weekend in 0rlando
11:16 a.m. - 2005-03-01
Friday did not go as I had planned. I planned on leaving work, going home, getting ready and going to the airport. Instead, I was a little delayed at work. Alyssa felt the urge to use the restroom. It wasn�t just a quickie. It was a, �Mom, can you get me a book?� The getting up and down to get a book caused a mess on the floor and her shoe. Yep. So, I was cleaning the restroom floor Friday afternoon instead of heading to the airport. By the time I got to the airport, I was pressed for time. I parked in remote parking and ran to a bus. As I was sitting waiting for the bus to leave, I called Hugo to tell him I was really on my way. A man overheard my conversation and informed me that I was definitely not on a bus to go to the airport. So I had to run back to the station. A nice man got a special van to drive me to my gate. I think I made it all just in time. Getting to the airport early is very important! On the flight, they showed Sh@ll We D@nce? I thought it was really cute. When I got off the plane, there was quite way to the baggage claim. I had to ride a shuttle and everything. I should mention that this is the first time I have ever flown by myself. I�ve always had a companion along to help me figure things out. When I got off the shuttle and started heading for the baggage claim, I spotted Hugo. I don�t think he really recognized me at first because I was wearing my hair straight. Then he saw me and started smiling. I walked up and kissed him. He said he was getting nervous that I hadn�t shown up earlier. Then we headed for the baggage. We made small talk and waiting for my bags. He retrieved them for me and then we went to his truck. He wanted me to go to a restaurant and eat a meal, but it was already 11:00. I told him I just wanted some french fries. He finally believed me and bought me some. We also stopped at a liquor store and bought liquor that we pretty much didn�t drink the entire weekend. He was very nervous about taking me to his apartment. He kept changing his mind. I just said it didn�t matter. The original plan was that we stay in his apartment the first night and get a hotel the rest of the time. He asked me to do that so I could see where he lived. I understood his waivering when we finally went in the apartment. It was a complete bachelor pad. I didn�t see everyone who was there, but I think he has at least 4 other roommates. I got ready for bed and we watched t.v. for a while. We did the other thing too and it was really romantic because we hadn�t seen each other for a long time. We did that a couple more times too. There was a lot of knocking on his door (both the front door and the bedroom door). I told him that we would definitely not sleep there after this one night. He totally understood. He kept telling me that he had to go to work the next day. I said it was fine as long as I was the only person in the apartment. I didn�t want to be alone in the apartment with people I didn�t know. Well that morning, at the last minute, he realized I might not be alone. So I got ready and went with him to his job. We stopped for breakfast first. Then we went to his job site. He is working on the hurricane damage. Let me remark right now that the damage in Florida is still very apparent. He showed me the homes that he has already repaired. It was a really nice neighborhood. Well, I settled in the car ready to watch Arrested Devel0pment on my laptop until he was done working. However, about 15 minutes later, he was ready to go. I said, �What happened? I thought you had to work.� He said, �It�s not everyday that you are here.� So we headed for Daytona Beach. As soon as we got there, it started to rain. I still wanted to go out on the beach. We bought a camera and found a place to park. It was freezing, so we only lasted about two minutes on the beach. Then we walked out on the pier and looked around. The hurricane had taken a lot of sand off of the beach, so most of it was closed. Again, the damage was still obvious and still devastating. We drove around a while. Then we decided to find the motel I had reserved on-line. Um it was pretty much the worst hotel ever. I went ahead and checked in. I shouldn�t have. Then we headed to this restaurant that was C0lumbian. It was really nice. We ordered this platter of food to share. It was a ton of food. I loved all of it. What impressed me about Hugo at the restaurant is that he only had one beer. He said that it was because he was responsible for driving me. I thought that was nice. On the way back to the motel from hell, we stopped at a gas station to buy sodas. We were waiting in line behind this poor old bum who was trying to buy a chocolate bar but he could hardly walk. Hugo got in front of him and did something. I thought he was confused about the line. Then I realized that he had put money down for that man. He did it so nonchalantly that it took me a minute to figure out what was going on. I thought that was really sweet. We went to the hotel and found out that the t.v. didn�t even get any channels. We just went to sleep. It was about 5 p.m. We slept until the next morning. Then we did a little hoochie coochie. We checked out and headed for the Fl0rida Mall. We got there about 10, and the mall didn�t open until 12. So we hung out. A lot of people were there. We figured out later that we did a good thing by getting there so early because the mall got super crowded. People, this is my dream mall, complete with it�s own hotel. I was happy. It was an awesome day because it was raining outside anyway. I bought A. some clothes and a buttload of Nap0leon Dyn0mite stuff. Hugo bought me some body lotion because he didn�t get me anything for Val. Day (his idea and insistence...very nice). For lunch, we went to an Italian restaurant. After we were seated, I realized that Hugo had never had Italian food. So I had to order and hope for the best. I ordered chicken parmesan (I know that�s the wrong spelling.). We learned the hard way that Italian food doesn�t agree with Hugo. At all. So our shopping trip ended a little earlier than I would have preferred, but that�s okay. We headed to his apartment so that he could get a change of clothes. On the way, I suggested that we get a hotel very close to the airport since my flight was so early in the morning. We got to the apartment to find it full of young people. Hugo is kind of the daddy of all these people who work for him. Since he was away for the night, they brought in people...including very young girls to play. I told Hugo that I was very uncomfortable and that I wanted to leave right away. So he hurried and we left. He was upset as well. Okay so we shopped around and found this awesome hotel by the airport. The entire hotel had wireless internet. Unfortunately, I didn�t get to try my game. Okay I shouldn�t have been thinking about playing that game, right? HA! Oh well. We fooled around a bit. Then I had a surprise visitor called time of the month. Hmmmm. So we had to go to the drugstore for granny panties and pads. During the whole trip, he insisted on paying for everything. This was no exception. That was funny. While at the drugstore, he had me pick out all this stuff that he needed that he couldn�t understand on the labels (example: toothpaste for gingivitis, shampoo for dry hair). We headed back to the hotel. I took care of nature, and then we went down to the lounge to eat and have drinks. We talked a lot. It was nice. There was an important conversation that I had been wanting to have with him. He never let me touch him and was obviously uncomfortable to show me his body. I was pretty sure I knew why. So I told him at the bar (using my handy electronic Spanish Translator that he gave me) that I knew he wasn�t circumci$ed and that it didn�t matter to me one bit. Boy, that made him really happy and later it made a huge difference. We had a few beers at the bar. He hurt my feelings a little bit when he told me that he preferred women with bigger boobs. I know that he didn�t exactly mean it that way because he obviously likes me. However, it is noticeable that he doesn�t prefer that area of my body. However, I had a pep talk with myself because my boobs are great. They would probably be even greater if he would concentrate on them and give them some attention. I saw a little bit of the grammy awards. All I have to say is who told my Ant0nio B@nderas that he could sing? That poor thing. Later, we went upstairs and tried alternate activities since I was out of order. I got up and got ready, and Hugo took me to the airport. He dropped me off and left because he had to go to work and he couldn�t wait with me in the secured area anyway. I was too late to make my flight. The airline was super great, and I got standby for the next flight. It was only an hour later. When I landed, I found out that A. had a fever. I called Hugo to tell him I had landed and I told him about A. He said, �She will be fine once she sees you. She is just missing you too much.� So I got home and oh my...it was all in her eyes and she was very sick. I had to call work and tell them I was going to be out the whole day instead of a half a day. Sure enough, her 103 fever cleared up after a few hours in her mommy�s arms (and some Tylenol...I mean, hello? It�s like my mom never had kids!). Well, that is the end of my weekend. This is not the guy who I will spend the rest of my life with. But he�s a pretty good boyfriend for right now. Oh, here�s a funny language story: He said, �Let�s go eat at the HI HO!� I said, �The Hi Ho? What�s that?� He said, �You know, the place with the pancakes?� (the IHOP).