The Greatest Gifts...

Well, summer is essentially over. I'm back in Kansas, and had an inservice all day today for the technology grant. My classroom is close to set up, just have to hang the posteres and such. Shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully I can get it all done on Wednesday, but I'm sure I'll go in Sunday after family breakfast and try to get some more done. It's never all done.

The summer was good. Good seems like an understatement. the summer was insane! First, Heather and I decide to leave two whole days early-classic GunMoll spirit and spunk. So we did, and drove straight through, getting home 22.5 hours later. I threw myself into summer-fun with friends, spending time with family, getting Quasi healthy, etc. Worked part time, spent time with my girlies. And one night, I get a text message (I was already asleep, so I was reasonably cranky). It's from my friend Eric.

Eric and I met in fall 2006 in Dr. MacInnes' Elizabethian Literature class and were friendly-wouldn't say we were really friends. The class ended and life went on. The following fall, in the mess of everything, I had Greek and Roman Literature. When I walked in, there was Eric, with an empty seat next to him. Heck yes, someone I knew, but not that well. I promptly sat down. We got to be friends. Around mid-Novmber, he started not-so-subtly hinting we should go out. It took me two weeks to have two free seconds in a row, but he took me on one of the most adorable first dates I've ever had. Then a second date, eating at Subway and wandering around Victory Park, complete with a nice Freudian slip and a sweet goodnight kiss.

Life happened. I was, to put it honestly, terrified and distracted. Winter break happened, and I came back and other stuff was going on. We tried it again over Spring Break, but that didn't go that well either-if fall semester was busy, spring semester was out of control. So we called it at friends and stuck to our game of texting country music lyrics back and forth. We talked, we got each other through some issues in life, and we made sure to check in with each other every so often. He made subtle and not so subtle comments that we should date, but I didn't agree. When I was going to Garden City to interview, I spent Saturday night at Eric's apartment, and he took me to the airport and kept my car for me. When I got delayed leaving Denver, he still showed up at the Detroit airport at 2 am to get me-with Claritan, because his cat makes me sneeze. It was then I started to hang an inkling...just a faint inkling, but an inkling all the same.

Then my June phone call happened a year later. We agreed that on Monday, I would go out to where he lived and we'd go to dinner, maybe see a movie. So we went to Olive Garden-I had a craving, Eric just wanted to be around me. And we ate and chatted and caught up. And on the way out, my inkling became a hunch, so I took his hand...and in the parking lot, he kissed me (though he'll tell you I kissed him :-)). Sparks, fireworks, bread-stick dropping kiss...and the rest, as they say, is history. my mom is relieved to know I'm not an idiot, and I'm relieved to know I'm not a hopeless case.

Unanswered Prayers...Garth nailed it again.