Rabid Dog!!

Oy! I'm so tired today. It's a good thing running the lab doesn't take much brain power.

So last night, as promised, I took off on an adventure. I met my god-daughter's father, Chad, and her 14 year old uncle in Lakeland and we drove to Tampa to meet the boy, Joseph, and go to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens. The car ride over was a blast. It's a little over a half an hour and with Chad driving, I don't really want to know exactly how long (or not long) it took us. We were being crude and rude and sexist and all kinds of other stuff. I was laughing so hard I had to make the boys shut up and eat the fast food we'd picked up so I could have a breathing break. We were rocking out to ACDC on the hard rock station, then embarrassed the kid by rocking out to the smooth 80's stuff on the soft hits station. It was awesome!! No holds barred. I think they only way anyone would have believed we were stone sober at the time would have been with a breathilizer test.

We got there and we're walking to meet Joseph and another couple that none of us crack heads (the three from the ride over) has met before--co-workers/friend's of Joseph's. I decided that the SHORT walk to the tram stop was too far and made Chad give me a piggy back ride. That lasted about three steps before my stretch low rise jeans created a frightening scene. I know we were all there to be scared, but I don't think that's what people had in mind. So he dropped me, quite literally, I barely kept my feet under me, pulled up my pants, and walked on my own two feet.

We got to the gate and meet this new couple and it was SO awkward. Joseph didn't know how to interact with me. I was having a great time and wasn't going to allow him to ruin it so I focused my attention on my crack-head comrades. Things didn't smooth out until we went in the first haunted house. Now, I'm really sensitive to strobe lights. Yes, I know I shouldn't go to spooky haunted things where I know there will be strobes, but hey, I'm young and dumb! Well, Joseph is well aware of this issue as we've been to this event (and similar ones) many a time. I told Chad, who was walking behind me, to touch my waist or shoulders or something when we went through strobes (I get so disoriented that I can't figure out which way is up or down, left or right, so a simple touch usually helps). Well, apparently having someone behind me do that is totally different from me reaching out to the person in front of me. The first strobe area we walked into, Chad was right there like I'd asked him to, but I couldn't figure out where to go. All of the sudden I felt a very familiar hand in mine, leading me through. Just leading me through, nothing more. It was really nice. He'd remembered and taken care of me, but at the same time, it was totally platonic.

When we got out, one of the group who hadn't gone through the house was off getting her fortune told. Dude, I HATE waiting around. I started wondering around the area, basically just pacing. After a while, we were all tired of waiting and the beer stand was still staring us in the face. Chad bought me a Bacardi Raz and himself a yard of beer, a Howl-O-Scream tradition. Well, I ate a small dinner (my only meal of the day) a few hours before and I was sweating like a cow--FL heat & humidity mixed with a ton of people=nasty! To top it off, I'm pretty much a one drink wonder to begin with. I downed the drink a little too fast realizing I was REALLY thirsty. Oh yeah, that was all it took. Then I was made fun of for about an hour until I got a bottle of water and we sat through an air-conditioned show. Nothing like good friends to tease you relentlessly when you can't for the life of you walk a straight line, or even walk without falling over yourself for that matter.

So the rest of the night went pretty smoothly. I didn't have anymore to drink but two of the guys continued drinking until both us chicks had their keys. Luckily Chad sobered up before we left 'cause I didn't have my glasses with me and driving at night being nearsited isn't a terrific idea.

We ragged on each other, teased each other, scared the piss out of each other, reminisced about years passed, laughed so hard we almost peed ourselves, and had a generally terrific time. By the way, the rabid dog title comes from a Howl-O-Scream a few years ago. Someone was yelling "beware of rabid dog" and we picked it up and have been saying it ever since. Well, in my quasi-drunken state, we were walking through a scare zone when a man dressed as a dog jumped out at me. I have terrible depth perception with my glasses on and it significantly worsens without my glasses. Add to it that I was intoxicated...I had NO IDEA how far away from me this dog-dude was. I ran over the other chick thinking he was going to crash into me while Chad was behind me screaming "rabid dog." I almost fell over myself trying to give him an high five while laughing hysterically.

Towards the end of the night there was a older child (late elementary school) on this bungie/trampoline thing. He looked to be Hispanic, probably Mexican or Guatemalan. Joseph made a horribly crude racial joke. Well, I can take a lot of things, but this is one Latin American scholar that you don't want to piss off. He starting laughing to himself and looked over to check my reaction (I was the only one in ear-shot, hence the joke was made specifically to me). The look on his face was classic a "oh shit." He backtracked a lot and apologized a million times over. It was funnier to see him squirm than to let him know that I was only minimally offended and was over it by the time he'd even opened his mouth to apologize. It taught him a good lesson though.

As the evening came to a close, we all said our goodbyes and went out separate ways. The decision was made that I'd stay with Joseph to avoid some serious drama at my god-daughter's house. Her mom didn't come with us and didn't know I was coming, basically because I didn't know I was coming until the last minute. Had she known, she would have guilt tripped Chad into not going and either both of them staying home or Chad staying home with the baby and her coming in his place. So we decided to say that I'd chosen to join them at the last minute, which was true, and that I had to take care of something at home, which was stretching the truth, a lot.

So I rode back with Joe who was hungry and we waited in the line at McDonald's for who knows how long (along with everyone else who'd been at the park). Finally we made it back to his place around 3am. Mind you I still stink, and pretty noticeably (I still can't figure out why it was so bad though). So I take a shower and he's in bed by the time I got out (I was just glad he didn't insist on joining me in the shower). I didn't really want to sleep in his bed, but the short loveseat wasn't appealing either. Besides, if either of us was going to sleep on the loveseat, it would have been him... his rules, not mine. I asked him what the sleeping arrangements were and he said I could sleep in there with him...gee thanks. So I climbed into "my" side of the bed, all the way at the edge and laid on my side with my back to him. He came over and tried to give me a hug and a kiss, or whatever he was trying to do, all he got to do was give me an awkard hug and a kiss on the cheek. He whispered goodnight all sweet and sexy and seductive like. I just mumbled back goodnight, normally, uninterested. I could tell he was a little rejected, but I'm okay with that. He went back to his side of the bed and we. When the alarm went off 2.5 hours later he tried the cuddling thing again, but again was rebuffed. I was proud of myself.

Fifteen minutes later, it was 6:15 and I was ready to head out. After a long drive, I made it to the lab alive (I didn't fall asleep at the wheel) and actually a good bit early. I don't know how I did this driving-back-from-his-house-first-thing-in-the-morning-before-the-sun-comes-up thing so much my freshman year. I guess I'm just getting old or something. I'm dragging so much today.

Now, I'm not as convinced that I'm done with him, emotionally. However, I am more resolved to rebuff his advances and move on the best that I can. It's time to move on, again... besides, like we've always said, if it's meant to be, it will come around again...but if it's not, no point in waiting around to find out. "It's my life. It's now or never..."