2005-07-07 + 8:49 p.m.
Come What May.

So here it is, in all it's massive cuteness, with big, huge hugs to Reva, who is the only one who still reads this.

Thursday - Ashland, OR.

Elanor and I leave bright and early, and I'm feeling strangely calm. Just having a good time, singing show tunes and Moulin Rouge at the top of my lungs. Well, and there was the occaisional "I'm meeting Jon in [so many] minutes. AAAHHH! I'm ok."

We pull into town about 12:00 and are all set to meet up at the box office at around 1:15. I take a shower at the hotel (because E's car, which had just been in the shop to have the A/C fixed, does not have any A/C).

We then meander around town, with the frequency of "AAAH! I'm ok." occurances increasing. Still, not too bad. Only my hand was shaking, and that was because I was too excited to eat. We head over to the box office at about 1:10, and sit down. I look around for a moment and see him.

Oh my gosh! It must have been close 90 degrees outside and my boy is wearing a long sleeve shirt and sport coat. Too cute! He introduces himself to E, vice versa, we head into the gift shop and chatter before the show.

The show, Richard III, was AMAZING! It opened with the most gorgeous music (Jon and I both sat up straight and looked at each other). Show is amazing, Jon and I are leaning in towards each other the whole time, not at all awkward. Very nice.

We get dinner aftwerwards, more chit chat, still very pleasent. E and I run back to the hotel to change for the evening show, and in the car I start gushing to E about how cute he is and then I call my mom and do the same. I had somehow tricked Jon into giving away the fact that he had a weakness for women wearing chokers(the necklace type) and since I had a nice one, I wore that along with a knee length skirt and heels. We drive back, and Jon and I sit by the lake and talk before the show.

The second show, Dr. Faustus, was good, and in the Elizabethan theatre, but by the intermission Jon and I were tired of sitting. After checking with E (who had been sleeping through the first act and wanted to try to stay awake for the second act), Jon and I go to the Black Sheep Inn where he orders me some Guiness(yum!). We then go for a walk (passing a shop that has the most beautiful Medieval style dress in the window. Jon says I'm very willowy and the dress would look very nice on me. Awww! I would have bought it too, but it was $400. Good thing I didn't...) We go for a walk by the lake and come to this bridge. And just sit and talk and laugh. And it was perfect. We didn't even try, it was just perfect. We then meet up with E, head back to the hotel and have a little wine, then say goodnight.

Friday - Driving down to Sacramento

LONG day. Hot, a little minor car trouble(got it fixed very easily, though.) and...there was no Sonic! Sonic is a drive-in chain that is hugely popular in my native Kansas. I HEART SONIC! And we saw the sign for the one in CA. We get off, go to look...it's not there!! The building was there, but it was all gutted. I call Jon, totally heartbroken. But it really was the touch of Providence - we stopped right there to get some gas, and someone pointed out that there was something (the skid plate, or something like that) was hanging down underneath the car. Thanfully, there was a place about 10 yards away that could, and did, fix it, and we were on our way.

Something that did please me - California looked a LOT like Kansas. Wide open(kinda barren) spaces and tons of sunflowers. I feel "at home".

We hook up with Jon at his house and meet Indy, their border collie. Apparently Indy is really skittish around any kind of stranger, but she instantly warmed up to E and I. Cute :). Since there was no Sonic, Jon takes us to a local place for some freezes. Nice, but not Sonic. On the way, he plays THE most gorgeous sacred music I have ever heard - Gerard Finzi's Lo, The Full Final Sacrfice. I was almost in tears, it was so moving. My boy has amazing taste in music - score! A little worried at the restraunt, as he doesn't sit next to me, but I chalk it up to being tired and paranoid.

We head back to his place and meet his parents and youngest brother. They were great! When I said we were going into San Francisco to see my favourite tenor, Charles Castronovo, Jon's dad quipped "I thought Jon was your favourite tenor." Too funny! And his mom is the sweetest. And Andrew kept taking (rather good) pictures of everything. We left, and finally make it into San Francisco around 11:30.

Saturday - San Francisco, CA.

The PERFECT day.

Well, it started off a little weird, since it took us a while to find the BART (light rail) station, but once we all hooked up - WOW! The weather was perfect! We go into Japantown for sushi - Jon has never had it - and he really enjoys it. Double score! We then head out to the bay, where we all walk down to the peer, and he and I look out into the bay and talk for a while. And then we walk down the little beach, and walk along the beach (totally ecstatic now). Then we catch a really crowded cable car back into town to see...

Les Mis!!!!!! My show!!! (Terry, forgive me for all the "!") I didn't even know it was playing there(and I can't believe I didn't check before we left) until we saw signs all over town. We were able to get tickets(SOO glad I didn't buy the $400 dress!), and it was the BEST THING EVER! The cast was incredible, ValJean was the best either of us had ever seen, AND I spent most of the show with my head on his shoulder. The show gets out late, we walk through downtown San Francisco (which was realtively unscary, but still) and get his car. Then he drives us to pick up E's car (which was right where we left it, yay!) and he crashed at our hotel. (We had a suite with a king sized bed and a sleeper sofa.) I change into my PJs and he pulls out the sleeper sofa.

Then we talk.

I got him a copy of the book "Good Omens" and as I was handing it to him, did the "Let me write my number down" routine. Cute on two levels - One, he obviously already has my number, and two, he told me that's a way of letting a guy know you're interested in him. All this time, neither E or I can get a good "read" on Jon. I didn't know what was up...I wrote "(take a hint, already!)" in the book and hand it to him. I stretch out across the end of the bed, he on the sofa, facing me, and we talk, Les Mis was great, etc. Somewhere in the course of the conversation, we get down to it. He says he likes me. I say I know this, but does he like me like me, or just like me?

He likes me likes me.

I'm half asleep, but very happy. And he says that I have one of his favourite characteristics - I look realy, really good when I'm "lying in repose". AAAHHHHHH! :) Wow. We finally pass out around 3:30.

Sunday - The opera

So now I'm very happy. I get "all dolled up" and we go see the amazing and (what luck!) shirtless Charles Castronovo (what a hunk! What a voice!!) in Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers". Shortly in the first act, I reach over and touch E's hand, and without thinking touch Jon's hand. From that point on, we hold hands. And then break apart to applaud, then we hold hands again.

Finally!

Afterwards, E gets some dinner and says she wants to go back to the hotel and get some sleep since we're leaving early, but we should go have fun, and that as my chaperone, she gives me permission to stay out late (boy, do I!). Jon and I walk around, with me wearing his sport coat, and find a great Irish pub, and sit and talk and decide we're really tired and it'd be nice to go to his hotel and just sit down. (It's not skanky! I promise!) We walk back, and the last part of the way we're holding hands (I tell him he has to pull me along the rest of the way. Well...it worked!)

We go in and spread out on opposite sides of the bed, and start to watch Mystery. Then I notice he's softly stroking my hand...we move in closer, a little closer...and we're cuddling, and oh!, it felt heavenly! Then, we kiss softly. And he says "Incidently, I've been wanting to do that for a long time." Melt.

We go back to cuddling for a long while, talking, and just like that - we're an Us. We neither of us wanted to let go, so we set the alarm for 3:30, and fall asleep together.

The alarm goes off...but we sneak in another half hour of snuggling. Then we drive back (I text E that I'm on my way, she texts back "Another 7 hour conversation? Wink wink, nudge nudge" [Jon and I have talked on the phone for 7 hours straight once]). One last hug and kiss goodbye, I hurry to pack my stuff, and we're off.

Drive back was much more pleasent (I slept thought most of it) and I call Jon when I get back. And we talk - like normal friends, which we are determined NOT to lose just because we're "dating"; go us! - and then my mom wants to talk to me. So then I keep getting texts from Jon. So then I call him back. And we talk. And we're so on the same wavelength about this. I'm going back either later July or mid August, and he can drive up. We really think we can make it work.

Meri finally got it right. And in July, of all months.

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