Stars align?

I love the house I grew up in. I lived there for 17 years before my parents moved and every memory of my childhood occured within those walls, among those trees, around that neighborhood. I had a great childhood, needless to say. I still, still to this day, am disappointed that my parents ever sold that house and moved. It broke my heart then and still pinches it a wee bit today. I've always said that if it went on the market, I’d buy it (somehow). The current owners were at my old neighbor's wedding and I even told them this...to let me know if they ever plan to sell. Well, that day has officially arrived.

I discovered last night that the house I grew up in just went on the market. As in this week. I had no idea it would happen seemingly so soon (though it has in fact been 10 years). I did not find out because the owners contacted me. I found out because the guy who has been in my life on and off for 13 years is house shopping and came across this gem. He knows how much I love that house (he knew me when I lived there) and how much I would love to own it.

So he wanted to let me know that today he was going to look into purchasing it in the hopes that I would live there with him and finally just settle down with him. This guy is a no nonsense guy so I know he’s doing it. Sure enough, I looked up the address myself this morning and there it was. For Sale.

In a strange way, or maybe an obvious way I’m not sure yet, I find it kind of romantic. I seem to be contemplating it.

Theeen the old me steps in and freaks the eff out. I’m just so intrigued to see how this unfolds…

Tool bag

So one of my exes from almost 9 years ago STILL randomly emails me. Get over it guy, right?

He’s one of those bad exes. The one that you learned the most from and by learn I mean you learned what you DON’T want. He’s the one you look back at and wonder why the eff you stayed with him for so long and then remember it was because you were young. You move on swearing to never do that again. You move on, but they never do.

So, I’m convinced he tracked down my email by first finding out where I work and then learning that our email addresses are simply our first and last names. You can find this ish out on the world wide web my friends. Easily.

He’s been sending me two-liner emails to my work address for the past 5 years. Once, he even invited me to Cancun, all expense paid. Please note, I lived with my then boyfriend of 4 years at the time. To that he said, “I can help you figure out something to tell what’s-his-name.” Yeah, he’s that guy.

So my last email from him was in February to which I did not respond. More often than not, I don’t. But this time I responded for my own selfish reasons.

See the thing is, he was an ass. And every time he was an ass he bought me something nice in an attempt to make up for it. You know his kind. His mom is/was the Vice President of a pretty big jewelry store around here so he got the hook up. For real. As did I. I have a piece of jewelry, watch, you name it for every time this tool effed up. And now? Whelp, the stuff is just no good to me. I don’t want it. (Well, most of it. I’m keeping the Movado watch, diamond stud earrings and diamond pendant because they never go outta style). But the rest? I’m trying to sell it for some cash.

When I ask around about where I should go to get the most bang for my buck (this stuff is good stuff and I’m not trying to get ripped off by one of those Cash 4 Gold joints), everyone names his mom’s jewelry store. I know that’s the best place to go but I’m not trying to stroll in there with stuff to sell, run into her and have to explain how I’m selling back all the stuff her son bought me. That’s just awkward.

Sooo, I nonchalantly responded to the message he sent me today asking if she still worked there and made up some story about how I had been needing to go in there and wanted to know if I should ask for her and say hello.

SCORE! She doesn’t. He just responded saying she was laid off 2 months ago. Damn. Then of course ended his note, in true fashion, “What do you need to go to a jewelry store for, a wedding ring?

Douche.

I'm convinced: Johnny Castle cursed my love life.

I'm a child of the 80s so I grew up on this movie. Along with every other starry-eyed, optimistic, love-filled girl my age, (and I'm sure some boys), Dirty Dancing was my favorite movie.

My parents never bought VHS tapes when I was a kid but we were fully stocked with blank tapes and took full advantage of that record button on the VCR; scrambling to pop a tape in when a good movie started and then threatening the lives of anyone in the household should they even THINK about touching the clicker for at LEAST two hours. This particular VHS tape got a lot of air time. My friends and I reenacted the dance scenes. Or tried to. Who didn't try the lifts every summer in the pool? To this day I tear up when "She's Like the Wind" starts to play and Johnny pulls away, gravel flying. I still get giddy with goosebumps when he comes back and him and Baby show Kellerman's how it's done. Then I smile when Dr. Houseman apologizes to Johnny. OK, enough. We all know this is a timeless classic.

Then it hit me this weekend when my favorite station on TV, ABC Family, (don't judge) aired Dirty Dancing. I still have a huge crush on Johnny Castle. And he, my friends, is the culprit.

Johnny is the root of all my bad boy tendencies. I'm convinced. Growing up, Prince Charming did nothing for this girl. But Johnny, oh Johnny. He fights for Baby and even for Penny. Nobody talks smack about his girls and we all know nobody puts Baby in a corner. He breaks car windows with poles when he can't find his keys and drives too fast in the rain. He has interesting stories of how unfortunate he was as a kid and how he works so hard just to make ends meet. He's got depth. And he can move, oh man can he move. His body isn't so bad either.

Falling for Johnny Castle at the tender age of 7 or 8 really set me up for a lifetime of disappointment when it comes to guys and love. All throughout life the good guys have always bored me. They never held my attention for very long. I've always enjoyed a guy who's a little rough around the edges, who's got a story to tell and is willing to fight for me..sometimes literally. I can't help it, I like it. I need a little bit of edge to keep me interested. And you know who I blame? Johnny Castle.

But the problem is, Johnny is a bad boy with a good heart. He fights the bad guys for the right reasons. He wants to do good and he knows how to be respectful when he needs to be. Most importantly, he recognizes a good thing when he sees it and he isn't afraid. He doesn't let his ego get in his own way. And whelp, bad boys like him just don't exist in the real world.

Bad boys in the real world are just bad.