I totally forgot to post about the fun I had on Sunday. A while back I posted about how the World Championship Old Time Piano Playing contest is held each year in Peoria and how I was planning on checking it out. I only had time to spend a few hours on Sunday, but it was worth the experience!

Such fun! And in reading the PJ Star about the competition I learned a few things as well. For example – those garters the men would wear while playing ragtime? They served a purpose other than decoration!

“At the turn of the 20th century, shirts came in fewer sizes. Men couldn’t wear an overly small size, so they wore larger shirts. Garters kept the cuffs from falling onto their fingers. The style stuck, even when shirts were tailored to arm lengths.”

Overall, it was a fun experience and I plan on attending for more time next year – hopefully with someone I can enjoy it with.

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Finally got around to updating my Flickr account today and with the help of Rosie, I’ve uploaded some of the most recent family pictures… so take a look.  We’re a pretty fantastic looking bunch, wouldn’t ya say?

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 Candace and Rosie.

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My baby sister is now a high school student!  (She’s on the far right – pardon the crappy cell phone pic – but it’s all I have for now!)

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 Please help me choose which e-mail to send Date #1.

(Polite E-mail)

A.  Dear Date #1:

It was a pleasure meeting with you on Saturday and getting to know a bit about you.  Unfortunately, I did not feel as if I am ready to begin cultivating any new friendships or relationships at this time.  Thank you for setting aside the time to meet with me, however, and I wish you best of luck o your search for that special someone.

- L

(Semi-polite email)

B.  Dear Date #1:

Thanks for meeting with me on Saturday.  I enjoyed our chat, but feel that my time will be put to better use in communicating with other potential matches.  I do appreciate you setting aside the time to meet with me, however and good luck on your search!

- L

(Not polite email)

C. Dear Date #1:

It was enlightening meeting with you on Saturday.  Unfortunately I do not feel as if there is any connection at all between us, and was actually  offended at the interest you showed in my sister, as well as the way you felt as if I needed to be introduced to other people.  I have plenty of friends and a wide circle of people I enjoy speaking to and they are all of various weights, heights, races and religions – none of which make any difference to me. As such, I do not feel as if any further communication between us would be welcome on my part. Good luck on your search.

- L.

So.. which do I send?  I do not want this man calling me any more (not that he’s called since   Saturday, but he hinted he would be).  I hate to be rude – but he really pushed a few buttons, as you can tell.

If you have a suggestion that’s not listed feel free to leave it in comments or email it to me as well.  I’ll take all the advice I can get!

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So today’s date did not go so well.  Some tips to the men out there.

1.  Don’t have an overzealous interest in your date’s sister.  Especially when you ask to see pictures of  your date’s family and then zero in on the one that’s 4 years younger.  Asking more than a half an hours worth of questions about said sister isn’t really kind to your date.

2. Don’t bring out your laptop, load up a dating website and show your date a picture of another girl you’ve been chatting it up with, and then suggest that said girl and your date should meet – they have a lot in common, being both “heavy” and “musicians”.  Also, if you must do this, then don’t take it a step further and suggest that you set up a meeting between them.  This puts you in the light of “person who is out to save all heavy musicians by putting them in the same group for support” … or something.

3. After doing all this, don’t suggest to your date that you would like to continue to meet weekly while heavily implying you would like to be friends.  Honestly, after steps 1 and 2, friendship isn’t high on the list for your date at this point.

So that was my experience today.  One hour and fifteen minutes of this.  I don’t exactly have the highest self-esteem, and just getting out there and attempting to date is a massive step for me – being the homebody that I am.  Today I took a serious blow, then I cried, called my family for support, received it and am okay now, just a little bruised inside.  I’m still going to try, but man, this dating stuff is rough right off the bat.

I guess, if anything, it’s shown me that I can take a few more hits then I could a few years ago.  Maybe I’m made of tougher stuff then I thought.

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So last Sunday afternoon my brother, Alec, graduated from Washington Community High School.  It was a proud moment for the Presley clan- and an emotional one.

As I watched my (not-so-little anymore) brother take his seat in his row I remembered the scrawny little baby that he had been.  He’s 6’2″ these days and over 200lbs, but back then it was heaven for me to be sitting at his cradle and watching him.  Most of the pictures of me after he were born included me sitting next to his cradle, in fact.  It was incredible because, a. I had a brother, and b. I had a brother.

Alec came after four girls, and after him would be two more girls so he was incredibly special to us.  My family even joked about naming him Alistaire Finally – because we couldn’t believe it finally happened.

He’s 18 now, did well in school, graduated, holds down a job and plans on going to school for two years and then becoming a police officer.  He’s well liked, respectful of women and loves his family.  It doesn’t matter that he’s 18 now, he still tells his big sisters that he loves them, and still gives us hugs often.  He takes care of his mom and jokes around with his dad (although these days he’s gaining the upper hand in wrestling).

Just this afternoon he called me up at work and told me he’s treating his family to go see Pirates of the Caribbean at the theater tonight – just so we can all see it together as a family.  Seriously, how many 18 year old boys do you know like that?

So I wanted to proclaim to the world at large – and more specifically to those of you who read this blog, that I dearly love my brother, Alec – I am desperately proud of him and the day he made his appearance into my life was the day that God gave me one of the best brothers a girl could wish for.

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Guess who has a date on Saturday?

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