The story of our White House

Im fresh coming out of a horrible marriage. I could not stomach the fact that I had to get myself together and start dating again. Really? Dating? This was a ten year relationship I had just gotten out of...trust was an issue, men in general were issues, and here I am looking to hop right back into the single pool. I dont think the dating factor really scared me, what scared me more was trying to find men to date that were accepting of kids. Ever thought about that ladies? whew...I thought to myself, what if i liked him and my kids didnt, what if my kids werent ready for me to date and wanted nothing to do with this concept, or even crazier what if my kids fell in love with this guy and I was sitting on the fence?

Well I decided that I would just slowly get in Yahoo personals. It was easy, it was free..I could "browse" profiles without being judged. About this time online dating wasnt the era it is now days. People were starting to come around and become accepting of it, but there were folks out there who still thought only murders and rapist existed on the online dating deals.

So here I am, filling out my profile. Should I say this? Does this sounds cheesy? Does this profile pic make me look fat..this was almost as traumatizing as deciding to start dating again. But I just kept on filling in the blanks and I said to myself, here is your chance to really find what you are looking for. Right now I can afford to be snobby when it comes to deciding who I wanna meet. I went balls to the wall with my profile, I just put it all out there, no holds bar. I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

So a few weeks go by, of course all the creepy 40 and 50 year old somethings out there wanna nudge you and try and meet...eesh, chills down my spine. I started to think maybe this wasnt such a great idea. So I finally decided I would meet one guy from Yahoo...really nice guy, really bad hearing. Had to damn near yell at him for a conversation. The dinner was just awkward and any time I talked, he read my lips...to say the least I was trying hard not to judge him, but I had to get the hell out of there and fast!!!

Fast forward a few days. I decide to once again to stroll thru profiles again, and when I signed on I noticed I had a wink, or a poke, or whatever it was they called it. I oblige and poke back. I go to this guys profile trying to get a glimpse of his wants and desires in a woman, needless to say he has a HORRIBLE profile pic so it was hard for me to say 'wow what a looker' cause he was wearing a baseball cap low down on his head. After I obliged him with his nudge or poke this IM pops up and its Mr. Bandit_ Forever.

Here we go ladies and gent..time to break the ice! Inside Im screaming 'Oh my God, Oh my god, what do I do, What do I say', on the outside Im trying to be as calm and cool and collected as I can be. Im brushing my hair, giggling, fidgeting with things...hello!! this man cant see me, what am I doing, lol. Now mind you back then I was a different sort, I loved hip hop and R&B, was kinda into the whole urban scene, you get my drift and here I find myself talking to this country boy from a small town in the Alton, Il area who listens to country music and get this..he's a Cubs fan. Talk about opposites!! Anyways we get to chit chatting, doing the typical where did you go to school, what's your favorite this and that, a little bit of flirting and then he asks if he can call me!! SOUND THE ALARM!! Now we had chit chatted over the IM for a good solid 4 hours and I figured what the heck, he didnt send me any weird vibes, wasnt rude, was very sweet and polite, spoke like he had a good head on his shoulders, so I caved and gave him my number. My phone rings and I tell you, instantly Im sweating bullets, nervous as all get out cause now this was becoming more real. When I heard him say Hello, may I speak with Jamie, my heart melted. I dont know what it was about this gentleman that made me all giddy inside. I know he had to feel my smile thru this phone call. We talked for HOURS and finally decided we would meet in person.

Now like I said earlier, online dating wasnt quite popular yet, so I decided not to tell any of my friends or family for that matter what I was doing. In hindsight prolly not a wide decision, but something about this man said it was going to be ok. We decided that neither of us were the flashy get all gussied up type folks for a date. We said we would show up as ourselves, no frills, no high expectations or standards to start off on. We said we were gonna do a tee-shirt, shorts kind of a date and go have dinner and a movie.

I decided I would make the venture to his neck of the woods to meet. I thought this was a great gesture on my part, especially since he lived 45 minutes away. This travel destination seemed like it was going to take forever to get there. I am smoker and I wanted to chain smoke sooo bad but didnt want to smell like an old goat for our first date, so my nerves are SHOT at this point. I finally reach his house, and pull into the driveway and I see this guy sitting in a chair on the porch. I had to do a double take cause he was H-O-T!! Immediately Im thinking, did he see my profile picture? there is no way that this guy was in my ballpark. Have you ever seen a really attractive guy, but you just know there is no way in hell you both were on the same level, he's hot man and you are plain Jane...that's what I was feeling!! I knew this was just gonna end real quick on a sour note.

He says he was gonna drive for the date. We get in his truck, and Ill be damned this man just opened my car door. CHIVALRY IS NOT DEAD LADIES!! We arrive at the restaurant and he runs around the truck and again HE OPENS MY DOOR...what is this creature? Im floored at this point, I didnt think this kinda stuff existed, or it only existed in the movies, but either way I was diggin it. So he goes to again, open the doors for me to the restaurant and me not paying attention and being Jamie, as he opens the door, I damn near walk smack into the door, cause I was expecting to get the door myself and he swooped right on in there and did it for me. I felt like an ass, we giggled and kept on truckin. Conversation wasnt much past smiling and giggling, playing footsies, being shy and making small talk, but we got thru dinner. My heart just kept melting for him, Mr Bandit_Forever. Off we go to Blockbuster to try and look for a movie to watch. Needless to say it was freezing in this movie store!! I swear we walked into Antarctica. We find a movie and are standing in line to check out. Now I felt like I needed to have some type of physical contact with him, some sort of PDA, so I decided to snuggle up next to Mr Shy Bandit-Forever. When this man put his arms around me I was taken, hook, line and sinker!! To be back in the nook of a man felt so good again, I didnt realize how much I had missed the touch, the gentle squeeze, and the smile that came along with it all. I didnt want to leave the movie store at that point, I had found my happy spot, but movie time was calling, that and it would look kinda weird us standing there hugging and getting in the way, but movie night was just what I was looking for in the privacy of his home. In goes the movie and bring on the snuggling!! I was in heaven, the gentle caress of him on my arms, the way he played with my hair, the goofing around and talking and laughing, hearing his heart pitter patter just as fast as mine was...I found perfection that night.

But all good things must come to an end, and sadly it did, I had to go home and get my butt to work the next day. I can guarantee you my 45 minute ride home was the happiest ride home I had in years!! He even called me to make sure I made it home ok and told me good night and sweet dreams as we got off the phone.

The next morning who is acting like a kid in a candy store? PICK ME! PICK ME!! Who was still sporting last night's smile? OOH! OHH! ME! ME! I couldnt get this guy out of my head. All the next day at work I was telling my co-workers all the details and girl talkin it up! I know Mr Bandit_Forever's ears HAD to be ringing we were talking about him and our night so much, but one thing sat in the back of my mind; when would I see him again. AAARRRGGHHHH, another phase of dating I forgot about, the whole how many days do you let go by before you call, should he call me, can I call him...TORTURE! Well I decided to take the reigns on this and decided to give him a call. Apparently he was going thru the same torture I was, so im glad I manned up. That night we decided to go to a Rascal's baseball game and I decided to bring my kids along with me. Crazy right? It was our second date and Im haulin kids with me, but again something inside said it was ok, he was safe. The date was a total success! The kids took to Chris like they had known him forever and Chris spoiled the hell out of all 3 of us that night. We decided to head back to my place cause we just werent ready to part ways yet. I get home, get kids in bed, and find my way back to my nook. Aaaaahhhh, so comforting, feels so good, so right...and there we fell asleep at my house on the couch nuzzled together. That was the first night he "spent the night with me" and Chris has never left my side after that second date.

That man healed my soul. I have finally found 'the one'. I never got when people would say they married their best friend, and now I get it. There are times when we are together whether in public or just at home and its like we are in our own happy little world. God blessed the broken road for the two of us...