love story, part 3: two first dates

First Date 1

If you have read my blog posts from the past two days ("love story, part 1"; "love story, part 2"), then you know that today is a significant day for me. Today marks the seventh anniversary of my first date with Polly. It was a great first date. As great as it was, I would be lying if I said that I remembered every last detail of that February 14, 2004 night. Here are a couple of the key details I do recall:

The Characters - It doesn't take a rocket scientist to be able to determine the characters at the most basic level. This blog post is about my first date with Polly. Simple logic should lead one to deduce that Polly and I were involved in our own first date. But, while that's true, we do not make up the complete cast. This is because our first date was not a solo date. In fact, it was a triple date. The other couples joining us were a sort of friend that I hooked up with a friend and two friends going with each other as friends. We were the only dating couple in the group. For the record, the "sort of friend' I had hooked up with a friend was none other than my current best friend, Dave Allender. The guy friend from the two friends who went together is also still a friend of mine, Beryl Robert. Dave and Beryl are each happily married to women who were not a part of this evening.

The Date, Part 1 - Dave, Beryl and I made all the plans for the evening, opting to surprise the ladies. For part 1, we told the girls to dress in jeans and t-shirts. We took them to a pottery place. It wasn't a place where you make your own pottery, but a place where you buy a piece of pre-made pottery and paint it yourself. After you paint it, they kiln it and you pick it up a few days later. Polly picked out a cute dragon and painted him her two favorite colors: purple and green. I picked out a picture frame and painted a design on it as well as Polly's name. I still have (and use) this picture frame (with a picture of Polly inside of course).

The Date, Part 2 - After the pottery place, we took the girls back to the campus and had them change into dressier clothes. We then took them to dinner at Springfield's finest Italian restaurant--Zio's Italian Kitchen (this is a small chain in the Midwest/Southwest USA). This was our favorite restaurant while at school. The picture that Polly and I have of us from this dinner is the first picture of the two of us together.

It was such a great first date. After the date, I believe Polly and I went back to the Flower's lobby (CBC folks will know what I am talking about) and talked. And, in case you were wondering, there was no kiss after this first date. That wouldn't come for some time much later on.

First Date 2

Today is not only special because it marks the anniversary of my first date with Polly. Today is also special because it will mark my first daddy-daughter date with Genevieve. I have wanted a daughter for quite some time now. And I have looked forward to daddy-daughter dates for just as long. I love my beautiful little girl so much. And I love the thought of spending time with my little daddy's girl. Here's the plan:

The Characters - Much like my first date with Polly, my first daddy-daughter date with Genevieve will not be a solo date. Why? Because Polly's coming along too. Is it really a daddy-daughter date if mommy comes along? It is in my book. It's a special daddy-mommy-daughter date. How blessed can one man be? I get to spend the day with my two favorite girls!

The Date - We don't have plans for anything fancy. I mean, my daughter is only a couple days past 3 weeks old. No, we're just planning to go to one of our favorite restaurants (Red Robin...yummm!) and grab some lunch (and like the Valentine's Breakfast on Saturday, Genevieve won't even be able to enjoy any of the food directly). But having simple plans doesn't make today any less special to me!