Well hello world! It’s me…Jessica, kicking off my own dating adventure here in blog land. When I was trying to decide who I’d like to be my first-first date for the 40 Dates in 40 Days project, Cody quickly came to mind. Cody was my first contact with Houston, TX, even before I moved here. When I announced in church just over two years ago that I was moving here from Washington, a friend told me Cody lived here and was a great guy. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook stalking, I was able to look him up and get a little idea of what the single’s scene was like in Houston.
When I moved here, I met Cody in person and we played the “do you know” game (which was stacked in my favor, since I already knew he knew someone I knew, but he didn’t know I knew) and that led to our first conversation. Cody was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met and helped me feel welcomed right away to the great state of Tejas. Since then, Cody and I have continued to build our friendship and I always look forward to his great hugs, friendly smiles, and to seeing what awesome suit he’ll wear to church each week. (His suit jackets are always really cool textures.) When I called him about the date he answered with a quick and enthusiastic, “yes” and I knew we were in for a good time.
It was a dark and stormy night…ok, well not stormy maybe, but definitely dark and a little dreary. I’ve always wanted to start a story that way, and this time it was almost legit! Cody met me at my house, which since I live at home meant saying hi to the ‘rents and sister. He handled the introductions and picture taking very gracefully and then we were off to downtown Houston.
In my quest for interesting activities for dates, I found a website featuring discounted tickets for a little musical production called “Oscar in the Box.” I had no idea what to expect from it, but I’m a big fan of live performances of all sorts and I knew that even if it was terrible, Cody and I would have a good time. In fact, I secretly kind of hoped it would be terrible, sometimes those make the funniest memories! I told Cody what we were doing as we started the drive and he was a great sport about me dragging him 40 minutes away to a musical theater show.
The drive went quickly and Cody and I shared good conversation the entire way. When we arrived at the Music Box Theater, I think we were both surprised at how small the stage was. We were ushered to our seats by an enthusiastic blonde, and when we sat and looked at our program we realized she was one of the stars of the show. We looked around and realized all the ushers were cast members. Cody and I continued our easy conversation, and then the lights went down and the show began!
The 5 person cast took us through a movie extravaganza. The plot of the original script (as in written by the performers of the Music Box Theater) was about Brad getting knocked out and then having to make his way through several different movie genres, always chasing after The Girl (who happened to be his wife in real life), and then finally he wakes up from his movie-themed dream by tapping his red Converse sneakers together 3 times and spinning off stage. The play was full of good songs, like I Need a Hero, Man of Constant Sorrow, The One Who Got Away, etc. Each cast member was impressively talented. The play itself was corny in the best way, with character names like Mary Nara (the Don’s daughter in the scene spoofing the Godfather) and scenes with titles like “Gag Me With 16 Candles at a Breakfast Club.” The highlight of the show for me was a mash-up of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and “You Could be Swinging on a Star”, in which one of the lyrics went, “would you rather be a mule? (he’s belligerent!).”
Cody and I chuckled and sometimes outright laughed throughout the first act, and then laughed even more the second half when the other audience members’ alcohol kicked in and they got louder and more enthusiastic in their cheering. (I’m sure people around us thought I’d started my own drinking early since I was laughing loudly and raucously from the very beginning – little did they know I don’t need drugs to have fun, I get a high on LIFE!). Hopefully Cody wasn’t too embarrassed by my may-be-mistaken-for-being-buzzed laughter and cheers. =)
After the show was over, Cody and I tracked down the two main actors, who also happen to be the owners of the theater, who also happened to be bussing the tables themselves (talk about multi-talented!) and we asked for a picture. They were gracious and friendly, and asked us to come back and to tell our friends. Which I am happy to do. The 5 person cast writes original productions throughout the year, and I’m sure all the shows are similar to this one…silly and full of clichés and slapstick humor, peppered with fun musical numbers, and best of all – PG rated humor (maybe a couple of PG-13 moments, but nothing offensive or overly crass).
As for my time with Cody himself, I was so happy to have one on one time to learn more about him. We shared stories about our families (he’s one of 6 boys, I’m one of 5 girls) and what we were like in high school (I was like I am now, except with worse fashion sense, he was quiet and mellow and much more introverted than he is now). At one point I was telling him about how I realize that I often make initial judgments about people I meet and then as I get to know them, I have to “unlearn” the things that I got wrong. As I sit here now thinking about Cody, I’m really happy to say that I haven’t had to unlearn anything about him, only learn more. My first impression of the sweet, sometimes a tiny bit awkward but in the most endearing way, funny and welcoming guy I met two years ago was dead on. Cody was such a good sport through the entire night. I’m sure going to a low budget live musical production isn’t something that’s often on his calendar, but he handled everything like a champ and we had a great time.
The night ended back at my house, where I walked Cody to his car (like the traditional doorstep scene, only backwards, which is only fitting for my life). He gave me a big hug, during which I remembered my goal of not “tapping out” on any hugs during this dating adventure, and I held on without patting him even a little. By the by, if you know Cody, don’t ever miss out on getting a hug from him. I consider myself somewhat of a hug connoisseur, and he gives GREAT ones!
I consider my inaugural date a smashing success. Thank you so much to Cody for making it so comfortable and fun. I can’t wait for the next nine!
3 comments:
Hey! I know both of you.fun idea jessica.
lol, yes you do! In fact, you and Joseph were the subjects of the "do you know" game! Miss you friend.
Awesome! I love it! It was a great night Jessica, thanks for asking me. I'm glad I could be a part of this.
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