New Vows

Ms. Blue Eyes and I met for lunch on Sunday (Monday was a holiday and we both had that day off) and we ended up unexpectedly renewing our vows, so to speak. I'll get to that part, but first the drive: We met near Target on the eastern side of the city and went to go eat. The Chili's had a deep waiting list and I noticed that every empty table was full of dirty plates that hadn't been used. Not wanting to spark Ms. Blue Eyes' inner white girl due to an unusually long wait and lack of activity in the restaurant, I thought it best to move on. We took the canyon drive to Yucaipa and that proved to be a great idea. The scenery was beautiful and we arrived in about 20 minutes. The restaurant that she'd initially chosen was closed for the long weekend, so we drove up the main strip until she eventually decided to look for a restaurant. As luck would have it, she found a small, hole-in-the-wall place that housed a small, Syrian restaurant. The place was narrow, hot and had uncomfortable pedestal seats but the owner was proud to have us there for the first time and his enthusiasm impressed and endeared us.

We ordered our food and spoke to the staff as we did so. He asked us if it was our first time visiting and we told him that it was. He made us a complimentary small bowl of fried onions, falafels and hummus and we munched as we waited for our food to be prepared. The food did not disappoint; her chicken looked (and smelled) wonderful, as did my beef. We departed and soon found a tree-lined church driveway to park under to eat our lunch. It was 95F outside but this did not stop Ms. Blue Eyes from rolling down the window, which I hurriedly rolled back up. We laughed at the ridiculous notion that either of us would want to eat while the sweltering heat baked us. Lunch was delicious and we soon got on our way back to town; our two hours was up.

While I drove, she confirmed that the house will be sold quickly (I knew it would) and that they'd be departing the United States at the end of October. Her plan was to return to the US twice/year and she said that would be spending time in California to see me. I loved that idea and I told her that I would be focusing on my kids next year, and wouldn't be interested in a relationship. I noticed that she stuck out her lip in an exaggerated manner indicating her displeasure, so I hurriedly clarified that I was VERY interested in continuing our relationship (#nevernotmine is a real thing) and wasn't in the least bit interested in a relationship with anyone else for so many reasons. I then recounted some of those reasons and it was great to be reminded that she feels the same way: people suck; there's nobody else like me; there's nobody else like her; there's nobody else like us. In short, we are each other's wildest fantasy and dream-come-true and trying to find anyone else to fill the void would be a supreme waste of time. So we decided not to waste our time.