How I met your father (twice)

I met my husband Derek twice in two years: the first time through his friend/my co-worker and the second time through my friend/his co-worker. We didn't date until after the second meeting.

In 2002 I had a new home and a new teaching job in Broward County, Florida. After a rocky seven-year relationship, I was on the dating scene again and determined to date til I dropped. One night I met some of my new teaching colleagues for a night on the town. One girl Toni (his friend and my co-worker) lived in an apartment complex right on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale. You could walk right outside and catch the water taxi over to Fort Lauderdale Beach. We headed out to Howl at the Moon. When it was time to head back, I got a ride from a friend of hers who lived in the same apartment complex. We all met back at the girl's apartment and ate pizza. I enjoyed talking to him and we found out that we shared the same birthday and were the exact same age! We also found out that our last names were only one letter different. I saw him a couple more times that year but nothing ever came of it. The following summer, I was planning to meet a friend for lunch (Indian food!) and remembered that this same guy worked with her, so I asked her to invite him along. The lunch was on Thursday, July 31, 2003. After lunch, I let Rachel (my friend and his co-worker) know that it would be ok if he called. So he did. That same night.
he called. I was having a garage sale that weekend, so the next day he came by to help me get ready. We had our first date the following weekend, Saturday, August 9, 2003. We went to a festival at the Morikami Japanese Gardens in Boca Raton, Florida.

As it turns out, there were other points in time where we could've met, but didn't.

*we were on the same New Year's cruise in 2001.
*we went to the same University, but graduated two years apart and due to his study abroad in Austria were only on campus together for one year. (1993-1994)

We got engaged in May 2005 and married July 30, 2006.

REally?

It has been a month and a half since my last post on this blog? Really? And the last one was a meme too? Oh, dear. I guess that means its true. My creative juices and writing muse have run away together and are currently sipping mojitos on some balcony overlooking the ocean. Oh, well. Here comes five question Friday:

From last week:
1.Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?
Meg Ryan
2. Did you ever go to summer camp?
yep! lots!
3.What sends you running and screaming in the other direction?
earthquakes. but there's really nowhere to run.
4.What is something you do that drives your spouse nuts?
block access to cupboards, doors, closets etc. by placing items in front of them.
5.What is currently your favorite song?
Beautiful Day by U2

Feel free to play along.