My wonderful Subaru Impreza inexplicably overheated last week on my way to Paulo's house. It was right before I left for Vegas, so taking it to the shop had to wait until my return. Sadly, the news from the auto repair shop is that I have a leaking head gasket...ouch...along with a problem with my clutch (which is the fault of the absolutely terrible mechanic who did a crap job on my new clutch last summer). The cost to repair it is somewhere around half of the remaining value in the car. My decision? Time to buy a new car.
Now, I'd been thinking about upgrading for some time. My sweet little Subaru had a lot of miles on it and I was thinking little things (like seals and gaskets...doh!) would be wearing out soon and it would need to have some serious investment in repairs. This is, admittedly, a much more dramatic and sudden impetus to upgrade my vehicle than I would have wished...but that's life. At this point, with a leaky head gasket, it's a candidate for a paltry trade in, or perhaps a rally racing enthusiast who want's to kit it out and take it in to the hills. I'll lose money since now I can't sell or trade it in for anywhere near what I still owe on it, but at least I'm financially solvent enough to handle it with only having to sacrifice picking up the tab at dinner with friends less often (sorry, friends...we may be splitting more checks or you'll be enjoying my home-cooked tasty cuisine).
Either way, my time with my 2001 Impreza, the first car I've ever truly loved to own, is at an end. The end of a beautiful relationship.
On another note: Paulo has been completely wonderful through all of this. He put all of his home-remodeling projects on hold to drive around to dealerships with me for the last two days. We play it like he's buying the car, or at least that I'm not buying it on my own, just to keep the salesmen on their toes. At the end of two solid days of zipping between dealerships I've decided to purchase a brand new (eek!) 2008 Impreza. I will miss having a sunroof, since they cost more to get as an option than I really want to spend right now, but the new Impreza is much safer and actually very roomy (they've moved it on to the Legacy frame). I also think the new body style is not as sporty as the 2007 and previous models, but I have found it impossible to find a manual 2007 Impreza...oh well. I also drove a Mazda 3 (poor side-impact safety ratings) and a Mitsubishi Lancer (felt like a toy car on meth). A loyal Subaru customer I remain.
Paulo has helped me with the research on what a good price is, and has also signed up to come along and help me haggle down the purchase price and help me keep an eye out for little scams they might try with financing and my trade-in. Through all of this, Paulo has avoided making me feel like I don't know what I am doing or what I need, as some guys would if taking their girlfriend car shopping. He respects the fact that I actually know quite a lot about Subarus and have a good idea of what I want. He's supportive and provides a kind of support I wasn't sure really existed - he knows how to help without taking over. He doesn't forget that this car buying experience is all about what I want, not how much he can show off about cars or bluster and be a manly man on the car lot. I think it's called respect, and it's absolutely wonderful.
Tomorrow we're going back to begin the arduous process of actually haggling with the dealers, but at the end of it all I will have a new car. Now I just have to decide if it's a better option for me to buy or lease...ahhh....the life of a consumer.
Three good things:
1. I will have a warranty!
2. My poor little car may be re-born as a rally car...how fun!
3. I've discovered yet another wonderful way in which Paulo and I are insanely compatible!
(it's exlamation point day...obviously!!)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Back from Vegas...again!
I just returned home late last night from another weekend in Vegas with Paulo. I take it as a mark of great respect that he welcomed me to come in for a visit during his week-long poker vacation with his buddy. To me, that says a lot about how much he trusts me. How many guys would happily invite their woman down to Las Vegas during a poker-fest? Not too many.
Admittedly, we had to have a few long and careful talks about what the expectations should be surrounding time together and activities before I bought my plane tickets. But, in the end, I really think we overcame any hesitation and successfully navigated our way through a potential relationship minefield. He had total freedom to play poker whenever he wanted to - I was well supplied with comfortable walking shoes, a good book, and my bathing suit. Paulo instructed me to charge any food or beverages to the room and did take me out to a very nice dinner at our favorite restaurant. The dinner was especially fun because I got to meet and hang out with another of Paulo's good friends.
I periodically visited the poker room, making the other players jealous of Paulo by wearing hot little dresses and rubbing his shoulders as he whiled away the hours at cards. Several times players from other tables tried to woo me away from Paulo with promises of a commission to give them a shoulder rub. Well provisioned by my sweetheart, I felt no temptation to take them up on their offers.
It was a little sad to leave yesterday evening; I wanted to stay in Vegas and go back to the pool, curling up with Paulo at night. However, as I reached my door some time in the wee hours of the morning after driving home from the airport I could hear my cat plaintively meowing inside my apartment. She'd heard me coming up the stairs and was waiting for me to dig out my keys and come pet her. I suppose it's not that bad to be home after all - there is a creature here, too, who loves me and wants to be around me. It took away the gloomy clouds of leaving my darling.
Three good things:
1. I have, again, reaffirmed that I'm a kick-ass girlfriend.
2. Paulo comes home tomorrow.
3. My kitty cat is a loveable ball of fur who earns her keep by being so cute and excited when I come home.
Admittedly, we had to have a few long and careful talks about what the expectations should be surrounding time together and activities before I bought my plane tickets. But, in the end, I really think we overcame any hesitation and successfully navigated our way through a potential relationship minefield. He had total freedom to play poker whenever he wanted to - I was well supplied with comfortable walking shoes, a good book, and my bathing suit. Paulo instructed me to charge any food or beverages to the room and did take me out to a very nice dinner at our favorite restaurant. The dinner was especially fun because I got to meet and hang out with another of Paulo's good friends.
I periodically visited the poker room, making the other players jealous of Paulo by wearing hot little dresses and rubbing his shoulders as he whiled away the hours at cards. Several times players from other tables tried to woo me away from Paulo with promises of a commission to give them a shoulder rub. Well provisioned by my sweetheart, I felt no temptation to take them up on their offers.
It was a little sad to leave yesterday evening; I wanted to stay in Vegas and go back to the pool, curling up with Paulo at night. However, as I reached my door some time in the wee hours of the morning after driving home from the airport I could hear my cat plaintively meowing inside my apartment. She'd heard me coming up the stairs and was waiting for me to dig out my keys and come pet her. I suppose it's not that bad to be home after all - there is a creature here, too, who loves me and wants to be around me. It took away the gloomy clouds of leaving my darling.
Three good things:
1. I have, again, reaffirmed that I'm a kick-ass girlfriend.
2. Paulo comes home tomorrow.
3. My kitty cat is a loveable ball of fur who earns her keep by being so cute and excited when I come home.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Meeting the Parents
Paulo and I spent the 4th of July weekend together, and oh, what a wonderful time it was. First on the schedule was a trip to the local islands where his Northwest adopted "family" owns a beach house. I'd met many of the people attending at previous shin-digs, but this was a chance for me to prove my mettle in a large party situation where Paulo wouldn't be right by my side the whole time. As we dove in to our cups of wine between 10:30 am and 12:30 am (the next day, of course) I can quite honestly say that I think I took home the brass ring for being the coolest girlfriend ever. I chatted, I helped with food, I laughed, I rubbed someone's injured foot (they were clean!) and I imbibed a respectable amount of wine without losing my dignity.
Then it was off to another island for a wine tasting, lunch, and viztin' with my friend Bonnie and her family. We toodled around country roads and had a tasty pizza lunch before sampling some local wine. Dinner with Bonnie and family was lovely, we met their family friends from England and had fun trading semantic oddities. We rounded out the evening with a drive North to our loding destination for the evening - a lodge! Nestled out in the country, our mountain lodge was warm and inviting. The inn-keeper was very mellow and told us all about the llamas in the adjacent field. We watched a VHS (and felt soooo retro) copy of "Meet the Parents" and turned in for the evening in our airy tree-top retreat (i.e. the suite on the top floor of the lodge).
The next morning we had a tasty breakfast at the lodge and began our search for organic, local strawberries. After cruising down a seaside drive we found a famous local berry stand where we lucked out and picked up some scrumptious local berries, along with traditional shortbread cakes dusted with raw sugar...mmmmmmm. A quick run to the market for fresh cream and some flowers for my mother, and Paulo and I were set to go and meet my parents.
Everything went swimmingly, of course. Paulo and my dad swapped home remodeling stories and worked on grilling our dinner together, mom and grandma thought he was very polite, my grandpa thought he seemed really smart, and my sister-in-law had a nice conversation about title insurance with him. My brother was being his normally anti-social self, but Paulo did try to engage him a few times with mediocre success, which is saying something.
I feel totally ready to head back East next month and meet Paulo's brother, sister-in-law, and mom. Life is good.
Three good things:
1. Paulo and I have proven, once again, that we're good travel companions.
2. I got to show Paulo around my stomping grounds.
3. I managed not to over-indulge on food or wine all weekend (sounds random, but it's important!)
Then it was off to another island for a wine tasting, lunch, and viztin' with my friend Bonnie and her family. We toodled around country roads and had a tasty pizza lunch before sampling some local wine. Dinner with Bonnie and family was lovely, we met their family friends from England and had fun trading semantic oddities. We rounded out the evening with a drive North to our loding destination for the evening - a lodge! Nestled out in the country, our mountain lodge was warm and inviting. The inn-keeper was very mellow and told us all about the llamas in the adjacent field. We watched a VHS (and felt soooo retro) copy of "Meet the Parents" and turned in for the evening in our airy tree-top retreat (i.e. the suite on the top floor of the lodge).
The next morning we had a tasty breakfast at the lodge and began our search for organic, local strawberries. After cruising down a seaside drive we found a famous local berry stand where we lucked out and picked up some scrumptious local berries, along with traditional shortbread cakes dusted with raw sugar...mmmmmmm. A quick run to the market for fresh cream and some flowers for my mother, and Paulo and I were set to go and meet my parents.
Everything went swimmingly, of course. Paulo and my dad swapped home remodeling stories and worked on grilling our dinner together, mom and grandma thought he was very polite, my grandpa thought he seemed really smart, and my sister-in-law had a nice conversation about title insurance with him. My brother was being his normally anti-social self, but Paulo did try to engage him a few times with mediocre success, which is saying something.
I feel totally ready to head back East next month and meet Paulo's brother, sister-in-law, and mom. Life is good.
Three good things:
1. Paulo and I have proven, once again, that we're good travel companions.
2. I got to show Paulo around my stomping grounds.
3. I managed not to over-indulge on food or wine all weekend (sounds random, but it's important!)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
In Recovery from Mystery Weekend
My mystery weekend was faaaaantastic! I'm still recovering my energy from a whirlwind tour of....
LAS VEGAS!
That's right, I guessed correctly. Paulo did everything he could to misdirect my intuition - up to and including getting my mom in on the deal. He gave her creative license to try and convince me it was going to be somewhere other than Vegas, and boy-o did she ever do a good job!
Paulo had previously inquired as to whether I had a passport, which I do. The night before our trip I went to retrieve it from the drawer where it always lives and IT WASN'T THERE! Paulo arrived in the midst of my frenzy and said that it would probably be ok if I didn't bring it. That morning, however, I received an email from my mom teasing that she knew where I was going and, "had I packed my passport?" I freaked out. I had visions of reaching the security gates at the airport or a border crossing and not being able to get through, thereby totally destroying all of Paulo's careful planning for our weekend. Not only was my passport missing, I didn't have a copy of my birth certificate so I couldn't even get in to Canada or partway in to Mexico. I drove to the local health department and got a copy of it, and then went home from work early to resume the search for my missing passport. Several upended bags of papers later I found it, stuck to another folder.
Assured that I was prepared for anything, I gave Paulo a relieved hug and kiss. We set off on our adventure. He took back roads to the airport (but I'm more familiar than he knew with the airport area, so I had a big grin on his face when we left the interstate). He checked both of our bags while I plugged my ears and looked the other way. I deliberately didn't glance at my boarding pass as I went through the security checkpoint. Then we had a nice dinner with several glasses of wine in the airport.
At the appointed time, we strolled out towards the gates. Cruising along, we reached the end of a terminal, which was empty but for one gate slightly behind us. Paulo turned us around saying, "Well, looks like the only flight around here is leaving for Las Vegas. Do you want to go to Vegas babe?"
He's the most amazing man I've ever met.
I'll post further details of our trip soon, but I have to mention one special little detail. He did, indeed, tell my mom where we were going the day before the trip. His message to her was a full itinerary of our trip, complete with both his and the hotel's phone numbers so my parents could reach us if I turned my phone off. How does he know to do those special little things that I don't even know to ask for? Ah well, I do the same thing to him regularly.
LAS VEGAS!
That's right, I guessed correctly. Paulo did everything he could to misdirect my intuition - up to and including getting my mom in on the deal. He gave her creative license to try and convince me it was going to be somewhere other than Vegas, and boy-o did she ever do a good job!
Paulo had previously inquired as to whether I had a passport, which I do. The night before our trip I went to retrieve it from the drawer where it always lives and IT WASN'T THERE! Paulo arrived in the midst of my frenzy and said that it would probably be ok if I didn't bring it. That morning, however, I received an email from my mom teasing that she knew where I was going and, "had I packed my passport?" I freaked out. I had visions of reaching the security gates at the airport or a border crossing and not being able to get through, thereby totally destroying all of Paulo's careful planning for our weekend. Not only was my passport missing, I didn't have a copy of my birth certificate so I couldn't even get in to Canada or partway in to Mexico. I drove to the local health department and got a copy of it, and then went home from work early to resume the search for my missing passport. Several upended bags of papers later I found it, stuck to another folder.
Assured that I was prepared for anything, I gave Paulo a relieved hug and kiss. We set off on our adventure. He took back roads to the airport (but I'm more familiar than he knew with the airport area, so I had a big grin on his face when we left the interstate). He checked both of our bags while I plugged my ears and looked the other way. I deliberately didn't glance at my boarding pass as I went through the security checkpoint. Then we had a nice dinner with several glasses of wine in the airport.
At the appointed time, we strolled out towards the gates. Cruising along, we reached the end of a terminal, which was empty but for one gate slightly behind us. Paulo turned us around saying, "Well, looks like the only flight around here is leaving for Las Vegas. Do you want to go to Vegas babe?"
He's the most amazing man I've ever met.
I'll post further details of our trip soon, but I have to mention one special little detail. He did, indeed, tell my mom where we were going the day before the trip. His message to her was a full itinerary of our trip, complete with both his and the hotel's phone numbers so my parents could reach us if I turned my phone off. How does he know to do those special little things that I don't even know to ask for? Ah well, I do the same thing to him regularly.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Mystery Weekend
In two days, I am being whisked away for a mystery weekend by the fabulous Paulo. Soon after our first full weekend together, he informed me that I should have a bag packed and be ready to hop in his car at 5:00 pm this Thursday. All I was told to bring was a nice dress and a swimsuit.
Since then, I've had the chance to model my 'nice dresses' for him and he picked one out for me to bring - it's not just a nice cocktail dress either. Of all the pretty things in my closet, he picked my formal gown for our dinner reservation. It's black mesh on the top, embroidered with vines and flowers in strategic locations, and the skirt is a slinky black velevet tulip. To accomodate this unexpected outing of my formal-wear, I made an emergency shoe shopping excursion last night with my friend Bonnie to pick up a pair of sexy black heels.
At home again, I began packing for my mystery adventure...5 pairs of shoes and 7 outfits later I decided I needed to haul out my big, international suitcase from it's hibernation cave under the bed. Now, I'm usually a light packer, but I usually know what I need to pack for. All of this ambiguity is making it difficult to pare down my packing list. I did, however, get another clue about mystery weekend when I mentioned I was packing. Paulo had to tell me that my toiletries should go in the big suitcase, otherwise Homeland Security might take them away for not being in 1 oz bottles stowed in a ziploc bag...We're leaving on a jet plane!!!!
Three Good Things:
1) I love good surprises.
2) Getting some quality time with Paulo, where we can sleep in and relax, will be lovely.
3) My new heels are 4" tall - I love being able to wear high heels and still not be as tall as Paulo...now that is sexy.
Since then, I've had the chance to model my 'nice dresses' for him and he picked one out for me to bring - it's not just a nice cocktail dress either. Of all the pretty things in my closet, he picked my formal gown for our dinner reservation. It's black mesh on the top, embroidered with vines and flowers in strategic locations, and the skirt is a slinky black velevet tulip. To accomodate this unexpected outing of my formal-wear, I made an emergency shoe shopping excursion last night with my friend Bonnie to pick up a pair of sexy black heels.
At home again, I began packing for my mystery adventure...5 pairs of shoes and 7 outfits later I decided I needed to haul out my big, international suitcase from it's hibernation cave under the bed. Now, I'm usually a light packer, but I usually know what I need to pack for. All of this ambiguity is making it difficult to pare down my packing list. I did, however, get another clue about mystery weekend when I mentioned I was packing. Paulo had to tell me that my toiletries should go in the big suitcase, otherwise Homeland Security might take them away for not being in 1 oz bottles stowed in a ziploc bag...We're leaving on a jet plane!!!!
Three Good Things:
1) I love good surprises.
2) Getting some quality time with Paulo, where we can sleep in and relax, will be lovely.
3) My new heels are 4" tall - I love being able to wear high heels and still not be as tall as Paulo...now that is sexy.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Quotable Quotes
A line from a recent email Paulo wrote to me:
"For people still in square 1, square 2 is an intimidating and "weirdo" place. But I'm sad to say, beautiful, you *are* a weirdo. How do I know? I did the math. :-) It turns out, we're both weirdos, but that's what makes it even better. "
I'd been filling him in on how weird it was to not be the first one to suggest doing things like take a weekend trip together, or meet close friends and family (i.e. moving from square one to two). He's invited me to visit his family with him in a few months, soon after his first nephew is due...I'm SO not used to being the one doing the agreeing instead of the asking. It's pleasantly unbalancing.
Three good things:
1) I'm getting what I asked for in a man - whod've thunk it?
2) Paulo's mom sounds like a really nice lady - I adore men who say nice things about their moms
3) I'm totally going to get my share of special weekends and time-off of work this summer, and hopefully past this summer as well
"For people still in square 1, square 2 is an intimidating and "weirdo" place. But I'm sad to say, beautiful, you *are* a weirdo. How do I know? I did the math. :-) It turns out, we're both weirdos, but that's what makes it even better. "
I'd been filling him in on how weird it was to not be the first one to suggest doing things like take a weekend trip together, or meet close friends and family (i.e. moving from square one to two). He's invited me to visit his family with him in a few months, soon after his first nephew is due...I'm SO not used to being the one doing the agreeing instead of the asking. It's pleasantly unbalancing.
Three good things:
1) I'm getting what I asked for in a man - whod've thunk it?
2) Paulo's mom sounds like a really nice lady - I adore men who say nice things about their moms
3) I'm totally going to get my share of special weekends and time-off of work this summer, and hopefully past this summer as well
Monday, May 19, 2008
My Trip to the Stratosphere
I spent the weekend on a cloud somewhere above number nine. I've met the man who I think has incredible odds of being Mr. Right - the full package, the whole enchilada, a truly amazing and good man. His nickname is going to be Paulo, which a website tells me is African for "place of rest." While I think the site is on the wrong continent, I like the sentiment.
I've had some great relationships in the past, but I've never felt so calmly ecstatic about somebody. I'm utterly crazy about him, but I'm not crazy in general because of him. At some point this weekend I looked up in to his tawny eyes and said, "You are absolutely believable." Which, to me, is much better than if he'd turned out to be unbelievable. I'm amazed at his existence, but find myself very ready and willing to accept that he does exist and that I fill that same void in his world.
We finish each other's sentences and each pleasantly shock the other by doing something in such a way that you'd swear minds had been read because it's so perfectly what the other is looking for...like how he left me a note written as a crossword puzzle when he left this morning after I'd gone to work, or how I said, without prompting from him, that it would be fun to get gussied up and sit behind him at the poker table so I could distract all the other players - something he'd talked about with a poker buddy in a 'wishful thinking' conversation.
I'm blissfully happy right now, and I'm taking the advice of my good friend Georgiana by soaking this all up to put in reserve for times down the road when life doesn't seem quite as blessedly perfect as it does right now. Because, let me tell you, Paulo adds an entirely new lustre to my already fantastic life.
Three good things:
1) He passed the test at lunch with some of my friends - essential
2) I'm so secure with him that I don't feel even a hint of desire to forget about the rest of my life in order to be with him
3) I think I have a healthy supply of schmoop (thanks to Geo this is one of my new favorite words) headed my way
I've had some great relationships in the past, but I've never felt so calmly ecstatic about somebody. I'm utterly crazy about him, but I'm not crazy in general because of him. At some point this weekend I looked up in to his tawny eyes and said, "You are absolutely believable." Which, to me, is much better than if he'd turned out to be unbelievable. I'm amazed at his existence, but find myself very ready and willing to accept that he does exist and that I fill that same void in his world.
We finish each other's sentences and each pleasantly shock the other by doing something in such a way that you'd swear minds had been read because it's so perfectly what the other is looking for...like how he left me a note written as a crossword puzzle when he left this morning after I'd gone to work, or how I said, without prompting from him, that it would be fun to get gussied up and sit behind him at the poker table so I could distract all the other players - something he'd talked about with a poker buddy in a 'wishful thinking' conversation.
I'm blissfully happy right now, and I'm taking the advice of my good friend Georgiana by soaking this all up to put in reserve for times down the road when life doesn't seem quite as blessedly perfect as it does right now. Because, let me tell you, Paulo adds an entirely new lustre to my already fantastic life.
Three good things:
1) He passed the test at lunch with some of my friends - essential
2) I'm so secure with him that I don't feel even a hint of desire to forget about the rest of my life in order to be with him
3) I think I have a healthy supply of schmoop (thanks to Geo this is one of my new favorite words) headed my way
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