Good News From Old Friends

I got a call yesterday evening from an old friend. I met her a few years ago when I was more active in the Atlanta Ski Club , and she and I and another friend would party and hang out together. I got tired of the Ski Club culture, and moved on and the three of us just kinda went our separeate ways. Susan would call every once in awhile, just to check in, which is, admittedly more than I do. She called a few weeks ago, out of the blue, just to say hi. So I was suprised last night to hear that she was in my part of town and wanted to stop by. This sounded like a good idea as I'd had a very bad day, working on the computer and playing computer games all day. So she brought a bottle of wine and we sat on my front porch, watched the rain and talked. Susan is a very driven, organized control freak (by her own admission), but in a good way. Definately a Type 'A' personality, she has a high-ranking position as a marketing director for a large firm, and is finishing work on her 2nd Masters Degree. She also dominates conversations, constantly flitting from one thought to another when she gets new ideas. And the more wine she drinks, the more she jumps around. This could be considered rude and annoying, but once you get to know Susan, it's just Susan.
She told me last night that the man she's been seeing for the last 6 months or so proposed to her last weekend! She's very business-like in her approach to this, as she is in all aspects of her life, but she says she wants to have her moments of giddiness like a 20-year-old. Susan is one of the many 'More Mature Women unencumbered by ex-husbands or kids' that I know, she's 47 and never been married. This will be a MAJOR change in her life. This is her fiance's 2nd marriage, he's 56 and divorced after a 20 year marriage. He's been divorced for 5 years, so it's not a rebound situation. I'm thrilled for her. She's talking like I never heard her talk before, she's very much into this guy, telling him she cares about him everyday. This is not the Susan I know, but it's how it should be. She's very happy. She was prattling on about how she has several heirloom loose diamonds and she didn't know how to approach him about getting them set for an engagement ring. Susan is also, admittedly, very cheap. She's volunteered for Clark Howard, for crying out lout! I told her to not push it, let him buy her a ring. Let it be from him to her. Partly due to her control issues, and partly being cheap, she was just trying to save some money. All of her life it's been about her and that's going to be a big change, something she's more that willing to embrace.
I've imagined how difficult it would be to begin a life with someone at a More Mature age. It's always been about me: 'How am I going to do this? How am I going to pay this? ' and it's somewhat unnatural for someone else to worry about my well-being. Susan owns her own home, as does her fiance. I think they should either sell or rent their homes and buy a new one, together. She's also worried about finances, her fiance is an entrepaneur and mentioned taking out a loan for a business with a personal guarantee. She's not so hot about that one, he can use his assets for that, but not hers. I'm sure they will work it out. She wants to be like a giddy 20-year old, but she's also being a practical 47-year-old. They are both going to have a lot of compromising to do.
She met him on Match.com, so I guess there is hope. I have to concentrate on me (still) right now until I get a job, but then (maybe) I'll be ready to face The Dating Scene.
I hope she feels better than I do today, we downed 3 bottles of wine yesterday!

Speaking of Dating
I got this article from the Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Always a wealth of ridiculous news articles, which are Real Life in South Florida, this one is universal. We all have our break-up stories, one of my personal favorites in my life is the guy who broke up with me over the condiment bar at a Mexican Restaurant. He told me he wanted to end it while he was putting hot sauce on his burrito. I didn't take it seriously, we finished dinner, I went back to his apartment where we watched a movie. When I went to leave, he rubbed my back and said 'It was nice knowing you'. I looked at him and asked 'You were serious?' Then I let him know that I deserved more respect than that and walked out. He was also the one that came to my house at the begining of the relationship and watched as the bread I was baking in the oven caught on fire and the chicken I was cooking on the grill caught on fire. His line to me was 'I'm Company' so he didn't help.

Something Different
I went to Waffle House for breakfast, I'm bored with making coffee, eating breakfast bars or cereal. Breakfast is boring. So maybe I'll start doing that, at least once a week. Me and the other retiree's....

More to come...
As things happen, I'll be posting. Thanks for taking the time to read. You're opinions are welcome but if you have to start calling me names, don't bother, I won't read them. As my Dad says 'Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one.'