Wonderful

It's ten years to the day that Sports Girl admitted that she liked me, looking stunning in her Wonder Woman costume. I think it had more overtures than that. We were, after all, friends. She left the bar shortly afterwards and I shared the update with GM, admitting that I was attracted to her, but in a purely physical way.

It would never have worked out. She had weird ideas about sex... conflicting ideas about sex and I'm not sure casual sex was her thing either. And she was not girlfriend material, at least for me. She and GM got together about 5 months later.

But that Wonder Woman costume... 

What?

Randomly, Chloe popped into my head this afternoon. Dunno why. It's now, what, nearly three years since our one and only meeting? I've never seen her out and about, since. She's never popped up on my social media feeds the way others have (SUF, for example). And yet, randomly, I thought of her this afternoon. Or rather, I remembered the evening where we met, then I thought of her.

Zzzz

Another semi-remembered dream from last night, but the details are long gone. FA2 might have featured, but in what capacity, I really couldn't tell you. I don't think it was sexual.

This isn't a post about the dream itself but more that I've more dreams, or I've remembered more dreams, over the past few days than in the past six months combined.

Is it related to quality of sleep? I've slept really well since buying the new mattress, despite the back pain. But it's not been great over the past week. A change in the weather and the change in clocks maybe?

So what?

Another weird dream last night. I was rich and lived in a large house. For some reason, I was hosting two concerts, one in the front lawn and one in the back garden. Alanis Morissette and P!nk respectively. While Alanis Morissette was doing her sound check in the front, I was chatting to P!nk at the back. We were comparing stories of our respective times in New Zealand, for reasons I don't understand.

She was saying things that didn't make sense or at least what she was saying wasn't tallying with my own experiences of New Zealand and also while she was "P!nk" in the dream, physically it was actually V.

And I kinda understand why V featured. She's popped up in my Facebook feed over the weekend in fancy dress for Halloween, and that's brought back some fond memories of the night we met her at her friends' bar while she was dressed as Alice in Wonderland and looking mighty fine. I think. My memory of who she was meant to be that evening has always been awful.

And it was the realisation that it was physically V, not P!nk is when I woke this morning. 

Looking back.

I dreamt of SJ last night. I know the name might not immediately ring a bell even though she's featured on the blog before, but she was someone that I went to school with. A friend on whom I developed feelings for when I was around 17 or 18. I'd say it was my first, adult crush. I'd dated previously, had a girlfriend even, but SJ was something else.

We were close, but I never saw anything in her behaviour to indicate that making any kind of move would result in anything other than failure.

On top of that, I was still finding out who I was. I was unsure of myself, certainly immature while she appeared to have her head screwed on, know what she wanted from life.

So, yeah, the dream... we met again despite not having seen each other in 20-odd years and immediately settled into our old rhythm. Later, at a party, I tried to confess two things to her: my original crush from years ago and that I'd like to take her on a date. But I talked around the subjects without ever getting to the point, though I'm sure she knew what I was getting at and just wanted me to say it outright. The memory fades before any resolution to the dream happened.

It's been ages since I thought of SJ. She's one of the few people from school that I'd love to have a drink/coffee with now that I'm not already in contact with.

Back to front.

One comment of note from this morning's breakfast with CC was her talk of breast reduction surgery. She's complaining of back pain and was attributing this to the size of her boobs. CC (the first C stands for "chesty") has huge boobs. I couldn't even begin to tell you what size she is, but it's big.

But I'm not sure that the back pain is specifically related to her chest. She's never complained of back pain before and given my own experiences, I'd be more included to say that her issues are similar to mine: being completely sedentary. Although I spent money on a proper desk and chair setup.

CC works from her sofa or her dining room table, neither of which are going to do her any favours. 

Of course, I'm not a doctor, so I could be completely wrong. I think she's hoping that having her back pain's cause diagnosed as her chest means that she can get a boob reduction for free/cheap. I'm not sure that's how it works.

Time after time after time

In news that will shock no-one who knows CC, she didn't just want to borrow my drill. She wanted to borrow me, too. I could make a euphemism about giving CC a good drilling on two of her beds, but I don't have the energy. That's not a euphemism either.

Regardless, the favour took about a quarter of the time she thought it would, so I'm back in my house after breakfast and drilling and all within two hours of leaving.

Time after time

CC was meant to pick me up 5 minutes ago to go for brunch. Actually, that's the secondary reason, she really wants to borrow my drill, so I suggested 11 AM.

Unsurprisingly, a call came about half an hour ago. 

"Are we still on for 11?" CC asked.

"Yup, I'm starving"

"Can we do 1130 instead?" It wasn't really a question. 

So even with an extra hour in bed last night, CC still has trouble getting up. I've never met anyone like her for struggling to get out of bed. This isn't a weekend or a hangover thing. She's like this 7 days a week, often not starting work until after 10 AM.

I am starving though. 

Itchy feet.

While I can't say that it's surprising because I've not spoken to her in years so have no idea what her thought processes are, the attractive athletic blonde woman that I knew from primary school (I can't remember if I gave her a blog name) has announced that she's moving to Australia.

Not visiting, not travelling... moving. It's an interesting move at our age (she's only a few days younger than me), though I do believe that she's divorced (or separated at least) and her kids are now adults. I wonder why she made the decision?

I'm kinda jealous. I'd love to have the money and the freedom to do that. 

Little miss.

I think I dreamed of QC2 last night, but the details of the dream are gone, or were never there. Just a vague memory of QC2 and a feeling that I miss her.

It might be a dozen years since I last saw her, and it's not like we had a falling out... we just never met for drinks ever again. She butt dialled me about ten years ago - the day after I moved into my current house, actually. But that never led to anything, sadly... and that was that. 

She's not on social media any more and I'm not going to send a text or call a 12 year old number that might not even be hers anymore.

Onwards.

The house stuff continues at pace. The first of two steps is pencilled in for the first week in November. I'm waiting to hear back about the second stage, but I'm hoping it'll be the week after. There are a few queries on the scope of the work in the second stage that may add a little more time and expense, but it's this piece of work that has driven the entire project.

Hopefully it'll all be nailed down by the end of the afternoon. 

Time out

Despite being really busy, I'm also in a bit of a motivational slump at work. Nothing bad has happened, I'm just completely de-motivated. I do have a lot of time off still to take. I think it's like 9 days still to take, and that doesn't count the time I already have booked off at Xmas.

I could, in theory, work a 4-day week between now and the end of the year, but while I'll probably end up doing something like that, I don't want to book the time now. I'd rather react as we get into party season and take time off accordingly.

I'm half expecting either The Crowd or KfW2 to suggest a trip to the Christmas market, which will likely be a Sunday, which means a Monday off is required.

Still, taking Friday off is tempting. 

Night out.

It was a great night out. I was a little apprehensive when I first arrived at the bar and it was packed. While I've been out in bars over the past year or so, I've never been out when it's been really busy so the brief flicker of anxiety/discomfort was something new to me.

FC and Mrs FC were the first to arrive. Mrs FC was quick to ask if I'd lost weight. GM was the next to arrive. S was an hour late. He'd gone out drinking with other friends and took his time joining us.

We went to two bars - arguably my two favourite bars in the city centre. And it was great people watching. And I'm not gonna lie, it was great seeing cute women. There seemed to be a lot of women in skirts and boots too which was a bonus. 

There was one woman sitting at the table next to me in the second bar who was giving off serious Anna Kendrick vibes, but they weren't giving off "open to talking" vibes.

We called it quits around midnight, which was just right for me in terms of time and drunkenness.

What?

I think I've posted before about an evening where I ended up washing FBS's hair after we'd been painting her front room. She was only in her bra and jeans, and somehow her pressing into me as I washed her hair felt more intimate than when we actually had sex.

Well, I had a dream last night, and I can barely remember any of the details, but that was the feeling I woke to this morning - something inexplicably intimate that wasn't your normal intimate interaction.

Let's go!

The plans for the house move on. The sales guy has been out with engineering drawings that are, thankfully, showing my original request rather than the suggestions offered up by the engineer when he came out.

Once the paperwork is processed, I'll get a firm date on when the work can be done, but the sales guy reckons around 4 weeks from today. Result!

Watching.

I am looking forward to Saturday night. If I am being honest, I'd say that I am as excited about being in the city on a Saturday night as I am about seeing The Crowd in... years? I can't even remember the last night I saw them. Was it the Chloe night? I'm struggling to recall if I've seen them since.

It looks like GM is going to drive, and might leave early, but I've already suggested meeting earlier than we used to and leaving town before it becomes impossible to get a taxi. 

But sitting in a bar, on a Saturday night people watching and having fun is something I've missed as much as the company itself. Is it the potential of meeting new people? Maybe. I've always had great success in chatting to new people with GM. It's definitely at the back of my mind.

Bell curve.

Back when this blog was in its infancy, I had a rather large crush on Catherine Bell. In particular, she'd done a photoshoot for, I think, FHM, and it contained one of my favourite photos of a celebrity. She was wearing a tiny pair of white shorts and a grey bra, and it was taken on a ship. Here's an old blog post with those pictures.

Well, a few days ago, she posted on her Instagram about it and shared some photos not seen before (at least by me). Sadly, none of her in the cute shorts/bra outfit, but nice pictures nonetheless.

Talkabout...

KfW2 called. She was out walking her dog. We got into the small talk, but she quickly asked the question

"Was there any reason you wanted to go out in November?"

"Well, yeah, I've not seen you in ages and I know you're super-busy in October, so I thought maybe try and nail something down for November."

"Mmmm." She thought out loud about her plans for November. I think she had assumed that there was something I specifically wanted to chat about, that there was something wrong and part of the reason for calling was checking in on me.

"We could maybe do the last weekend in November. I'd have to wait and see though about this other thing [that she had explained to me]."

The conversation continued. We chatted for about 45 minutes. As usual, it was great hearing from her, but I'd still love to see her in person.

YES!

There was one hiccup in my productive long weekend. I had meant to schedule a follow-up hone call about some work I wanted done to my house. I had a guy out a few weeks ago to chat about it and he needed some expertise advice.

For some reason, I dropped off his radar. I had assumed the worst. That might have been an influence on my funk from yesterday. I did make the call today, though, and everything seems good. He's coming back at the end of the week and I should be able to get the paperwork signed, nail down a date and get the work done, hopefully before the end of November.

That means that the other plans I have for the house can start early next year, if I can maintain this motivation. 

Whoops.

I took yesterday off work to recharge, and I have to say I had a pretty good, productive, relaxing weekend that seemed to be doing the job just nicely. I even got some new clothes shopping done. But it all just disappeared mid-evening. And I don't know what, if anything, brought it on, but the funk hit quickly and it hit hard.

And that's carried into today. Hmmm... it's going to be a long day.

Boo!

I sent KfW2 a message inquiring about her availability next month. if she was free on the dates I suggested, would she like to do something? Grab dinner and drinks maybe?

Sadly, she's busy next month. it's her eldest daughter's school exams which I'd completely forgotten about. 

That probably means it'll be the Christmas party period before we see each other, at least in an adult social setting. 

Well, what do we have here?

One of the blockers in getting The Crowd out for drinks has been GM. Rather, this unspoken rule that it's everyone or no-one. It's similar with FBS, D etc.

But GM has been the most difficult to pin down. We can never agree dates, but GM has never been that upfront about suggesting alternatives or sharing his availability.

I was genuinely surprised at how easy it all came together on Monday evening.

I was also extremely surprised when GM started posting in the WhatsApp group earlier today suggesting places to meet. This is unusual and, as a result, I am suspicious.

Surprise, surprise.

Randomly, earlier today I discovered that FP had an Instagram account. FP, like me, was not a big social media kind of person. It was not under his real name, which is why I don't think it registered sooner, even if it was listed under the "suggested for you" section.

There are a few familiar names in there - Attractive Neighbour, FBS and S are the top 4 (along with FP). All of their accounts are locked down, though.

I don't appear in any of FP's Instagram posts, though there are at least a couple of pictures where I'm sure I'm floating around behind the camera somewhere.

I miss FP. It's his birthday soon.

First time.

I saw this picture of Emma Bunton on Instagram earlier. I'm digging it for a number of reasons - she's an attractive woman, she's in a trouser suit and that mesh top/bra combo is also a winner.

It's the mesh top/bra combo that's prompted this post, though. This was the type of top that FA2 wore the first night we slept together - a green sheer top with green Wonderbra. It wasn't the type of thing that FA2 usually wore.

Nail on the head.

One of the topics covered by Nerdy Girl and myself last night as we did a slightly-longer than usual walk was what we're currently watching on television. I mentioned Supergirl. I know that Nerdy Girl has watched those DC TV programmes in the past.

"It's rubbish but attractive women in short skirts and boots keeps me interested."

"I thought you'd be more into the sister character?"

I was surprised. She hit the nail on the head, though I don't ever recall having a chat with NG about my taste in women.

Absolutely super.

 

I've started another run through of Supergirl. It'll take a while - 6 seasons, 126 episodes of roughly 45 mins per episode. But I'm bored and there's nothing new tickling my fancy. And, y'know, attractive women in short skirts and boots.

I should point out, if you haven't already guessed by my posts and comments on women that Chyler Leigh is much more my physical preference than Melissa Benoist, but it's hard to beat that skirt/boots combo.

Awww...

Sadly, the magic seems to have worn off. Quiet Girl has already shared that she won't be attending our work's Halloween party at the end of the month.

Only a minor setback given my recent successes in getting people to agree to meet.

And I've reached out to KfW2, so let's see where things go from there. 

As if by magic...

Out of the blue, a WhatsApp message from FBS giving a list of dates she's free in November. A quick reply from D, a suggestion by me and I think we could have nailed down a date, unless Friction Guy throws a spanner in the works!

So, with The Crowd and now this lot arranged, I should definitely work on KfW2. 

Penned in.

Quite surprisingly, it's all come together with The Crowd. We're agreed to go out in 12 days time, on the Saturday. I'm already looking forward to it.

If this is all coming together, I should try and get KfW2 out, too. Not on the same night, obviously, but maybe the start of next month. I know she's busy this month with family stuff and Halloween.

And there's a night out with D, FBS etc. that'll probably happen in November. 

Pencilled in.

After sending out a message to The Crowd a few days ago to somewhat generally positive responses, we might have even arranged a date: 18th October. It's the only date this month that FC is available. I'm free and I think S is, too.

If nothing else, I think we should meet even if the others can't make it. 

Urgh.

I think it's fair to say that I'm not feeling 100% today. I'm not hungover, at least not in the traditional sense. I don't really get hungover. But I am definitely still tired, despite being in bed from around 10PM and not waking until after 9AM. I will probably be mentally muggy all day, and it's not a feeling I like.

Bit it was fun, even if the numbers were low because of Storm Amy. 

Quiet Girl's just texted to find out how it was. I'll reply once I get some coffee.

Weather or not.

Storm Amy might be troublesome tomorrow. Quiet Girl has already said that she's re-evaluating her attendance at our work thing tomorrow. I'm still keen to go out, but I do see this weather keeping a lot of people away. I wouldn't be surprised if it was cancelled, but I'd hate if it was cancelled at the last minute.

Party time?

After D's attempt to get us out soon, I took the plunge and sent a message into the WhatsApp group with The Crowd about meeting for drinks soon.

S was quick to reply in the affirmative and so, surprisingly, was GM. Nothing as yet from FC or Mrs FC, but maybe this time we'll get something sorted. I'd be surprised if we saw each other this month, but maybe the start of November? That feels doable.

GM's already suggested a Christmas night as well. Hopefully we can do both.

It's been a while.

It was QC2's birthday yesterday. She's an older woman by about 10 months. It's nearly ten years since we had any kind of contact, and even that was a mis-dial. I miss our semi-frequent meetups at a pub for a few drinks and a chat.

Actually, now that I think about it, I really do like meetups for a few drinks and a chat.