not these stories are actually funny to people, they will probably have me chuckling with the memory of them. To me that is success. Well.............................................. Buckle up! ;) <3, Tia