Lovin' and Livin'

While staying with J-Dawg that week, he had asked that I spend some time with his mom because he wanted us to get to know one another more. I was more than willing to do this. She and I went to the paint store and ran some errands around town. While driving, we discussed a lot, especially about J-Dawg and how he was as a child and teen. (He's considered the more quiet, reserved and relaxed one of the family, but was also able to do his share of damage as a kid. AKA, stories for another day...)

We got back to the house and I offered to help her with her current project, painting old milk pails that they actually used in Friesland.  How cool is that?! (She is very crafty, and always working on some fun project). I had collected milk 'paraphernalia' since I was young, and while living in the dorms, I purchased green milk crates, stacked them and tah-dah, had a bookshelf! I also had replica milk buckets, and loved to buy old milk jars when I came across them (part of the reason I love Starbucks' Frappacino bottles). But J-Dawg's place was decorated with the real deals.

For the next couple of days while J-Dawg was working, I was helping his mom paint the milk pails. She chose a gunmetal silver base coat with a metallic green tint to be brushed over them, making them look even more antique. They came out very awesome, except I may have gone a little heavy on the green (imagine that!). I had a fun time painting in the cool garage, and my pups were runnin' in circles around me, ecstatic to be at the dairy (as was I). 

The Two Dogs and J-Dawg (= 3 Dogs)

Over the time that Jeroen and I had spent together, he really took to my pups and they were just as crazy about him as I was. Bailey, the ornery hard-headed Llasa Apso, and Snickers, the old, quiet, yet easily excited Bichon Frise, were both rescue dogs. They were just happy to be with people who loved them. Bailey, being the misbehaving dog, learned quickly she wouldn't get away with much around J-Dawg. He quickly put her in her place when she bit his sister's Great Dane (I'm not kidding when I say she's a handful).  Not only does she like J-Dawg, but respects him, she's very well behaved around him and I love it! (If only I wasn't such a pushover and could have the upper hand with her, like he does...)

The weekend before, J-Dawg's mom had invited me to attend a baby shower for a family friend of theirs. Although I didn't know his family very well at this point, I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with them. The baby registry was at Target and they didn't have one near them, so I offered to pick up the gifts since I was going to the "city". When I returned with them, his mom and sister were very grateful. We wrapped them up in baby blue and tan tissue paper, put them in a very cute gift bag, and headed to the shower. 

The decor at the shower was beautiful, and there were lots of women there (with lots of children). Most of the baby gifts were cow print, which made my heart melt. The mom-to-be was a wife of a dairyman,  and that was that day that I discovered how close the dairy community was. All the women chatted with one another, as they either grew up on a dairy or were also dairy wives. The shower was fun and I loved being introduced to everyone as "J-Dawg's [insert his real name here] girlfriend".  Also, being able to spend time with J-Dawg's mom and sister was a treat. They were both down-to-earth and fun to be around. 

After the shower, I returned to the dairy to find J-Dawg in the shop, covered in grease and smelling of oil, dirt and sweat. I smiled and thought, 'he's still so handsome'. Every girl loves a man that can work with his hands. We loaded the pups and headed back to his house so he could shower.  We discussed how our days went, and he mentioned he was glad I went to the baby shower with his sis and mom and got to meet the dairy women (kind of an initiation to being the girlfriend of a dairyman). 

With only one night left together, we discussed what we do the following weekend. I hoped it would come quickly, as I was not looking forward to going back home to my empty, broken home, my jam-packed work space, and hours of resume writing. Although it was never planned this way, we take turns driving back and forth to see one another (works out quite nicely). Because I was at his place that week, he offered to come to mine the following weekend. Instead, we decided we'd go to our half-way point and check out the wine festival during Memorial Day weekend... stay tuned.