Dan and Shelley

Yeah, I know this is well over due.  Our weekend was actually August 1-3 and only now am I getting around to writing about it.  It’s hard though to try and describe how a perfect weekend is… truth be told, we didn’t even stop to take a picture of us together and anyone who knows Dan, knows how unusual that is.  So when we get together next we have promised to take some pictures and post them.

So, back to describing our weekend.  I was able to get there a bit earlier than we originally expected which was a welcomed bonus.  I drove up to the hotel and my first sight of Dan in person was of him sitting in the grass waiting for me.  That picture of him is truthfully burned into my memory forever, he just looked so perfect.  I waved and it took all I could do not just to pull over right there, but I drove just a short distance and went ahead and parked.  After I parked I looked over and saw him looking down at me, went to open the door only to realize I hadn’t unlocked my door.  I fumbled at that for a moment, truthfully I’m surprised I even remembered to pull the emergency break at that point.  I cannot describe how wonderful it felt to be in his arms, how just perfect it seemed to me, but suffice it to say, we were there in that one spot for a time.  I couldn’t even tell you how long.   From there we got into Dan’s car and he drove to the Griggs dam, then on down the river a bit until we found a spot to get out.  We wound up sitting there at the bank with water lapping at our feet, watching the water and the sunset for quite some time.  Yes, we were both still so nervous and shaking a bit, but it felt so wonderful sitting there with him, his arm around me, looking at this beautiful river.  After it became dark, we slowly went back to the hotel.

Saturday after breakfast, Dan drove me up to where he works, then to Innswoods, where I absolutely fell in love with the place.  We spent a bit just walking through the many beautiful paths.  Then we decided to go on one of Dan’s drives and do a bit of getting lost in Southern Ohio.  I’m proud to say that we were completely successful in getting lost.  Many gravel roads, slow children signs, huge stars on multiple houses and never finding one overlook later Dan was looking for somewhere for us to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately time was against us and we didn’t find the perfect secluded place, but I did get to watch the sun go down through Dan’s window, so it was still wonderful to me.  We returned to the hotel and because I had a sheltered life apparently in never having pizza and beer, that was what our dinner in the room was.  Pepperoni pizza and beer do go rather well together.

Sunday, we went to Dan’s company outing at the Columbus Zoo and waterpark.  The Columbus Zoo is the best zoo I have ever been to and we had a wonderful time walking around.  Fluffy was a bit disappointing, but that’s officially the best name for a large snake in the world.  We spent the evening in the waterpark and had an absolute blast.  Playing around in the water, laughing and being silly together.  Then as the sun started to decline we realized it was about time to get going.  The whole way out both of us dragged our feet, I mean that literally.  We walked as slow as possible I think.  Neither one of us wanted to go because that meant we would have to part, but sadly it had to be done.  I cannot tell you how hard it was to leave him and how hard it was not to come back to Pittsburgh, grab up the children and return back.  Never have I just wanted to be with someone like that… never have I felt so much love for someone.

So I guess to sum up everything, it was the best weekend of my life.  It may sound like we didn’t really do anything, hell, we didn’t even turn on the t.v. or radio the entire weekend, but to me I wouldn’t change anything.   The perfect weekend… our first date.