Gary is proof that with the right personality, very little planning is necessary to have a great time. He picked me up at my house and much to my surprise had a cheerful, bright, beautiful bouquet of flowers for me. (Not bad for just a couple of hours advanced notice, not bad at all!) I invited him in so I could find a poor-man's-vase for the flowers (aka cheap plastic water pitcher) and he quickly and easily struck up a conversation with my parents. No joke, it was as if he'd known them for a decade. I felt kind of bad tearing him away from his new found friends, but eventually I stepped in and kindly suggested maybe it was time for us to hit the town. He half jokingly suggested we make it a double date. Good thing Gary is hilarious and likable, his joke was taken in the good fun it was intended.
We headed up to The Woodlands for Main Event's Monday night deal, where you can have unlimited access to all The Fun for cheap. Unfortunately, good deal plus Spring Break meant the place was packed so we went in long enough for a bathroom break and a quick picture, then came up with a plan B. We decided to drive the short distance to the mall area, where there is a small river with a walking path along it. On our way there, Gary's phone rang and when he picked it up to silence it, he saw it was his mom calling. Being the nice boy he is, he couldn't very well ignore her call so he answered to say hello. I couldn't let him get away with befriending my parents and not return the favor, so I asked to say hi. Gary's mom and I chatted for about 10 minutes, and she gave me some great dating advice. It went something like this, "Don't go fishing in the toilet and then be upset when you catch a turd." So true. (by the by, Hi to Gary's mom if you're reading this! It was so nice to talk to you!)
The rain that has plagued us the last few days finally cleared up this evening, so it was a beautiful night for a walk along the water. We happened upon a hot dog stand serving a great casual dinner. We chatted away as we took in all the pretty lights and fountains. I don't know what it is about Gary, but our easy banter made this last minute date feel like I was with someone I've known for years and years. He wasn't afraid to tease or be teased, but was still a gentleman to his core, complete with opening my doors almost 100% consistently all night. The two highlights of our casual stroll, besides the laughter and conversation, were both animal related. One, this statue of two moosen sniffing each other in some sort of mating ritual. (They might have actually been deer, but I prefer moosen, so moosen they shall be).
The second highlight was when Gary stopped in his tracks while I was obliviously blathering away. I caught a glimpse of the 6 year old boy he once was, probably with a little dirt smudged on his cheek and rubberbands and rocks in his pockets, when he yelled out, "Look, a little turtle!" Sure enough, there was the smallest turtle I've ever seen just sitting in the middle of the walking path. After taking pictures, Gary carefully set the turtle off to the side where he wouldn't get trampled. As our evening together wound down and we headed back to the car, Gary once again interrupted me to sadly say, "man, I wish I could have kept that turtle." Boys will always be boys, I guess. ;-)
My evening with Gary was just what I needed to push through to the end of the 40 Dates project. Once again, it's so good to know how many funny, smart, kind, good men are out there, even when I'm too tired and grouchy to even really be on the lookout for them. Bring on the last 3 dates, I can't wait!
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