Promises, promises.

As a result of the family stuff over the past few weeks, I've been speaking to quite a few people. The two that are of specific interest to this post, are AM and Mrs FC. Both have promised that we'll see each other soon. A night out will be arranged, they promised.

AM made a similar promise a few years ago and that never panned out. I've posted over the past few months about the long-silent WhatsApp chat. She can talk a good game, I'll give her that.

I have more faith in Mrs FC coming through, but still not massively.

And I wonder if the guilt aspect has anything to do with it. I have prompted The Crowd to meet up over the past few months and gotten no traction. There was the night out with AM that I posted about that took far too much work to arrange. But then AM was complaining about trying to arrange nights out and getting no reply. I spent 20 years doing that before I took a back seat. And even now, AM has to get her own way when we do arrange something.

But let's see? I'll try and be positive, but history suggests otherwise.

Nice to meet you.

It's been a social weekend. As blogged yesterday, I met up with G ostensibly for coffee, but it turned into a couple of pints.

The night out with The Crowd ended up being just me and S. FC and Mrs FC got unexpected guests and couldn't make it. GM was always an outside bet - he had previously claimed to be skint this month.

With that, I was nearly texting S to see if he wanted to meet up. S can be difficult at times - a lack of maturity - meaning conversations feel shallow and typically film-related. But he was good company last night and the conversation flowed easily.

And then today, my youngest nephew had asked me for a favour, so I went to visit. My brother-in-law asked me to stay for dinner, so we had a few drinks and chatted.

I'm knackered, but despite being an introvert, I do enjoy weekends like this. I get out of the house and I don't feel like I've wasted my weekend by sitting in front of the TV or at the PC, doing very little.

Let's go!

A week or so back, I suggested to The Crowd about meeting for drinks. it must be six months since we last did it. Everyone seemed keen, though GM claimed a lack of money, so would have to pass this time around.

Today, I followed up to see if people were still interested. I think it's still the same: everyone's keen but GM definitely can't afford it.

I suggested that we might stay local if GM is not coming out (S, FC/Mrs FC and I all live on the same side of town). There are about seven bars we could choose from, including CB Pub, and I don't mind any of them.

I'm not in a rush to make that decision, i just wanted to make sure we were still meeting, which seems to be the case. 

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.

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.

Dear Diary

Posting about G earlier reminded me that I've not heard from Mrs FC or anyone else from The Crowd. Seeing as GM supposedly needs notice weeks in advance these days, I don't think we're going to be meeting this month as was originally promised/suggested.

And once I get this weekend over, I'll be piling the pressure on KfW2 for dinner and regular readers will know that she'll almost always take priority.

Socially something else

And like buses, the messages come in. Mrs FC has just messaged, explaining that she and FC have been ill pretty much all of December. So I've suggested we maybe pencil in something next weekend or after, in the new year, if they're feeling better.

Hmmm.

Despite being at the start of my most hated period of the year (the six weeks before Christmas), I find myself in an extremely good mood and excited. But excited for what? I can't put my finger on it. I do heave a lot of personal time booked over the next month, but nothing planned.

In theory, I'm hoping to see KfW2 in December. I'm still waiting for Mrs FC to get back to The Crowd for a night out with her sister. But neither of these is set in stone and there are no other social engagements on the horizon.

So the cause for the excitement remains elusive.

Here we go.

Mrs FC has messaged the group suggesting we all meet up. Apparently her sister wants to come out with us. Mrs FC's sister is lovely and good fun. So I replied and said that I was interested, but pushed the logistics and organisation back to Mrs FC, so the ball's in her court.

I'm also expecting G to be home next weekend. On his last visit, he suggested that he'd be back "around the middle of November", which to me is next weekend.

So two possible things to look forward to, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Getting out.

I met Nerdy Girl again last night - that's twice in a week. It's something I want to do because I feel I'm really in a rut, so meeting Nerdy Girl ticks multiple boxes - getting out of the house, getting some fresh air and being sociable. When we parted, she mentioned doing it again next week, which would be great. We're still kinda stuck on our short walking route because the plantar fasciitis is still an issue, though it does appear to be easing. We're probably a good few weeks away from getting back to our original 6-mile route.

I also sent out a message to The Crowd to see if they were interested in meeting for drinks this weekend. S and GM aren't available. FC and Mrs FC are available, but I think the general feeling is that we hold off until everyone's available. Who knows when that will be?

Nice to see you...

It required more work than I would have liked, but I did get to meet with FC and Mrs FC for a few drinks. We started the night in their local before moving on to CB Pub.

S was out and about with his mates, but promised to pop in. However, that plan changed when one of his mates got uncontrollably drunk.

GM, despite reading all the messages in the group chat, never said a word, nor did he show up. That's really disappointing.

So, it was a fun night. Nothing newsworthy happened, but it was nice to finally catch up with the two of them. Bar a quick 5-minute conversation a few weeks back, that was the first I'd seen them in person in over a year. The Chloe night for FC and much longer for Mrs FC.

Cheers!

The thing with my group WhatsApp chat with The Crowd is that they seem very reluctant to reply to a message even if it's a direct question or a suggestion around meeting. It's hugely frustrating. So, I was glad when FC replied earlier, to the suggestion I made yesterday about drinks on Saturday night. It looks as if he, and Mrs FC, are almost definitely coming out.

Nothing from S or GM though... yet.

I don't think S will be out. He'll be saving himself for NYE and his "proper" friends. God knows what's going through GM's mind these days. I think he's dating someone new, so that might come into play, but he's seemingly been active enough socially over the holidays if facebook is to be believed.

Out and about

Off the back of my last post, I've reached out to KfW2 to see what her availability is like over Christmas, intending to see her again before the year ends. It might be an adult thing, but pubs or dinner. It might be a daytime thing with her kids. I don't really mind at this stage.

There's also an outside chance of seeing The Crowd. I saw FC and Mrs FC on Sunday, for about 2 minutes. I had invited them out for a drink with KfW2, but they were shopping and said they might pop in. Which they did... at closing time. So we made promises to maybe arrange something after Christmas. We'll see if that happens because they're not massively proactive in that kind of thing.

And it's been ages since I've seen Nerdy Girl, so I'll maybe drop her a line and see if she fancies meeting for coffee or something some morning.

Usually, somewhere in there, I'd be meeting with FP at least once. Perhaps Christmas Eve and then some evening after Christmas. That's going to be a big hole.

It's oh so quiet.

It's been ages since I saw The Crowd. I'm torn about trying to get them out... the past few times I've tried have not really gained any traction. FC and Mrs FC are hard to pin down, GM is off with a new group of pals doing interesting and social stuff, and I can't deal with S and his cronies on my own.

We have had some interesting times out, though. The last time we were out, was last Christmas's Chloe incident.

But I just don't know if I have the mental energy to pose the question in our WhatsApp chat, only to have no replies after a few days.

Safety first.

Urgh, my head.

I was out last night with FC, GM and S. Neither Mrs FC nor FP showed up. It was a great and interesting night. We ended up staying in our second bar, getting lucky with some seats. We discussed one of the bar staff - it was a cute girl that we'd had a history with when we used to go out regularly. It was surprising that she was still working at the same bar, though I've always suspected that she, and her older sister, were related to the bar owners.

Anyway, the interesting part of the evening was that I ended up "rescuing" an attractive blonde woman from some unwanted attention. Our paths had crossed all evening. She was originally being hit on by her boss's brother (I think it was a work night out), though I don't think she minded that and he really wasn't getting anywhere. He asked me how his date was going and I said that I really wasn't getting a date vibe off them.

We made small talk each time our paths crossed and she introduced herself and hugged me. That guy left though, and the next time I went to the bar she was talking to another guy.

We made eye contact and she immediately disengaged with the guy to give me another massive hug. I sensed something might be wrong.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Yes please!"

"I need to borrow Chloe* for a bit," I said to the guy and guided Chloe away to where GM and S were sitting (FC had gone home by this point). She settled immediately and chatted away with us until closing time.

We couldn't get a taxi, so I offered to ensure she got home safely. It was a choice between hanging around and possibly getting a taxi or walking home. We both live about an hour's walk from the bar in roughly the same direction. It was difficult to decide if there was a genuine connection or if it was just gratitude for making sure she was safe. Despite the fact that she was incredibly tactile, it didn't feel that it was going to lead anywhere. 

That was confirmed when she took a call as we were walking home from her Mum, who was also her babysitter. We parted ways around a third of the way home. She insisted that I text her to make sure I got home OK and we swapped numbers.

We did indeed swap a few text messages, confirming to each other that we made it home safely. And that was that. I doubt I'll text her, but let's see what happens if she texts. She did specifically ask me to save her number, though, so I am wondering.

*Not her real name

Party Season (cont'd)

Hopefully, I should be in the pub right about now with FC, GM and S. Possibly with Mrs FC and FP too, but I don't know right now.

So, have a pic of Alex Daddario in a little back dress with thigh-high boots and we'll pretend it's a prayer to the Christmas party gods that I meet someone like that tonight.

Told ya!

To absolutely no one's (well, mine) surprise, S was not in contact last night. I knew he wouldn't be. GM had implied that he couldn't come out. FC and Mrs Fc had gone back home for the weekend, so that just left S and me, and whatever friends we could scrounge together.

FP wasn't available.

I guess S didn't fancy a night in the pub with just us.

Talking

It was a social day yesterday. First I met a few co-workers, including my boss, Stalky Guy and Brusque Guy. I wasn't really in the mood for it - I've never really gotten over my boss's favouritism of Stalky and Brusque, plus he's let me down a few times when it's really mattered.

Saying that, I'm going to require a favour off the boss soon, plus I really need to get out of the house more and talk to people, so I figured that it was only a few hours. It turned out not to be so bad, plus the timing was good as I was meeting GM to go and see a film.

We had a brief chat after the film, which was great. I had been talking about getting some people out socialising - The Crowd, mainly. It might be a few weeks though there is appetite to get everyone together. GM was talking about potentially bringing out AH and an ex-FwB of his. I don't know that the numbers will work. We still have Covid restrictions and could only have 6 people out. FC, Mrs FC, S, his girlfriend (presumably), GM and myself. If S doesn't invite his girlfriend, that frees up one slot. If it were my choice, I'd choose AH every time. I just never warmed to GM's ex-FwB, I don't know why. I don't dislike her either, by the way, I just didn't click with her .

Of course, GM and I swapped "don't feel like you're stuck in the house, if you're bored come over to mine" messages at the end. I don't think he has cabin fever - he seems socially active on some really interesting looking stuff, but more if he's a bit lonely or needs a chat.

Walky talky.

I did a 5 mile walk with Nerdy Girl last night. It was fairly intensive, too. I think the increase in altitude was about 130 metres/430ft over 1.5 miles. It near killed me. I was very out of breath, but my back was killing me, too. Yet another reminder that I need to get back into yoga before drastically upping any kind of exercise. But it was still fun chatting to Nerdy Girl, catching up on all sorts of stuff.

I'm heading to CC's tonight, to see her new place. She volunteered to come and collect me, but I said I'd walk. She no longer lives just round the corner, but about 2 miles away. Apparently KfW2 is meant to be visiting CC as well.

And in other, semi-random news, I bumped into QC1's husband while out with Nerdy Girl. I've not seen him since the awful big night out with AM etc. a few years ago. As it happens, QC1, CC and FC/Mrs FC all live within a few hundred metres of each other.

Not a booty call.

"Are you available tonight for drilling?"

Nope, not a booty call from CC but actual DIY. She's in the process of moving into her new place (literally seconds away from FC/Mrs FC and QC1/Mr QC1) and putting a few things right. In this case, it's curtains.

"I can supple the drill, but you're doing the drilling" I replied.

"OK" came the response.

CC has asked me to drill for her before, and I've always refused. She can borrow anything she likes, but I know that once I do one thing for her, then it's another... and another. And I've already mentioned here, dear Reader, that she is incredibly high maintenance. I get nothing in return. I don't even know why we're friends.

I wasn't that surprised when, about half an hour later, she pinged me again.

"I've got Johnny to help me out. It's a two person job."

Weird. I was always going to help her. At no point did I say I wouldn't help, I just wasn't going to do all the work. CC needs to learn how to do this shit by herself. While I can hang curtain rails by myself, it is easier with a second set of eyes and hands.

Ah well. At least I don't have to worry about being lectured and talked at.