Do you wanna dance with me?

Well, tonight was it. the Date. it was splendid, of course. I should do it more often.
after fretting for an hour that he'd have to cancel again, Bradley picked me up at 7ish sharp. destination: Johnny Carino's. it was an exciting ride, as Bradley was still drugged up from some medication he'd taken for an ear infection... animal medication. he nearly ran over a car. at the restaurant I spent a spectacularly long time to decide what to order, which is unusual for me, but thankfully I didn't freak out over it and the waitress got to make fun of me. : ) Bradley had the brilliant idea of tearing the wax paper that came with the bread into squares - he made a rose. and a butterfly. I made a cootie catcher. I couldn't think of any fortunes because we were talking so much (also adding to my indecision mentioned previously), but I finally finished it after we were done eating. then I asked for a lecture on why abolishing the penny is bad for the economy, wherein I learned several pertinent facts that apparently shouldn't be entrusted to high school AP exams but seem much more important to the debate than mere convenience. (we also talked about our parents and love at first sight and marriage and Florida and Colorado and family and eating habits and, well, all sorts of things.) after making me another rose, which I left for the waitress, we were off again!
he'd promised me ice cream. he thought I knew an ice cream place. after all, I'm the one who lives in Greeley proper. and he refused to let me ask around... we ended up going to McDonald's because McFlurries are delicious, and, well, in a phone conversation earlier this week we discovered a mutual love of the Playplace. so after eating our McFlurries (we both got Oreo), we raced to the top! (it was a tie, no joke.) we agreed this particular Playplace was sub-par; only one slide and no ball pit. but then again, it had a rocket area! at this point it was about 9:15... we stayed up at the top, just talking, until after 11. we talked about his brothers and kittens and college and missions and languages and pushing Selina down the stairs and destroying property and "hockey" and Jordan and shoes and finances and careers and things that make me uncomfortable (Bradley 1] talking about being poor and 2] holding my hand in both of his) and cows and back when we'd first met and addresses and eye color and again, all sorts of things. there's one feature of the Playplace - a "satellite" - where you twirl a wheel attached through the ceiling and it spins. we were playing with that, off and on, and checking down below to make sure our coats were still there, and then they weren't! and we could hear talking... and I saw an employee walk towards the Playplace. I went further over to get a better look; Bradley went down the slide. after a minute or so I caught on and followed him down. our coats were fine, just moved to a different table, so we put them on and agreed maybe it was time to go. Bradley explained he'd almost run into the employee I'd seen walking around, who had then told him she'd thought maybe there were kids up there, and no parents! another worker gave us a very suspicious look as we walked out, at which point I just about burst laughing. "I don't think they believed you that we were just talking up there!" "Oh no - they'll be telling each other not to go to the top any more..."
Then I remembered he was still drugged up, so he let me drive the truck home. after a lot of warnings and fuss made over how trucks are different, I came to the conclusion that they are just. taller. and wider. I did not almost run over anybody. and then we were back at Hansen-Willis, and I got out and got my purse and my rose and my leftovers, and we both kind of didn't know what to do. we were talking still and trying to wrap up and I finally got the lowdown on his hug policy (Brian has strict rules about touching girls. Bradley has a hug policy). he only hugs girls under certain circumstances, most of which I can guess, and he makes them promise him something before they can hug him. this is as far as I'd gotten previously. I'm going to blame the drugs for the fact that he told me (finally!) what that promise is: they have to promise not to fall in love with him. I immediately asked if he'd seen A Walk To Remember, which he had. I wanted to discuss the thought process behind why he'd want to extract such a promise, but we were trying to say goodbye here and it was fricking cold out. so we stood there awkwardly trying to figure out what we're supposed to do, which ended with the (unspoken) decision to do nothing, so I walked to the door, swiped my card, and went in. end of a fantastic date. minimal awkwardness, maximum communication and all-around fun times. and we agreed another one is necessary. : )

also, more happy fun times once I got in the room. McKenz and Rache were home, as was Jon! and then Nick showed up, and we spent a delightful hour talking about 90's toys (old school Polly Pockets. BOO yeah) and PE tricycle things and egg drops and shooting potatoes through trees... everyone agreed after Nick left the room that he'd probably made that last one up. but seriously, it's been such a long time since we've just all gotten together and talked like that. it was wonderful. after Nick and Kenz left, Jon talked to Rachel and me, and then just me, about his childhood (which I kind of want now) and how easily people forget why they're in Music, why they're in college, and a bit about what being a Christian means (love God, love your neighbors. that's it, really) and finally he went to bed because he's dang sick and he's got a final tomorrow, and so now I'm typing this up before I forget it. it's been such a wonderful night!!! made even better by the facts that A) my finals were aced and done with earlier today, and B) I'm going home tomorrow, for a whole month.

for the first time in my life, I could die right now and be happy. this is what I call bliss.