Emancipated Me

So. This is what moving on feels like... For a while I was on what I like to call an "emancipation high" after I pressed "send" on that relationship ending message. Now? I just have to keep moving and shaking like I always do...with a lot less on mind. Here I am world! Emancipated Lainie! Ready to take you on...

On Sunday night I went to dinner with Ted and his friends (CB and Bret) for the second time and it was definitely a learning experience. Unlike the first time, CB's friend Bobby and Bret's wife Daphne came along.  I remember thinking that if doesn't ask me for my number tonight ,  I am done!  I definitely didn't want to be friends with anymore guys, especially uncertain ones.

We decided to go to the Steak and Shake where I did NOT have the coffee (I have never had good experiences with Steak and Shake coffee) and Ted not thinking before talking says "Is that OK for you? Should be eating that food?" I was not alone in shock and surprise saying "WHAT?!" (CB was also a little surprised). Those definitely sounded like fighting words! Poor Ted, he was just concerned because I may have led him to believe that I eat a bit healthier on a regular basis in the times we have eaten together...oops! After his embarrassment subsided we agreed it was fine and we were on our way.

At the restaurant we started talking and I noticed that Ted was way more interested in his phone so I teased him about being anti-social, looked at his screen and saw he was playing Words With Friends. Really?

Please read the following in an urban dialect: Words with friends? Oh I can give you some words with friends!  You think Alec Baldwin getting kicked off the plane was bad? I'm  about to eject you from my evening! Aw hell naw!  I got you! Believe that! (End urban dialect) 

I mean, c'mon! Who does that?! There is being shy and then there is just plain rude! He was also wearing a butt ugly shirt (red plaid in the style of lumberjack, possibly Bunyon Dynasty) and his lack of social skills was the excuse I needed to aviod looking at it for the next hour or so. As a result, CB and I got to know each other better and he seemed a lot less annoying to me once I got to know him. It turns out that he is a nerd just like me and we talked about Doctor Who, Star Wars and a crapload of other stuff nerds like. Bobby also joined in the conversation, but it was so hard to listen to him because no joke, he looks like Hank Hill's son, Bobby on King of the Hill (hence the name). And he talks like him too! I didn't watch that show a ton, but I definitely kept picturing this grown ass man animated and 11 years old. I could have sworn that his dad was gonna show up at any moment to sell me propane.

Still completely ticked at Ted I made a point to get to know everyone at the table a bit more and let him play his game. I think Bret and Daphne are an odd couple, but I liked them.
Bret is British so I figure I should make friends because when Sunny does come to visit she will want to meet him (she has anglophelia).

By the way no one else was bothered by his behavior, I figured this was normal Ted behavior and realized that maybe we should be just friends. I should let you know that Sassy seconded that motion because she thinks I am way too cute for him. And now that I look at him through my emancipated eyes, I am inclined to agree. That. And the shirt.  I think it was mostly the shirt...
 
It's funny, now that I officially let go of Ralph, I am just fine with moving at a slower pace. When I first moved here I told a friend that I had to get two hobbies and start dating. I have only one hobby so far and am really slow in the dating department.  Right now,  I am OK with that.  (Keep on mind I can only speak for right now). I think the newly emancipated Lainie doesn't have anything to prove. She can give herself time to adjust to this new life and figure out this town before she has to start figuring out its men.