I have been fighting a killer sinus headache all day. I woke up with it and hoped that when I went downstairs to ride on my bike the exercise might help ease it. It did for a while. Long enough to rush off and do my grocery shopping. I arrived home with barely enough time to put the cold and frozen items in to the refrigerator, then dashed out the door to drive over to SW Portland to meet my new bloggy friend Simone for breakfast at a restaurant in Beaverton. She recently moved here from southern California and we've been talking about trying to meet each other. Today just happened to be a day that worked out for both of us. I was really sweating about meeting her on time. I used to work at a school over in that area and my commute usually took about 45 minutes but that was during rush hour traffic on weekdays. This was 9 am on a Saturday morning. But still.... Luckily I think I hit only two red lights the whole way over, even at Scholls Ferry Road! Anyone familiar with that intersection knows what the odds of hitting a green light there is, ha! I pulled in to the parking lot and went into the little vestibule area of the restaurant to see if she'd arrived before me but no sign of her yet so I sat down on a bench there to wait for her. Didn't sit there long, tho...she arrived just minutes after I did. So I went out in to the parking lot and gave her a hug and off we went to have breakfast and a lovely getting-to-know-you kind of chat. Neither of us has known one another very long....it was Anita who first brought Simone to my attention, sending me an email and telling me about what a lovely lady she is and that she was moving to my area...could I leave Simone a comment on her blog and welcome her? When I went to Simone's blog it was to find she was already 'in transit' so I left a comment welcoming her and I believe I also said if she needed any help adjusting to give me a holler by comment or email and I'd be happy to help. She did, and we also connected on Facebook. So we've been getting to know each other electronically. I have never met a fellow blogger face-to-face so this was a new experience for me. I think she told me I'm the 4th one she's met.
I think I'm at some kind of emotional 'bridge' in my life at this stage. A few years ago I never would've dreamed of doing what I did today. I met pen pals in my younger years and the last one I met was such a disaster I said I'd never do something like that again, meet a virtual stranger. But Simone just seemed like such a lovely, gracious person I didn't feel any qualms about meeting her at all. And for two women who knew next to nothing about each other when we sat down across the table face to face it was very relaxed and easy and I don't think we ever had any of those dreaded gulfs of silence you're always worried about. We chatted about family and blogging and her move to Portland, her new job. Then we went to Goodwill and browsed thru books and talked about our favorite authors. She used to do day care and suggested a game she saw that she thought Dylan and Cooper might like.
One thing that endeared her to me was the first thing she asked when we sat down: "How's Cooper doing?" That there told me she was someone definitely worth getting to know.
And we plan on another breakfast sometime in the near future, over in Vancouver that time. Lots of good thrift stores there! Because that's another thing we have in common besides books. Thrift stores! Dear Hubby better watch out...he's got competition now!
As for the sinus headache, by the time I drove home 3 1/2 hours later it was bad. I put a pan of water on the stove and steamed myself, took some Advil, and laid down on the couch. I think I dozed a bit...I remember Dear Hubby watching one episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" and waking up to another. The headache was halfway bearable. It's settled behind my left tear duct. And it's hovering right on the verge of blowing up on me again. I need some sleep. And I'm heading for bed.
But not before I thank Simone for the lovely morning we spent together. You are just as gracious and kind and nice as I thought you'd be. And I'm looking forward to getting to know you better.
6 told me what they're thinking:
She sounds like a lovely person. I´ll have to check out her blog sometime.
I hope you got some sleep and will feel better today!
I'm so glad that you and Simone had such a wonderful visit despite your ill health.
I've never met another blogger with whom I've corresponded. Well that's not quite correct. I've met one, but I knew him long before either of us were bloggers.
Glad your get-acquainted outing was such a success. Hope you are feeling 100% soon.
How exciting that you got to meet Simone! Sounds like the start of wondeful new friendship. Good for you!
I get terrible sinus headaches this time of year, too. Have you tried taking a Sinus Pain medication? I take an over the counter generic one and it works wonders. And no drowsiness.
Feel better!
I hope you are feeling better and I'm glad you felt well enough to meet with Simone. Meeting a fellow blogger sounds like such a fun thing to do and it's great that your meeting went as well as you had hoped.
It was definitely a pleasure meeting you as well, Kris. I felt not at all nervous about meeting you face to face because you've been nothing more than warm and friendly from the moment we first met through blogging. I enjoyed hearing about your family and of course, the adorable grandbabies.
I found out that my godfather had passed away when I arrived home so I came home feeling somewhat melancholy and sad. But, all in all, it was so much fun getting together and of course, sharing our love for books and thrift store shopping. I'm looking forward to Vancouver. Hope your headache is gone and you're feeling better.
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