On January, 27, 2012 we were to go on our first date. My roommates and I were awaiting the event with much anticipation. I had come up with all sorts of images as to what this Bill would look like. I had talked to him briefly on the phone, so I had at least heard his voice. I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw when I opened the front door. There was a tall, nicely formed, dark haired, light skinned, well-dressed, light brown (hazel) eyed man. I guess I was so used to seeing less than spectacular specimens as possible mates that I was rather surprised. Pleasantly. Quite pleasantly.
I had decided to wear my gray, stingy brim fedora that night. When Heather opened the door, I doffed the hat. Her roommate Clara saw this action from afar, she thought that I actually bowed to Heather. What with this action, and the seemingly old fashioned gesture of wearing a hat, I earned the nickname "Mr. Middle Century". She thought that perhaps I had stepped out of a more chivalrous time perhaps.
We went to dinner at a little cafe that also has antiques. There I found out that Bill liked antiques (there were old kitchen utensils and Gramophones!), and that he knew an awful lot about some of them. And that he didn't quite have my name down yet, I guess (I accidentally introduced her so some acquaintances of mine that we ran into with another name). Anyway, eventually the two other couples we were to meet there showed up and we ate food. During the date, I learned that Bill was quite well-informed, and he seemed to be more acquainted with the good things in the world than many other males I had gone on dates with. I learned a little bit about his schooling in Arizona and the place where he lived there. He seemed quite agreeable.
We were supposed to go bowling next, but it was really full so we opted to play games at Chris and Kara's place instead. We played a board game called Kill Dr. Lucky, which is basically reverse Clue, and I didn't get it. Like, at all. I just did what the other Chris told me to and pretended I understood his logic so I wouldn't look too stupid to this handsome new stranger. Meanwhile, I was trying not to get too distracted by this nice, fair and pretty lady seated adjacent to me at the table.
Bill took me home just after 10:00 PM I think, and he said "we should do this again some time" and I said "yeah." He called me the following Sunday and I didn't answer because a Chinese New Year party was happening at my house. I figured that I'd done my part without wanting to be overbearing, so I left it up to Heather to decide if she'd call me back or not. I got around to calling him about 10 days later (I admit, I was feeling a bit undermotivated in the dating department at the time), and we had a great phone conversation. I believe we just chatted that time, and set up a plan for a date later on.
On date number 2, we went light painting. It was the first time either of us had tried such a thing.
I was fairly ridiculous at it, and felt even more ridiculous because Bill was quite good at it. Let me show you what I mean.
My light dinosaur, featuring Bill's trees:
But I did have fun, and decided Bill was really pretty cute.
Plus, we'd bonded criminally too.
Our 2 1/2 date happened when Bill delivered the image files to my apartment a weekish later. He brought raspberry white chocolate kisses with him, which I liked. And ate lots of. We might have got watching YouTube videos or something, I am not sure. I do remember that I was really hungry because I hadn't eaten dinner yet. I mentioned the fact, thinking perhaps he would take the opportunity to take me out to eat somewhere. Basically I was giving a subtle, feminine hint. He didn't pick it up, though (silly typical male, not picking up on those things). I ate some frozen TV dinner after he left.
I would like to point out that we pretty much didn't plan dates while on a date at first. He would call later, or sometimes I would, and then we would set it up, after talking for a really long time. It was crazy how long I could talk on the phone with him, seeing as I despise making phone calls and talking on the phone. But we bonded better this way and got to know more about each other than we would have otherwise. This system was new, and really appealing to me.
By this time, I knew I needed to decide to either stop going on dates with him, or to start going on dates only with him. On our third date I thought I would make the decision. He took me to his house and made me a wonderful gnocchi dinner (ooh, that sounds good right now!), and then we watched a movie. Galaxy Quest, I think (yep). We sat on the same couch and didn't hold hands (eww, cooties). I actually really appreciated the way he didn't force or rush anything. Being together always felt natural and good to me. Once I got past the fact that he wasn't broken in any way, that is, which was also very new to me. After the movie, we got talking about Bill's work, and he showed me some examples, and we talked about his family, and who knows what else, until it was quite late. Or early. Whichever you prefer. He drove me in the Z that night, which was quite fun. Oh, and I had decided he was a keeper by the end of the night :)
When he called me next, I was playing Uno with a couple of roommates in my bedroom. Sophie was rather upset that I would ditch our game to talk on the phone with a guy, and made some comment like "fine, go talk with your boyfriend!" and Bill, of course, heard that. To get away from the noise, I went to my car to talk. I was quite seriously twitterpated by this time. We talked for a long time.
For our fourth date, we decided to share some talents. Heather gave me my first violin lesson and I gave her a rundown of basic vehicle maintenance tips.
On our next date (six weeks since we'd been introduced to each other), we went to SUU's latest opera production (I brought some Thai takeout that we chowed down on beforehand). At the opera, Bill said something really smooth about the seats making hand holding awkward, and we held hands. Then we went back to my apartment and did I know not what (just talked; we still had plenty to learn about each other). As he was about to leave, he said something about Sophie's boyfriend comment, and very smoothly implied that he would be ok with "having that title" is what I think he said. I said I would have to think about it, though I had pretty much already made up my mind. I just had to be very sure, because I had no intention of dating another guy I wasn't going to marry.
I deliberated (which for me involved a lot of prayer) while Bill was at a family event. We meet up soon after he got back, and I told him I had made up my mind. I'd thought about it, and I liked it.
And that's how it all began.
