a little about ... us.

Our paths collided back in the fall of aught-seven. I was working behind the counter of the ol'Diam coffee cafe here in nordeast Minneapolis and Abby came in to meet her friend Luna.

And after ordering myself a soy latte (no froth), Gabe opted to poke fun at me because "even the most frothless latte has some foam." Luna was late (conveniently) and so we stood there making eyes and giggling and it was all pretty lame ... in a cute, Wonder Years sort of way.

Anyhoo, embarassed and gushing I found a table and waited for Luna to arrive and when she did I was eight shades of red and said "the guy behind the counter's really cute." So Luna, who is wise, said, "well come with me while I order and then you can talk to him again."

She made this easy, because when we got there she ordered a quesadilla with no cheese. Ample opportunity to poke fun (together!) that a quesadilla, by name, implies cheese. After giggles and red cheeks we returned to our table. **le sigh**


Around this time, my co-worker, Jim, arrived on the scene. Turns out the girl he was headed t'wards the alter with had been a coworker of Abby and Luna's over yonder at the Eastside Food Co-op. He made a bit of small talk with them before climbing behind to counter and starting his shift. I inquired about the gals seated around the corner, and mentioned that I thought the one called "Abby" was quite a looker, that is to say, quite pretty indeed. Jim, lacking in the discretion that I prefer in my confidants, returned to the seating area to "wipe down tables."

Ok, so, while Jim may have stopped by mine and Luna's table, he did not, as Gabe has implied, come right out and say that Gabe thought I was cute.

That happened a few minutes later, once Luna and I were getting up to leave...

We were heading toward the door and stopped to say goodbye to Jim, and Luna mentioned that I thought Gabe was cute. I tried to brush her comment off but Jim was ready to play cupid and said "Oh, really?? Well he thinks you're cute too."

R-E-D. My face.

Well, I had conferences in Colorado for the next few weeks and was leaving that next morning and so what did I have to lose??

I walked past Gabe as he smoked a cigarette went right to the passenger seat of my car, wrote my name, number and e-mail address on the back of a receipt. I turned around, walked right up to him, shaking like a leaf in the wind and said "A bird told me you think I'm cute, I think you're pretty cute too. I'm leaving town for about a month, but when I get back it'd be great to hang out sometime." Then I turned and tried to place one foot in front of the other until I reached my car. I got in, giggled uncontrollably and drove away.

And what did he do?

He lost the sheet of paper.

Of course I lost that piece of paper! I had things to do! I had a plan! There were boxcars to ride! Highways to hitchhike! Songs to sing(for my supper)! I was gonna see the world! Dirty, wide-eyed and alone! Like a normal goddamn person! I wasn't gonna be one of them weirdos who siddles up alongside some girl for life, even if she did keep my brand of sarcasm in her pocket, not to mention wear my brand of rose-colored glasses with her perfect smile.

So while she went off to her conference in Colorado, I stuck her phone number in a pocket with a hole in the bottom and continued plotting my next adventure; secretly hoping she'd stop back into the coffeehouse before the next freight train could take me away...

Three weeks after we met, I returned from my mountainous journeys. And as ridiculous as this might sounds, I waited for his call... and I waited. And after about a week I walked into Diamond's and said "Why haven't you called me?"

Well I started coming in more frequently. I worked from home at the time and made Diamond's my remote office a few times a week so we could chat and after about a month (seriously!) I said, hey, I'm planning to paint my living room but my ceilings are really high (it's true, they were about 10 feet), you happen to be quite tall ... could you lend a hand?

And so we had our first date. Gabe came to tape my ceilings. (It took me more than 3 months to actually paint the walls.) He still wouldn't kiss me though.

And so a few weeks after that it was getting to be winter and I said, "Hey, I need to put plastic on my windows, but as you saw, they're quite tall. Could you stop by and lend a hand?" And so he did.

Afterward we went for a walk around Northeast and on the stoop in front of Diamonds, I'd finally had enough and so I leaned right in and kissed him.

So. There.

And now we're getting married. And believe it or not, marriage was my idea. She was actually surprised. But that's a story for another web log...