Ketchup - Easter Weekend

The last real post on the replacement blog was before I went to Atlanta for my goddaughter's birthday party. That was a whirlwind of a weekend. Kate wanted me to reserve a table at the zoo, and I drove 3 1/2 hours to do so after working three 13-hour-plus days. Younger Matt called while I was being a bitch shoeing families away from the table. Turns out he was there! He and Jeremy decided to surprise me by showing up there while I was holding down the fort. I directed him my way by using a nearby trombone player as a guide. "Hear When the Saints Go Marching In? Yeah, well, he knows that and two other songs. Trust me, I know." We walked around and talked. They gave me the keys to their place so I could take a nap there after the party instead of walking around inside the zoo. He thought I was going to invite Keith over for some "fun"...and I had to remind him that it just wasn't like that. I took the nap and then went over to Keith's. Shortly after I arrived, Keith was talking on the phone, and I was trying to get settled. I heard him tell his Dad, "Yeah, she's brushing her teeth." I thought WTF. His dad now knows I'm here this late at night? I smiled and flipped off Keith for that, and he just laughed and said, "It's ok." It was ok for his parents to know I was spending the night there? Not to me. I didn't want them to think that anything was going on since nothing was! We went out to eat at a fancy restaurant, and he asked if I wanted to keep some kind of I-forget souvenir from there. I declined. I thought, "What do you think this is, a date?" It was awkward. Kate had said she was going to call me, and she hadn't yet. Keith told me to not call her because of all the times she never called me back while we lived together. Dummy me took his advice. Yeah, I listened to him and didn't call Kate, waiting to see if she would call back. She hadn't answered when I called earlier in the day...typical. He had pink eye, and I wanted to catch it so I could miss work. No such luck. We had fun inventing tons of ludicrous and ever-more-insane calls-in for work. "Yeah, well I've got pink eye, but not only that...you see, a turtle aquarium fell on my foot, and I can't walk"...and so on and so on. I pressed him to tell me what he was thinking of me because he had been saying and doing so many weird things - like shaking his ass in my face and suggesting that we watch a movie with Nicholas Cage, who he looks like. I wanted him to watch Before Sunset so he could understand how I felt. The diatribe about all of her exes being married and thanking her for showing her what love meant...that's how I felt toward him. I don't know if he ever watched it since he wanted to go to bed right after I returned from the video store. I put eye drops in his eyes only to have him run to the sink complaining of poison since some dripped down into his mouth. Such a hypochondriac. I had some trouble sleeping, and he yelled at him for moving around and such. I moved into the living room and then ended up sitting on the floor in the kitchen crying because all of his yelling and such just transported me back in time to when he took me for granted and treated me like crap years ago. The next morning, Easter morning, I went to a Unitarian church with Younger Matt. Ended up crying tears of joy over the treatment of the children and their behavior during new-member ceremonies and the children's message. They had flowers that everyone could take home with them. I took two - one for Kate and one for Maddie. I went over to Kate's place. She was mad that I came over and greeted me very rudely, since she didn't know I was coming. I thought I had been invited days before. It was a big misunderstanding. I ended up fighting with her in the car in front of Stephen and Maddie over my plans to have dinner with Keith and his parents that evening. It was an ugly, ugly weekend at times. In May, Keith ended our friendship. He said it wasn't working out. He said, "Not to sound arrogant, but..." I interrupted him and made sure to let him know that if he was thinking that I had wanted him back that he was wrong. I was on a break from work and had just found out my Papa had died. He had been short with me earlier in the day so I called him back to see what was going on. I was furious and sent him a nasty email. He had complimented me, saying I was the best he ever had in all departments (yes, that means what you think it means). He had been so flirtatious at times. He had acted like he wanted me back, and I had said that I don't date exes, that even though I had said I still loved him that that didn't mean I wanted him back. Those three words had popped in my head while I was laying on his bed talking to him the first time I had seen him in years back in the fall, and they had freaked me out. After pondering it for awhile, I realized that I would always love him (or so I thought...I could kill him now)...that my passionate anger years before just reflected how strong my feelings were for him at all times. I realized that there was nothing wrong with still loving him as long as I didn't want to rekindle the flame. Since he was the most romantic person I ever dated, the temptation was there to get back with him at times, but his hypochondria, type-A tendencies, and negativity are still there, and they reminded me why we aren't a good match.