The Bedroom Archives - Lust For Life at Last

Category: The Bedroom

28
Nov
2016

Weekend at Tyee Lodge… Part trois (three) – Trivia?

categories: Keeping it easy, Travel & Leisure

We spent well into the afternoon soaking up the marvelous sights of the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. This left us both hungry for a bite to eat. One option was to drive back the way we came and stop at one of the restaurants along the way. Or we could continue our adventure southward and see what we could find. The discussion of those two options lasted about ten seconds as we said to each other – “what the hell! – let’s just keep heading down the road!” The next town along the 101 that our travels would take us through would be Florence, Oregon. Neither one of us had been to Florence for a very long time and we had never visited there together. We decided that would be our destination for a late lunch and off we went.

Driving along the 101 Nancy and I both reminisced of family trips we had taken as kids in this area. In particular we both recounted our visits to one of the Oregon Coasts most famous attractions The Sea Lion Caves. My childhood memory of the Sea Lion Caves was one where I was terrified that I would be blown out to sea by what seemed at the time to be 500 mile per hour wind gusts. Nancy’s childhood memory of The Sea Lion Caves could be summed up in one word, “stinky”. She also mentioned that she mistakenly wandered off hand in hand with the wrong mom while in the darkness of the cave! Who says precious moments can’t last a lifetime?!? Not to knock The Sea Lion Caves but we prefer the Newport’s Historic Bayfront to view these masters of lounging about.

Soon we spotted sand dunes along the highway and we knew that Florence would not be far beyond. Florence lies at the Northern edge of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. A place where people from far and wide come to play in the sand. Personally, I marvel at this part of Oregon because it doesn’t really look like Oregon at all, but rather a landscape right out of some far away desert with some lovely fir trees at its edges.

By this time we had worked up quite an appetite so the hunt was on for a nice place to stop into for lunch. I remembered there was a section of Florence called “Old Town” on the South end of town so I suggested we check that out. Have you ever noticed that if there is an “Old Town” section of a town that the most interesting things can be found there?? Well, Florence, Oregon is no exception! Go figure!

There is ample parking in Old Town Florence so we were soon out and about exploring the area. At this point we were famished so our first mission was to find a place to have lunch. When I visit the coast I always try to find a seafood spot somewhere in my travels and on this day we found a good one. Sitting next to one of the more over-rated seafood restaurants on the Oregon coast we spotted the “The ICM Restaurant”. ICM stands for International C-food Market. With an interesting name and a great location ICM sounded like just the ticket. I’m happy to report we picked a winner. This large restaurant is locally owned and operated and is situated on the beautiful Siuslaw River. I enjoyed a sumptuous Salmon Caesar Salad and Nancy opted for a lovely Halibut fish and chips which we accompanied with a nice buttery Chardonnay. Just what the doctor ordered! The food and service were wonderful and it was a nice chance to recharge our batteries so we could explore town with renewed energy.

With such a gorgeous day at hand and feeling re-energized from our wonderful lunch we decided to go for a walkabout and explore the area. We discovered galleries, more restaurants, coffee shops, a couple of antique shops and even a great ice cream place! If your ever in Florence be sure and check out this kitchy cool part of town for sure. By now it was nearing late afternoon and we had aspirations of heading out that night so we decided to bid farewell to Old Town Florence and head on back to the comfy confines of Tyee Lodge. We were so relaxed at this point that I don’t think we had a care in the world on the drive back. Sharing all of the wonderful experiences of the day with my best friend and partner made the day even more memorable and romantic. The scenery, the relaxing music, the discoveries that we made together, and some good food and wine ta-boot. We were two happy campers as we made our way back toward Newport and it showed as we held hands and gave each other loving caresses as we motored along. It should come as no surprise then that when we got back to the Tyee Lodge we decided to round out the wonderful day we had with a lovely enhanced snuggle and some down time before heading out for the evening later on.

The plan that I put forth for the evening was to head on down to Newport’s famous Bay Front District and catch Mr. Bill’s Traveling Trivia Show down at the Rogue Ales Public House. You see… not only is Nancy beautiful, she’s also super smart, and on many occasions we have talked about going to a trivia contest because both of our heads are chock full of useless yet interesting facts i.e. trivia. Having decided that we would indeed unleash upon the world the awesome combined trivia power of our collective brains we made our way down to the Rogue a bit early to fuel up with some pizza and bevvies. As we sat there enjoying our fare we were sizing up the trivia worthiness of our competitors nearby. Thinking rather highly of ourselves (and for good reason) we did not see too many outwardly stereotypical trivia buffs nearby. However, one table seemed to contain a good mixture of people that looked as though they might be worthy competitors for us

At the appointed hour Mr. Bill took to the mic and started his explanation of the format and rules of the contest ahead. Like true trivia geeks we were now giddy with anticipation! The first round started and surprisingly we seemed to be a tad rusty out of the gate. If we have a trivia Achilles heel it would definitely be country music trivia. Each round of trivia took quite some time and by the end of the first round Nancy and I were finally finding our trivia stride.

We owned the second round of questions. In fact, at one point during the answer reveals some of the other teams gave Nancy a “we’re not worthy” bow for a particularly obscure answer that she knew. By the time the third round was to start our cocktails and pizza were making us long for our cozy bed back at the lodge. We decided to call it a night and head back to the Tyee Lodge for some lovely evening downtime after an absolutely perfect day of fun and adventure, By the way… we were tied for first place in the trivia contest when we left. We still got it!

Each of us had enjoyed another blissful night of cozy slumber and were stirring just a bit in the morning light. From our bed we could see the early morning sunshine filtering through the trees and awakening the bluest hues of the ocean before us. Pair that sight with the consistent melody of the waves crashing upon the sandy beach beyond and we couldn’t help but slip softly into a wonderful snuggle. For the time being the outside world ceased to exist. At moments like this the love we share fills us with a peace that is truly rejuvenating. We’ve said repeatedly that if we could package that feeling it would sell better than hotcakes and surely remedy all of the worlds ills. Speaking of hotcakes, soon we would be treated to another fantastic Tyee Lodge breakfast. Life can be most difficult indeed!

We managed to leave our nest of snuggletude and make ourselves presentable, none too soon as a knock came at our door soon afterward. It was Dee, of course, with this mornings sumptuous breakfast. On today’s menu a delightful crustless smoked salmon quiche was the main attraction. The supporting cast was made up of a savory, slightly fennel flavored breakfast sausage (we heart fennel), another appearance of those made to perfection home fries, and a local fruit assortment with berries and melon! Some fresh OJ and some super delish coffee rounded out the mornings feast. I would highly recommend the “breakfast in your room” option at the Tyee Lodge as it is such an intimate and romantic setting to have a lovely breakfast with the one you love. After such a satisfying breakfast we had to gather our will and start thinking about checking out of our weekend love nest. We finally managed to do so and made our way downstairs to say our good byes to Dee. However, we had a plan for this day as well.

–Mike

06
Jul
2016

Weekend at Tyee Lodge… Part deux (two) – Cape Perpetua

categories: Keeping it easy, Travel & Leisure

With the sun shining upon us and the weather forecast calling for an absolutely perfect day on the Oregon Coast we hopped in the car and began to head South toward… well… whatever adventure we could find. We had a loose plan that would take us to the Cape Perpetua area but with such a gorgeous day at hand we would end up exploring much more than we had intended. It was early enough in the day that we had US Highway 101 nearly to ourselves! This was such a wonderful treat after experiencing the hell that was Interstate 5 the afternoon before. The drive South would take us along what has to be some of the most beautiful coastline in the country. Sandy beaches, rocky coves, tidal areas, and lush forests sprinkled with freshly blooming wild Rhododendron. Taking in all the coastal beauty to the music of Gregory Alan Isakov was making us sigh with relaxation and contentment at regular intervals as we buzzed down the highway.

The first little town we would come upon on our adventure was Waldport, Oregon. Waldport is a charming little town that offers up a wide variety of recreational activities for explorers of the Oregon coast. Excited to get to Cape Perpetua and having only been in the car for a short while, however, we continued on while noting places that we might want to come back to in the future. Soon we were passing through another great little Oregon coast getaway spot the town of Yachats, Oregon. We spotted a couple of intriguing antique stores while passing through town and hoped to perhaps go treasure hunting on our return trip through town. But once again the lure of only being minutes from our goal of Cape Perpetua made us press on. We both agreed treasure hunting could wait for a bit because we wanted to savor the beauty of such a rare warm Spring day on the Oregon coast.

Just a couple of miles past Yachats we entered the Siuslaw National Forest and were soon in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. Almost immediately we came upon the Devil’s Churn Day Area so we pulled on into the parking lot to check things out. After looking around for a bit we found a hiking trail to go explore called the Restless Water Trail. We paid the totally worth it $5 day use pass fee for the entire scenic area (I HEART big government!!) and our adventure began. The trail is an easy peezy paved trail that hugs the coastline offering views of crashing waters, volcanic terraced tide pools and wind sculpted spruce. The trail also offers up great views of the Devil’s Churn itself which is a deep chasm formed over many thousands of years under the constant pounding force of ocean waves. One could stand over Devil’s Churn for hours just mezmorized by the waves crashing in time and time again and at the same time be zen’ed out by the repeated sound of the pounding surf as it breaks against the ancient lava stone. Truly a feast for the senses…oohhmmm. As we continued down the hiking trail we would find lovely little flowers and shrubs of which we could take endless pictures. At the end of the trail there were tidal rocks to explore from which we spied other structures that were within the scenic area. Bonus!! It was decided to go seek out these other attractions so we made our way back up the trail hand in hand thoroughly enjoying the scenery and the romance of the location we had discovered.

In a short while we were back up at the parking lot of Devil’s Churn which houses a structure with a little café in it of all things! I got a map at the café where I found our next destination to explore-The Whispering Spruce Trail-and what would arguably be one of the top highlights of this day the Stone Shelter at Cape Perpetua. If you are a very hearty soul you can hike your way up to the Whispering Spruce Trail via the mountainside trail but it has an elevation gain of close to 800 feet over the course of a very short distance. Translation… we would be driving the leisurely winding road up to the trail and the utterly gorgeous views it offers. Once at the top of Cape Perpetua the trail that leads to the Stone Shelter is only feet away! Like I said, the trail offers stunning views but if you are not fond of heights you might not want to make the trek as there are no guardrails along its path. I happen to be a little heights averse but I made it just fine. On the National Register of Historic Places, the Stone Shelter at Cape Perpetua was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The West Shelter, as it is sometimes called, was used as an observation post during World War II and a coastal defense gun was installed here. On a clear day, (like the day we were there) the shelter offers a 70-mile view up and down the central Oregon coast and the horizon some 40 miles out on the Pacific Ocean. Observation indeed! It was difficult to pull ourselves away from such natural magnificence but we manged to and found our next area to explore by sitting on a bench drenched in sunshine overlooking the vast expanse of the central Oregon coast at our feet. Literally!

Our next adventure on this day would be to go check out the Giant Spruce Trail. On occasion we also like to go glamping (glamour-camping) so we decided to pick up the trail at the back of the campground which would allow us to check that out too. We found it quite easily and drove through the campground on our way to the point where we wanted to access the Giant Spruce Trail. A bit rustic for our taste but I’m absolutely sure heartier souls would find it a great place to set up camp. We found the section of the Giant Spruce Trail that we wanted to explore and set off not knowing quite what to expect. What we found was a beautifully maintained trail in the midst of an old growth forest. A babbling brook provided background music as we took in all the sights before us. Lovely Ferns, moss formations, wild flowers, and lucky shamrocks were but a few of the sights to be had along the trail which was spotlighted by a beam of warm sunshine that penetrated the dense forest canopy every so often. Such a romantic stroll through the woods with my honey by my side to share it with! At the end of the trail we came upon the trails namesake the Giant Spruce of Cape Perpetua Heritage Tree. What a behemoth! We’d never seen anything quite like it. The tree, which is said to be nearly 600 years old, stands in at 185 feet tall and has a trunk circumference of 40 feet! We marveled at this natural wonder for a time, craning our necks skyward barely being able to make out the upper reaches of the tree, laid our hands on the ancient bark but stopped short of giving it an actual hug. It was too big! After enjoying this magnificent tree it was decided to make our way back down the trail as it was time to check out the main visitors center of the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area which again was a short drive down the highway.

A hop, skip, and a jump later and we had arrived at the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center. The Cape Perpetua Visitor Center has an incredible view of the ocean from inside and a deck that surrounds the center. The center is lucky enough to have enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff on hand for visitors to ask questions of. In addition, daily programs and activities are offered at the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center that include films and guided hikes. For our final activity at the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area we decided to explore the rocks and tide pools across the highway from the visitor center. The Cape Perpetua Special Interest Area is a short walk brings you right up to the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean where tide pools, crashing waves and an abundance of ocean driftwood await you. Be sure and find Thor’s Well while there. Thor’s Well is a cavern where waves will crash into and their energy will be channeled up through a large hole in the rock formations. If you don’t mind ocean spray lightly misting you its a perfect spot to hold hands and perhaps get some photos taken.

The Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is a truly hidden gem along the Oregon Coast and a must see if you happen to be in the area. We were awe struck by the sights, sounds, and feelings that we experienced on this day and we made memories as a couple that will never be forgotten. Thank you US Forest Service and the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area for providing a day that we will look back on with delight and a contented sigh and say… “I’d like to go back to there now”.

-to be continued

–Mike

07
Jun
2016

Weekend at Tyee Lodge… Part un (one)

categories: Keeping it easy, Travel & Leisure

Way back in February when Winter was still going strong Nancy and I started talking about how much we love the Oregon coast and the town of Newport in particular. We had not taken a trip to coast in a while so we decided on a weekend to go then got on the interwebs and made a reservation. Our destination would be a little bed and breakfast that we had been to before but had not visited for wayyyy too long – the Tyee Lodge. Little did we know at the time that in a few short weeks we would have one of the best beach weekends ever! April and May are very busy months in our household for various reasons so as the weekend at the beach approached it became a welcome if not an almost forgotten break in the hubub.

When our lovely beach getaway weekend arrived at last we decided to leave work a bit early in order to beat the Friday afternoon traffic out of town. However, our window of opportunity to do this quickly closed as there seemed to be accidents on every freeway and interstate that led out of town. The weekend was starting out on anything but a relaxing note. It soon became apparent that we were not going to make it to our destination by the time the lodges check in time had passed so Nancy rang up Tyee Lodge’s owner / inn-keeper Dee Nebert in order to tell her that we were going to be later than we had thought. Dee was super understanding and said that our arrival time would be no problem at all. She even suggested that we stop off somewhere for a bite to eat in the hopes that traffic would thin out a bit in the meantime. This was wonderful to hear and really took the pressure off us to get to Newport as soon as possible. We chose to drive on so we could get to Tyee and settle in anyway but the fact that Dee was so understanding already started to make us feel relaxed and we had not even arrived at the B&B yet!

At last we made it to our destination on NW Woody Way (insert innuendo here)… late but basically in good spirits. Dee helped us check in and gave us the lay of the land. Although we had been past guests of Tyee Lodge is was great to be welcomed in such a manner. She also offered up some warm cookies and mentioned that there was wine at the ready if we wanted (which we took her up on). The key to our room in hand, along with cookies and wine, we made our way upstairs to the Chinook room. Upon entering our suite I immediately opened our window so that we could hear the symphony of crashing waves on the beach below while at the same time the sun was making its way toward touching the horizon for sunset. Both of us could feel tension and stress melting away and the traffic we had encountered on the way there was seeming like an increasingly fading memory.

After a bit our need for some sort of dinner made itself present like a subtle tap on the shoulder so we went out for a quick bite to eat. Nothing fancy, but it hit the spot. What we really wanted was to get back to the loveliness of our room with perhaps another glass of wine, a cozy fire in the fireplace, the sound of the surf, and the enjoyment of each others company. Each of those factors combined into an atmosphere free from all the distractions of the outside world which is a wonderful feeling to share with someone you love. I don’t think there is any way that we could resist the overwhelming feelings of romance and relaxation in the air It wasn’t long before we shared a wonderful romantic time together by firelight and then collapsed into a sensational perfectly fitting cuddle that sent us both off to sleep for the night with happy grins on our faces.

The next morning we stirred rather early for us as we did not want to waste any part of what looked to be a gorgeous day in the making. Waking up to an “enhanced snuggle” was the perfect start to what will long be remembered as one of the best beach days ever. Now the details of our reservation at Tyee Lodge were so the last thing on my mind when we checked in that I had completely forgotten about choosing the option to have our breakfast brought up to our room for a nominal fee when I made our reservation. Dee had reminded us of this, however, when we checked in and said breakfast would be up at 8:30. Right on time came a knock at our door with a gorgeous breakfast cart and all the trimmings. I had chosen wisely! Today’s breakfast included Creme Brulee French Toast (to die for!), bacon cooked to perfection, golden brown home fries that were a tad crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, a fresh (and I mean fresh) fruit assortment of Strawberries, Melon, and Blueberries and if that weren’t enough some scrumptious OJ and some wonderful coffee to wash it all down with! Whew! I’m hungry all over again just writing about it! Add to such a wonderful meal one of the most perfect views of the Oregon Coast to be found and you, my friend, have the best beach breakfast around!

Now that we were fueled up and ready for the day we made plans that included a drive south of Newport to go explore the Cape Perpetua area. Neither Nancy or I had been to this area before and so were excited to explore new territory together. Dee gave us a heads up that there would be a parade going through town that day that would clog the main highway for hours so our early start seemed the smart thing to do and we were right.

-To be continued

–Mike

19
Apr
2016

Reformed Snuggletarians…

categories: Dating....again, Keeping it easy

And then they discovered snuggletarianism and it was gooood! -Mike 4:16

What is snuggletarianism you might ask? It’s a lovely “religion” of sorts that we invented upon discovering just how much we enjoyed snuggling one another. A religion that we have become very devout to! You see, that’s because something very profound happened to us the evening of our first date. Not just that we had fun at dinner, or enjoyed each others company and conversation for hours, or that we had experienced wonderful “all that jazz” into the wee hours of the morning. You see, when it came time for us to actually sleep we cuddled up with one another in a classic spooning position and something mysterious, magical and frankly quite out of the ordinary happened. That something was that we totally fell asleep!! This is monumental because as Nancy and I later discussed she was as much of an independent sleeper as I was. In fact the next morning we both commented that traditionally neither one of us could stand cuddling and could not wait to roll on over to our own cozy corner of the bed and slumber free of any sort of encumbrance.

The exact reasons as to why neither one of us had experienced the shear comfort and relaxation we experienced that night we can only speculate about. Was it that the difference in our heights allowed us to fit just right, was it that just the right pillow placement had occurred, or was it proper positioning of the moon and stars? Who knows and who cares, we had both discovered something wonderful in each other that we had never has the pleasure of experiencing before. Needless to say we came to the conclusion that we had just plain found the right person to snuggle up to.

From that fateful day on we have not wavered from our devout following of the snuggletarian way. In fact we attend services whenever possible! A soothing hug before heading off to work, a re-energizing hug after a long or difficult day. A spoon or even a reverse spoon at night, in the morning, or any ol time. Then there is the one we like to call the “enhanced” snuggle which, though I won’t go into explicit detail, transitions into some very intimate couple time lets just say. So if you’re lucky enough to have found your cosmic cuddler take that as a VERY positive sign that the person you have discovered might just be a a great fit for you….LITERALLY! I’m pretty darn sure neither one of us had ever said to ourselves – hey, I want to find my snuggletarian soul mate – but if we knew then what we know now we just may have.

We believe the benefits we experience from the closeness we share in our snuggletarian ways are many and can be felt beyond the time we share together but reather throughout our entire day. Sometimes it seems as though we can feel every muscle relax when we cuddle or snuggle and I’m thinking it might even be lowering our blood pressure at the same time. But you don’t just have to take my word for it because I discovered that in Santa Monica, California can be found the “Cuddle Santuary” and its founder Jean Franzblau which provides a fun and social place for people to give and receive healthy touch. She notes, “I found that when my needs for cuddling were met, I felt better in all areas of my life.” and where the philosophy “that we all deserve healthy, human touch” is very alive and well. Jean’s website provides tools and guidelines for an array of cuddle experiences as well as the opportunity to learn the many benefits of being a cuddler / snuggler. Who knew there was a place where professional cuddlers could be found?! Nancy and I blissfully found this out on our own but its nice to see that we aren’t the only ones who have made this wonderful discovery. Personally I think the world could stand to benefit from this kind of thinking for sure, especially these days.

When all is said and done I guess my point to this post is that if you are lucky enough to find a special someone that can take the stress of the world away with a simple yet meaningful cuddle or snuggle then you have found something very special indeed. In a world where “red flags” are all to commonly found in the dating pool, we believe if you happen to discover your cosmic cuddler that this is a giant “green flag”. Just plain slowing down the world for a few minutes or more a day can really make a difference in a relationship.

–Mike

25
Jan
2016

Chapter Four – A New Beginning – Part II

categories: "All That Jazz", Dating....again, Our Story

Well, we finally managed to leave our fortress of coziness and headed out of the restaurant and back to the car. Along the way I reached out at some point and held her hand for the chilly walk back to the car. It seemed so very natural to do so and our eyes caught each other as we held hands for the first time. We had both decided that the movie was not really in the cards for that evening so we decided to head back to Nancy’s house. If the evening had ended at Nancy’s door with good night kiss and the memory of such a pleasant time with a wonderful person I would have called that a great date but when we pulled up to the curb in front of her house Nancy uttered the words I had terribly hoped I would hear, “would you like to come in” she said. In my head I was thinking, HELL YEAH I DO, but calmly replied “sure” with a boyish nod and a smile.

Nancy’s place was a lovely little farmhouse style home circa 1903 and when we entered her door I found that it was all done up for Christmas still. It was so picturesque and charming and I instantly felt a sense of what a special person it must have taken to create such a lovely environment. I was growing more and more impressed with this wonderful person I happen to be out on a date with. As we came in, Nancy offered me a beverage which I accepted and we settled onto her couch as her two cats introduced themselves to me. We continued the great conversation that we were having with our dinner and sipped our beverages. It was as if we were long lost friends that had at last found each other and were catching up on every little thing. I wanted very much to lean over and give Nancy a kiss but I am kind of a shy person so I thought better of the idea. It wasn’t very long after this though that we both acknowledged how glad we both were that we had taken a chance met each other that night. And with that Nancy leaned in and we enjoyed our first kiss.

Now a gentleman does not kiss and tell, however, once the ice was broken between us there was little stopping the epic making out that ensued. I’m not exactly sure how long we enjoyed ourselves there on the couch as it kind of seemed that the entire time-space continuum ceased to exist for the rest of the evening. It was at some point in this blur of delight that we agreed we should retire to the “upstairs” and we climbed her creaky stairs hand in hand. However, remembering that this house was build in 1903 as I climbed the stairs, it seemed that with each succeeding step the air temperature was dropping a couple of degrees. Until re reached Nancy’s bedroom where I could swear one could almost see their breath. She acknowledged the cold as we attempted to keep the fires that had started on the couch alive and well in her bedroom. We agreed that we should immediately jump under the covers for “warmth”. The two cats seized this opportunity to mount themselves on us for as much warmth as they could glean from our shivering yet warming bodies. Again, a gentleman does not kiss and tell (especially when his wife is his editor), but we shared a wonderful night that night and became what we like to call “reformed snuggltarians” as we slept in each others arms until the morning came.

When the new day was upon us, which was not exactly early in the morning, we agreed that at some point we were going to have to leave the cozy confines of bed and face the chilly outside world. We did so in a way that seemed, once again, very at ease with one another. There was no awkward uncomfortable conversation, no sprinting to the bathroom in order to hide from each other in the light of day, but rather a feeling of romance and happiness with one another. We finally made our way back downstairs and Nancy offered up a kind of brunch that consisted of cheese (of course), some yummy fruit, and the best coffee I think I’ve ever had in my life. It was a very sunny, bright, yet still quite cold day outside but it looked as warm and wonderful as any spring day. We listened to a bit of music, ate our brunch, realized we never made it to the movie, and recalled our favorite moments of the previous evening together to each other. It was a blissful morning. Time flew by, however, and Nancy let me know that she had a 2pm meeting with a member of her nonprofit board. Therefore I was going to have to leave sometime soon. We both finished up our brunch and made ourselves presentable to the day and then it was time to end what would become the beginning of Nancy and I. As I prepared to leave we continued to share soft kisses as I moved toward the door. At long last it was time for me to make my departure. Not knowing exactly what to say after such a wonderful time I naturally blurted out something pretty stupid. I said “thank you for such a wonderful date and all that jazz” to which Nancy quickly replied “so that’s what their calling it these days eh”? And with that we had a big laugh at the moment, kissed a happy kiss, and parted ways for now.

–Mike

10
Jan
2016

Chapter Four – A New Beginning – Part I

categories: Dating....again, Our Story

Nancy and I talked it over and decided to go out on New Year’s evening 1/1/11. One of the things that struck me very early about Nancy was what a strategic thinker she was. Both of us talked about how going out New Year’s evening should be ideal as everyone else in the world were probably recovering from New Year’s Eve. Sheer brilliance!!

So I gave what Nancy and I might do on our first date some thought. Yes, I really DID give it a bit of thought. Note to men out there: When taking someone out for the first time DO give it a bit of thought. There is no down side to doing this but dare I say plenty of upside! We had already established our mutual love for all things cheese related, including fondue, so I embarked on a bold plan to have us go out to dinner at The Melting Pot for a cheesy, delicious fondue experience. In addition to a cheesy dining experience I was thinking that one of the movies we had been discussing in our conversations with one another might be a good idea. Yeees, I know, dinner and a movie, sounds generic and safe but wait…..read on.

The next evening that we spoke I put forth my idea of dinner at The Melting Pot and going to see a movie (today, neither one of us remember what the movie was that we intended to see that evening). The idea was well received but Nancy also suggested that we meet up first for a cuppa coffee at a little place we were both familiar with called Bipartisan Cafe. I thought this sounded like a great idea so I said sure. Little did I know that there were doins-a-foot to provide Nancy an escape plan from the date juuuust in case I turned out to be a dweeb. Bipartisan Cafe would provide that litmus test but clearly THAT did not happen! Thank goodness!

A couple of days passed and each of us was getting excited for the weekend to arrive so that we could finally meet in person and see where fate would take us. New Year’s Eve seemed simply uneventful ahead of the grand evening I had planned out. Finally the weekend arrived… 1/1/11. The day was fairly normal as Saturdays go, sleep in a bit, watch a bit of football, run a couple of errands, you know, normal stuff. Toward late afternoon I started to give some thought as to what I might wear that evening and… wait a minute… what was that… I definitely had a butterfly flutter through inside of me… Whoa! Nerves! How cuuuute!

We were to meet at six at Bipartisan Cafe and I DID NOT want to be late so I got all gussied up and left in plenty of time to get there a tad early. Note: now there were a shit ton of butterflies in me. I arrived at Bipartisan and found a small table at the front corner of the cafe. A place where I could be seen as well as see. A couple of minutes passed and I pretended to read the Willy Week. Then it happened, Nancy came around the corner outside and into view. I remember that moment today as vivid as if it happened just a few minutes ago. Her eyes met mine and she instantly lit up in a smile that made me all a flutter. The thing I noticed most of all about her was that when she smiled even her eyes smiled.

She came in and we hugged our hellos and confirmed that we were, in fact, who each other thought we were. You know… Hey Nancy…hey Mike… Hi, how are you, sigh, lets have a seat, yeah, ok… I guess neither one of us had prepared an opening script which I suppose is probably a good thing. Anyhoo, we just started chatting about everything from Ok Cupid, to New Year’s idiots the night before, to what wonderful pie they had in the case. It was as if we were old friends that had met up after a long, long time between seeing each other. She was very easy to have a conversation with and our conversation flowed delightfully. Then I said, “you want a coffee or anything” and she was all over that as it was a really cold night and a warm cuppa sounded like just the ticket right about now. Nancy had also walked to the cafe so she needed some warming up.

I had made reservations for our dinner to be at seven thirty so after we finished what was a refreshingly delicious cup of coffee we decided to head out to have din. I found out later that it was at this time she excused herself to go to the loo but actually went there to text her bestie that she need not worry about rescuing her as I seemed like a decent fellow. Whew! The Melting Pot in Portland is smack in the middle of downtown and wouldn’t you know it the freeway heading into downtown had some sort of major traffic problem and looked like a parking lot. I made the split second decision to take an alternate route that would actually take us into Washington state for a bit and get around all that traffic. Brilliant right?!?!? However, Nancy made a joke at the time about me kidnapping her and has not let me forget about that “detour” to this day.

We arrived at the restaurant and it turned out to be an oasis of subterranean warmth and coziness on a terribly cold evening. We ordered our first course which was cheese fondue of course (do you see a theme here) and continued to share a meal that was quite to our liking. Our seat was an intimate little booth somewhat off to the side of the restaurant (someone was watching over me) and it lent itself to wonderful conversation, sharing laughs, and at times giving each other a somewhat inviting gaze. Looking back there were times during that meal where I very much wanted to lean over and give her a nice soft kiss as the booth had us sitting in close quarters next to one another. However, I said to myself… eassssy cowboy, don’t be quite so forward just yet and continued to enjoy our just being together there in the moment. Courses continued to come, we continued to laugh, talk, and say a lot of mmmms. So much so that time just seemed to stand still but it was getting quite late and we had more than missed the movie that we had intended to go see. Ohhhh well!! (To be continued)

–Mike

02
Nov
2015

“Keeping it easy”

categories: Keeping it easy

If you’ve been lucky enough to make it through the jungle of a divorce, got your courage up and put yourself back out there in the dating pool, and by some wild stretch of the imagination found that perfect someone to get hitched to then guess what? YOU WIN! Woot! Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? (A wee bit of sarcasm there)

After Nancy found each other there was a theme to our relationship that we noticed time and time again. In fact, I do believe its incorporated into our marriage vows. That theme? Being with you is effortless. In this section we will give out tidbits and examples of how to be an effortless couple and more important… keep it easy.

Mike & Nancy

26
Oct
2015

Re-marriage…

categories: Re-marriage

In our re-marriage category we will explore those relationships that “could….go….all….the…..way”. All the way to re-marriage. I say re-marriage because this is a blog about life after divorce. Re-marriage, as I have observed in many cases, is a wonderful journey that carries with it so many facets. Those facets are what make up the meat and potatoes of this blog. We will share our story of love and re-marriage and we hope you will share yours.

Nancy & Mike

07
Oct
2015

“All That Jazz”?

categories: "All That Jazz"

“All that jazz” will be explained in the very near future. Stay tuned for chapter four of “our story” for an explanation of this. We think you’ll enjoy this section.

Mike & Nancy

15
Sep
2015

Chapter Two – The rating game

categories: Dating....again, Our Story

The “rating game” is what I like to call the series of events that may or may not lead up to a date after you come in contact with someone on an online dating site, however, a similar process comes into play when you meet someone in the real world as well. The rating game can consist of everything from looking at a picture of your potential date and noticing a spill or stain on their clothing (clearly a dis qualifier) to learning that they support some sort of industry, political party, or pizza place that you don’t, to being just plain incompatible in some sort of peculiar fashion.

The rating game for Nancy and I must have begun with checking each other out in our bios on OK Cupid. I liked what I read and I liked what I saw. Although her pictures really did NOT do her justice.

Anyhoo, after I came up with THE most incredible opening line ever, Nancy and I set off on a journey of exploration using nothing more than the typed word! How bizarre, this typing of messages back and forth and actually having the thoughts and conversation flow with ease. How modern this is I thought. We continued messaging each other back and forth exchanging thoughts, ideas, opinions and it was great! I like this person!

After somewhere around the half hour to forty five minute mark in our conversation I made my mind up to pop “the question”, NO not THAT question but the one question that has both plagued and delighted men of the modern age, that question, “can I have your number”? I didn’t blurt it out in such a clumsy way but rather wrote “can I call you sometime”? She typed her digits in the next message and that feeling of pure euphoria you get when you make a connection washed over me. Round one of the rating game had come to a delightful conclusion. The next round would be the “can we hold a conversation over the phone round” little did I know what her voice and manner would be but I was very much looking forward to finding out.

Feel free to share any “rating game” stories you might have through a comment…

–Mike