The experiences and exploits of a college grad trying to make it in the "real world:" leaving school and friends in New England, moving south, and living with her boyfriend. Watch as I pretend to be an adult.
Ok, since my last post wasn't particularly cheerful, I thought I'd write about something that never fails to make me happy...
my boyfriend.
Heh.
I'm still surprised Elija and I even got together in the first place. Last year my neighbor/new friend Laurie talked about taking my roomie and I over to this frat where she knew a bunch of the guys starting probably in September. I wasn't really interested, picturing a group of beer swilling meatheads, and somehow we never really got around to heading over.
Halloween rolled around, and we decided to check out the showing of Rocky Horrer on campus. We thought it would be fun to make it a girls night, so Laurie left her boyfriend at home, we dressed up in scandelous costumes, and headed out.
We were standing in the (very long) line to get into the auditorium where Rocky was showing when we heard, "Laurie! Hey, Laurie!" and saw three boys walk over. One was insanely tall and skinny (turned out to be Laurie's brother); one was short, a little stocky, and dressed in tight leather pants and lacey camisole; and the third was a thin boy with long blond hair, dressed in a skirt and tanktop. A pair of sparkley sunglasses and a (fully stuffed) bra completed the ensemble. It took me about 10 minutes before I reached out and "honked" his fake boobies- do I need to mention that this was Elija?
I spent a good part of that night talking to him, and really enjoyed our conversations. I felt really comfortable around him, and when I got in the car to go home about 4:30 that morning I had a smile on my face. I have to admit he wasn't my usual type... but we had fun. On the drive home my friends and I started talking about the night, and- of course- the boys. About halfway home, my friend says, "So, what about Elija? I think he's kinda cute...or do you like him...?" I tensed up. I mean, I had just met the boy...I didn't know if I liked him or not, but I also didn't really want to just let my friend have him. I hemed and hawed for a couple minutes, and said something about only talking to him for a bit, but you know...
It ended up working out well. One of the other boys we'd been hanging out with asked my friend on a date, and they hit it off. A few days later, my friends boy and Elija both came over for dinner and we all had a lot of fun. Things progressed nicely, numbers were exchanged, and plans were made. A couple weeks went by, we double dated w/ my friend and her boy a couple times, and watched a lot of movies.
Then my mom passed away. I left town that night and had a million things to deal with. On the drive back from Florida, I thought seriously about calling things off w/ Elija. I just had so much on my plate, and it was totally the wrong time to even think about starting a relationship. But when I got back...well, I just liked spending time with him so much. It was so low-pressure; we spent time together when we wanted to, and there was never any drama or uncertainty. Finals came and went, and I headed home for another couple weeks.
When I came back, I found out Elija hadn't been rehired over break at his job, and had started working night shifts at a local calzone joint. When I got back up to Mass in Jan, his work schedule was so eratic I was lucky to see him twice a week. It was like that for a couple months...and I started thinking that maybe things weren't working all that well. We were hardly ever seeing each other, and when we were, Elija was almost always too tired to really do anything. I didn't want to break up with him, we were still working well as a couple, but I couldn't really see getting into a serious relationship with someone I only saw once or twice a week.
After a while, his schedule got better and we started spending more time together. Then around April he started hearing back from Grad schools. Most of the schools he'd applied to were on the west coast or mid west, so in the back of my mind I'd held the idea that we'd have to break things off in August when he went away to school. Well, it turned out he'd applied (and been accepted) to NC State in Raleigh...so that made the whole breaking up thing not so certain.
When Elija asked if I wanted to try the long distance thing I was a little wary. It was soooo far away. And, well...I dunno, it seemed like a big commitment. But, again...I really didn't want to break up with him. Things were going so well! So, I agreed, and to my surprise, it went really really well. I missed him a lot, of course, but the semester flew by incredibly quickly. Now we're close enough to see each other every other week or so, and we're going to get to spend a lot more time together starting this summer.
I still can't believe how lucky I am to have him in my life. (smiles!) He came up to visit this weekend, and we had a wonderful time. I met him at Union Station Saturday around 4:30, then took him to my favorite Tapas restaurant in DC. It started snowing after we got back from dinner and continued through the next day, so we built a fire in the fire place and spent most of Sunday reading in front of it. He went back to NC today, and I miss him already.
