Sunday 8/26, We woke up around 8 but then fell back asleep and I had horrible dreams about meeting Andrea and Ian ditching me to go open Game Boy games for his birthday, then everyone leaving me behind to be killed by the pod people. Awful. We officially woke up at 9:30 and I told Ian about the dream and we just laid there talking and laughing and snuggling and I kept busting his chops about using lines from movies, even though he wasn't but I kept pretending he was. He put music on and I made fun of him for listening to John Mayer, even though it totally wasn’t, but I was like “Welcome to the real world she said to me” and he was like, “He’s really good now that he’s cut his hair!” We talked about Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson and how he thinks I look like her and unfortunately he said something funny about it that I can't remember. Like how he doesn't think she's that great or something, and I was like "Oh thanks!" and at some point he showed me his fake O face and had me cracking up. I had him in some form of the hot dog hold and challenged him to escape which he did with no problem and had me pinned within seconds. He was like “Are you kidding me with this?” and I was all sassy, like, “Oh just try to get out of it” and then he did like it was his job. I was laughing pretty hard so it wasn't much of a match. Then I was brushing my teeth with only my undies on and out comes the camera again and luckily I covered up my chest just as he snapped one, which totally would have a nudie one in the mirror reflection. I got in the shower and was enjoying the view out the window but when Ian got in he was horrified that I didn't pull the shade and yanked it down and I asked him what the big deal was and that no one could see in. He disagreed, like majorly, and insisted it stay shut. We got all soapy and rubbed up against each other but after a while the smoke detector went off because of the steam so he jumped out and I got out shortly after. We got dressed and he tried to find a shirt for me that he designed but couldn't. We took some pictures that I looked awful in then headed out the door to get some breakfast fare from Grand Central Bakery. We cracked up at the people in there and faces they were making and I said "Just because you have a baby doesn't mean you get to cut in line" when this woman was passing through. Then there was a woman sitting at the table right next to where we were standing in line and Ian claims she was curling her toes...then he said he was going to grab one of the pages of her book and crumple it in ecstasy. Just like the picture in the Survival Guide. I got a blueberry turnover, and Ian insisted on paying because I was his guest (he's so sweet!) and we went outside and ate at a little table out there and talked and laughed through the whole thing. This woman next to us asked if we would save her table and Ian said sure and I said he was good at things like that and he demonstrated by throwing his elbows around. We talked about kissing each other and asked if there was anything either of us would like the other to do differently. As we left the woman thanked us again for watching her stuff and as we got into the car I told him we should invite her to the wedding, and he was like "Are you trying to freak me out?" and I told him he already knew my stance on marriage...and kids, and that I believe that marriage is possible if you find the right person but I do not feel the same way about wanting to procreate. Clearly he's talked about this to some of his friends which I find adorable. On the drive back to his place we talked about the night before and how he didn't want to imply that for my trip to be worth it we have "to make the most of it" and I said I wasn't worried and asked if he was and he said no, so we were all good, and continued making googly eyes at each other. After he picked up his stuff we hit the road back into downtown and I was telling him about what Kassie said about moving to PDX and being willing to have one kid and he was like "Not to freak you out, but before I met you I was thinking about moving to Seattle. Most of my friends have moved and nothing's really tying me down here; Seattle's great, it's got a great music scene, a lot of graphic design opportunities and my brother is probably going to go to school in Vancouver so it's a good mid-point" and I was like "That doesn't freak me out...AT ALL" and then I got all excited and the wheels started spinning in my head so we'll see what happens, but if it did I would be so stoked. Then we sang along to a Biggie / Frank Sinatra mashup and laughed at each other. He wanted to introduce me to his brother and sister so we went by their place so he could pick them up for their family function (sis lives right by a place the Dandy Warhols keep). They're both adorable and seem very nice and their interaction reminds me of how Kassie and Aubrie and I are. We cruised down 23rd looking for the Virgo and Pieces (or whatever it was) restaurant where I was to meet Kay-See and R, found it, and Ian pulled over so I could get my stuff out. We hugged and kissed a little then I was on my way. I couldn't stop smiling as I entered the restaurant and K was eager to hear all about my night and morning so I started filling them in and ate a donut they had leftover then ended up finishing R's eggs benedict which was really good. I just grinned all through breakfast and gushed about Ian then about 15 minutes later I got a text and R was like "I bet it's going to say "I miss you already"" and it TOTALLY DID. So I wrote something back and we ended up trading ooey gooey texts back and forth for the rest of the day. I like him so much. We eventually headed out and on our way back home and I fell asleep before too long and when I woke up K told me that I was funny and had been smiling in my sleep, which sounded about right because I couldn't stop smiling and blabbing about Ian since we'd parted. We stopped at a rest stop and when R got out of the car I filled her in on the details then we started talking about how hot it is when he holds my hands above my head and she agreed then R was like "Really? I don't get it" and I was like "You don't have to, just know that it's HOT. It's a control thing" Every time she'd turn around I'd be smiling so finally when we were a little north of Olympia she goes "I think we should get Karrah's mind off Ian for 10 minutes and stop and get a blizzard" and I was like "Don't make me choose!" but we stopped anyway and I got a mint Oreo that was really good and certainly did get my mind off him for a few minutes and then it was back to day dreaming. It took us quite a while to make it up but we finally arrived at K's around 5 or so. I headed home and fell asleep almost immediately for a little over an hour then started to go back to sleep again, but made myself get up and start painting the bathrooms. I talked to Eliso and told her about the weekend and we made plans to get together later in the week, then I talked to Susan and gave her FULL details about the weekend while painting then eventually got off that call too. I showered and blogged and read some Blind Assassin and went to bed by about 11:30. What a fantastic weekend.

Saturday 8/25, I was up pretty early to get shiz done before leaving to go to Portland. I got another coat of paint done in my bathroom and did more household stuff and talked to Eliso and filled her in on everything with Ian and K and my plan to go down there later in the afternoon. Alan showed up to help me with my outlets and light switches and I used the wood putty to fill some holes in the new cap and sanded them down. We then walked down the hill to look at a condo that was way overpriced for our neighborhood but it’s good to know what they’re trying to list it for. We went back up and he asked me all sorts of questions about my place for the listing information. Dad showed up around 12:30 so I put the pizza in for our lunch and he started mounting the doors but had some finagling to do so I eventually went up to shower and get ready to roll out to Kay-See’s for our trip down to Portland. Dad and I talked politics for a little while before we both hit the road separately. I got to her place, we wrote down directions then started on our way. I got a phone call from Dad saying there was an alert about an insane accident blocking all lanes of traffic on I-5 so we prepped for that and groaned and eventually hit it. I called Susan and she helped us figure out what was happening and told us to call back if we needed her to look up anything else. What a good friend! We took the opportunity to flirt with lots of boys from Oregon in trucks and Kay-See was all about some black guy who took off his shirt for her. After emerging from the traffic we stopped at DQ in Fife and as I was inhaling my Kit Kat blizzard I asked "Ian who?" which made K laugh and we continued on our way. K ate only about 1/3 of hers so I polished the rest of that one off too. I can't help myself. We talked about boys ALL the way down and as we were discussing the whole Eric / D / red head stuff I got a text, figured it would be Ian (I had texted him earlier about the accident), but it was Eric responding to my prior evening’s text, “What’s up? Year mate” and we both sat there with our jaws on the floor because we were literally sitting there talking about him and that thing shows up and K was like “Can he hear us?!”. I decided to ignore it because I was on my way to see Ian, and I’m smitten with him right now, then I got another text, from Richie this time, about birthday plans. We stopped at a rest stop and as I was walking around waiting for K I got ANOTHER text from Eric, which was maybe 30 minutes later or so, that said “Still laying there blogging?” to which I responded “That was last night silly” and he writes back “What about tonight?” and I told him going to PDX. He didn’t respond to that, but shock of shocks he was actually persistent when I didn’t respond to his first one. Crazy. I was baffled. And when K came out I filled her in and we both had a good laugh about it. Oh boys. As we were coming in to PDX K hit the brakes and put her arm across my chest which I thought was cute, and she was like “Well actually, I’m just used to my backpack or a bottle of wine being there so it’s more habit” or something, it was so funny, I was like “Gee, thanks K!” We found where her hotel was but they wouldn’t let her check in so I called Ian to come meet us, we parked, went to Starbucks so I could use the bathroom, I got a blueberry frap and we took off for 6th and Morrison to meet Ian. We got there but I didn’t see him, but luckily K’s eagle eye spotted him across the street and she held my frap so I could get a good hug from him. I couldn’t stop smiling at him. We stopped into the Italian festival so K could make eyes at the romantic Italian singer on stage. We walked to Powell’s and Ian kept saying that the guys honking and yelling out their windows were his fan club members and that he’d had to cancel the meeting that night. We all started in the magazines and I sat next to Ian and we kissed a little then we all migrated toward the art section but K broke off at the Psychology and Astrological section and Ian and I continued up. We looked at the art then split off to look at our respective artistic interests. Me: Morisot and Rothko, Him: Graphic Design. We decided to go find K and she was looking at all sorts of horoscope books and I picked up the Sextrology book and when Ian reviewed the Aries turn-ons he said that it was about 75% on, but wouldn’t clarify which ones (I can pin point quite a few of them now though, after this weekend’s trip). We looked up cuckolding on Ian's iphone, though we're all still unclear of its meaning. We purchased our books and I got a hilarious magnet about trading children in for kittens, then we started walking to go find something to eat. Ryan called and wanted to get food too so we decided to walk back to the car and we were walking FOREVER, but it was ok because the company was fantastic and Ian kept touching me and we’d just look at each other and smile and he’d put his arm around me and I was on cloud 9. Swoooon. We got to the car, drove around looking for a spot, finally parked in the garage, but ended up in the wrong Hilton, so we started to walk to the other one but I suggested Ian and I go put my stuff in his car and we would meet up after that. We had fun walking to where he was parked and started talking about carrots and singing “Stand by Your Man” and he threatened to put it as his ring tone for when I call. Eek! We finally found his car then made out a little in the garage and continued back to the Hilton to meet up with K and R. We started walking to find something to eat and eventually settled on Mama Mia which was an upper scale type restaurant and had delicious garlic bread and pesto gnocchi. My mouth waters just thinking about it. The floor kept vibrating and Ian said it was coming from my purse. Har har. We all felt it except R. Ian and I were totally flirting and touchy all through dinner and ended up carrying on most of our own conversation through dinner…like we were in a different world or something. We had some group discussions about Bodies Exhibit / Body Worlds and R didn’t get that Ian was joking when he said that guy wanted to use the kidney for himself and the yogurt story was funny. The boys also didn’t get the whole “insurance” thing (“like a broker?”) until I clarified it to Ian later on. We were so whatever that K and R were like, “Why don’t you guys go because you CLEARLY need to go make out or have sex or whatever, so bye! Call us tomorrow!” and on that note we decided to leave. As we were walking back to the car he asked if it was ok that he was holding my hand and of course it was. We laughed and kissed all the way to the car then he opened the door for me, aww! We went back to his apartment and I am so thoroughly impressed with his taste (furniture, art, etc) and the cleanliness, I’ve never seen anything like it from a guy. I couldn’t stop telling him how much I loved all his stuff and he told me all about his art and pieces and how he worked at Fossil so that’s why ALL his clothes were insanely organized and folded. He turned all the lights down, lit some candles and created a little bed on the floor in the living room for us to snuggle in while watching an episode of SNL. After we got our jams on we stood there hugging forever, just stood there hugging, and it’s so wonderful that he’s nice and tall and those arms, mmm those arms, all wrapped around me and our bodies meshed into each other. Whew! We watched tv and made out and stripped down and did all sorts of fun things and eventually ended up in his bed to go to sleep but we just ended up talking and laughing and making out more. For hours. A few times throughout the day he would quote movies like Tommy Boy or Dumb and Dumber so anytime for the rest of the trip he would say something I would ask which movie it was from and he was getting all “It’s not from a movie, it’s me saying it! That’s MY line!” and I’d be like “Yeah right, nice try” and would laugh. It was adorable. Then he got all bossy when I told him I liked it when he held my arms above my head and he was like “I'll tell you when you can go to sleep” which was hilarious. I got up to get something out of my bag and all of a sudden there’s a flash and he’s totally taking a picture of the back of me in only my underwear and I’m like, what the hell are you doing? But it was all arty and could be anyone’s back so I let it slide. Back in bed I showed him my fake "O" face and we talked about how I was with someone for a year and never saw his O face, then he said he was going to have sex with me as soon as I fell asleep. We eventually did go to sleep at like 4:30 or something after making out some more of course.

Friday 8/24, I went home after work and started painting and getting shit done around the house and was pretty proud of myself until I dropped my paint brush on the floor and decided to quit. Laying in bed I started to feel nostalgic about Eric and was looking at pictures on flickr and decided to send him a text that said something like “Just laying here blogging (ha!) and realized we have known each other for over a year. Crazy! That’s all…” but didn’t expect to hear back as there was nothing sexual for him to respond back to. I’m not sure what else I did but I know it was a very low key evening.

Thursday 8/23, Court called me at work to comment on Ash having another baby then I told her about Ian very very briefly because I had to go but she called me a slut which cracked me up. Jan said the texturing should be done, but when I got home it wasn't so I couldn't paint in the bathrooms, which didn't break my heart but just meant that it's going to be that much longer that I'm without my two upstairs bathrooms. I talked to Susan about dinner and Neighbours plans then packed up more pictures and knick knacks and used the wood putty to fill the holes in the capped divider wall and it was surprisingly easy to use. Susan called to say she was on her way to the Keg so I departed and met her in the lot. She had a birthday coupon and I was trying to go cheap so I got the french onion soup and a side of sweet / spicy green beans. There was some eye candy in the form of a shaggy haired waiter that we both kept checking out, and not all that discreetly. What can I say, we’re two classy broads. We had a fun dinner then I was back at home continuing with chores. I got the Copper Mine paint out to touch-up the picture wall so that was done fairly quickly then I climbed onto my bed and fell asleep for a little while. I eventually got up, showered and ready to hit the road to Susan's because she had a year's supply of magazines for me and cookies. We hung at her place for a few then took off for Neighbours. Eric the cute bouncer was back working the front and scoffed when we got our ids out, like "Put em away" kind of thing and I said long time no see and he asked how I was, and he is just so cute. Mmm. Went in and hit the floor right away and there were so many people there it was kind of crazy...not too many regulars though, just Tye and my outfit changing bf. We spotted some cute plaid shirt wearing boys and each put dibs on the one we wanted, but I noticed that mine had a gf, but when I expressed this concern to Susan she goes “Not for long he won’t!” which totally cracked me up for like 10 minutes. The one awkward tranny scored with a guy then another tranny later which totally impressed us. We think they went outside for an alley blow job. Teal and Darren were there and walked by us like 3 times and I tried to catch Teal’s gaze but was unsuccessful so then I thought he was avoiding us so Susan went over to say hi and he says he didn’t see us. Susan’s plaid shirt guy came over and started to dance in front of me and she was like “Get away from my girlfriend!” and he totally scrammed and we both cracked up. Like, a lot. Hmm, what else? I know I’m forgetting stuff, but I’m fairly distracted right now from the weekend’s events. We left around 1 and walked to our cars together and I was home by 1:30.

Wednesday 8/22, I met Mom at Home Depot so she could help me pick out bathroom colors and we did it fairly quickly then went back to my house and chit chatted and looked at condos online. She stayed until 5:30 or 6 or something then I packed up some pictures downstairs and felt fairly accomplished with that, took a little nap on the couch then puttied the holes from all the pictures and stuff in the dining room. I called Eliso to see if she was still going to come over, she said no but that she wanted Kay-See and me to come over to her place so I said we would call her when we were done gossiping and stuff. Kay-See showed up a little after 7:30 and we instantly got down to business by throwing a pizza in the oven and settling onto the counters to begin 2-weeks worth of stories. I insisted she go first since she's had more stories mounting up than me so she told me all about her and Ryan and the ups and downs and complications of being in a "relationship" but also all the good stuff that makes it worth sticking around and compromising for. Then I told her all about my Ian stuff and she was very excited for me and asked when I was going to see him next. I explained I didn't know when since I'm out of town over Labor Day then I've got house stuff after that and she told me that Ryan was going down to Portland this weekend for a golf thing and had wanted her to go but we had plans to go dancing and she didn't want to ditch and my Dad was going to be at my house on Saturday, but then she suggested that we could go down on Saturday afternoon and stay the night and hang out on Sunday then come back and I instantly got SO excited. I giddily asked her if I should call Ian to ask him if he would be interested in me coming down so I did, left a message and he called me back within a few minutes. He was still sick which made me feel bad and he was mock-mad I wasn't sick too, but then I explained what Kay-See and I had just been discussing and he got all excited and was like "YES" and K could hear him and thought it was so cute that he was very enthusiastic and thought he had a nice voice. Then he said it was "brilliant" so for the rest of the night K and I referred to things as brilliant and totally cracked ourselves up. I told him to feel better because I didn't want him to be sick for the weekend and he said hopefully he would, so here's hoping. After that I called Eliso but Jake said she was already asleep so we wouldn't be going over, so I got some blueberries out and we munched on those and continued talking. I got my computer out to show her that LPC had changed him profile to "In a Relationship" which confirmed what I already knew and that he dumped me for that 23 year old Melanie girl. Oh well, maybe he figured she'd be a better step-mommy for his kid or something...or maybe she just puts out. Who knows? She is pretty, which K instantly commented on, so always pushes the knife in a little further, but whatever, was I even that into him? Maybe. I don't know. I think Ian is way hotter and he doesn't have a child and we seem to mesh really well so we'll just have to see about all the other stuff. K rolled out around 10 and we were both totally giddy about the trip down south and vowed to plan it out further over the next couple days. I think I showered then went to bed or something.

Tuesday 8/21, I picked up some paint in the morning for trim and doors and other stuff but I hated the guy in front of me who was taking forever and didn't know what the fuck he was doing. I kept mouthing "I hate you" at him. He was like “So, uh, I need some primer” and the girl would be like, “Well, it’s right down that aisle there” and pointing. Ahh! You’re an idiot, get out of my way, I’m late for work! After work I rushed home to start painting and cleaning because Dad was coming and I needed to get the doors done and everything cleaned up a little. The bathrooms upstairs were stripped bare and looked crazy. I put a couple coats on the doors then went down to the garage to organize and did a great job there and brought down a couple sets of my speakers and helped Kassie load the last of her stuff into the U-Haul. It was super productive and my house is slowly being emptied which will make it easier to get everything ready when I list it. Dad called to say he was on his way so I showered and got dressed and he beat Kassie home by about 20 minutes or so, but we filled the time by chatting as I put a coat of paint on the back of the doors. As soon as she got there we went to dinner at the Chinese place and I ate too much but what can you expect? We got into some interesting topics of conversation mainly involving marriage and the demise of my parents' marriage. Some interesting things were brought to light that I never knew about, but didn't particularly surprise me. We walked over to the store so I could get some grocery items then drove home, dropped the groceries and took off again for MI so Kassie could leave Grandpa's car there. Dad and I talked about the period of time where our entire family was unhappy (circa 94-95) and it was hard not to cry talking about some of it, but we concluded that it didn't kill any of us and made us all stronger and that our family unit is just as happy. When we got home Kassie took off for Lo-Fi to go hang with her crew since it sounds like Mike might turn it into a photography studio or something. I got ready for bed and got Dad all set up then went up and watched some news and Letterman while updating this thing.

Monday 8/20, I went to Costco after work to pick up the bamboo flooring for my bathroom and got a text from Ian as I was getting home so I called him. The convo was pretty short as I know he doesn't particularly like talking on the phone and was on the way to the library (he was sick and didn't go to work) but it was nice to hear his voice. Then it was time to get down to business because I knew Jan and his crew were coming in the next day so I had to get EVERYTHING out of the bathrooms. I worked on that and it was tiring, plus I had other shiz to do so I was working, working, working then I talked to Chrystol who told me her and Schuyler would come over and pick up the couch. I talked to Eliso for quite a while about Ian and gave her all the juicy details and just gushed about how wonderful I think he is. She loves him too so she’s definitely given her blessing. Then we talked about how great she is and her new job and all that stuff. Kassie had also been there and had cleaned so much stuff out of the house I was completely shocked. C & S showed up as I was dismantling all my electronics and I told them how Ian had come up for the weekend and when Schuyler was looking out the window C raised her eyebrows in question and made the universal hand signal for sex, to which I nodded matter-of-factly and she cracked up. I filled them in on everything then it was time to get the couch loaded. It was so light it was a miracle and both C and I kept saying how we didn't think we were doing anything because it was so effortless. I then made C go through magazines and take the ones she wanted so I got rid of some of those, yay! They took off and I continued with the bathrooms / my closet. Kassie came home and we chatted and I told her what was happening and all about Ian and showed her his profile and she really likes him and wants me to have one kid with him ("Only one! That’s not so bad!") so that we can be together. And she wants me to move to Portland. I don't see that happening, but never say never. Before I knew it she was out the door again on her way to dinner. I continued working then climbed into bed and blogged a little and went to bed. Kassie came in all loud and jostle-y so she woke me up in the middle of the night.

Sunday 8/19, I slept the entire night without waking up despite having someone in my bed and it being a very-late-for-the-weekend-sleep-in time of 9:45, which is when Ian started stirring. We laid in bed and talked and tried to go back to sleep but J was meowing so I shooed him out and shut the door. We cuddled and spooned and kissed a little then I finally called Eliso, who expressed the day before an interest in getting breakfast, around 10:20. She called back and said they were going to do some errands and would call us when they were ready. We continued to lay around for a long time and kept telling each other how much fun we’d had over the weekend and how glad we both were that he came up and that we liked each other. Sigh. We finally got out of bed and dressed then Ian decided he wanted to shower so he hopped in and when he was done we hit the road to Julia’s to meet up with Eliso and Jake. We had a bit of a wait and when Sos asked me about our night I gave her a look that basically told her that we’d slept together so we chit chatted a little, not about that, just that I’d had so much fun the night before then Jake asked Ian if he’d had fun and he said yes. Jake then asked if he would go to Frankenboot again and Ian confirmed he would if he had the right company, aww. We were finally seated and had a bit of a wait to order and for our food to arrive but as we did we all chatted and Eliso was gushing about us and that if it works out that her and Jake are responsible and we would have them to thank and it was pretty cute. We kept rubbing our knees under the table then I put my hand on his knee and he put his hand on top of mine and Jake eventually got a peek and was like “Ohhhh gawwwd” to Eliso and she asked what and he said he’d tell her later and we were all like “What the hell is going on?” and he’s like “I don’t know what’s going on under the table over there, and I don’t even want to know” and Eliso asked if we were holding hands and we kind of sheepishly confirmed and she was like “Ohhh, that’s so cutsie!” and it was. We talked about the move the day before and Jake thought we hadn’t burned off all the calories we ended up consuming at lunch and the three of us were all like “Uhhhh…” (and Ian and I both looked particularly suspicious) because we thought he was referring to what we did when we got home after helping them, ie made out, and not the actual moving-in part and he thought we were all perverts. Ian told Eliso about when he split as Court and I walked up the driveway and she confirmed that from the deck as I saw Ian I was like "WHO is THAT?!" which had both of us looking at each other across the table smiling. Adorable! When we were talking I saw Cory walk by so I said her name and she turned around and said hi and introduced me to her mom. Breakfast was good and eventually we rolled out and it must have been about 1:30 or so. Ian said bye to Sos and Jake and as we were walking back to my car he said he hoped I would come down to Portland and I told him I would love to and we walked back to the car with his arm around me. We went to Target so he could get some blank cds and as we were walking through the parking lot this car started to back out and he put his arm around me and swayed me to the side then told me this story about sleepy day dreams he used to have while riding the transit about saving people and dying in the process. He kept his arm around me as we walked through Target and it was so cute I couldn’t stand it. I spotted a guy with enormous hair and told Ian to look and he started laughing so hard and said it looked like a helmet of hair and told me good job spotting it. We got the cds and as we got back to my car he wiped my face and said I had crumbs on my face and called me "Crumb Beard" which is now my pirate name and I thanked him for waiting until we'd already been walking around in public for 20 minutes to wipe them off my face, then headed back to my house where he picked Garden State for us to watch and I burned the cds he picked out while we cuddled some more and kissed and just smiled at each other. As we were laying there he was receiving some texts from a coworker and told me that he told her I was fantastic. Then when another one came in it vibrated on my dresser and made a noise and I looked at him and he was like "That wasn't me" and we both laughed for like 5 minutes. After it was over he packed up and I finished the cds and I walked him downstairs. We hugged and kissed then said hopefully we’ll see each other soon and I watched as he drove by and he honked and waved then I laid down and took a short nap before leaving to pick Grandma up for dinner. I was really tired so I was feeling pretty low key. I perked up when he sent me a smiley face text and wrote back that I’d had so much fun he didn’t even know. Dinner was good and we all talked for quite a while in the living room and around 7:30 I dropped Grandma off at home and called Susan when I got home and filled her in on everything from the weekend and we talked for a long time. I showered and made it into bed to update blog and uploaded pictures and received adorable messages from Ian. Swoon.

Saturday 8/18, We were awoken before 8am by a combination of loud people outside, Jan calling repeatedly trying to figure out the vanity issue, Eliso calling to find out where we were and to apologize for not calling us back the previous night and Jacques meowing. As we laid there waking up I commented to Ian "Boy, you like to sleep right in the middle of the bed don't you?" and he goes "Is that your passive aggressive way of telling me to move over?" which I thought was hilarious then he said it was only because he wanted to be close to me, awww. We laid in bed for a long time drifting in and out of sleep and talking and cuddling and telling each other our dreams (mine: Ian wanted to paint on a canvas, Ian's: he kept picking himself for his kickball team) and we finally made a move to get out of bed around 9:45. We both showered, dressed and called Sos to tell her we were leaving. Jan dropped off the vanity so that was done. On our way out he told me he had to go to his car because he burned me some cds and I said "Well aren't you adorable?" so we hit the road listening to the compilations he put together for me and hit Sweet Addition on the way for coffee and deliciously baked breakfast fare (me: blackberry peach muffin, Ian: banana bread) and ended up at their place. The dogs were very excited to see him which was adorable and he was given a quick tour before we set out to start the big move. Eliso and I dropped the boys off at the storage unit to start loading the truck and we went over to Fred Meyer to rent the rug doctor and Eliso and I gabbed the entire time about Ian and about how great he is and other stuff, loaded in the cleaner and went over to the storage unit to help load the truck up. Ian and I just smiled at each other every time we made eye contact and he'd touch my back or arm as he'd pass me and it would send a little shiver up my spine. We got quite a bit loaded up then Eliso and me hit the Chevron for beverages and talked to Paul the cashier about Jamaica and Rastafarians and how they’re from India or something then I started singing the circus tune on the way to the car and got Eliso singing it as well and she was like "God dammit Karrah!" but couldn't help but also sing along. And continued for the rest of the move. Ha, zing. Back at their place Sos asked Ian which Gatorade he wanted and I said whichever one was fruitier, ha! I'm Karrah, I'm hilarious! We unloaded everything and it was so hot that we were all sweating and feeling gross but we pressed on and got the first load done with Ian and I continuing with more flirting and discreet arm / back / shoulder touching. And we kissed a little behind the moving van while Jake and Eliso were inside. We all took off again to the storage unit and finished loading it up and one of the fragile boxes I was carrying tore and both Sos and Ian kept giving me a hard time about it, like, "Oh, do you think you can handle this one Karrah or are you going to break it too?" so I kept having to defend myself. On our way out Eliso and I played a game where we picked which boat / rv / jet ski we would take home if we could. We got all checked out then headed over to my house to pick up the plants, bbq and tv then went back to their place. We were all hungry for lunch so we piled in the car, headed to get some cash then hit XXX. Court called so both Eliso and I talked with her for a few minutes then we found a table and sat and hung out deciding what to order. Three of us got the same thing and I didn't finish mine and I'm glad because every time I do I feel like shit for hours afterward. We went back to the house and finished unloading the truck and it felt great when we did. We all hung out in the back yard looking at the stream then Ian got out the purple plastic ball that apparently is the bane of Anu's existence and she was doing this hilarious stuff with it and Ian and I instantly started laughing so hard and Sos was like "Who thought that would be a good idea?" because she was running all over the place with this ball and grunting and trying to pick it up but it's too big to fit in her mouth then she knocked it into the stream and Ian and I were laughing sooo hard. Neither of us could breath and I was literally on the ground laughing, and Eliso just stood there shaking her head and told Ian he had to go in and get it because there's no way Anu would get it out. He rolled his pants up and went in and got the ball and we were both still dying. That was one of the funniest things that happened during the weekend. As he was getting into the stream I looked at Eliso and was like "Mmmm" and nodding and she was like "Really?" and I was like "Oh yeah" and told her about his fantastic back (seriously, he's got like the most beautiful back I've ever seen) and she asked if I would sleep with him if I hung out with him a few more times, and I said maybe but probably not...I'm just not like that. Anyway, we decided to head out and kissed Eliso and went back to my house (it was maybe 4:30 at this point). We decided to put a movie on and take a nap or whatever, so we picked Casino Royale and I fell asleep for a little while on his chest as he ran his fingers along my back and side of my face and neck. We ended up making out for a long time after the movie was over and stripping down to our undies and just laying in bed. He asked if I had seen him when Court and I were walking up the driveway at Sos’ parent’s house and I said no and asked why and he said he had seen us walking up and "Split" to go down by the pool. I laughed and asked him why he would take off and he said he saw a pretty girl and had to get out of there because he was nervous and couldn't talk to me. I find this so incredibly cute I can’t even put it into words. Around 9:30 we got up and started to get ready to go out. It took him less time to get ready and when I came out he told me I looked sexy and insisted on taking pictures with his iphone, then we hit the road with a detour to the bank. We found parking easily and started walking toward Rebar and passed this large black woman who started coughing right when we walked by and as we were standing waiting for the light to change she started singing "Stand by Your Man" very loudly (as at this point I was nestled up against Ian because he had warmer clothing on) and Ian was like "I think your crazies are crazier than our crazies" and I agreed and we went in the club and scored a free cd each. Ian got a drink and we sat at the bar because NO ONE was dancing so we just sat there and talked and laughed but eventually decided to leave and come back later. I suggested dessert so we headed up to Broadway Grill and I got a cup of soup and he got some onion rings that had cinnamon on them and he told me a funny story about an experience with cinnamon. We just talked and smiled and laughed for an hour or so then we headed back down to Rebar. We talked about sex on the way down and how he would be scared to so the fact that I wasn't all up on his junk was a good thing. We parked and walked back and passed the lady again but stayed on the other side of the street. Ian got a couple more drinks and we continued to talk at the bar about the waitress and we got on the topic of us and how I'm boy crazy and he doesn't think that I'm that into him based on the fact that I've got crushes on boys all over the place and all the time. I tried to explain but I don't think it was working and he apologized and just said that the situation sucks because we like each other a lot but we don't live near enough and that at some point he'll meet someone down there and I'll meet someone up here and even said that he's got a date thing on Tuesday but that he doesn't even care about going and I told him that's how I feel. If some cute boy came onto me at a bar or something I wouldn't be interested because I'm so fucking smitten with him. It was kind of a weird convo but he was like "So are we going to dance or what?" so we hit the floor. We had so much fun dancing and again, he is a fantastic dancer and so hot. I just laughed and smiled at him the whole time. The music was really good and we both sang along with most of the songs, then some big girl fell on the floor and Ian was like "Oh my God, turn around, turn around!" so I looked and we both turned away because we were laughing so hard. She just laid there; didn't even try to get up so we laughed and laughed and laughed, like with Anu and the ball. I was giving him "the eyes" during one song and started biting my lip when I looked at him and he goes "Don't you bite your lip at me" and got all handsy. Mwahaha, mission accomplished. There were two couples engaging in lap dances which cracked us up. The crowd thinned with every song and by the time he announced that he was playing the last song we were the only ones left out there. He played a Grease mashup so I started squealing and Ian instructed me to push him around the dance floor with my finger during the "So you better shape up / Cause I need a man" part then I told him he has to run away from me when I come after him. So we laughed and kissed a little and just acted sassy. We went and closed out his tab and they locked the door behind us. We laughed and joked and got handsy with each other all the way to the car and some guy was like "Whoa, hey" and then Ian told me how pretty I am and that I have to know so we touched on that topic. Drove home and got ready for bed then we started making out and things got heavier and heavier and eventually we ended up sleeping together and miracle of miracles I got off. On the first time. Afterward I told him that never happens and that he was 4 in two respects he was very pleased with himself and said he took it as a compliment. It's pretty shocking actually. We cuddled and crashed right out with the window open listening to the rain. Ian says the last time he looked at the clock it was 4am.

Friday 8/17, I met with Jan after work to pick up the stuff I bought at Home Depot and it was taking forever but he was keeping me entertained, telling the people I was on medication and that I was his little sister who had inherited money from our dead parents and I was fixing up my bathrooms with the money. I kept laughing and rolling my eyes but it was pretty funny. Finally we took off and I beat him there and started clearing a path so he could help me bring all of it upstairs to Kassie’s bedroom. After he left I called Susan and gabbed with her while trying to complete some small chores then Eliso called so I talked to her for a few minutes and told her I would call her later when I heard from Ian. This is when I began to bust ass. I vacuumed like everything in my house including Jacques’ scratching post, I love that vacuum! I cleaned J’s litter box and got the kitchen tidy, put all the boxes Eliso and Jake left behind down in the garage then took some recycling out, shook out some rugs, cleaned my shower, emptied all the garbages, swept the entryway stairs and some other little things. Ian called while I was doing stuff and he sounded tired and said he was near a Burger King and that I should know exactly where that was. I eventually got into the shower around 6:30 and Grandma called right when I got out and was like “So, that boy is coming up from PDX to see you!” and I asked “Mom has a big mouth doesn’t she?” because she totally does. She let me go so I could get dressed because she didn’t want me to be “nekkid” when Ian showed up. Good call Grandma! I finished getting ready then relaxed onto my bed to wait, got a text saying he was in Federal Way, called Eliso, no answer, updated this thing then got a call from Ian saying he was in my “hood” and I was like, “On 90?” and he was like “No, in your complex” and I looked out my window and there he was right in front of my house so I waved, he parked and I walked down to meet him. He had a big smile and we hugged and it was great, we made small talk as we walked up and when inside he asked for a tour so I showed him around then we sat down on the couch and started talking and he decompressed. It had been a busy week for him so he was looking forward to some downtime and warned that he just may fall asleep on the couch and we both commented that our situation was a bit awkward but yet we both felt ok about it. We both called Eliso but no calls back so we decided to put a movie in and settled on Wedding Crashers after a bit of indecisiveness on Ian’s part and settled in living room to watch. He seemed tired, and drifted once or twice, but made it all the way through and we chatted a bit here and there and I made a pizza about half way through. Mmm! After it was over we scoured the Stranger.com for some Friday night happenings, but he was falling asleep and it was 10:40 so I told him we could either go to bed…or make-out… and he was like “Oh yeah?” and I said yes and he goes “Well then come over here and make-out with me” so I scooched over on the floor and we started making out. I put on Smashing Pumpkins and we went in and out of kissing on the couch and eventually he put some Arcade Fire from his phone on and I asked him about the EP and he didn’t know so I put it on and he liked it. We ended up talking for a long time about exes, making-out and families and I love that he has a unique family situation like me because it’s nice to be able to relate to someone on that level, so yeah, he’s got some interesting stories and said some really flattering things about me in relation to his last relationship. He confirmed that he friended Courtney just so he could see her pictures from the wedding and so his friending me wouldn't look so obvious to his gf. He also told me he found me on myspace before even leaving WI on the mayor's slow ass dial up. We talked until after 1 I think and eventually made it upstairs and he picked the option of sleeping in my bed with me so we both got ready and into bed and he ended up pulling all the sheets and blankets out because of his claustrophobia. We kissed a little more in bed and talked some more and eventually both went to sleep and I think it was about 2am.

Thursday 8/16, Ian called me at work and we firmed up plans for his visit and I got all giddy and excited after I hung up with him. He said he had my address from Eliso's invitation and pulled a "MacGyver" for directions and would rely on his iphone to get him up here. God he's adorable. I can't stand it. Then Eliso called (finally!) and we made plans for after work to meet up and see their place and everything. I planned to meet with Jan at Home Depot first though to help pick up the vanity and countertops but he ended up canceling right before I got off work so I went straight home instead and began more cleaning. I got quite a bit done then Eliso called and her and Jake came over. They started opening presents and I took pictures and wrote down what they got and from whom and it was great. It felt good to help out and let them just go at it and not worry about cleaning up or anything. We loaded up both our cars with presents and some of their other things and headed over to see their place. We unloaded and they showed me around and I love the stream in their backyard, it's really beautiful. They finished opening their presents and I took notes then we headed out to the 12th Ave. Cafe where we talked about Ian and facebook and Jake sang something about the candy store and did a little shimmy that cracked me up for the rest of the night. I saw Richrd walk past and he motioned toward Soundsations so I motioned back that I would come say hi. We all ate a ton then we paid and exited. I said hi to Rich and chatted for a few seconds and he wished me a belated happy birthday which I thought was cute and I did the same for him, but I can't remember if he's had his birthday already or if it's coming up in the next few days...hmm. We loaded back into the car and I dropped them off and headed home. I called Susan and we made plans then I surfed myspace and facebook and lo and behold Ian found me on there and sent me a friend request so I called Eliso and was totally cracking up. "Ian seems more like a facebook kind of guy" and then there it is. Ha! I showered and got ready then called Susan as I was walking out the door, and called LJ back and told him I was going to Cowgirls Inc and he was like "Uh...why?" so I told him about Andy (well not ALL about Andy, that would have taken too long) and he wished me a good time and said to call him if I wanted to hang out later that night in Ballard. I met Susan at the usual parking spot and we carpooled down to CI. Found great parking, got a weird text from LJ about coming through so we were hoping he didn't mean CI, then asked the bouncer at the front if Andy still worked there and he pointed to him so I whipped around and there he was at the top of the stairs and he saw me and developed a huge smile on his face, I got stamped and scampered up the stairs into a giant Andy embrace. We started chatting and he's still as charismatic as ever and such a sweetheart. Oh Andy. He's gained a little weight but I still think he's adorable and I've got a few ideas of how he could drop some of those pounds. Ha, sike. Who talks like that? Me. When I'm feeling sassy, that's who. He said Neighbours had offered him quite a bit to run security and everything but he makes more at CI, then I told him about all the changes at Neighbours and he gave me some dirt about hirings and firings. Fascinating! I said I would be moving into the city and he said then I wouldn't have an excuse not to come by more often, and I laughed and stated that CI isn't really my kind of hang out. We chatted a little more then I told him it was good to see him and he told me to let him know if I needed anything. Oh, I will. We were both excited to see people fall off the bull but were sadly disappointed when the one girl told him to cut it when it started getting good. Boo! Then we watched the girls dancing on the bar and I really liked one of them but Susan spotted a different one with a bit of a belly when she bent over. Then the one obnoxious girl started yelling about how this guy was getting married and wanted everyone to yell "Same pussy for life" or something and made him do a muff dive shot and said it was the worst she ever saw and predicted his fiancée will cheat on him. Classy. Susan and I just stood there rolling our eyes at the ridiculousness. Andy walked back and forth and I smiled at him and ran an invisible line down his back as he would walk away. We both recognized one bouncer and Susan goes (my favorite line from the night) "I recognize that bouncer, he's yelled at us before" and my other was probably whenever Andy would walk by she's yell "Swarm swarm!" We were there for about 40 minutes maybe then decided to leave, so I lured Andy in and told him we were going and he gave us both hugs, and mine was an extra nice all enveloping hug, and he asked "Up to the Hill?" and I confirmed. He said not to be such a stranger and come back before another 6 months went by again and I told him he can always come up to Neighbours but with him working 6 days a week he said he can't really, but if he could he would, so I smiled and said I would try and gave him a little squeeze on his arm and took off. When we got to the car I had a voicemail and it was LJ asking if him and whoever he was with could come through or if it was a girl's night but I pretended I didn't get it and vowed I would text the next day because I feel bad but I didn't want that scenario happening. We headed up, found parking, walked over to QFC so I could get gum then over to Neighbours. It was so hot and stuffy that I felt claustrophobic, which never happens to me there, so I asked Susan if we could go outside for a few minutes so I could catch my breath. We joked out there about putting gum in one of the tranny's dreads, but would never really do it. I would, however, put it in a sorority girl's hair, like that dumb bitch we encountered later in the evening. We went back in and instantly hit the dance floor and stayed close to the fan. My outfit changing bf was there again and I fall a little bit more in love with him every time he changes his shirt or plain takes it off. Ahhh. Not very many regulars were there and we were getting knocked all over the place by drunk girls and gross guys. I guess in the summer time it just comes with the territory. We had fun though and we eventually spotted Teal and Darren but didn't go over to say hi. I saw Max and Susan figured out he was wearing red fishnets with a red cod piece or something and would tell me when I could look and when I couldn't, but almost got me caught! The one guy who wears riding boots with bowler hat or off-white tunic was there and we were chanting "Back and forth, back and forth, up and down, down the stairs, march in place!" as he was doing all those things (we need a good nickname for him). This stupid guy behind me took his slippers off and I kept stepping backward onto them so Susan mock-kicked them and one of the girls he was with told him which totally cracked us up, then we talked about hiding them and how he would have to walk out in the nasty alley with no shoes. Then some guy bumped into Susan or stepped on her foot and he was like "Sorry!" and she was like "No, but you will be!" and shot him an angry Susan look. When I went up to get some water some big black guy put his cold clammy hand on my shoulder and said he'd been watching me dance and I was so hot or whatever but he didn't want to come over because he was scared of my gf. Hahahahaaaa! Yeah, back out. I was polite though, I said thanks then continued to wait in line. Some other random guys came up on the dance floor and said we needed to dance more and to pretend like it was a good song, then his friend was like "You have the most beautiful nose ever" then ran two of his fingers on either side down the length of his nose while staring at me intensely. It made both Susan and I laugh so I put it as my status or whatever. We moved spots to get away from many of the drunkards and a few good songs were played but I decided to pack it in right at about 1:00. I headed out and right as I was nearing the end of the alley saw Michael and a friend come around the corner. I got a nice hug and was introduced to Kelly and I told him Derek was inside (AND, Susan and I had seen him on her birthday with, like, the gayest looking jeans ever! He's still fucking hotter than hell though) and Susan too and to say hi to her but that the music wasn't all that great. He suggested possibly getting together before Neighbours or something next week and I told him I would love that so we'll see if it actually happens. He told Kelly that we met at Neighbours I and added that it's where I fell in love with him and made a heart with my hands. He looked so adorable with his glasses on. Said bye and ran to my car, found the text from him asking if I was out, then drove home and hit the sack.

Wednesday 8/15, I forgot to mention that the LJ texted me then called me on Monday. The convo was interesting but at least he owns his own house and has a boat so we'll see what happens. After work I went on a walk and it felt good, but I was so sweaty and tired by the time I got home I felt disgusting. Made for a good work out though. I got down to business with cleaning and repotting plants. I washed my bedding and Kassie's, eventually ate some dinner which was mostly veggies and did some relaxing and cleaning in my room. I read some of my book and I'm very close to being done which makes me sad, and crashed out before 11.

Tuesday 8/14, Plan-making with Ian continued through the day and we went back and forth with making plans for me to come down on Friday to go dancing at Lola's. After work I drove into Seattle, changed at Susan's and we set out to Greenlake to do paddle boating for her birthday. Parking was a nightmare but we found a great spot in the shade, score! We rented a paddle boat and our boat master was sooo hot, I asked him how he was and when he said he was good I was like “I bet you are!” and I think Susan probably just rolled her eyes at me. Or at that point she was probably struggling with her life jacket. I asked him how I should get in and he said however I want so I rolled up my pants and walked around the side right by him. He told us we didn’t have to wear our lifejackets so I told him the last guy told us we had to but that was like 2 years ago then I wanted to say “Shut up and kiss me!” because I was already leaning my head back in the perfect position. But instead he pushed us off and wished us a good time. It wasn’t long before I unbuttoned my pants to get optimal tanning opportunity. We both paddled quite a bit but also floated a ton and almost drifted into another boat. We cruised along the beach and dock to check out the plethora of half naked men. It looked like we were only going to have one chance to get a cute boat master to wrangle us in because neither of us wanted “Denim Shorts” so we saw our opening and went for it, but still got DS. Brown Shorts wasn’t as cute as we thought so it was ok. The cute boat master was working the booth and took our lifejackets and asked us if we’d had fun. We headed back to the car and there was an SUV with three hot guys in it and I was like “Hel-LO!” and they were like “Hey beautiful” and I giggled and continued walking by with my mouth open. Yum. Delicious! That’s for Susan. I noticed my ring was gone and had a freak out because I didn’t know how it could have fallen off but Susan reassured me that it was probably sitting on her bed as I had most likely taken it off when I applied sunscreen. We walked over to Baskin Robbins and got some ice cream, walked back to sit by the water and Susan almost threw her ice cream at the guy talking on his cell phone. We left to go back to her place and she meowed at this guy on his bike but then he caught up with us and I think he had a speech impediment. This did not prohibit Susan from meowing at him again. Back at her place we changed, researched a few places and settled on Smith because of the legendary Poutine. We walked up and got a good seat where we could both see some cute boys. I ordered a salad that was Delicious! Then we ordered the pork sandwich with green beans in addition to the Poutine, which was so good but I think added about 4 lbs onto my ass alone. We ate almost all the food then headed down to Sonic Boom where Susan made googly eyes at the guy working and I found a Belle and Sebastian cd and an Elliott Smith one as well. After that we walked over to Coastal Kitchen where we got some delicious chocolate desserts. I checked out some guys walking by the restaurant and Susan said the one guy gave me a funny look which made us both laugh. We talked about boys and what I would do if Eric asked me to come over and Susan votes for Ian. I think I do too. He seems much nicer than him, and so enthusiastic! We walked back to Susan’s in the dark and I grabbed my stuff and headed out because I was tired and had stuff to do at home and it was getting late-ish. I came home to a cute message from Ian so I thought about what I wanted to do based on the dilemma he presented as well as the solutions. I cleaned the kitchen and stuff and marinated on it then wrote back and we decided that he would come up here this weekend and flirted back and forth until I finally logged off. I updated this thing until after midnight and watched the Letterman show which I haven’t forever and totally loved it.

Monday 8/13, I called Grandma on my lunch break to see if she wanted to go to dinner and she did so I headed straight over there and we sat and talked a while before leaving to the Chinese place she likes. We had a nice dinner then went to QFC so she could do a little shopping since she was low on food and always has to rely on other people to shop for her. While I was there with her Jess called to say that Kyle had come over with a card thanking us for the cake and how it was really nice and he appreciated it, and Jess and I were both like "Awwww!" and she said I should have made out with him and I told her I would have but she didn't want to go back to the party! It was funny. Maybe she got his number and I'll call him when I go back up to pick up my earrings. Back at Grandma's we put her groceries away and sat and talked for a while longer and I left a little after 7. Ian sent me a message saying he was stressed so I suggested dancing and asked "my hood or yours?" and he surprisingly responded back that he totally wanted to get together (soon!) so we started putting that together. Talked to Susan and went to bed after reading a back issue of Bust.

Sunday 8/12, We woke up around 9:15ish and went into the living room to wait for her Dad and Linda to get back from church for breakfast. We sat and talked there for quite a while then both got dressed and they arrived. Breakfast was served: blueberry pancakes, all sorts of fresh fruit and peach and raspberry cobbler. YUM! I ate a ton. We sat around talking for a long time and eventually took off around 12:30 and found so-so weather when we arrived back at the beach house. Nevertheless we suited up and tried to catch some rays. I ate a ton of chips and stuff then we set out on the jet ski and had a fantastic time going over waves and looking at houses and cute boys at bbqs. We laid on the dock for a long time talking after we got back and waved at the neighbor boys who asked about the casino. Lunch was served so I ate a ton more that I didn't need, but it was good, so what can you do? I had a little ice cream for dessert then took off because it was almost 5. I went straight to Home Depot to buy all the shiz I needed for my bathroom(s) remodel project and walked out $1,300 poorer. Not too bad, it's the labor that will probably kill me. Talked to Susan who wanted to go to a show at the Comet because A was playing and so was Schuyler's band the Harborrats. I was tired and dirty and didn't know how I would be feeling so I told her I would let her know and began to decompress and upload pictures to flickr and myspace from Neighbours and the weekend. I called Chrystol to see if she was going to go because I was feeling like I wanted to and she said she would go if I was planning on going so it was set. I called Susan back, started some laundry, showered and got ready to head out. Got a cute message from Ian and mentally noted to respond when I got home. Met Susan up on CH and she delivered delicious scones, mmmm, then we walked over to the Comet and instantly noticed how many hot guys were there. Andrew was playing and I was surprised because it was actually pretty good and I really liked the planet song. I spotted this one guy that looked really cute (Red Shirt) and had tattoos on his arm, and at the same time like a lumberjack (must be a thing that goes back to my middle school days as a lumberjack). I kept an eye on him as he went between being outside and inside. I noticed Kassie's Justin at the bar and waved but he just looked at me. I finally went down to say hi and he said he saw me but thought I was waving at the bar tender, then introduced me to his mom, gf and another guy Dan who also knows Kassie. He asked if I was there to watch them play because it turns out that Mulally was also on the bill. So not only did I know Andrew, I knew Schuyler in the Harborrats and then Justin and Chris in Mulally. Hilarious! Chrystol and Schuyler showed up and I instantly filled C in on the boy stuff as we shared a seat while gabbing. Susan snagged a seat at the bar to boy-watch then I noticed that there was a cute guy sitting one stool away from her so I told C and she was like "Go sit between Susan and that guy!" and when I protested she scooted her ass over and knocked me right off the chair so I was forced to. I was only sitting next to him for a minute or two before he started talking to me. He was so adorable and from Minneapolis so he high fived me when I told him I was going there in two weeks and that my family is all from there and that I was just there last weekend. I cracked up when he asked if where we were was the "Gay District" I was like "Ha, well, uh, kind of" oh god he was cute. His cousin was underage however and he was just scouting it out and totally didn't even pay to get in and ended up leaving a few minutes later but clarified that he wished he could stay longer. Oh Luke, I'll miss you. He looked like a huskier, manlier version of Spencer with an amazing smile. Mmmm. So then I went back to focusing on Red Shirt. Susan and I worked out a system for determining if there was a bench on the wall or not, so I had my task and set back out to the floor to sit with C and gave Susan and slow discreet thumbs up. Andrew went and sat next to her and I motioned for her to ask him about RS and lo and behold he knew him and ended up on a mission to hook us up. Susan sat on the wall while the Harborrats played, who incidentally, were fantastic. I was tapping my foot and singing along with the lyrics through their whole set and gave Schuyler a thumbs up at one point. It was really fun. Andrew came over and talked to me and moved a chair right next to me, in a totally obvious way, and RS ended up sitting right next to me. Eek! I turned my head and saw him and whipped it back around which I know was totally not discreet and told C. She thought he looked stoned. Andrew came back and introduced us and his name is Billy and he plays in a band and we ended up talking and laughing for much of the sets. I changed my mind a little so we'll see what happens. Anyway, then Mulally went on and they were fantastic as well and much better than the cd I remember hearing, but I think that was when Chris was doing a lot of it on his own. Andrew yelled out "Hey Chris, are you going to get naked?" and he was like "Only if you do Andrew" ha. It was so fun and I didn't want to leave but I had work the next morning so I took off around 11:15 and on my way out Billy caught me and asked me for my number so he could invite me to his show on Wednesday. I said bye to everyone then headed out, said bye to Billy one more time and walked to my car. Hot damn, I'm feeling on fire these days.

Saturday 8/11, We woke up around 9:30 but stayed in bed and texted with Billy and went through the Sextrology book and laughed hysterically at the "legal teens" part. So true. Day made a humongous breakfast of waffles (of course), bacon and a mushroom and onion omelet. I ate way too much as always then we climbed back into bed and I think we watched Just for Laughs at some point. I don't remember when but we especially liked the naked cops one and the one where the cop talks on peoples' cell phones and lays on the ground kicking like a little girl. Jess wants to do it to her Grandma. We helped Day get the jet skis in the water, well kind of, Day did most of the work and got mad at Jess for not being more proactive. We headed up to her Dad's so she could get some clothes and him and Linda showed us all around the yard and what they've done with it and it looked really good. We stayed there for an hour or so chatting then headed back to her Mom's. The weather wasn't very good but we got our suits on anyway in hopes that a few sun breaks would manifest. We laid on the deck and Billy came over and we hassled him until he got the stand up jet ski going and he was like "You want me to ride this hunk of junk?" and we gave an enthusiastic "Yeah!" so he did. Of course. There was smoke everywhere and it was louder than hell, but Billy did it justice and paraded it around in front of Kyle's already-in-progress pre-birthday party. We all ended up back on the deck and Billy was grossing me out with his interaction with Jess so I tried to ignore all of it, but we had some fun too, like reading more of the Sextrology book and taking lots of pictures. Day asked Billy if he wanted a steak and he did and I said I only wanted a hot dog but that I liked steak so she fixed me an enormous steak that I didn't eat even half of and Jess made nachos. While waiting for dinner Billy and I talked inside forever about Trevor and relationships and all sorts of other things and he was being so fucking normal I kept thinking, "If you were like this all the time Billy you'd totally have a gf". He thought I should call Trevor to see if he wanted to go to the casino as well, but he didn't answer so I left a message after laughing at his new voicemail. Back to dinner, I knew there was no way that even if hot dogs were made I would be able to eat one. The plan became to head to the casino for Jess' aunt Kathy's birthday so we went over to Kyle's party for a little bit. He was pretty drunk and I talked with the guy whose boat we went on last summer with the hot water-skiing 15 year old. Kyle was being a bit affectionate and joking about "Bobble Head Billy" and I was totally ready to make out with him so we told him we couldn't stay very long but would come back after we got back and he asked “Promise?” Jessica's Mom insisted we take the German Chocolate cake over to him with the only three candles she had in the house. The cake didn't quite make the splash Jess was hoping for, but later we would find out he really did appreciate it. Anyway, we found Billy who was without shoes and we guessed that was the reason he didn't want to go. We all piled in the car and headed to the casino laughing about Jack's "35" comment and when Day yelled at him for being PG-13 with us, like how him and Day would make out in the backseat and how the only thing they do back there these days is argue, or something, whatever it was we were all howling. So we get to Tulalip, park, walk to the entrance while Day runs to various parking spots and yells at Jessica to move the car. So funny. We got some drinks then Jack showed us where the band was playing and dancing and stuff and he started dancing and I almost died, it was so hilarious and cute I couldn't stand it. They were playing some good tunes so we stayed and listened for a few minutes then found the family again. There were some surprisingly cute guys there and one kept circling but he was a little too metro for our taste. Jack and Jess broke in the Blackjack table and they were both up quite a bit but lost it on one hand. Day gave us $100 to gamble but we didn't touch it, and instead I gambled $10 of Jess' and lost it and she gambled another $30 that she lost as well. Day showed us her technique for picking up guys and we were laughing so hysterically, especially when she touched the one guy's arm and him and his friends didn't stop looking and laughing so it totally worked. We didn't do too bad for not even dressing up or really going out of our way to attract these guys. We ended up leaving around midnight and cracked up at some of Billy's texts, and headed up to her Dad's to spend the night. No making out for me and Kyle. Jessica talked most of the way in order to stay awake. That was fine with me. We got ready and climbed into the insanely comfortable bed.

Friday 8/10, I couldn't help but start feeling very very nostalgic about last summer involving Eric and this summer's current turn of events involving Ian.

Exhibit A) Eric and I met while dancing on a Thursday, I called him out on having a gf and I thought I wouldn't see him again though I was super attracted and had a ton of fun. He showed up again the next Thursday and informed me he broke up with his gf of 4 years. We made out, dated for about 3 months, he stopped calling, we've seen each other sporadically and have made out since that time.

Exhibit B) I met Ian during a wedding and we totally clicked on the dance floor, he had a gf, I made sure he knew I knew, send flirty messages back and forth after returning home from the wedding, he writes me a message on the EXACT SAME DAY AS LAST SUMMER that Eric told me he'd broken up with his gf.

Does anyone see a pattern here except me? I meet these guys with gfs, hit it off on the dance floor and they break up with their gfs within a week. So if all goes as planned, Ian and I will date for about 3 months, have fantastic sex, he'll stop calling and a year from now we'll still be randomly talking to each other and making out once in a while. GREAT!

Anyway, back to Friday. I took off straight from work up to Jessica's Mom's house and it took me two fucking hours. Traffic suuuucked. But I made it up and found Jess tanning on the end of the dock so I got my suit on and joined her and a few minutes later Kyle came over in his boat and asked us if we wanted to cruise around, so we hopped in and he put on a great 80's station so I was totally happy and we just puttered around the lake. He's such a nice guy and for some reason we both thought he was younger, but it turns out he's older and was having a birthday party the next night for his 30th. We stopped by his place where he got us some waters and Jess jumped in the lake. We all laughed like crazy when Jess was trying to hang her towel on his "roll bar" to dry it off and I didn't even budge to help her even though it would be much easier for me since I'm like 8 inches taller. We also laughed (Jess and I) about how erect her nipples were in that bathing suit and how poor Kyle must have been struggling like crazy to not stare. I mentioned being hungry but Jess wasn't so Kyle invited me over for lasagna at his brother's. He dropped us off and we said we'd be back, I changed and went back over just as Billy showed up with some pictures to show us. Kyle had waited for me which I thought was sweet so I met his brother and the gf then we went to sit outside and he pulled the chair out and I was like "Um, is this a date or something" but it was nice. Jess and I later joked that Billy should have come out playing his guitar and Jess could have been selling roses and we couldn't even breathe we were laughing so hard. Billy would have had a mustache too. Anyway, so after dinner we had to move the cars around then we went back over to Nate's house and sat around the campfire with them. Jess insisted on sitting on one side of me and Kyle insisted on sitting on the other side so that was pretty funny. Then I burned my slipper cause it was too close to the fire. We eventually made it back over to Day's, after telling them we'd be back later that night, where we took ice cream orders and went to the Little Store and got a bunch of ice cream. Back at the ranch Day was getting the living room situated for us. We put on Maverick and ate a bunch of ice cream but I fell asleep so Jess went over to tell everyone that we weren't going to be back over then Billy came back with her and we finished watching the movie. I woke back up after that and Billy almost came all over himself when we both came out in our underwear to go to bed. He was like "Oh Jesus!" and I was like "Ain't no thang!" shit, that underwear covers more than my bathing suit does. We finally had to kick him out at like 2am and crushed him when we wouldn't let him sleep there.

Thursday 8/9, I laid around for a while after work and then started getting ready to go out and at 8:30 I texted Eric to say he should come out and wish me happy birthday and he instantly wrote back "where" so I thought he might. I was wearing my Orlando Bloom t-shirt from Jessica and took some pictures in the mirror then went over to Susan's where she took more pictures of me in my new shirt and we gabbed for a little while. We set out to Neighbours, parked, I thought I saw Moppet on a skateboard but it wasn't him. When we got inside we went upstairs and hung out until a good song came on. Moppet came and danced by us (he cut his hair), I need to go look up his name again, I have totally forgotten it, and we took more pictures. Finally Richie showed up and we took even more pictures and danced. Hm, nothing terribly exciting happened, except my outfit changing bf was there and I got a picture of him mid-change so that's good. I kept my eye out for Eric all night but he never manifested through the door. Some good songs were played so that made me happy but he also played some bizarre mixes which always pisses us off. We finally took off around 1:20 or 1:30 right after Richie did and walked to our cars. Susan stayed in her car behind me while I texted Eric because there were some sketchy guys sitting outside the church. I sent him a text saying "Thanks for coming out and wishing me happy birthday jerk" and that started a whole string of texts back and forth which included us calling each other such names as "pussyface," "dickhead," and "jerkoff" and Eric stipulating his terms in response to my request for him leaving a hand print on my ass. It was pretty funny actually and he said thank you when I called him filthy. There were much dirtier things flying back and forth but in an attempt to keep this somewhat clean, they'll just stay in my phone and with my close friends who request details. Susan, I'm looking in your direction. Ok, so then I'm home still texting with Eric and I check my myspace and Ian has sent me a message saying that he broke up with his gf earlier but made sure to clarify that I wasn't responsible. Shit man, I hope not. I feel a bit guilty because of the somewhat flirty messages we've sent back and forth, but I can't do anything now. It sounds like they had a good breakup (well as good as a breakup can be I suppose) so that's good...but now what? This is getting more interesting by the second. I finished getting ready for bed and struggled to get to sleep with two VERY different boys on my mind.

Wednesday 8/8, Got up early and went into work because I couldn't sleep and needed to make up a little bit of time anyway. Went into Seattle to look at a condo Peggy was going to make an offer on. Talked to Eliso and got some dirt on Ian and we gabbed about how fantastic her wedding was and how it truly was a magical night. As cheesy as it sounds. She also asked me about Jeff, the Sinister Minister, and I'd totally forgotten that I'd danced with him for a while and he was telling me how to be a model and to follow my dream, while I kept trying to convey to him that it wasn't my dream, Court just wanted some sassy photos of me. Hilar. That's so Richie it kills me. Anyway, it was great to talk to her and I can't wait for her to get here next week. We're going to be close again and it makes me so happy. After work Jan never called so I hung out at home and did a few things, though I've seriously been slacking so I need to pick up the pace. I went to Home Depot to add up all the things I need to redo the bathrooms and called Dad and he came over to tell me what he thought even though I didn't really ask him to or want the advice he was giving out...but he helped me straighten out some of my cabinet doors in the kitchen so that was helpful and promised to come back and do my light switches. I saw Dustin at Home Depot and totally cracked up as he looked like a complete homeboy. We said hi to each other but I was so shocked I didn't really know what to do. I talked to Susan for a while, wrote back to Ian and talked to Alishia before taking a shower and climbing into bed.

Tuesday 8/7, Jan came over and told me what he thought about my plans so they're a go and he said he would even pick the shit up for me so that's awesome. I just hung out in my room, finished uploading pictures to flickr, continued working on this as it was taking FOREVER...and I've even realized now I've forgotten some things. Finally got my energy level up to where I could do some household stuff and made some dinner. Talked to Susan, probably formulated messages to Ian and went to bed before 11.

Monday 8/6, I was so tired after work so I laid down and completed uploading pictures on flickr and copying Court's pictures and uploading those and wrote back to Ian. I then did some household stuff and got the kitchen looking pretty good and put all my birthday presents away. I ate some dinner and talked to Jessica on the phone for a while about plans later this week and weekend then started blogging. I talked to Susan for a long time on the phone then showered, blogged a little more and went to sleep.

Sunday 8/5, MY BIRTHDAY. Where did we leave off? Oh yes, we went to bed around 2am and my alarm woke us at 4:30. We were up, packing and ready to roll out by 5am. I called Doug's phone but it went straight to voicemail. I got my stuff in the car then knocked on the boys' door, 118. Michael answered in his boxers and told me he couldn't wake Doug up; alarms were going off, the phone was ringing and he'd tried to wake him up all to no avail. He was like "Shit, I don't know what to do" so I was like, ok, took a few steps toward the bed and was like "Doug!" and he woke right up and was all startled and "Yeah?!" so I said it was time to hit the road and he's like (still totally drunk) "Ok, let me grab my shit" and Michael just stood there with his jaw on the floor. I was like, "What can I say?" I gave Michael a hug bye and we went to the car. Court wanted me to drive because she was pretty out of it and was pretty sure she was still a little tipsy. Doug kept us totally entertained all the way to the airport and had no idea which airline he was on and had no confirmation or ticket to go off of. Plus we weren't sure if they would let him on the plane in his current state. We dropped him first at the main terminal then we went over to the other one for me and Court dropped me and it was so hard to see her go, we totally rebonded while there and I miss her so much and really hope she comes up and lives here for a while. Sigh. I got checked in, through security and to my gate. Doug called to say he made it through and was on NW then I talked to Court for a while and she made it back with the rental and to the terminal and was all checked in and everything too, so that was good except she had like a two hour wait for her flight. I laughed looking at all my pictures from the weekend while waiting to board. I was so tired but couldn't sleep on the plane so instead talked to the couple next to me for a long long time about online dating and mid-West boys and family and siblings' bfs and I loved him because he was so funny and blunt and kept waking me out of my semi-sleep state to see if I wanted a breakfast sandwich. He said they would come to my birthday party and we would tell everyone they were my uncle and aunt from MN which wouldn't be out of the ordinary since I have like 5 sets. Kay-See picked me up from the airport and was down IN BAGGAGE CLAIM waiting for me. I was so excited to see her and I started telling her about Ian right away and we just laughed and talked all the way into Issaquah. We went to Sweet Addition to have a little birthday breakfast pastry to wake me up then she dropped me at my house. I had to bust ass to get ready and back to Mom's to help set up. I tried to look for Ian quickly but there were like 83 pages of Ians with his last name so I vowed to do more research later that night after my party. I headed out and over to Mom's and helped a little bit but mostly threw a fit because Jake was there. He surprisingly behaved himself though. Zach and Nicole were the first to arrive, then Susan, then Kay-See and Michelle, then Neil and Chris, Richie and Cory, Jessica, Dario, Billy and Jasmine and lastly Schuyler and Chrystol. It was a full house but it felt fantastic. Everyone mingled and we watched the air show and took some funny pictures and laughed and just enjoyed being outside on such a beautiful day. I feel so incredibly lucky that I have such wonderful friends and that everyone came and enjoyed my day with me. I can't even say enough. I got some hilarious cards, postcards, cookies, pictures, flowers, plants, shirts and other random little things (primarily from Jess). People trickled out slowly a while after the show was over and things had wound down, but a bunch of us sat talking in the kitchen for a long time and laughing about Belltown and Cowgirls Inc and how I want to see Chris ride the bull and the kinds of boys there and everything. It was great. I talked to Mom and Dad for a while and thanked them for everything and finally left around 6 and called Aubrie on the way home. I was telling her all about N and Ian and I went to read her what N had sent me and there was a new message in my inbox from an Ian with the subject "Happy Birthday Karrah!!!" and I was like "OH MY GOD AUBRIE, HE FOUND ME AND ALREADY SENT ME A MESSAGE!" so I opened it up and couldn't stop giggling uncontrollably and saying "I can't believe this" and "Oh my God!" and she was like, Alright sis! After talking to her I started uploading pictures onto myspace and also flickr and did that for most of the rest of my day. I talked to Susan for a while and watched some shows then I wrote back to Ian and he wrote me back right away so I was totally beside myself. Kassie called at 11:00 to be the last one to wish me a happy birthday and I told her all about Ian and she'll be up here in a couple weeks so we're figuring all that out. Went to bed right around midnight.

Saturday 8/4, I was awoken by an adolescent running back and forth on the walkway outside our room from about 7:15 to 7:45. I was about to open the door and strangle the little bastard. Who lets their kid do that? Why do people even bother having children? It baffles me. Ug. I finally fell back asleep and we woke back up at 9:15, jumped out of bed, got ready and hit the road for the Mall of America. We arrived a little after 10 and I was on a mission for a white cami to wear with my new pink party dress. First though we stopped at Caribou Coffee which I’d informed Court was a Mid-West chain and she wanted to try it so I got a white chocolate raspberry scone and hot chocolate made by a very cute baristo who was from New York and asked what we were doing in the area. I took some pictures of him from a bench (far away, stalker style) while we enjoyed our breakfast fare. Soon we were on our way around the mall. We hit DSW, H&M where I got some cute work shirts and the cutest cloud with moving lightning bolt earrings, then Gap Body where I picked up my improvised white cami. We decided to hurry up because we needed to get back and I was so relieved I’d found that cotton-y white bra thing for under my dress. We drove back to the hotel and ordered a roast beef sandwich from American Pie and Court picked it up while I shaved my legs. We ate then I showered and washed my hair and started my process of getting ready. Garth showed up and it had been raining all day and he was giving us an update so I had to throw a towel on because I was in my bra and thong. Yikes. The weather was getting worse and worse but it was muggy at the same time so we opened the door for a breeze and finished getting ready that way. We were ready so we started watching this Beauty and the Geek style show and didn’t want to turn it off and were groaning at the guys, until Garth came and told us it was time to go. We followed him, Pete and Becca in their car all the way out to Pig Wisdom Farm, which was a good 20 minutes away. We pulled the car into this huge field to park and I instantly saw Ian standing next to the car they had arrived in wearing these totally hot jeans with country style button up shirt and short tie, and squealed to Courtney “Oh my God, look at those jeans, that’s so fucking hot!!” and she just rolled her eyes at me and asked me to help her park and stop drooling. I noticed that they were all walking up the pathway with umbrellas so I was like “Hurry your ass up Court, we can totally get to the path just as they’re walking by!” so we did and of course it worked and he looked at me and was like “Do you want this umbrella?” I almost died. I played it cool though, "No, but we can share it" Oh snap! Heh. So we walked up to the tent and craziness was all around with everyone trying to get the chairs dried off and under the tent. We were about 40 minutes early so there was still plenty of time. We asked Mzia if we could go up and see Sos and we managed to find the little farmhouse ok and she was there and we talked and helped her by running some things out and she got her dress on and looked absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous hair, makeup and dress. Seriously, so beautiful. And she was so calm, nothing was getting to her. We finally made our way down to claim a table and sat with Garth, Becca, Pete, Eliso’s cousin whose name I can’t remember, and Doug and Michael who were pinch hitters filling in the other spot. We all opened our chocolates and read our fortunes and I read mine to myself then crumpled it up and threw it on the table and said “Fucking fortune” but Doug pieced it back together and read it, “Dare to love completely” he crumpled it back up and threw it onto my plate again. The rain really started coming down and the side of the tent was rolled up by us so the wind and rain were coming in periodically and getting us girls a bit and not one of those boys offered their coats. The ceremony started and it was really nice, though it was hard to hear with the rain pounding down on the tent, but it was still beautiful and I totally cried and tried not to ruin my makeup. Court and I hit the port-a-potty after the ceremony and then miraculously it stopped raining. I went out to take pictures of the humongous chickens and then one of the goats I had seen earlier came out so I got all excited and started taking tons of pictures. Then Garth came out and I ordered him to feed the goats a gourd that were sitting there so he complied and that’s how I got that one hilarious goat picture where it looks like Garth is ramming it down the goat’s throat. While wedding pictures were being taken everyone roamed the property and took pictures and we flirted with boys then we all ended up back in the tent for speeches and Court gave one and it was really sweet and I’m so proud of her that she did it and finally it was time to have some dinner. Court snuck some macaroni which was supposed to be for the kiddies only. Heh. Ian was in my direct view at the next table and we both caught each other looking at the other during dinner and the ceremony a few times then I figured out that he looks like Seth from OC and that must be another reason why I was so drawn. We polished off our meals (delicious!) then mingled some more and started to get the dancing going. There weren’t that many at first and I got out there a little until it finally picked up. Cake was cut and served, but not by the bride and groom, there was no cake exchange which kind of cracked me up. So Eliso. There were 5 cakes I think and I had a white one. A group of about 9 was going down to the field where the cars were parked to smoke weed so I followed suit, mostly because Court and Eliso were and so was Ian and while down there Court passed the pipe right by me to the girl next to me and she was like, “You skipped her!” which turned into this whole, let’s look at Karrah because she doesn’t smoke and now please explain why you do not do such a thing, when really Courtney was just trying to avoid any of that by skipping me discreetly because she knows there’s no use. Bless her heart. Didn’t work though. So then it turns into that I don’t drink OR smoke because Court asks Eliso which she thinks would be better for me, then moves in the circle by Eliso so then I’m standing right next to Ian who’s like “So Karrah, what’s with the hatin on drinking and smoking?” and that at least started us on having a conversation, which turned into how we’re both anal with our stuff and roommates, etc. Court was ready and like “Come on Kare!” then realized I was finally talking to Ian and quickly backtracked like, “Oh, well, you can stay here if you want” but I said I didn’t so we went back up and Ian followed suit anyway. C and me got back on the floor and started dancing and Jamul was cracking me up and we were both showing each other our 3 or 4 moves and at one point I pointed to Ian on the dance floor while singing and he kind of smiled. Court and I made another trip to the bathroom but by this point it was pitch ass black and we couldn’t see anything, which is generally not a good thing in a port-a-potty. I illuminated my cell phone and stuck the light under the door for Court who said it totally worked, then I took a picture of her when she came out and it’s so funny because she totally wasn’t expecting it. Then it was my turn and she was trying to take pictures under the door and got one when I came out. So back on the dance floor we were dancing dancing dancing and I kept trying to be over near Ian and Court was trying to move over by him too and we'd kind of look at each other a little while dancing but not do anything about it. There was one girl that neither of us liked and she was all Top Model or something and Courtney was like "That Top Model bitch better watch out!" and she was dancing with him so I def backed off. I assume they knew each other since she was from PDX too. “Help” came on and I sang all the words then after it was over Ian leaned over and was like “You knew all the words to that” and I was like “I LOVE the Beatles!” and he was like Be still my heart or something AWESOME like that. We both went back to dancing a few feet from each other but I would lean over intermittently to ask him things or comment like eventually I told him he was a really good dancer and asked him how often he goes dancing and he says like never and I asked if he practiced in the mirror then and he acted out how he would practice in the mirror if he did and how he would talk to himself to pump himself up, so instantly I was in stitches. We started dancing closer and closer and Court was off doing her own thing, like swinging on the pole like a stripper, and I could NOT stop smiling and laughing. He was all "Stop it, you're making me self conscious" but I told him not to worry. Part of it was me laughing because I knew he had a girl he was seeing back home and I was wondering what he thought he was doing dancing like that, but I guess I wasn't the only one he was doing it with so I can't be too concerned. Except I kept wondering if he was going to try kissing me because our faces kept getting so close. But he didn’t. So many funny things to write so I'm going to summarize: old guy making out with the pole, Ian saying "Who am I, who am I?!" and pretending to make out with the pole, cue me laughing hysterically, the guy who got a running start and tried to swing around the pole holding the tent up and almost brought the whole thing down and Ian grabbing my arm while doubled over with laughter, stranger danger referring to me, counting down to my birthday "23 minutes left", telling him how hot his jeans were and how daring he was to wear them to a wedding, him confirming that the umbrella thing had totally been a ploy and asking if it had worked, giving each other points based on things we were discussing then him asking how many points he had and what that even meant and I had to tell him I didn’t even know what the scale was (shrug). So finally I say “So, you’ve got a lady friend” and he confirmed he did but we continued dancing and laughing until Doug cut in, like seriously barged in, and he was like "I was told to come warn you that he's got a gf" and I was like "I know, I already called him out on it!" but clearly the way we were dancing and interacting was causing a stir with people, so then I asked who told him to come over and he told me and I just like rolled my eyes, told him thanks and he said he just wanted to protect me and to let him know if I needed anything. So Ian and I start dancing again and I told him what Doug had told me and he was like whatever, and was like "I'm not crossing any lines" and did that thing with his fingers that totally cracked me up. I like that Doug used the word "Warn" and I told Ian, I'm not trying to be that girl, I'm behaving myself. So we certainly didn't let that get in our way of having fun. He bumped into this older guy and said that earlier that same guy told him that his daughter liked him and his wife had said he was the hottest guy there and wanted to know if he wanted him to hook him up with the 17 year old daughter, and Ian was like "I want no part of that" so I was like "Great, I'm going to get my ass kicked! By a jealous 17 year old!" and he was like "Yeah, the mom and daughter are going to shank you!" and then we looked over and they were dancing right behind him and I was like "There's your girlfriend" and he was like (with a totally straight face) "Be cool, be cool!" and said to not smile and laugh so we both made our super sexy faces and danced really seriously. He's SO FUNNY. I'm sitting here laughing thinking about it. I had kicked my shoes off by this point because my feet hurt and everyone else was doing it but the floor was super slippery with the water and spilled drinks all over it, and luckily I didn't bite it. The same cannot be said for one of the bridesmaids however. Ouch. We both lost it on that one. Ian misplaced his camera so we tried to find it then I went back out to the dance floor and he was right behind me, heh. Pretty soon they announced that it was the last song and he gave me another update (only 5 more minutes!) and we went under the tent and I insisted on taking a picture and he was trying to take one with his iphone and we heard someone say "Aww, look he's trying to take a picture" and he was all "Shut up!" and I think he got a dark one, and the three I took didn't turn out so well but the one of him is cute. As we were all coordinating and prepping to leave he asked me what I was going to do and I told him go back to the hotel and go to sleep and he was like "You can't, it's your birthday! Everyone's going out! You have to celebrate" but we were leaving super early, so, yeah. I wanted to, but sleep was imminent. Court and I were leaving so we were getting our final moments in and he was like "Myspace me. Oh my God, don't tell anyone I just said that" then we had a long hug and he said "Happy birthday Karrah" very softly into my ear and I totally melted. He was the first one. Court and I took Jamul in our car then Jake climbed in bringing with him the stink of his fart and we drove out to Red Wing to drop Eliso and Jake off at their hotel. I gave Eliso a big hug and kiss then Julie hopped in our car and we took back off for River Falls. We dropped Julie at the Library (where everyone else was) first then Jamul at his hotel then drove home, packed and passed out. By that point I was SOOO over N and couldn’t stop smiling and giggling.

Friday 8/3, I set my alarm for 9ish, got up and showered then headed down to the complimentary. I went back to my room to hang out until it was time to check out and get Court. I painted my nails and toenails while watching the Friends E True Hollywood Story and packed intermittently. I checked out, caught the hotel shuttle to the airport with one of the funniest guys ever and went to baggage claim to meet Court. We spotted each other at the same time, hugged, grabbed her luggage and headed to the Advantage Rental desk where we had to really convince the girl that Court would be the only driver. We waited outside for the shuttle forever, but we filled the time with picture taking and gossiping. We boarded the shuttle and it started down the freeway and we were like “Where the hell are we going?! No wonder the car rental is so cheap!” but when we pulled up we had a super nice Dodge Stratus complete with new car smell, leather seats and crazy stereo system, plus it was silver. We didn’t want the blue one. We hit the road and right away (494) this van starts to pass us and Courtney’s like “He-ay!” and waving to the car next to us so I look over and these two cute boys are waving to us and smiling so I’m like, “Oooh! Hi!” and they’re showing us their iced tea or something. Courtney was going like 85 so the highway turnoff we were supposed to take came really quickly and we passed the van boys once again and waved and smiled and the driver flexed his muscles then we realized we were supposed to follow them onto the highway they were taking (94) and right then Eliso called and told us to just come to her parents house instead of to the hotel and we could eat there so we managed to turn ourselves around, take highway sign pictures and made it into River Falls. We had one more incident of getting lost when we missed Bob White but quickly recovered and found Eliso’s house. We walked up the long, wooded and beautiful driveway and instantly saw Sos and Doug and got hugs and Garth was on the phone then we met Jamul, Eliso’s cousin and an Uncle Dick and saw Tessa who is 17 now and so pretty and tall and neither of us recognized her…since we haven’t seen her in like 8 years. We went in and met all the rest of her family and it was so chaotic; there were so many that one name and face started blending with the next. Eliso gave us a tour of the house and took us down to the backyard where there was a pool and a bunch of cute guys. There was Brad (Lexi’s bf), Park and Ian. We saw the rest of the house then grabbed some food just as Pete and Becca arrived. We all went down to eat by the pool and Jamul talked to Court and me for a long time and we all just kind of hung out. Eliso was going to get her suit on so we went out to the car to get ours, changed and laid in the sun just talking and laughing. I asked Eliso about Ian, who was insanely cute, and she said he’s one of their friends from Portland and when I asked about a gf she said nope, no gf. Score, I’d been in River Falls for about 45 minutes and I already had my wedding make-out partner locked down. A bunch of the group was in the pool so the three of us decided to get in the shallow end and Court splashed my stomach while Sos’ dad took pictures and I almost killed her. We got out to dry off and catch more rays and were introduced to Nico, Michael’s brother, who I’m sure I’ve met before. 4:00 rolled around so we got dressed and made plans to call Garth, Becca and Pete later to perhaps meet up for dinner or to just hang out before hitting the bars. Court and I drove around forever trying to find our hotel until I realized I was following directions that didn’t go to the hotel so we got back on Main St. and found it right away. It looked a bit…dated, and we joked about asking about the business center and pool hours, etc and how the lady would be like “I’m wearing a fucking cat shirt, there is no elevator or bellhop” and I had Courtney practically falling down the stairs as she tried to lug her suitcase up. Our room was fine and I instantly took a picture of our blue sink. We both stripped down to our underwear and climbed into bed to watch the cooking channel and drooling at all the recipes with bacon. We ended up falling asleep for a little while then got up and decided to get ready and go to Luigi’s for dinner per Eliso’s recommendation. We drove down and parked across the street by Econo Foods and went in. We both got calzones and I almost got mine with bacon but then I let our waitress choose and she picked Canadian Bacon so I was still happy and totally ate the whole thing. I noticed there was a cute boy working in the back so when we were paying at the front I saw him look out the little pass through to the kitchen then I saw him say something to his coworker who then looked up at me, then I saw another guy pop his head out from the side of the window, then another one from the other side and I was like “Court, why are they all looking at us?” and she just looked at me and like rolled her eyes, like “You know!” because I’m so flirty and must just radiate desperation. So anyway, as we walk out I look one final time and all of them, ALL FOUR of them, were looking out the window at us. I was like “Let’s go back and find out where THEY’RE going tonight!” We went to Econo Foods so I could get a wedding card and I got a hilarious one with an old fashioned guy and girl getting married and I was going to make them Jake and Eliso. We got some water and I picked up some cheaply priced toiletries then the checkout boy told me they can’t do cash back with debit and that he thought it was against the law “or something” in River Falls. I was flabbergasted. We walked to Dairy Queen and both got Oreo blizzards and sat out in front hoping to see more cute locals. We had some hooligans on a skateboard ask us if the cops were gone then I pretended I was going to snitch on them and had Courtney rolling again. While sitting there we spotted Garth, Becca and Pete in their convertible so they turned around and came back and we told them which room we were in at “America Advantage” and to come get us later for going out purposes. We went back to the hotel and watched some tv then there was a knock on the door and I was like, “Shit, I’m in my underwear! Oh well, I’ll get it” and it was Garth so I half hid behind the door and he got all embarrassed and like turned around when I pointed out my state of undress. He asked if we wanted to go out later and we did and told him to come back when they were getting ready to go. Court fell asleep again and I watched some tv then she woke up and was not really feeling like going out because it was getting late and we were pretty tired and we were sure Eliso wouldn’t be going out because of the time, but then Garth came up all ready to go and said that Eliso was going to be out, so I was like, “Can I throw some pants on and we come with?” and he was like “Sure!” so I put on a little makeup because I knew there would be cute boys there and the 5 of us hit the bricks as a group into town. We met up with everyone at Coaches and there were many cute boys in attendance out on the back deck but we eventually ended up inside and I was sitting at the bar with Garth talking to him for a long time then Jamul then back and forth with Court and Doug. We left there as a group and walked down to Ground Zero where there were tons more local boys and everyone was hot and some of us girls sat at a booth and Eliso was like “Don’t be pissed, but I told Ian you thought he was cute and he was totally floored but it turns out he is actually dating someone” and I was like, damn! Oh well. I started scouting out all the other boys and even said hi to a few before making my way to the back to where some of the boys were playing foosball and Eliso was socializing with one of her cousins, Kevin. I ended up talking to him for a long time and Eliso wanted me to hook up with him but he totally looked like Jess’ cousin Ryan so it was totally freaking me out. But he was super nice so we talked until we moved bars again to go dancing. Next we went to the Library which had sucky music but one of Eliso’s other cousins pulled Court and I out there and I was totally ogling this guy with all these great dance moves (a la Eric) but I wasn’t feeling it so we left the dance floor. I got some pictures with Doug and talked more with Garth and kept my eye on Ian, who I had been told loves to dance which is generally a rare thing for straight white guys. No dancing to be had though. Yet. Eliso took off but Court and I decided to stick around to see if any cute boys would talk to me. A group of us went back to Ground Zero because apparently that’s where we were all meeting up, but instead there were like 5 or 6 of us and no one else showed up, so Court and I decided to leave and ran into everyone else as we were exiting and they had all been at Coaches thinking that that was the meeting place. No one could find Doug but that wasn’t our problem so we said our goodnights and started the walk home. Saw a fight on the sidewalk (River Falls’ nightlife totally shocked me…kind of like Snohomish’s) and continued on through the dark. So we’re walking and talking, blah blah blah, and all of a sudden we hear a drunken “Heyyyyyyy!” from like a bush a ways in front of us and we’re both like (squinting) “…Doug?” and he’s like “Where have you guys been, I’ve been looking for you?!” and we’re like, Uh, everybody’s back in town, definitely not half way to the fucking hotel. What are you doing here?! He didn’t have a room key, was TOTALLY wasted and said he had been trying to call Garth, so I tried Garth and he picked right up but couldn’t hear me because it was really loud in the bar but I heard him ask “Jake?!” and I was like, “Hm, no, but thanks” then he suggested we finish walking to the hotel, drive Doug back to the bar to get a room key and drive back because “I saw what you were drinking tonight, you only had one water!” Doug scoffed at this idea and set back out toward town. Never mind he could barely walk. We kind of shrugged and kept walking when we see this car drive by us and honk and slow down with window rolled down. So I’m like, Shit, and Court’s like, Just keep walking, then as we’re approaching the car we hear someone say “Karrah!” and Jamul stuck his head out, and it was him, one of the other cousins whose name I can’t remember and Julie all out looking for Doug. We told them he walked back into town, so they kind of shrugged and drove off back to their hotel. We finally arrived, got ready for bed and hit the sack.