10 Years!

As I write this, it has been 10 years, to the day, since my wife and I first met each other.

Giliane was living in California at the time, and I was living in Tacoma. She and a friend of hers decided to make a trip up here just to check things out. That summer, 1997, Giliane and I started to get to know each and had been chatting on the phone, corresponding online quite a bit. So the two of us were both elated to meet each other face-to-face for the first time.

October 16th, 1997, we met at the SeaTac airport in Federal Way. We promptly ditched her friend and spent the next couple of days getting to know each other. It was love at first sight!

So today, I'm going to recreate the first dinner I cooked for her. I'll admit, it's not much. Hungry Jack Casserole. But I made it for her, the whole time with her wondering if she was gonna get food poisoning. Turns out, she loved it! So I'll make that again for her tonight. Surprised her with flowers this morning, as well. Sadly, had to lock them up in the back room 'cause if I didn't, Nemesis, our calico cat, would get out the croutons and enjoy her all-you-can-eat salad bar. Crazy cat.

It's been 10 wonderful years, babe! I can't believe time has flown by so fast! We've come a long way! Here's looking to many more years together!

Love always & forever!

Jeffrey

Man, I hate Phoenix...

I was in Phoenix last week for one of Giliane's governance counsel meetings. Well, I should say that I accompanied her down there. She got to go to her meeting, and I got to hang out at the hotel.

We actually had a really good time there. Went out to dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant, Black Angus, and invited a friend of ours, Jamie, who also happened to be in Phoenix at the same time. We were laughing, joking around, and essentially hung out at BA for so long that my butt started to go to sleep.

But I digress.

This was last Thursday night. Early the next morning, I dropped Giliane off for her meeting, leaving me to go back to the hotel. I checked out at noon, and decided to go get some lunch. I found a Burger King, bought lunch, and pulled out now looking for a gas station so that way once I met up with Giliane, we could hit the road. I pulled out of Burger King and started heading south on 7th St. I was approaching Missouri St., still having a good day. But that came to a screeching stop. And 'screeching' was the word of the day. My lane of traffic came to a halt, so I stopped, and while I was waiting for the light to change, I heard a long, pronounced screeching, the kind where once you hear it, you just know there's gonna be a CRUNCH at the end of it.

The screech lasted a couple of seconds, and at the exact moment it registered in my mind that a screech like that couldn't be good, I was rear-ended. She hit me hard enough where it pushed me into the guy in front of me. I do distinctly remember thinking, "You have GOT to be freakin' kidding me." I tried spinning the wheel to avoid the guy in front, but to no avail. So the front was damaged a little.

I get out the car and glare, and I do mean GLARE at this stinkin' girl that gets out of her blue Nissan Sentra. I even had people stopping and asking if I was ok. Which I was. A sore neck on Saturday morning, but that's about it.

I called the cops, and a motorcycle cop shows up, gets statements, looks at the skid marks on the road for a good long while, then comes up to me and says that he's citing the girl for hitting me. If you look, you can see the skid marks in the pic, which you can click for a larger version.

So now the Hyundai is in the body shop getting $4,000 worth of repairs. The girl's insurance has already called to admit they are liable for everything and will be paying for everything. I have a feeling they took one look at the situation, read the cop's report and said, "Yep, we're at fault".

To top it all off, we have to go back to Phoenix next week for yet another governance meeting for her. I'm hoping they reschedule.

Everyone cross their fingers!