Week in Review

Despite contracting a vicious sore throat over the weekend (where could I have gotten that from??), it has been a lovely week.

Maddy has been fighting hot spots these past two weeks, and desperately needs to be groomed. Because of this, she's been donning the E-collar, or "Hat" as we like to call it. She has grown quite accustomed to it, although I'm sure if she had her druthers, she'd rather not wear it.



Friday night, Rob and I went to The Hat with D. My cousins Matt and Chad own this family restaurant in West Davenport, and we had a blast eating lots of fried stuff before heading over to see a movie.



The three of us met Jeff and Stephanie over at Showcase 53 to catch the opening night of Cloverfield.

For those of you unaware of this new movie, it is from producer J.J. Abrahms (of Alias and Lost fame), and features a cast of unknown actors. The story goes like this: giant monster descends on Manhattan and ravages the city. It drops parasites the size of taxi cabs (that look like giant spiders, ticks, lice, etc.) that attacks and kills it's prey, and it seems that the monster is unable to be killed. The story brings you in as Rob, the main character, is leaving New York for a glamourous job in Japan, and his best friend Hud is filming the goings-on at his going away party. As the city comes under attack, Hud continues to film everything around him, including people getting bit by the giant spiders, folks looting local electronics stores, and the military trying it's damnest to kill the 6-story tall monster. I really quite liked the movie, and I was terrified most of the time. It's hard to watch at times, as if you get motion-sickness, it can surely make you nauseated. But it was great to see a cast of unknown actors, truly horrified at what is happening around them. Because they went with a cast of unknowns, the company was allowed to use all it's money on special and visual effects, and it doesn't disappoint. If you can stand the seizure cam, be sure to check this movie out.


Saturday night, Rob and I spend time with our friends Abbey and Anya, a wonderful lesbian couple who bring their son Oliver to my Kindermusik class. It's been great becoming friends with these two ladies outside of class, as they are an absolute riot. We shared stories over thai food and pound cake, and when I started to feel yucky from my sore throat, we decided to head home. We just love them, and enjoy spending time with them so much!


This morning I woke to hear the phone ringing. The caller ID said "Iowa Call", but I didn't recognize the number. I thought it might be a prospective student, but when I picked up the phone, I heard "So, I hear you're having dreams about me", and immediately knew who it was.

In June of 1996, I met a young man named Dave Mathews. Seriously, the guy's name is Dave Mathews, but with one T instead of two. If you think back, the summer of 1996 was right when The Dave Matthews Band was starting to become a household name, and I thought it was pretty awesome that I had met "Dave Mathews". We had all gone to a swimming party, and Dave was there, diving sideways off of diving boards, screaming at the top of his lungs, and generally making a fool out of himself. I was smitten.

Me, Dave and Kim (college friend) meeting for the first time


The two of us seemed to hit it off, and by the end of the party, he shouted out his phone number at the top of his lungs, and I quickly wrote it down. Three days later, I called him, and we made a date to see a movie. All this time, I never thought of us as getting romantic. Dave was this fun-loving, crazy individual and I just wanted to know him and be his friend. When he picked me up, I was sitting at the dinner table with my folks, and Dave comes barreling down the drive in a huge green truck with the license plate "1 Xtreme". No shit. My parents thought it hysterical, and off we went to see Nicolas Cage in The Rock. I remember it being about a hundred degrees with 100% humidity, so we stopped at Whitey's and picked up some malts, then back to his house to hang out. I had a horrible chest cold, and his adorable mom came out and told us stories about how her mother used to feed them Vicks Vapo-rub as kids. FEED it to them. As the night wore on (which turned into morning), it was apparent that the two of us had some kind of connection, but what?

The summer continued on, we kept hanging out, but nothing ever happened. We would snuggle together, casually date, but he never kissed me. When the summer was over, I was headed back to Clarke, and he back to ISU. We said a lovely good-bye, and promised to keep in touch, which we did, all the time. E-mails, phone calls. Dave was (and still is) a hockey nut, and would often write me with hilarious stories of hockey try-outs at ISU. To know Dave is to love him, anyone who knows him will tell you that. He came up for the Homecoming Dance, where he totally hit it off with all my friends. I had gotten a lead role in the fall musical, and Dave had told me he would be unable to attend. Opening night, I looked down, and there he was, in the front row. I nearly had a nervous breakdown right on stage seeing him sitting down there, a giant smile on his face. It was this weekend that he confessed to have strong feelings for me. I was a young 19, confused in my feelings for him, and unsure of what to do, as I was also feeling strong feelings for another boy I was in school with (who I ended up dating for a year).

The years went by, both or one of us always in a relationship with someone else. Our timing sucked. There would be times when we'd see and talk to each other every day. Then we wouldn't talk for years, and it turned out we hadn't spoken in 5 years. 3 years ago, while living in Cincinnati, I decided to write a letter and send it to his parents house in Moline. I knew it would eventually get to him. A few months later, I received an email from him. He was in the Army, stationed in Afghanistan. We emailed like crazy for many months, then he sort of dropped off the map. Rob and I moved to California, then we moved here. I tried emailing him again, and finally, a response. At this point, I had no idea where he was, what he was doing. We had invited him to our Christmas party, and I received an email that he couldn't make it, but that he was teaching at West High School and living in Davenport. All this time, he had been out of the Army and living here in town. I was thrilled. I emailed him last week, telling him he made an appearance in my dream and asking him to call me. And lucky me, after all these years, I finally got a phone call this morning.

To this day, there is this unspoken... "Thing" between us. We're both married ( I more happily than he, I think), have grown to be strong and interesting adults, but it doesn't matter. There was, and always will be, a strong connection between us. We went so many years of trying to work things out, to be together, but with both of us living so far apart during our college years, it just never happened. And then it was relationships, for both of us. Dave is one of my biggest regrets. To think I stayed in one relationship, and gave up the thought of having one with Dave, to be heartbroken in the end. What an idiot I was. And I know there is a part of me that will always love him. That will always swoon when I see him or hear his voice or hear him tell some crazy story. That every time we talk on the phone, it will be a little strange. Like there is something one of us wants to say to the other. The feeling is what's called sexual tension. If I know one thing, it is that.

I know we will see each other again soon. It's been 7 years seen we've laid eyes on each other. That is way too long. I can't wait to see my friend again. It will be sweet.