For a while now I have debated whether to share a very personal story along with the construction drama, so grab a box of tissues or a barf bag - your choice!
The Grandview Project has officially become a love story.
Six months ago today I planted a first kiss on a man who I am certain is the love of my life, my soul mate, and I have this project to thank for bringing us together. Some of what I will share is a recap of stuff I've already posted about, but you have to stick with it to see the beauty of how it all unfolded!
It all started about two weeks before closing on the house when I was out on a typical sunny Saturday morning with good old Roscoe, visiting a few local garage sales. As you know I'm a sucker for anything cheap, and on our way home I passed a familiar sign "SALVAGE SALE" that directed me to an office park just around the corner from my house. I had seen that sign before, and that day I decided to stop in. There I met Keith, the owner of the trim and door company holding the sale and spoke to him about having some specialty siding made for an old house I was about to buy. He recommended that I bring in a piece of the original siding, so they could match it and give me a price. On July 10th I did just that, and when I walked into the warehouse, Roscoe in tow, I met my destiny. David, the Purchasing Manager and number two man at the company, came right up to me and said "Hi, how can I help you?" and the rest is history.
Over the course of the next couple of weeks we met several times in his office and spoke on the phone, hammering out the details of my purchase. Dave was attentive yet professional, and since I always brought Roscoe with me, he actually got more attention than I did! Dave and I formulated a loose friendship - he had started out in his career as a trim carpenter and was very interested in all of my exploits. He kept up with the blog and in one of his emails offered his services if I ever needed a hand. Of course I warned him to watch out what he was volunteering for!
When the siding arrived it was beautiful, and somehow I had received about 50% more than what I had ordered at no extra charge! He said something about the mill having some extra laying around that they decided to throw in... much later I found out that he had used one of his connections to get the extra lumber for me, and to this day I don't believe he had any ulterior motive - he's just that kind of guy. I told him I wanted to treat him to lunch one day to thank him for his time and effort, and on August 15th we met at Garibaldi's, a local Mexican restaurant.
To hear Dave tell it, this is the day he fell for me. In his own words, he saw me walking across the parking lot in slow motion - he remembers the outfit I was wearing, the shoes, and the way the sun glinted off my hair. I'm not making any of this up - but I will admit it was what you would call a good hair day. He realized he was in camo shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops and felt like a -- (you fill in the blank). I apologized because I realized with heels I was a good 6" taller than he is at 5'5"... he assured me he didn't mind one bit. We spent two hours over lunch, nibbling away and sharing bits of our life stories with each other. When we were finally done I invited him up to a local dive to have a beer and hear my friends' band, which he did. When it started getting dark I was ready to leave, and we shared a very platonic hug before getting into our respective trucks. We call that our first date, even though it was still just a blossoming friendship.
On August 21, a Saturday, I picked Dave up at his house which is about a third of the way along on my trip to Daytona Beach. You can reference the second part of episode 42 to see the progress we made that day. What was amazing was the ease with which we worked together... may I say this has NOT been the case with people who have worked with me before. I'm not a great manager - I don't like conflict or bossing someone around, and it turns out Dave is the same way. We've done a million things together since then, but we still go back to that day to see how we realized right then how well we work together. A huge amount of mutual respect and a naturally laid-back attitude on both our parts makes for a great time, no matter what the project, and that still holds true today.
When I made a couple of trips out of town in October I "invited" Dave to stay at my house with my dogs. Along with taking great care of my precious puppies, he fished in the lake, and swept my house for me... I'm really not sure which of those activities he likes to do more. He sent me pictures of the fish he caught and Rufus holding up a sign that said "Hi Mom! Luv Ya". When Halloween rolled around I found myself with a costume and a party to got to... hmm what was missing? Dave in a thrift-store-thrown-together pirate costume! Believe me I wish I had a picture of us that night, did we ever have a good time. Once again a purely friendly night together, he even slept over at the beach house in the guest room. Though neither one of us admitted it, I think both of us realized that the flames were beginning to be fanned.I've been single for almost ten years now, but spent six of those involved with a huge mistake. I never planned to be in another relationship, and certainly never dared to dream of a man that I would call "the one". I wouldn't have even known what to look for! It wasn't until after Dave and I had been friends for a few months that I began to see him having qualities that I used to joke to my friends about, for example: "Next man I'm with is going to let me get drunker than him once in a while". I never really thought it would happen, but on Halloween Dave knocked that one out of the park. Other important qualities continued to surface one by one. I don't want to speak for him here, but I believe he saw things in me that made him want us to be closer as well, and at some point a light bulb went off in my head and I knew I had to do something.
We text a lot, and it's fun to look back over the months and see our "historical documents" that outline what was going on, and the next couple of weeks were monumental. I was in Daytona a lot, and in between we would have an occasional dinner or lunch. We managed to fit in a lot of gut-busting laugh sessions - I quickly learned wearing mascara around him is a lesson in futility. I kept throwing bones but Dave insists he didn't respond because I was "hard to read". I guess I had done such a good job keeping men at arm's length for so long it was hard to reverse the trend. I spent several days in deep thought on the matter, and on November 12th I decided to finally put all his doubts to rest.
He sent me a message that morning and asked if I wanted to meet for breakfast before work and I knew it was time to act. We met at the Woodshed, a little greasy spoon about a half a mile away. Over breakfast he chatted away as usual, but I think all I did was smile and look into his beautiful blue eyes as I never had before. Somehow when we were done I had his hand in mine across the table - I knew exactly what I was doing but he was baffled. In the parking lot, after our usual pat-on-the-back hug, I took him by the shoulders and said "Kiss Me Dave", which he gladly did. And then he did it again. Then he said "man I'm gonna have a great day at work today!" and we said goodbye.
I won't bore you with the specifics, but our relationship has proceeded as beautifully as any classic romance but without the drama, hurt or disappointment. It has been very literally "all good" since day one. The Grandview Project is now our project, and Dave enjoys it as much or more than I do! As you may have noticed, my blog episodes have begun including Dave and now you know why. He is a good good person and I love him and and am so proud to have him as my partner. I hope you will enjoy sharing our continued progress, blunders, and laughs as we muddle together through the end of this project, and then for a lifetime.
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