More about Us

I have to say that there were several sets of circumstances that served to accelerate the development of our relationship into something more than friendship. For starters, I don't know that it's possible to play a French Maid to someone's Rapscallion Count and not fall in love.





I was not responsible for that bit of type-casting there. Ah no. It was my mother. I am actually going to "out" my mother here and tell y'all her deep dark secret. That is, she'd already decided she wanted J for a son-in-law and she was obviously casting this show with an eye to the future.

And while I'm at it, let me go ahead and implicate my in-laws, too. Sandy? Henry? Y'all know you helped out. Don't try to deny it. Poor us. We were the victims of a major parental conspiracy, is what. Albeit, quite willing victims.

As an aside, do you notice that cute couple in the background in the picture above? Yeeeeah. That is who you think it is. That young fox-- the dangerous one. You'll notice Sue and Ben in the background a lot in all these pictures of J and me. While all the parental contingency was getting all involved and picketty about the two of us, they were in the background, flying low, under the radar.... I have the pictorial proof. Stinkers.

So, it's not possible to play a French Maid to a Rapscallion Count and not fall in love. Nor is it possible to go on vacation with said Count's entire family and not at least entertain thoughts of this type of thing;

Especially since we were going up into the mountains. And we stayed in the honeymoon suite!

Can you really blame a girl for dreaming? Really...

So I did. I dreamed. I imagined my first kiss on the summit of Sharp Top. I imagined long talks as we strolled through the verdant forest. I imagined all manner of things. Matter of fact, in re-reading through my diary of the time just now in preparation for this post, I quite embarrassed myself a with the blatant romanticism of those imaginings. When I die, someone better come get those diaries and burn them before my kids read them...

I did not, however, imagine carrying these two little Turkeys **:



Up this:



Yes, carrying. We carried them up Sharp Top. Almost the entire way. Matter of fact, those two Turkeys (for lack a better, but still polite term) dogged our trail pretty much the whole three days. I don't know whose plan that was, but I have my suspicions.... Needless to say, there wasn't any of this:



...or first kisses, or private talks. There was plenty of walking, though. And a little platonic cuddling-- although Susi shoved him out of the blanket and took his place right before Henry took this shot:



My siblings. Always looking out for my romance.

There were also some sweet moments like this:



J took that picture. He asked me to climb out onto the rock so he could take my picture. *swoon*

All in all, it was a beautiful time. I fell solidly in love. I admitted it to myself. I loved this young, absent-minded dreamer with the beautiful hair and the elegant fingers. I loved his way of thinking about things, I loved the plans he had. And once? I almost kissed that curl in the back of his neck. Right in front of God and everybody.

But unfortunately for me, J could not read my mind. All this time things weren't traveling at quite the same light speed for him that they were for me. He was still just adjusting to the dawning realization that there might be something in this talkative, weird-ish, opinionated young woman that he just might not be able to do without. And so, you know what he, in all ignorance of what it might mean to me, went and did?



**for those of you who do not recognize those two little turkeys, they are my sister, and J's brother-- about four or five years old at the time.