Good Tuesday morning!
I've added one last Valentine's Day pic to the Gallery below... and then it's off to something new and exciting!
RANDOMNESS #1 - I told you I would have last-minute Valentine's Day ideas this morning... AND I DO! Go to The Dating Divas under My Blog List and read today's post. After you finish, click on each and every little box beneath today's post. Good ideas GALORE!
RANDOMNESS #2 - Since today is Valentine's Day, I decided to hit the Archives and share a Blind Date Story from 2009.
No. I did not have a blind date in 2009. I was happily married to Mikie in 2009.
However, I did have 16 blind dates in my illustrious ten-year dating career, and back in 2009, I shared a few of those stories on the "old" A Simple Life (www.belindafaulkner.blogspot.com).
The one I'm sharing today is entitled "Big Fred," and believe me, your first date will seem wonderful in comparison.
Big Fred
His name has been changed. This blind date took place exactly 34 years ago. Wow. Time flies when you're having... FUN is not the word I would put here!
I was 16 years old, and had never had a date. (PLAY SAD MUSIC HERE!)
Were you like this? The day I turned 16, I just thought the phone would ring off the hook. "Have you heard? Belinda is 16 and she can date now. Get in line!"
Well, it didn't work that way for me. (Can you hear the bitterness?)
Several months after I turned 16, my pastor approached me about a young man he knew that was in seminary in Birmingham. The young man was going to be giving a short devotion at a Valentine's Day Banquet, and needed a date. Okay. Having no experience saying "no" at all, much less to my pastor, I agreed to let this young man call and escort me to the Banquet.
(For the record, the only thing worse than being on a 15-hour date in a bathing suit is going to a Valentine's Day Banquet with a complete and total stranger in a big, puffy dress... and having the obligatory Valentine's Day Banquet picture taken with said total stranger... and the date being your very FIRST date ever in your whole life.)
I was a picture in peach. Hair and make-up done to perfection. I was wearing heels because I had been assured Big Fred (another guy with a nickname) was much taller than me. And he was. He was probably 6'3" or 6'4" and he was a big guy. I still have that picture somewhere. An 8" x 10" glossy, Baby! (Even if I found it, I would not post!)
He picked me up, and he was very nice, handsome in his suit and tie and he seemed genuinely happy to see me. We arrived at the Banquet, had our picture made and he seated me at a table with a plate of banquet food while he went to the front of the Fellowship Hall to sit with the other speakers. He planned to give his devotion right after the prayer, and then return to sit with me. Unfortunately for Big Fred, this was a popular Banquet because during the prayer many, many people came in and sat down. When we said, "Amen," and I looked up, every seat around me was taken... with couples. Uh, oh. This wasn't good... or was it?
I saw him looking at me during his devotion, and surmised he was trying to figure out new seating arrangements. I looked around. The church Fellowship Hall was packed. No seats at all. I looked at him and shrugged helplessly. What was a girl in a puffy peach dress to do? I didn't know a soul (including my date), so I couldn't very well go around rearranging people to make room. I decided to quietly eat my dinner, and we could get together at the end.
Not Big Fred's idea of a good date. I looked up from my dinner in the middle of the main speaker's speech and Big Fred was motioning for me to come to the FRONT of the Fellowship Hall where he had pulled a chair out of a closet and squeezed it between him and another man. I shook my head and mouthed, "I'm okay," but it was not okay with Big Fred. His arm gestures got bigger and bigger. All of this was happening during the main speech.
As Roxie would say, "I was MORTIFIED," and I was not going to get up in all my peach puffiness and walk from the back of the Fellowship Hall to the front of the Fellowship Hall during the MESSAGE and sit down facing the audience. The odds of me making it up there without falling were not good at all... and just the thought of everyone watching my backside in my puffy peach dress as I walked down the middle aisle (the only aisle) was just too much. So for the rest of the evening, I avoided eye contact with Big Fred and became completely enamored with my chicken, green beans and rice pilaf. I never looked up until the final "Thanks for coming, and be careful going home!" Big Fred was very red in the face, and I couldn't tell if he was angry, frustrated or both.
As it turned out, he was embarrassed and sorry. He apologized a million times for leaving me alone at the Valentine's Day Banquet. I decided to be gracious, and I forgave him.
We got in his car and headed home. He was a nice guy. A Valentine's Day Banquet isn't a good first date or a good blind date... for anyone. He opened the car door for me, and then walked me to the front door. That's when everything got... awkward.
"I had a nice time. Would you like to go out again?" he asked.
"Sure," I said, and I meant it.
And then he asked the worst question you can ask on a date (the worst question to me, anyway)... "Would you mind if I kissed you good night?"
Oh, man. I had just met the guy... and we hadn't even spent that much time together. Maybe 30 or 45 minutes tops! But being INCREDIBLY young and stupid, I responded, "Well, maybe just one on the cheek." Ugh! How young and stupid can you be?
I closed me eyes and waited... and waited... and waited. I peeked out of one eye to see if he had left. Nope, still there. What must have seemed like 18 minutes to me, probably was less than ten seconds, but I was... how did I phrase it... YOUNG AND STUPID, and I just wanted to get it over with. I took charge of the increasingly embarrassing situation, stood on tip-toe and kissed him. I kissed HIM. (PLAY THEME MUSIC FROM JAWS HERE!)
Now, kissing him first was bad enough, but because he was so tall, and my eyes were closed, and I moved so quickly... well, I missed. That's right. I missed. I'm sitting here getting sick just thinking about it all over again. I kissed him right on the end of his nose. "Well, there you go," I said, and I darted into the house. I could hear him chuckling on the way back to the car.
Oh, the horror! What an awful first date story! What an awful first kiss story! Three words... AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL! Awful... but memorable!
Big Fred and I dated a few more times, and we had fun. It ended amicably and we went our separate ways. And I'm happy to say by the time Mikie came along, my aim was much, much better!
DISCLAIMER - I think I'm slowly, but surely, losing it! I told you I was going to post the Pizza Grilled Cheese recipe today, along with a Pinterest Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Crescent Roll recipe.
You may or may not have noticed... I posted the Pizza Grilled Cheese recipe LAST Tuesday.
However, I did promise a twofer for Valentine's Day, and I always try to keep my promises on major holidays. Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Pound Cake S'mores
Pinterest scores again! This sounds like a Sara Lee Peanut Butter Marshmallow Chocolate Sauce sandwich to me. Delicious on so many levels!
You will need the following:
2 ounces semisweet chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
One 1-pound frozen pound cake (Sara Lee), thawed
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1. Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a saucepan or in the microwave, heat the cream until hot (about 1 to 2 minutes). Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.
2. Using a serrated knife, trim off the top and bottom of the pound cake so that the cake is about 1 1/4 inches thick. Then slice the cake in half horizontally.
3. Spread one half with peanut butter and the marshmallow fluff on the other, leaving a 1/2" border all around.
4. Press the two halves together and spread the top and bottom with the butter.
5. Place the pound cake in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until warmed through, turning once (about 2 minutes).
6. Transfer to a cutting board and slice. Serve immediately with chocolate sauce.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Crescent Rolls
Another Pinterest delight!
You will need the following:
1 package Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Peanut butter
Chocolate chips
1. Separate the crescent roll dough.
2. Spread peanut butter over entire triangle.
3. Sprinkle 1 layer of chocolate chips.
4. Roll according to directions on package.
5. Bake according to directions on package.
6. Serve warm out of the oven with MILK!
NOTE - I added miniature marshmallows to the mix.
Have a lovely Tuesday and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I'll be back tomorrow with Wednesday Wisdom, a Seasonal Tradition and more good "stuff."
Take care and I'll talk to you in the morning.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
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