The Wheels are Turning

So today while at work Cooter invited me to come over for pizza. Lately I've been politely declining any and all invitations not sent from family members, for various reasons, but today I decided what the hell and said I'd come over. When I got there he was there with Allison, but Amy and Ashley were out somewhere. Wait, who's Ashley? Well, she's the friend of Amy's I mentioned last week -- the one whose Myspace page Cooter directed me to, and the one who Amy is apparently trying to set me up with. No, I did not know she was part of the plans. There are wheels in some kind of motion then of which I was not aware.

We had some pizza. The two of them have also acquired a pair of kittens that are totally adorable. The small white one attached itself to me and stayed perched on me for most of the eveninig. This is one of my special abilities: I get on very well with cats (and most dogs). While we were watching a movie, Amy and Ashley returned. Apparently, the wheels are turning both ways here because Ashley was a little shy to come inside ... because I was there. Taking the proverbial bull by the horns, Amy brought in Ashley's little baby girl -- so that Ashley would then eventually have to come in -- and gave her to me to hang onto.

I'm a little embarassed for the sake of this post that I don't remember the little girl's name, but I'm sure it'll come up again and I'll fix that later on. She's somewhere in the one year old range, and she was beautiful. And I sat there holding her, and she was just awesome and happy, and really fidgety. And I don't think I could have enjoyed that more. I even fed her from a bottle. She didn't fuss or anything (well, maybe just a little) and seemed pretty content to be where she was. This is another of my special abilities: little kids generally really like me.

And this eliminates one of my deepest, darkest fears, which is how I might end up feeling once my niece/nephew is born, you know, considering. That's out the window. It's going to be fantastic. I am going to have a hell of a good time with that little baby. After this afternoon there's not even a doubt in my mind.

Ashley eventually came in. She was pretty, and really nice, and not what I was expecting at all, considering the idea of her was introduced as 'one of Amy's friends'. I was figuring on someone much more Amy-like. She's kind of quiet and shy, much like I am, so the whole double negative thing that I've run into before came into play here, and we didn't talk a whole lot. But when she came in I was holding her little baby, while juggling a little kitten on my lap, and then a bottle, and I got a good reaction to, "All right, let's see how many things I can handle all at once." And Amy jumped in and backed me up with a remark about how I'm amazing and can handle all sorts of stuff. Ok, I'm paraphrasing, but that's the gist.

A little while later Cooter and I went to the store for some stuff, and Ashley had to leave while we were gone. But in the meantime I fished around for some information from both Cooter (who seems to be in on this) and Amy (who is definitely behind this). I didn't get a whole lot (didn't want to look like I was being too nosy, while balancing the possibility that I might be interested -- which isn't easy to do). I know that she's 20, has a job, has a car, and the rest I'm working on. I know. I know! Twenty. But I have to stop being an isolationist nation unto myself sooner or later, and I gain nothing by shooting down the possibility right off the bat. Besides, she might not even be interested for all I know.

But now that we've met, it opens me up to communication through an arena that does play to my particular strengths. When faced with such inherent limitations as the ones I have -- the shy and awkward thing -- it's valuable to learn to play to your strengths, and outside of it being a work situation (where I do truly excel in this sort of thing), I'm best when I can talk through my fingers. So I sent a first shot via an e-mail through Myspace. Where it goes from here, including nowhere, is something I cannot possibly predict.

But at least it's something interesting to put some of my attention towards.

Also, the person from whom Amy got those kittens has more kittens, and I might be able to score one for myself. And I really might.