After the Fallen Matzo Ball / Halloween Reminder

Alas, back to me and George...I'd let the matzo ball slip out. Though momentarily terrorized, George quickly composed himself and acted as though nothing happened. I played "Let's pretend" too. But after a wonderful trip to Tahoe, I couldn't control my tears. We sat on his sofa for a talk...

I faced the door, eyes down, ready to make a grand escape if he said the wrong thing or - more likely - didn't say the right thing. Slowly, I began explaining that I was worried I had stronger feelings for him than he did for me.

"Well," George paused, "When you said you love me, did you mean it? Don't you think it's too soon?" 

Gulp. "Well, I mean, I do say I love you to the postman, but" --my voice dropped-- "I'm starting to fall in love with you, yes." 

George held me somewhat warmly, somewhat tentatively. I nervously eyed the distance between us and his front door. 

"I can't take any more hurt," I shared. "I can't tell you how painful the whole thing was with my ex-husband." I looked directly at George. "I'm getting really scared that I care more about you than you do about me. You never say anything."

He sat quietly. Sh*t! I thought, starting to wriggle away. "I'm going to just go now."

"Why?"

"Because you're not saying anything now either. Why would I stay involved when I have feelings that you don't?"

"Yeah, I probably could be more expressive." The mood shifted. "I'm starting to feel that way," George confessed. "Just give it some time." George rubbed his hand up and down my back. "Have faith," he whispered.

I leaned against his chest, wiped a tear, and said "okay."

-to be continued.

 ----------------------On a completely different note, my annual Halloween reminder: 

PLEASE BOYCOTT HERSHEY'S!! Hershey's gets its chocolate from the West African Ivory Coast, where children are exploited and tortured on cocoa plantations. Hershey's is well informed of this, yet it continues to do business there. This monstrous company monopolizes almost all of the standard cheap candies too. So boycotting them means boycotting Mars, Brachs, Godiva, etc. etc. My best suggestions: (1) Give out mandarins, and kids will never visit you again; (2) Buy fair trade candies, more expensive but you'll sleep easier; or (3) shut out the lights so nobody comes knocking. 
Thank you! Take care, and have a sweet week.

Whence I Dropped the Big Matzo Ball on George's Lap

  Preface: Remember George? Me too, and here's an awkward moment between us. See, I desperately wanted everything to be okay despite our political differences. It's been five months since the break-up, so it's not too soon to embarrass myself with this scene. It's never too soon for that, I suppose...Enjoy.

  Seemingly out-of-the blue, George argued about governmental regulations and all the red-tape involved in running your own business. Or perhaps he was ranting about light-bulbs - that they're not the wattage or voltage or something as advertised. I don't know, but he injected the phrase: "damn liberals who want governmental control."
   "Everyone wants the government out of our businesses," this damn liberal countered. "Less government sounds good to everyone." There. I'd begun to level the playing field. I COULD be a relationship with a R...R...someone on the other side of the political spectrum.
   I continued with confidence and pride. "Stupid incompetents rise to the top in every system. And California loves regulations. That's just a fact, having nothing to do with the political leanings of those who create all the red tape."
   I was on a roll. Thing is, I don't debate well and I hate to argue. But I really liked George, and I needed to prove to him and to me that we could work as a couple. So I babbled about hippie-dippy systems and big corporations, about how slews of regulations govern all. As I heard myself talk, I thought: That's pretty damn good. You're making good points. But then I heard myself say: "And I love you." 
   Holy sh*t and oy vey! I'd dropped the big matzo ball* on George's lap, only two weeks into our courtship. Awkward.
   Within a fraction of a second, George appeared terrorized. He then continued, with calmness and control, and as if he hadn't heard the raucous matzo ball that could be detected by the rabbis lost in prayer at Jerusalem's Western Wall. "Now they have those energy saving bulbs and..."
   "Excuse me, while I go potty," I told him.
   I looked at myself in the mirror, my face flushed with complete and utter embarrassment. Maybe he didn't hear me? "Big, big matzo ball you let fly. Really big," I whispered to my reflection. Gulp.
  
-to be continued sometime.
*Watch this Seinfeld snippet for reference.