Valentine's Day blog swap

 Today I'm excited to have Annoyed Army Wife guest post for me today! Check out her blog!
I sit here trying to find the words to say about her and her blog and for once, I am speechless. Reading and thumbing through her blog- everything is relatable, and some of the things I read I think "Someone understands!". I haven't found many others that refer to their pets as "Furbabies" and I got a big smile knowing she does to! Then infertility, I now know someone else who understands! Oh, and it seems she and I have both been having internet/ computer issues this week.. what are the chances! Anyway- Her blog is a MUST READ!

So, Why the guest blog post (aside from the fact that she's awesome)? Because Riding the Roller Coaster set up this great idea to hijack a post on another Military S.O.'s blogidy blog today! Yep- I can be found elsewhere today for my "Valentine's Post"! Look for a link soon!

***Edit: You can check out my post over at And You Never Did Think!

Meanwhile- Check out Wife on the Roller Coaster's blog! (Clicky the button below) and Look for my post and All the other hijacked blogs for Valentine's day! It's worth it!

button so awesomely put together by Mrs. Muffins!

Now, to your Feature presentation!

This is the last of The Quest for a Kiss series of posts I’ve been doing.  If you’d like to catch up (but you don’t have to) you can read the last posts at annoyed-army-wife.com.  Thanks to Christina for hosting me today!  Happy Valentine’s Day or un-Valentine’s Day!
A little background if you’re new to the series.  It recounts the tale of my first few dates with my now-husband seven years ago.  We had gone on 4 wonderful dates, however we had not had our first kiss yet (and it was killing me).  This post will tell the tale of my scheming and planning to get that illusive kiss.  I hope you enjoy it.
February 2004

After four amazing dates and too many phone conversations to count, I was ready to figure out if this relationship was going to work, and, almost as important, if OccDoc liked my cooking. I loved (and still do) to cook. I decided on the menu for that evening: Honey-Mustard Glazed Salmon, Wild Rice Pilaf (with wild rice straight from Canada), Fancy Green Beans, and Apple Brown Betty. If that meal didn’t win him over I didn’t know what would.

The meal was planned. I looked around my kitchen, if we were going to have a nice meal, I would need some dinnerware. I had only been in the apartment for 2 months and all my worldly possession fit into 3 SUVs – I didn’t bring much.  The previous week I welcomed my new queen-sized bed into my tiny bedroom and said goodbye to the Army cot I bought at the surplus store. I slept on that cot for almost 2 months, and let me tell you it was really uncomfortable. I also went to Ikea and bought a dining room table and some chairs as well as an entertainment center. The main issue left to tackle was my lack of dishes (and funds). I was eating off of camping dishes I borrowed from my parents, but there was no way I was going to serve a delicious meal for this new guy (with potential) on them. I headed over to the Pier One outlet store and picked up some nice plates and dishes, as well as some silverware and glasses.  Everything was bought; now I needed to clean my apartment to make it spotless for OccDoc.  It was February 13th, the day before OccDoc would be there for dinner. I went to sleep well after 2 AM with my hands still smelling like lemon Pledge.

I felt kind of awkward inviting OccDoc over for Valentine’s Day when we hadn’t even kissed before (but it was our fifth date for crying out loud!). I was worried he would feel pressured. When I invited him over I made it clear that I was only inviting him over on Valentine’s Day because it happened to fall on a Saturday that year and that I thought Valentine’s Day was stupid and over commercialized. The only problem with that is OccDoc still thinks I believe that (I really don’t think that, OccDoc, you can bring me flowers, candy, and a romantic card – that’s fine – or jewelry, I guess I’ll accept jewelry, too.).

February 14, 2004

The sound of my buzzer washed over the apartment, and my throat started to constrict, my heart rate increased, and my breathing got shallow and raspy. It was the first time I cooked a decent meal in that oven and it took way longer than anticipated. I would have probably had better luck using a box of matches to cook the salmon; it would have been quicker. I slammed the door to the bunnies’ room closed (I didn’t want to expose that much crazy just yet) and opened the front door to reveal a blond-haired, blue-eyed man sharply dressed in a pale yellow button down, brown belt, jeans and brown shoes to match his belt each hand holding a bottle of wine (oh, yeah, we’re winos). I invited him in and looked for a wine bottle opener. I put two brand new wine glasses on the counter and poured us each a healthy (read: large) glass of wine. We toasted to a delicious un-Valentine’s Day dinner. OccDoc also brought over a movie for us to watch after dinner. He won’t tell me what he was bringing when I talked to him earlier, but he finally revealed the DVD while we drank our first glass of wine. The movie was so telling about who he was and endearing to me; he brought over Monsters, Inc. Since I didn’t have a couch I set up the TV in my bedroom (I’m no dummy, I figured I’d get him in there one way or another). We decided to save the movie until after dinner.

After about an hour of wine and talking, the salmon was finally ready. We sat down to eat dinner, and OccDoc raved about the meal the whole time. I thought he was overdoing it a bit, saying ‘Mmmmm’ after every bite, but he still does that to this day when he’s eating my cooking. I’m beginning to think he actually likes what I make. After dinner we washed the dishes and I tried to turn up the heat a notch. I tried everything I could think of to be sexy and entice him to kiss me. I didn’t wear lipstick, since I thought that might intimidate him, but I put on some lip-gloss to boost the sex appeal of my lips. I leaned against the wall and doorways when talking with him – real sexy-like, not slouchy. I made sure just enough cleavage was peaking out, but not too much. I touched his arms, shoulders, and chest when we talked. I laughed at all his jokes, even the lame ones. All evening I was trying to drop hints and give him signs that I wanted him to kiss me, and still by the end of the night my lips remained untouched.

It was getting past 11 that evening, OccDoc and I were still at the table talking having the last of the wine (2 bottles, people). We were laughing and having a great time. OccDoc said it was getting late and he should take off (now that I’m writing this I realize that I drank most of the wine and OccDoc had maybe 3 glasses, but still he should not have been on the road). He was such a gentleman being considerate of not staying too late. I, on the other hand, was like ‘What?! It’s only 11, it’s barely dark outside.’ But I respected him.
My vintage apartment was lacking in closet space and was set up really weird. The coat closet was all the way in the kitchen tucked in a corner, which was the farthest possible corner from the front door. OccDoc got up to grab his coat to leave; I followed him into the kitchen. We talked for a few more minutes with OccDoc holding his coat in his hands in the middle of the kitchen. I was starting to panic. Did this guy think he was going to get out of here without kissing me? Did I cook this awesome meal for NOTHING? How did I let him get between the door and me? How was I supposed to block his exit if he had the upper hand? I needed a plan, and quick!

OccDoc turned to leave. He took a step away from me towards the door. I had to act right then and there if I wanted any chance of a kiss. I reached out and grabbed his belt. I pulled him back to me and spun him around. Before he had an opportunity to react, my lips pressed against his. We locked lips and OccDoc’s coat dropped to the floor as his hands found my waist. He kissed me like I’d never been kissed before. I pushed him back towards the wall of my bedroom and leaned against him. It was hot. One of the hottest moments we’ve ever shared. Just thinking back to that moment gives me chills and a rush.

Fast-forward to a few hours later in my bed lying in each other’s arms. We barely made it past 2nd base; OccDoc was a true gentleman and stopped all my advances (Ugh). My head was nestled on OccDoc’s chest, I rose up as he took a deep breath and broke the silence by saying, “I have a couple of things I need to tell you.” My mind raced; I had no idea what to expect. He took a deep breath and moved me so he could look me in the eye. His sweaty hands were just one of the many nervous signals he was giving off. His nervousness made me nervous, but I promised myself no matter what he said I’d play it cool and not blow this. “I’m not getting my M.D.” I knew OccDoc was in medical school, so that statement threw me. I thought he was going to tell me he was going to be a nurse or paramedic, but then he said, “I’m getting my D.O., doctor of osteopathic medicine.” He explained what a D.O. was and that he receives the same training as an M.D., with some additional muscoskeletal education. I let out a sign of relief. Blah, blah, blah, who cares?  What was the big deal? As far as I was concerned it sounded like name of the degree was just a matter of semantics, he was still going to be a doctor. I didn’t know why he was so nervous to tell me. “Okay, no biggie,” I said as I ran my fingers through his hair. I expect him to relax and collapse back into my arms, but he remained fixed in position.

“There’s something else,” OccDoc said. His tone got even more serious and grave. His eyes looked down and couldn’t meet mine anymore. The poor guy was suffering and clearly terrified to tell me something; I knew it was something big. Like, I thought he was married or just got someone pregnant.  I kissed him once more to reassure him that I could handle whatever he was about to tell me. “I’m on an Army scholarship for medical school.” Oh. What. The. Crap. I had 2 rules for dating: 1. No doctors and 2. No military guys. I just freaking broke both of my rules! I was all in with this guy, I really, really liked him; there was no turning back now, not without a lot of regrets and heartache. I was going to give this guy a shot, even if he was in the Army. The reason for my dating rules was that my career was way too important to me (I just got my masters degree) and I didn't want to have to keep moving around.  Ha.  Ha ha ha!

That night lying in my bed I didn’t realize the full impact of OccDoc’s second statement. It would take a couple of years before we were waist deep in camo for me to understand the gravity of that statement. OccDoc swears he told me he was in the Army before our fifth date, but I either didn’t hear it or he’s wrong. I would remember that little factoid if I heard it, an elephant never forgets. That was the day I knew my life would change, I just wasn’t sure how much or when the changes would start. Oh, foolish, foolish me...