Sunday, March 28, 2010

what will it take to make or break this hint...

The Tuesday after I returned from Wales, I did basically nothing, except blog and read and rest, because I was entirely wiped out. I went to bed at about 8pm on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, in the early afternoon, I went for a cycle in the rain. Not pouring rain, of course, just sprinkling. Cycling through the vast expanse of the fens, with the wild wind whipping about and the rain cool against your face, is my sort of thing, I find.



A pigeon was lying dead on the path, presumably having been hit by a car. So I buried it in the field, because that’s the sort of thing lost princesses and noble youths and poor but beautiful peasant girls are always rewarded for later in fairytales.

I came back rather wet, and then it was lunch time.

And then I did nothing in the afternoon, as far as I remember. Worked some more on blogs, maybe. And read Heidi books.

On Thursday, the Groats had three ladies over for coffee and to meet me, and that was nice, especially because they were very chatty and I didn’t have to talk. And I got to show them our house on Google Earth and pictures of Grand Rapids.

And now it’s time for the explanation you’ve all been waiting for, now that things have – I think - chosen their direction to develop in.

The first Saturday night that I was in England, Jack took me to a Christian concert in Wisbech – you may recall me writing about it. The drummer of the last band, which was the band that does the music for their church, was quite adorable – amusingly enthusiastic about getting to use an egg shaker, and clearly enjoying praising God with the music, and good-looking besides. But he didn’t really seem to notice me at all, even when the guy who did lights was touring me all around the theatre.

Then, the next morning, after church, he came right straight up to me and asked if I’d like to hang out sometime and have him show me around and go to the cinema.

To which I said yes.

A couple days later we sent a couple messages on Facebook and chatted and asked questions about each other, and it became clear that we have vastly different interests and likes/dislikes. I was made a bit dubious of the prospects of this working out.

Then I went to Oxford, and didn’t have any contact with him for a week. Then on that Sunday, we had been considering doing something on Monday or Tuesday after 8:30 when he got off work.

Then I went to Wales, and when Tuesday came I was still way too exhausted to try to do anything social.

Thursday was his brother’s birthday, and he invited me to come to his family’s house for dinner, and maybe doing something else afterward. This seemed ideal to me.

He startled me by showing up to pick me up wearing a shirt and tie, but that was just because it was what he wore to work.

We had a very nice time, and had takeout Indian food for dinner which was delicious, and we all watched Mall Cop which was 90% rubbish, but not overly crass, and then we watched Coraline. I think I enjoyed it most of anyone.

I don’t know if Franek – that’s his name – wanted us to leave after Mall Cop and do something else, but he didn’t say anything, so… I don’t know.

But his mother and I got on well – she sat by me on the couch and we chatted some.

And afterward we stopped by his apartment for him to show it to me, and then he brought me back home.

And if you can work out definitively what all this means, you’re more skilled than I am.

I think that it means we both thought, “oh, cute/nice person of my age! hmm!” and then found out that we didn’t really have much in common and decided that although we each find the other reasonably pleasant, it wasn’t worth pursuing beyond that. I think maybe if I showed enthusiastic interest in him he might return the favor? You never can tell with boys. And I am in the position of being not certain enough of his solidity to want to do any strong encouraging from my end. He would need to show me his solidity through his pursuit of me.

And besides all that, he says he wants a girl who he’s smarter than. ;)

Let’s see… has anything else happened of note? I biked to Wisbech yesterday, but that was just to buy a few things at Asda, so that’s not exactly interesting. Well, other than stopping to take a picture of a lovely big cobalt blue pot of pansies and having the lady who’s yard it was in bang on her window and shake her head fiercely at me. Which was depressing. But I got milk chocolate digestives (they’re a kind of biscuit, round and about 4” across, that tastes like in between a graham cracker and an animal cracker) for only 33p.

Oh yeah! And then later in the afternoon Jack and I went grocery shopping (to Asda again) and on the way there was a huge spectacular double rainbow!! It was amazing!!! But I didn’t have my camera, sadly. But while he went into B&Q (it’s like Home Depot) to buy some glue, I stood out in the parking lot in the sunshine-and-rain and stared at it.

And then we went on to Asda, and bought lots of vegetables, and lots of kinds of cheese, and whole milk, and butter, and naan bread and hummus, and cereal, and apples, and oranges, and biscuits. And a pizza for dinner, because it was art club night (Jack’s in an art club that meets on Friday nights). They make them custom there, and then you take them home and bake them. I liked the girl who made the pizza, because she was dressed all in the green asda uniform with a funny little green hat and she had red hair and made me think of a leprechaun.

Jan and I played fun mind games on the wii while Jack was at art club. I liked it because it was brain challenging – memory and quick math and figuring out how things look from different angles and that kind thing.

Today I have been reading A Companion to Owls, a book that takes place in the Fens right around here in the 1600s, and I was talking about the places in the book, and then Jack drove me out to see them!




And now me and Jan are just chilling, and I’m going to help her with some stuff she has to do for work.

Sunday update: Never mind anything about Franek. He went on a date with some other girl on Friday. :-p

7 comments:

loisgroat said...

I will hereby never mind about Franek. But then I never got particularly attached to him, anyway.

Unlike when I Facebook stalked Beth's boy, and got attached to him right away.

Franek would have had to win me over. Needless to say , he will not do that by dating another girl. :)

Anonymous said...

I think you had the Franek thing pretty nearly perfectly pegged - regardless of the presence of "the other girl." Surely your impending disappearance across the pond was also a significant factor in his waning enthusiasm.

Lovely pictures, as always.
Jen G

Anonymous said...

I like your new format as it is much easier for me to read, especially after I increase it to 150% The old back ground was beautiful with the trees etc. but it showed through the print and the pictures. I am happy that you are taking some time to rest and read that being something I truly enjoy. How wonderful to go and see what you just read about from way back in the 1600's. It was sweet of you to bury the pigeon, I do think of you as a princess already! I loved the pictures and wondered what happened to the picture of the Cobalt blue pot of pansies. What is naan Bread? I think it best that I say nothing about Franek! Riding in the rain and wind would not be my cup of tea but I am proud of you for braving it! Love you much!
Grandma Sally

Shan said...

So, I think I lost Franek at wanting a girl that was he was smarter then, because there is no way that girl is you. ;)

You look like you are having a lovely time.

You will also have to ask Rebecca about the dead animal she buried over here the other day...

Ever Thankful said...

Wow! Jack & Jan sounds like wonderful people. I love how they treat you just like family. What a precious gift, that kind of friendship! This was a great blog entry. I enjoyed hearing about the rain. I used to LOVE riding in the rain. And Rainbows are one of my very favorite things ever. Almost like God's signiture written across the sky for each of us to see. :) I was so thankful to hear of you getting some much needed & deserved rest. I get so much pleasure from your photos! I loved the one of the yellow daffodils. (A promise of Spring.) But I too wondered what happened to the picture of the Cobalt blue pot of pansies of the rude woman knocking on the window. How did it turn out? I don't think "Chocolate Digestives" sounds like a yummy name. It sounds like chocolate flavored Peptobismol frosted on animal crackers. I will guess they tasted better than that, lol. You got to see places in real life that you read about from the 1600's? That is sipmly too cool for words! Great blogging, Joanna!
~Cathy Bowman

Daniel said...

I think you nailed it in one sentence: "He would need to show me his solidity through his pursuit of me."

This is why I said I trust your judgment ;-)

ransomedhandmaiden said...

grandma - i deleted the picture, since she clearly didn't want me to take pictures of her garden.
maybe she's in hiding.
naan bread is an indian flatbread. puffier than a tortilla or a pita. it's very yummy.

cathy - most americans do find the name "digestives" kind of weird... i've gotten used to it, though. probably from eating them all the time in greece.

dan - thanks.