I have lots to write but no time at the present. I’ll try to get to it very soon. Just to give you a taste of what’s to come, here are some of the exciting developments of late.
1. Tweed has returned.
2. The first Sunday back saw continued flirting with Swish.
3. I had a date.
4. There was another dance on Friday.
5. The Slacker (my cute classmate) split-up from his girlfriend over Christmas.
(This actually happened the Friday before I went home for Christmas. I'm back in England now and Operation 2nd Date is in the planning stages. Stay tuned.)
Hello ladies and gentlemen. I have some good news. Swish and I had a date-ish. Our mutual friend called us each individually to see if we wanted to go to a movie with him and his girlfriend. So it was a setup…of two people who already knew each other…by someone they both knew. They do things a bit differently here on a number of accounts. First, and most frustrating, they don’t just casually date. If you ask someone out, it’s tantamount to a declaration of love. As you may well imagine, that puts a damper on the amount of dating people do. How do people find each other, you may wonder. I haven’t figured that out yet, but I will let you know. Also frustrating is the fact that they all know each other and each other’s past so there are lots of off-limits people. The English grapevine is much higher developed than even the Utah Mormon grapevine. People are always watching and they will tell on you.
Anyway, back to the “date.” The plan was for us to go to dinner and then a movie, which was perfect. I began planning my outfit for maximum hotness. Truth be told, I was feeling a little nervous and awkward. Part of the problem was that I didn’t know what Swish’s understanding of the evening was. I didn’t know if he thought it was a date or just a group of friends hanging out, so I didn’t want to make it seem like I thought there was more to it than there was. But I also wanted him to think I was fun and into him so he would want to spend more time together in the future. So complicated! I was also feeling awkward since, being award of the English aversion to dates, I knew there was a lot riding on this one evening. Well, it turns out that most of my worrying was in vain. Swish ended up having to stay later at the lab (he’s getting a Master’s in chemistry) so we just did the movie. When we arrived at Swish’s house, they made me go to the door, which made me feel awkward. Then I didn’t know which of the three doorbells was for his apartment so I went back to the car whereupon I was forced to call him, which also made me feel awkward. When he got in the car, he informed us all that he had had an allergic reaction to the chemicals he was working with that day. The skin on his face was red and a little flaky, but not too bad. I felt sorry for him and thought to myself that if it had been me I would have cancelled the date. (That could be because I base my self-esteem on my physical appearance, but whatever.) We proceeded to the movie, which was hilarious and, from my point of view, we had a good time. There was a good bit of teasing and flirting, but it was a little less effortless than it had been in our previous interactions. I think we were both a little unsure of just what the situation was and it sort of put us off our game. It could also have been the chemical reaction all over his face. I guess we’ll never know. Afterward, we went for ice cream and he paid for mine, so, as per Elder Oaks 3 Ps, I’ve been on a date with Swish. Now the question remains as to how to get to date two.
My patience has been rewarded. I got kissed 4 times. Who knew all it would take was some carefully placed mistletoe? Last Saturday, my friends decided to take a little trip to Bath where they have a Christmas market in the streets around the abbey. When we arrived, there was a homeless guy selling bunches of mistletoe. I joked that I should buy some and my friends encouraged me enough that I couldn’t resist. We all know I’m a bit of an exhibitionist, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Anyway I gave him 60 pence and in return was given more than enough mistletoe to do the trick. Jokingly, I then said something about wishing there was a way for me to clip a bit to the front of my coat hood. Well, shockingly, at that point a hair pin was proffered and the mistletoe affixed to the appropriate spot. That’s when the fun began. Now, in my defense, I’ve been around plenty of mistletoe in my day and have never reaped the rewards of it, so I thought this would be the same thing. I figured we all have a laugh and maybe a few other people would find it amusing and no harm would be done. Well, I was wrong. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the English, it’s that they take their traditions seriously, even if that means kissing people in whom you have no interest or having a Queen who really doesn’t do much. Mere moments after the mistletoe was put into action, I saw one of my friends coming at me with lips pursed. Before I had time to react, his lips were attached to my cheek. Then we had the brilliant idea to take a picture of the moment, which meant that he had to leave those lips firmly planted for quite some time. I am pleased to report that the picture turned out very well. We then met up with a few other friends and the mistletoe magic was repeated, luckily I was better prepared this time. When I saw the face approaching mine I offered a cheek and everyone was happy. We wandered around the market for a while and plenty of comments were made, but no other kisses were given until we were in the car park getting ready to leave. The couple ahead of us had finished paying when the man turned to me and said, “Tempting fate, eh?” to which I jokingly responded, “And hopefully people.” He apparently thought I was serious because he said, “Well let me be the first then,” and proceeded to plant one on my cheek. At this point I realized that this mistletoe business could get me into serious trouble. I resolved to wear it every day. The final mistletoe escapade of the day came that night at the ward Christmas party. I was getting ready to leave and was showing my clever invention to one of the old married guys in the ward with whom we’ve all gotten to be friends. Again I was not prepared for the consequences of my mistletoe decision. I was powerless to avoid another wet kiss on the cheek. When I got home that night, I decided that I will never again be afraid to kiss someone under the mistletoe. I can just tell them it’s a tradition I picked up in England, among other things…
Hello faithful readers. I’m sorry for the infrequency of posts lately, and for the lack of any proper snogging. Believe me when I say, I am working on it and am probably closer now than I have been at any point since I got here. For the Tweed fans out there, a quick update. He has gone to the U.S. for an unknown amount of time. He is looking at continuing his studies in the States and is checking out law schools there. Thus, we have had no contact for weeks and, as the saying goes, absence either makes the heart grow fonder or makes it forget. In this case, absence has not been good to him. Those who know me well know that proximity is usually a key, determining factor as to how much I like a guy. If he’s not around much, I tend to move on to someone who is.
Enter…Swish. Things have begun to progress nicely with him. This past weekend has seen a substantial increase in the amount and intensity of our flirtatious interactions. Saturday evening there was an activity that I wasn’t too keen on attending until I found out that Swish would be there. I flirtatiously texted him about getting a lift and he flirtatiously responded in the affirmative. He sat next to me throughout the activity and we exchanged a bit of witty banter. A quick side note on that; I very much enjoy flirting with people who are quick witted and can handle a fair amount of good-natured ribbing. Swish has proven to be just that kind of person. I thoroughly enjoy flirting with him because he’s a tease and also smart enough to both give and get witty exchanges. He also has pretty blue eyes and dimples, which never hurt anybody. Anyway, back to Saturday night. After the activity, a group of us decided that a jaunt to McDonald’s was in order. Now, I’m not a huge fan of McDonald’s, but it is cheap and fast (just like me!) so off to McDonald’s we went. It turned out to be fertile flirting grounds that night. Even my friend who hadn’t witnessed my interaction with Swish before this night commented on both the quality and quantity of our flirtation. My favorite part of the evening consisted of him giving me the pickles off his hamburger. You know, like a married couple would do. When he dropped me off later that night, I felt reasonably sure that there was something there.
Those feelings were reinforced the next day at Church. He again chose to sit next to me at every chance. I tried to ignore him just a little, but I’ve never really been good at that game and so, paid him a fair amount of attention. We shared a hymnbook and sat closer to each other than was really necessary, which of course led to the occasional leg or arm graze. Witty comments were made and laughs exchanged, all accompanied by flirtatious glances. At one point he even draped his arm on the back of the pew. Then after the meeting, instead of immediately leaving as he usually does, he stayed on the bench and we flirted fairly shamelessly (in the words of my roommate) for a solid half an hour. A fair amount of teasing ensued and I, of course, pretended to be put out so he would have to say something nice. Standard flirtation techniques were put to good practice. There was even some casual discussion on our attitudes concerning making out (I’m pleased to announce that we’re on the same page there) and it ended up being another typical (for me) Sunday afternoon conversation. Meanwhile, my roommate and the people he drove to Church were waiting (mostly) patiently to go home. Finally, the time had come to call it a day. We parted on good terms with the hope on my part that it wasn’t all for naught. Later that night, when I checked my facebook, he had requested my friendship. Sometimes the littlest victories are the most rewarding.
Last night was my second Reading YSA dance and I am pleased to announce that it went much better than last time for a number of reasons. First of all, I felt like I was looking pretty hot. A healthy dose of confidence always seems to make things go better. I put in quite a bit of effort to produce the desired effect, although my roommate said I looked like an angel, which was not exactly what I was going for. But at least I was justly rewarded for my efforts, which we will get to presently. Secondly, I know more people now, so I don’t have to follow my roommates around like a little puppy. In fact, I spent very little time hanging around the roomies this time. There’s a guy in the stake (in whom I am not interested) who loves to dance, so he was my dance crew partner. Which brings me to the third reason last night was fun; they actually played good music most of the time. We had a bit of Beyonce, some Kanye, and even a song or two from the boy band genre, all of which are very danceable. Suffice it to say, I did my thang on the dance floor and quite enjoyed myself.
Now on to the fourth and most important reason last night was fun, the guys. I know you’re wondering, so I will end the suspense. Tweed was not in attendance. It turned out all right, though, because it gave me the chance to meet and flirt with a lot of new guys. And I took advantage of that chance. First of all, there’s a guy in the ward, Swish we’ll say, that I’ve kind of had my eye on lately. He’s been quite flirty since the beginning and last Sunday was fairly keen to keep my attention. I’ve hesitated to say much just yet, but last night changed my mind. Anyway, I was hoping he would be at the dance, and was not disappointed. I was in the midst of shakin’ it like a Polaroid picture when he got there and he came right over to say hi. Now, the music in the gym is very loud, which can be a great advantage if you like the guy. Circumstances being what they were, Swish had to lean in fairly close to make himself heard and there was a little bit of the hand on the elbow action from both of us. He danced with our little group for a while and then went off with some other friends. However, later that evening, we found ourselves together in the foyer, which is where everyone goes to talk, since you can’t really hear in the dance. We chatted and flirted for a while and I felt pretty good about the progress we made. He now has my number with strict instructions to put it to good use. The good news is that I’ll most likely see him at Church tomorrow and can continue my pursuit.
The second guy, Obi-Wan, I met for the first time last night. He’s not from around here, so I don’t know how much I’ll end up seeing him, but I hope this isn’t it ‘cause I actually thought he was pretty cute. Our meeting needs a bit of set-up. There’s a set of sisters in our stake that I’ve become friends with. They are pretty popular with the boys, mostly because they’re beautiful and flirtatious. So naturally, we get along. Anyway, I told them that I was in need of a good snog and that I needed their help to find a guy who would be willing to do that with no strings attached and who wouldn’t spread it around and destroy my carefully crafted reputation as a good girl. So the quest began. A number of guys were suggested, but nothing concrete came of it. I was introduced to a few guys, a couple of whom I wouldn’t mind snogging, but this was mainly a fact-finding mission at this point. I had been introduced by one of the sisters to Obi-Wan earlier in the gym, but couldn’t really hear what he was saying and didn’t want to invade their conversation so I eventually left to go back to tearing it up on the dance floor. At the end of the night, I found myself chatting again with Obi-Wan and one of the sisters in the foyer. Her boyfriend came along and she cleverly left us to ourselves. We had a nice chat during which time I found out that he’s a PE teacher. How perfect! He was very nice and funny and I felt perfectly comfortable talking to him. He also has really cute eye crinkles. Plus, I found out later that he’s 32. I was pretty pleased to find out there are a few older guys left in England, as most of the ones I’ve met are in their early 20s, which makes me feel like a pedophile. So yeah, all in all, a pretty good night.
Okay, so details. As I’m sure you’re all aware, Thursday was Guy Fawkes Day (for a bit of history, the G-rated version of the day’s events, and some pictures, check the other blog.) Tweed had volunteered to have us all over to his house for the festivities. We met first at our house to make our Guy. Then we headed over to Tweed’s house for the burning. We lit a few fireworks (that’s not what I mean, dirty minds; I’m talking actual fireworks.) I love fireworks so I was busy taking pictures and video of the craziness, but not too bust to make sure to catch Tweed’s eye every now and then. Then it was time to burn Guy, so we stuck him in a big metal garbage can and torched the poor guy. As the fire burned down, most people drifted back to the patio and Tweed and I were left together in the near darkness. By the romantic light of Guy’s smoldering remains, we shared a bit of good conversation. We were quite near the fire and each other. Tweed was doing the staring thing that makes me feel like he’s going to kiss me and I was being dutifully coy. During our conversation, he had thrown a few of the dud fireworks into the garbage can and at one point, one ignited, startling me into Tweed’s waiting arms. We then decided it would be safer to be on the patio. The party moved inside and I hung back in the kitchen with Tweed while the rest of the group went to the living room. We chatted for a while and were then interrupted by everyone else. The decision was made to return to our house, as no one there was trying to sleep. (Tweed lives at home and his mother is scary sometimes.) Somehow Tweed and I ended up next to each other on our love seat where there was plenty of room for us to not be touching, but we were. After a game of charades, the night ended with me walking Tweed to the door and my friends teasing me about our interactions. I think I can safely say there is some interest there, on both sides. I’m getting more and more comfortable around him and thus more and more flirtatious. I hope he knows what he’s gotten himself into. Poor kid.
