Upcoming birthday

Paul's asking me what I want for my birthday, as he says, "You don't seem like you're someone with a lot of wants." (I love how his interpretation of me is always so positive and Zen.)

I'm thinking I'm going to need a new iPod. Of course, I don't *need* one, but it'll be nice.

I lucked myself into a free 3-month membership at a swanky health club, so I'm heading there this morning.

'How can you stay married to a man like that?'

A few years ago, I was having some irrational Internet conversation with irrational mothers who were freaking out about something or other. I don't remember the specific subject, but they were ranting against some understandable and human behavior, and I mentioned something about how my husband would/could/might be capable of that very behavior.

"How can you stay married to a man like that?" was the response. I rolled my eyes and hit the delete button. My thought was "How can your poor husband stay married to you?"

Anyway, I don't think I ever told Paul, at least not until recently.

Telling him was probably a mistake, though, because now I'm hearing it all the time.

Per usual, he thinks he's hilarious.

If he wears his shirt buttoned to the top or tucks his pants into his boots, both looks he knows I'm not fond of: "How can you stay married to a man who dresses like this?"

Or, "How can you stay married to a man who likes the stupid White Sox?"

Or, "How can you stay married to a man who eats this sugary garbage?"

Sigh.

30 minutes

I got a 30-minute jog in this afternoon in the wind. It was in a nice park with hilly trails while the kids played.

Compensation

I don't know what it is -- but I can be "good" with exercise or concentrate perfectly on diet. I haven't been able to figure out how to be perfect on both.

Has anyone mastered this?

A bit of weirdness

I have gone from being Facebook's biggest fan to hating it. Here's what has happened:

When it comes to Facebook, I will admit it: I am promiscuous. If I know you and you ask to be my friend, I will "friend" you. Have we met at a party? Or homeschool park day? You're my Facebook friend!

If I come across someone I went to high school with, I "friend" them. (My class was really small; it's not all that weird.)

But there was an exception. One guy I went to high school with was a "friend suggestion" relatively frequently. He was my class "bad boy," at least as "bad" as they get in, ahem, prep school. But by that I mean he clomped around in big boots (and was already tall) and spiked leather wristbands, wore a scowl and listened to Black Flag.

Those things in themselves weren't a big issue for me, though. Heck, I liked Black Flag and was pretty anti-social myself.

The big thing was that he had also screamed at me once over a minor traffic thing -- one of his friends rear-ended me coming out of the school parking lot. (I had stopped weirdly; I was 15 or 16.) He was mad at me over it, and it was at least partially my fault.

He scared me more than most boys did, though. And most boys scared me quite a bit. I also thought he pretty much hated me, and I thought he still might, even 25 years after graduation.

So I never sent him a friend request.

The other day, he sent me a friend request. And, in keeping with my friend-to-everyone philosophy, I accepted.

The next thing I notice, I woke up to a bunch of "notifications" that read: "(High school bad boy) wrote on your wall." But there was nothing on my wall. This piqued my curiosity a little bit. What had he said and then removed (more than once)? I hope it was nothing nasty, I thought.

So, I wrote him something friendly privately. You know, "Hey, Thanks for friending me. I'm in L.A. with my husband and four kids. Hope you're doing well."

He wrote back quickly and was surprisingly complimentary (?????) and after a few exchanges, he told me he had had a huge crush on me in high school, that he had wanted to get to know me but that I hadn't seemed interested. Further, he said he used to watch me all the time, trying to figure out why I was so unhappy.

I had noticed him watching; I had thought he was plotting my death.

I know most people have these kinds of stories. I'm still surprised by the fact that I do. People have talked about Facebook bringing these things up; I thought I was immune; I not only wasn't at all cute, but I was pretty miserable in high school. It's also an insight into the teenage brain (at least, my teenage brain) that I had completely missed this whole thing.

Paul says he thinks it's weird that the guy told me and wonders why. My guess is it's related to the guy wanting to know what would've happened, which he asked. I was honest and said I was clueless with boys (and men) for a long time, and I would've been shocked and terrified if anyone had made any remotely romantic gestures at that time of my life. And for a number of years later. Even now, rather innocent flirting can make me blush. So, no, it wouldn't have worked out at all happily for anyone involved.

The upsetting part now, though, is that he's now a little too involved with me online, responding to anything I post on Facebook. I had posted a number of things, primarily to get a semi-inappropriate "wall post" (that inspired a WTF?! reaction from a number of people) further down on my page. I could just delete it, but I don't want to engage too much.

I'm not a hugely active Facebook person, but my profile will be even lower now.