Smitten Kitten

Background, Part II

So my honey flew home on Memorial Day (we spent more than 15 minutes kissing at security, to the chagrin of the posted TSA guy) and we commenced The Waiting.  I wouldn’t see Les again in person for 79 days; He was scheduled to return to the states on August 13, 2008.

The Waiting was tough.  We both spent a lot of money on phone bills, and he spent plenty on internet. (South Africa does not have the essentially unlimited bandwidth that we enjoy in the US.)  It was very hard to not be with him, and I know it was hard on him too, but we made it through and rejoiced to be together again when we me in Indianapolis for GenCon Indy 2008.

This second visit was much longer than the first. Les would be with me for three weeks.  We spent a few days at GenCon and met up with my brother there.  Then the three of us drove back to Ohio, and relaxed at home for a few days. (I went to work.) On August 20, we celebrated my brother’s 25th birthday at the fabulous Lola. I’d read mixed reviews about the restaraunt, but we really had a great time.  The food was delicious and the service was fast and friendly. (Was very loud, unfortunately.) 

The next morning, Les and I continued our vacation by driving to Niagara Falls and staying in a fantastic suite with a huge whirlpool tub.  The room was billed as “Fallsview”, and we could see the Falls from the room, just not very well. Anyway, the room was stunning, the view decent and the tub all-encompassing.  We got all the view we needed from the restaurant on the top floor.

From Niagara Falls, we drove to Pittsburgh to spend time with the recent newlyweds, Libby and Jeff. We spent the evening with them and caravaned to the Portage County Fair the next morning. Les had never been to a Fair and I promised that I would take care of him after over-consumption of fried food.  Les was unafraid and tasted many battered and fried “foods”, among them, a deep-fried oreo. (Actually, the oreo was very tasty.)

The county fair took us through two weeks of the vacation.  The last week was spent mostly around home.  We went to a few parties and threw one, I took him all around Cleveland and showed him the West Side Market and Coventry, as well as the newly open section of the Art museum.  Our time was running out fast, and it hurt to think about being apart after all the time we’d spent together - in each other’s pockets, as Les said.

We’d already been planning for me to visit South Africa.  My visit started out as two weeks in the middle of the fall, then it grew to a month. Then it started growing slowly, bit by bit until it reached three months.  It stayed that size for awhile, and we bought a ticket, made some plans.  And then, toward the end of Les’s visit, it started to grow again, very quickly.  We were so happy together and miserable apart, it would just be better, easier if we were together all the time.

So, I’m flying to South Africa on October 23, 2008, to be with my man.