Saw Katie Today

Christmas Party Today

My dad's office has a Christmas party each year, and friends and family are always invited. That typically means that the significant others of people who work in the office and their kids. Typically the "kids" that go to the party include Katie and Jessica, John's daughters, and me. For some reason I was expecting that this year I would be the only "kid" there. However, I got there and found that Katie, Jessica, and Jessica's boyfriend were there. Additionally, there was a law clerk in his second year of law school who was about my age, so I didn't feel so out of place.

Now, I had a good time there. The law clerk was a nice guy to talk to, and it's always nice to be in on the stories that the guys from dad's office share. There were a lot of laughs. And, as usual, there was a game we all played and all was well.

Katie and Jessica

Now, let me focus a little bit on Katie and Jessica. Katie is my age. She just got her MS and started teaching 9th and 10th grade at a local high school. Her BS and MS was actually paid for by Columbus Public Schools contingent on her teaching in CPS for five years after she received her MS. Jessica is two years younger than me (Liza's age) and is studying to get her BS in something surrounding social work. She plans on getting her MS after that. I think she's following a little bit in her mom's footsteps. Anyway, it turns out that Jessica lives in the same apartment complex as me, and thus she also is in the same apartment complex as Tom. Tom's girlfriend Kim also is studying social work, and it turns out Kim and Jessica (Kim is a year younger than Tom and me (or two?!), and thus a year older than Jessica) know each other. So it's a small world on many levels. (on another note, it turns out my research in engineering is now overlapping with work my cousin, the Georgetown prof, has done in finance... yet again, a small world)

Some History with Katie

Now, keep in mind that Katie is a few months older than me. Ever since I was born, her dad has been pushing us to get married. I remember years ago in high school Katie and I went to the same wedding with our mutual parents. Before that time, it had been a long time since we had seen each other, so I don't think either of us really remembered each other. We both were involved in theatre programs though at our respective high schools, and so as her dad got more drunk, he kept making comments like, "Alright, you play Romeo, you play Juliet; make it happen!" You'd have to know her dad to really appreciate that. Anyway, I asked her to dance during the night. I thought she was pretty cute... and I also noticed she was the only one my age around... so it made sense.

Jessica vs. Katie (and Their Mutual Bad Choices in Men)

So Katie and I both end up going to OSU. We never really talk unless it's at an event that we're accompanied by our parents'. During one of the X-mas parties held at Speeds, I brought two of my friends, and Katie came with her sister Jessica. At that time, Katie was cute, but Jessica was a real knock-out. And Jessica has always been a better talker than Katie too. She's more quick to talk. She's more quick to flirt. Katie is always very quiet; when she does speak, she usually doesn't have a whole lot to say. That's always been something discouraging about Katie. But I knew deep down between the two of them, I definitely thought there was something pretty cool about Katie. And even though it's easy to talk to Jessica, you never get much from what she says. It's very artificial. I don't like that. I don't like that one bit.

So anyway, college goes on, and Katie and Jessica are ALWAYS dating these real dumbasses. As far as I can tell, they both were going to marry dumbasses. Their parents weren't excited about this, but I think we all accepted it as a fact of life, so I just forgot about the both of them.

Updated Katie and Jessica

So I go to this party today and find both of them there. Jessica has really changed. That is, she put on a decent amount of weight. I'm not going to say anything mean; I'm just going to say that she really changed. She brought her boyfriend. He was a real idiot. At one time Jessica's mom bumped into him accidentally, and he made some crack like, "Whoa! Carol, are you coming onto me now?!" What an ass. What - an - ass.

Now, Katie was gorgeous. Katie was absoultely great looking. She looked terrific. And she came sans boyfriend. However, throughout the time we were there, she checked her cell phone a lot. I was pretty sure she was probably just checking with her boyfriend.

(unfortunately, I did talk a bit to Katie and Jessica's mom... and in asking about them, I managed to swap their names when I KNEW BETTER. Oh well. It's not like anything is going to come of this anyway...)

At the Party with Katie

Katie and I got cornered for a little bit. She asked a few questions, but I got the feeling she was only doing it as a courtesy. I was really interested in talking to her, but I just figured she was more interested in hanging with her sister-and-sister's-boyfriend clique. And if she had a boyfriend anyway, I wasn't going to bother showing WAY too much interest for as little as we see each other. So we basically ignored each other the whole time.

So then after the party mom ends up mentioning (for some completely unrelated reason) that Katie has dumped her boyfriend! What?! This girl is single?! Why didn't someone tell me this earlier?! Did you SEE HER?

Giving Katie Some Thought

So then I start giving it further thought. She has to teach in Columbus for 5 years. I'm going to school here for 5 years. She's an MS graduate teaching HIGH SCHOOL and STILL GOES to her PARENTS' office parties.... She's GOT to have the same troubles as the average 23-24 year old finding a date. She was starting to make a lot of sense.

Trouble is I was sure I wasn't dressed to see a girl... but then I looked in the mirror and was really happy with how I looked today. Thank someone for that haircut last week!

So I basically blew it. Hopefully I'll get a chance to bump into her again sometime.

The Joys of Interacting with Single People

Now, really the last thing I need right now is a girlfriend. A major reason (at least that I advertise) why I broke up with Liza had to do with that just being something that didn't belong in my life right now. I'm busy! I have lots to do!

But I still find myself keep thinking about certain girls. Melissa was at the party, and she has that hair... which always makes me think about girls. I was really happy to learn that the law clerk wasn't Melissa's boyfriend or else I would have probably gotten in trouble for the quick glances I took at Melissa.

Anyway, that's the update. I saw Katie. I'm thinking about girls a lot. I wouldn't mind DATING again. I'm a little afraid of more than dating right now. I just wouldn't mind talking to single people more. I **LOVE** interacting with other single people. IT'S JUST FUN.

So it would be nice to see Katie again sometime soon... without looking like a CREEPY CREEPY STALKER PERSON. Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot.