Catching Up

I apologize for not keeping up with the blog(s) lately. Life has been hectic: finals, papers, summer prep, and most importantly, A LADY. As almost everyone has pointed out, my latest posts have taken a decidedly positive/twitterpated/romantic bent, pontificating on the beauty of nature and life itself. This upbeaticism comes with good reason--Erin Roundy (see three posts down) has wedged her way firmly into my priorities. We started dating about five weeks ago, after a chance meeting at none other than the MTC. (It's a cute story, one which is better told face to face with hand motions, facial expressions, and raised eyebrows. Next time you see me, feel free to ask). Anyway, I realized our relationship was more serious than average when I found myself changing my Facebook status from "Single" to "In a Relationship." Kind of my way to tuck my thumbs under my meta-suspenders, stretch those elastic bands, raise up on my electronic tiptoes and announce: "Hands off, ladies, Eric's no longer on the market!" What I thought was a simple transition apparently sent shock waves down the facebook turnpike and elicited quite a bit of cyber excitement among my friends. Some of the better face-posts included:

• "homie. I am thrilled." --Missy Johnson
• "ta num relacionamento? Vc eh meu heroi (You're in a relationship? You are my hero!)" --Taylor Howe
• "Woah... Facebook status has changed! Things are getting serious." -- Cody Roberts

While I was flattered, I had to wonder whether people were thinking "Finally!" and "I thought he'd never make it!" or "Good for him." Either way, it was good to get some face-attention. Even better, Cody was kind enough to include the following: BYU Date Guide: 1. Group Date (Week 1) 2. Change Facebook Status (Week 4-6) 3. Send Mass Text Message of engagement (week 7-8) 4. Marriage (Week 12) 5. Profit?" While I still don't quite understand what "Profit" stands for in Cody's step by step process, unless he's referring to the earning potential at your typical wedding, I found myself laughing and nodding at the BYU DG. In too many cases it's so painfully true. And I even elicited a promise of "very lovely dish towels in the color scheme of [Erin's] choice" from Ruthanne Frost should step 4 come to pass. But, I'll have you know that Erin and I bucked the BYU trend from the get go, so don't go looking for a mass text next week. We did not go on a group date for our first date. We went DISCO SKATING! In full-out 70s gear. Erin looked smashing in her brown and pink 70s dressy thingy, and I rather think I looked dashing in my tight, tight, tight, flared plaid slacks and matching brown vest. In short, we were a smokin' pair! All in all I had the time of my life...trying VERY hard not to fall on my behind. This preeminent goal required me holding onto Erin at some very...key moments. ;D Let's just say that skating has never been one of my strong points, which anyone who has ever gone ice skating or disco skating with me can attest. However, acting cute in the face of a potentially awkward (and dangerous!) situation is one of my strongpoints, or at least I like to think so. So Erin put up with me long enough to let my real quality shine through: soft hands. I'll be the first to admit it--I have incredibly soft hands. Never used lotion in my life. But they're like a pair of baby seals attached to my wrists. Adorable, luxurious in their smooth, silky texture, and great for cuddling, And I'm betting those supple mitts of mine were just enough to push me over the top. That, or Erin just felt sorry for me and the George McFly/Lorraine effect took over every time I was about to fall flat on my face. (True to McFly form, I punched a guy out in the parking lot later that night to defend Erin's honor. Honest!) Well, from there we just hit it off and have been having fun ever since. She has finally managed the heretofore unmanageable: to pull me away from my academic mistress, the ever-jealous, over-zealous, time-consuming, life-swallowing Lady Law. And I couldn't be happier about it. Where Law is cold, calculating, exacting, and ruthless, Erin is cute, funny, smart, curious, affectionate, lovely, grinful, adorable, playful, excited, bodacious, happy, groovy, beautiful, and a whole host of other positive adjectives. I find myself unabashedly entrenched in deep like. And it's nice. And it's good. And for the first time in a long time, I'm happy. Truly, deeply, good and happy. Amazing what some balloons and a scone can do. :D