Tingles....

I didn't work this weekend, so I just caught up on the posts from Friday to today... Aliya's Post made me smile.... Here is the challenge.... Give us the Romance... Tell us how you met your spouse... Some of your best memories.... and some advice on how to keep it alive... I'll go first... I met my DH at work when I was 17. He was 25 so the "look but no touch" went on for months... Man oh man... can he make me laugh... He's not movie star handsome, or atlas cut, but oh... he is sooo funny When I turned 18, 2 dozen red roses were delivered to my house with a card asking me out. aawww I kept asking my self "why does he like me?" (fat chick question) He always says (to this day)... I love you, whatever size you are. aawww We lived together for a few years, mostly because I was afraid to commit. (my Mom & Dad are both on spouse 3). During one memorable vacation, I woke up and he wasn't beside me. I grabbed a cup of coffee and meandered out to the deck (right on the ocean). There he was in a "catchers squat" showing a neighbor's 5 year old how to skip stones. Such patience, such love... I saw my unborn children in his eyes that day.. and there they were... Those wonderful "tingles". They've shown up a lot over the last 27 years. The good has outweighed the bad 50 to 1. Humor really works for us. The only words of advise I can pass on is "Don't sweat the petty stuff" and "Don't pet the sweatty stuff". Life is too short to stay mad. "laugh it off where you can"... Kate Z

What a wonderful post................ I met my husband in high school. It was pouring down raining one day after school, I was waiting for the school bus and so was he. I had just gotten my hair done (back when we used to get press and curls) so I really did not want to get my hair wet. He ran out before me, so when I got on the school bus he was already there sitting in the back just grinning. I was so mad. Well I ran into my DH some weeks later through a mutual friend of ours and all I could say was not you again. We have been together since I was 15 and he was 17. We started out as friends and have remained so to this day. On our wedding day, DH arrived at City Hall with one tennis shoe and one dress shoe. He wanted to go home and change but I wouldn't let him, I told him that it was good luck. We have never taken a real vacation together and I want to change that as soon as possible. Our children are almost grown (3 boys and 1 girl) so we will have nothing but time on our hands and each other. I sometimes forget what a treasure I have and reading Kate's post reminded me how the good does out weigh the bad. Andrea

I met my fiance, Billy, in jail!!!! Now that I got your attention.... my first job that brought me to the Boston area was at the Suffolk County House of Corrections. I worked there as a physician assistant. Billy is a corrections officer there. One night an Allgerian inmate needed stitches in his scalp. Once upon a time I was pretty fluent in French and that is what this inmate spoke. I had one hell of a time trying to remember the language and ask him basic questions like do you have any allergies... well turns out that that is Avez-vous des allergies? Couldn't remember.... finally I did...anyay... since this inmate was from the immigration unit there had to be an officer watching him at all times. Enter Billy.... he was trying to get me to make the poor nonenglish speaking inmate sign a refusal of treatment (he was joking). So basically after that night he asked a mutual friend of ours who is a nurse to arrange for us to both be at the same bar one night. Well he asked me out and we were pretty much attached at the hip immediately. I have never had a boyfriend who treated me so much like a queen. SO ... we got engaged 8/5/04 and we are getting married 5/20/06... he proposed to me by telling me he couldn't be my boyfriend anymore... he wanted to be my husband!!! We went to beach and he got down on one knee. Very romantic.

I got my hubby out of the newspaper........and after you read this, you will see destiny brought us together............ My brother and I were both single (me, a single parent with a 2 year old girl and a 9 year old girl). We would find funny personal ads and read them to each other. One ad for some reason caught my eye.....the guy who wrote it didn't say one word about how good looking he was, or if he was a homeowner etc. It just said "divorced father of one". On a whim, I decided to call it. I got to listen to "Mark" descripe himself. He kept ending every sentence with "and stuff like that". I was laughing so hard by the time I listened to the message, that I had to leave him my name/number. Four days went by and no call from "Mark". Then on Friday evening, he called me back. We talked for about 2 hours on the phone and set up a date for the next day, Saturday. I told him to meet me at a local pizza place. All he told me was that he was 6'3" tall, blond and he had a tummy (?). He also told me he was a trucker. I arrived at the pizza place about 15 minutes early. I told the waitress what I was doing there. She said she would seat me in the back of the restaurant where I could see the door. When "Mark" showed up, she would tug on her ear so I knew it was him. She told me if he was a DOG the exit was right by my table. I sat down and waited. Of course, he was late. He walked in and I seen the waitress give me the cue......I couldn't leave, he was so cute! We ordered pizza and went and seen a movie. Just the usual small talk, and the subject of what our parents did for a living came up. I told him where my dad worked and he said his neighbor worked there too. Wouldn't it be funny if they knew each other? Here's the weird part.........on Monday, I called my dad at work and asked him if he knew the guy Mark was talking about. My dad and Mark's neighbor had worked together for over 25 years! AND the really weird part.........I came out to my dad's work when I was preggers with my youngest daughter, I wasn't showing yet. My dad wasn't at his desk, so Jerry, who sat next to my dad, told me to just have a seat. Jerry asked me if I was single. I told him I was, but I was living with someone and I was preggers. When I asked him why, he said because his neighbor's son was going through a divorce and he was trying to set him up with someone. THAT NEIGHBOR'S SON WAS MARK!

Okay, if you thought I was weird before, you're REALLY gonna think I'm weird, now. I met Aaron at a club one night 7 years ago when an 80s band was playing. I went with a girlfriend who ran into some guys she knew and basically blew me off. Aaron was there by himself. He had a 14" pink mohawk... You know, I can't believe I'm actually telling y'all this... I wound up going home with him that night. We spent the rest of the weekend together and then I decided I just didn't *want* this. Don't get me wrong, tattoos, piercings, weird-colored hair etc. don't bother me, that's the crowd I ran with in HS, but I wasn'ta teenager anymore, I was a single parent, working in a professional environment. Just decided it wasn't going to happen. I spent the next couple of weeks attempting to blow him off. He would call and I'd be kind of short and curt and declined going out again, using the lack of a babysitter as an excuse. One night, after a particularly bad day at work, he called and I started b*tching about a manager at work I was having problems with. I kept telling Aaron this guy "oughta be taken out back and shot..." The next night, I had gone on a date with someone else (an old boyfriend) and when I got home, there was a card in my mail slot. It had Opus from Bloom County on it and written inside it said "Hope today was better than yesterday and if not, you can always use the enclosed." There was a great big, HUGE bullet in it- some sort of antique military round, like 4 inches long. I laughed so hard I cried. My date was a little freaked out. He thought Aaron must be some kind of psycho... Aaron's the most sensitive, kind person I know. He's a little uncoventional, sure. Sometimes has the tact of a hammer and nails... Yeah, but he's got an incredibly kind heart and a great sense of humor. We've been married for just over 5 years now. BTW - the mohawk's gone. He "looks" fairly normal these days...

14".... hmmmm... outstanding

And it was pink...

Let's see... Told my ex-husband (husband at the time), I was leaving him in February of 2003 when he told me he was going on active military duty and heading to Colorado for up to a year (I had decided to leave him in August of 2002 but needed to get some things in order - read on). I was waiting for lease on my condo that I owned pre-marriage to be up so my renters would move and I'd move back "home" which was September. Ouch! As luck would have it, my renters bought a house and moved the end of June. I was never happier! I moved right in. Ex-hubby moved to Colorado in August. Being the sap I was, I ran his PT home business for him til he got back. "L" in the middle of my forehead. LOL! I was bored and lonely so I placed a personal ad. Of course, ex-hubby placed one in Colorado a few weeks after he was out there (he left still wearing his wedding ring) he was already in a relationship. How soon they forget. But I'm digressing. I decided to be really picky. I didn't get lots of responses to my ad. If you say you are "full-figured" the responses are cut down by zillions. I'm amazed at how folks describe themselves too. Digressing again. I gotta stop that. I went out with one guy a few times but it wasn't working. Lucky for me, he ditched me for an "old girlfriend". I was thrilled! One day in early October, Rich responded to my ad. What is funny was that my search criteria was set to search for folks 40 or older. Just a number I picked. Rich was 39 so I would have never seen his ad. Rich was screening out the "separated" types after being in a relationship with one a while back but he didn't notice that on my ad. If he had noticed the separated part or the age range I was looking for...he probably wouldn't have responded. I checked out his ad and it seemed very sincere. No fluff. But I admit to looking at the picture and thinking "That is one big man". I had in the month prior lost about 60+ lbs and was feeling good about myself. I thought long and hard about it but figured hey I've been there and folks overweight/obese are cool so let me see what he is about. We emailed back and forth a bunch, chatted via IM and had scheduled a date late in the evening since he worked the split shift. It was Columbus Day and I decided not to go to work and what chatting with him and said well we could go to lunch during your time between shifts. He said okay so we arranged to meet. I arrived at Don Pablos and saw him....wow, big dude, height-wise and width-wise (Rich was just a bit over 400 lbs). He said hello and gave me two dozen pink roses. That was so sweet. We had a nice chat and lunch. Both ate healthy (that would change in a few months...LOL!) He walked me to my car and asked for a hug. I obliged thinking he was nice but I wasn't really smitten. But I do remember this his cologne was on my turtleneck and the scent which was glorious stayed with me all day. He came over after work a night or two later and we hung out a bit. A bit of necking. Still not smitten. I'm not sure when I really "feel" for him. The next week, I was headed to London with my friend Gerry (platonic long-time friend). We had an internet cafe near the hotel so he and I both checked messages. I ended up IMing with Rich from London a few times. Great anticipation for my return. Definitely was getting somewhat smitten each day. I know that just around Thanksgiving...I gave him a Thanksgiving day card - he was leaving after we had been out for breakfast. Think he was going to do some errands for his folks or something. We are in the car and he got serious on me and said that he needed to tell me something that he thought that I needed/wanted to hear. He told me he loved me. I was shocked. Honestly I wasn't looking for that... I had told myself that until I was divorced I wasn't going to fall in love. Easier said then done. I got quite emotional. (I'm a sap.) My ex returned from Colorado early in the year (2004) and our 6 month mandatory separation was done so we could file for divorce. The best $33 I ever spent. The divorce was final in April. I knew that Rich wanted to marry me. I never expected to get engageed so soon or heck...even be in love in a real relationship so soon but I was. Rich and I picked out a ring in May/June. We had had a party and I thought he was going to ask me in front of the gang but that didn't happen. We went out for a nice dinner (I planned it thinking he'd ask me - but nothing). He knew I was expecting it. I knew he picked up the ring from the jewelers because the appraisal came in the mail. I bugged the crap out of him. Ends up on Father's Day in June, he got the ring in the box and put it the waistband of his sweatpants and it ended up sliding down his leg. He sat on the sofa next to me with it in his pants leg for a good hour before he brought it out and asked me. We laughed our asses off. We have this thing...it goes back to a woman's "Look". You know the Look. The look you give when you are displeased. We joke about the look. Well once we were in bed and he wouldn't look at me for fear of seeing the look so I grabbed his face and made him look at me while yelling "LOOK AT ME..." So on the day I got the ring...I had been doing the "LOOK AT ME" bit too him on the sofa trying to get him to ask me. A complete laugh riot. So, we were engaged in June of 2004 with intentions of getting married in the fall of 2005. Rich had his WLS in August of 2004 and was doing great. In September, my mother suffered a series of strokes and died within a couple of weeks. I saw my future right there... diabetes, HBP, history of coronary artery disease (mom had triple bypass), etc. It scared the crap out of me. I went to my physician and said "what do I do?" and she suggested that I get WLS too. Problem was that my insurance didn't cover it. So, we decided to get married *now* (then) and put me on Rich's insurance. We had just been through all the stuff with my mother and then a family wedding so lots of out of state travel and such so we decided to get married without any big fanfare or family (even though Rich's parents were local). My friend ran a lovely quaint coffee shop out towards the mountains and we had a justice of the peace. We had a few friends there and our hosts made the most delightful lunch for all of us, wedding cake, flowers, etc. It was fabulous. Intimate. Just plain fun! We were married on November 22, 2004. It was a Monday. Why a Monday? That date would have been my parents 52nd wedding anniversary. It was only fitting that my WLS was the following May 20th (2005) - what would have been my mother's 73rd birthday. I didn't pick the date - the surgeon did. So much more then you asked! Kathy

I was going to college in Oregon when I turned 21. I went to Las Vegas via Greyhound bus to celebrate my birthday. After a long weekend of too much party and too little sleep I was once again on a greyhound headed home. I had to change buses in L.A. and was struggling with my luggage, purse, ticket, etc. When this guy with blond hair to his elbows and big blue eyes said, "You look like you need some help here." and he carried my bags to be loaded onto the bus. He asked if he could sit by me and I said sure. He was only headed to the central valley but when we got to his destination, he bought a ticket to ride with me to S.F.. we said goodbye the next AM, and I finished my journey home. He called me everyday for 2 weeks and ended up packing his stuff and moving to Oregon after 2 weeks. The rest as they say is history, 27 years of history. I usually just tell people that I picked him up in a bus station in L.A. Andrea

What a great topic, with Valentine's Day right around the corner I met my future hubby on the internet. We both frequented the same chat room! We became quick friends. He ALWAYS made me laugh. He asked for my phone number and our relationship went the next step... still as friends. Did I mention we lived 800 miles apart? And he always made me laugh? And he never asked for cyber sex... oops, did I say that? Seriously he was funny and kind and a gentleman. I moved to GA a year later and lived about 120 miles north of him. We stayed only friends but he always promised to take me to the zoo.He finally called one day and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes! Well, and this is kinda corny but really true, he pulled up and I went out onto my balcony on the second floor. I looked down and he looked up, you know, Richard Gere/Julia Roberts style, and I looked into the most beautiful, sparkling, green eyes I had ever seen. And he had a fabulous smile! I must admit I was smitten! The tingles came while we were at the zoo. He opened the doors for me on his truck, and when we got there he softly laid his hand on my lower back to guide me down the steps. That touch was when he gave me the tingles for the first time. He is everything I had ever dreamed of in a man. Its been 8 years, and we have a beautiful daughter together. We are getting married on June 10, 2006. Y'all are all invited!! I have to add something, WLS related, I have been doing alot of soul searching about my decision to have this surgery. I thought I would experience all these life changing events once I was "thin" (still not quite thin yet but you know what I mean). And nothing has changed. I was telling Dave this, I told him i didn't think he was proud of me for doing this. He said "baby, I have always been proud of you. Have always loved you and have always thought you were beautiful." sniff sniff It's not always a story book but I couldn't imagine my life without him as my prince My advice, laugh and worship together. and ummm, despite Kates warnings, don't be afraid to touch the sweaty stuff Happy Valentine's Day friends!