“Uh, uh, well, I mean…umm….It’s just that I like hanging out with you and I thought..um….uhh,” he said.

Yes, that was the response I got from Paul over a dessert in Chili’s. I had never seen anyone fall apart like that when trying to answer a question. It was a pretty straight forward question, right? But now I was molto confuso. Why would he ask me, whom he hadn’t known very long and not one of his other friends he’d had for years? Puzzling it was, puzzling.

I took him at face value though and approached February 4, the scheduled “date”, as though I was going to eat with a friend. A very good-looking, funny, nice, perfect-for-me friend.

He didn’t tell me where we were going, only to dress nice and he’d be at my house at 6:00. My usual “date” routine was to start about two hours beforehand in order to give myself plenty of time and not be rushed. So around 4:00 I got a shower, sat on the couch for a few minutes to give my hair a little while to air dry, put on make-up, sat on the couch a little while to rest from all the primping so far, dried my hair, sat on the couch to wait for the straightener to heat up, finished with my hair, sat on the couch until it was closer to 6:00, and finally, at around 5:50, got dressed. I chose to wear a boat collared white sweater with a bow on the side of the collar and my favorite turquoise pleated skirt with black heals. I think I borrowed a purse from Tanya.

As I was finishing up in the bathroom and 6:00 rapidly approached I found myself getting anxious. Was I getting nervous? “No, surely not,” I thought as I squirted a little perfume on. “What’s there to be nervous about. This is NOT a date.”

There was a knock at the door. This was it. I opened the door to find a sharply dressed Paul. Man, he looked good. Deep breath. “Hi. You look very nice,” he said. I returned the compliment and walked outside to hop inside that great Silverado.

We made small talk in the truck on the way to our destination, which I still didn’t know at this point. However, as we kept driving I said, “Are we going to that Italian place that’s just right up the street?” Sure enough I was right.

We were seated at a candlelit table, a very intimate setting for something that was not a date. Paul ordered an appetizer and as we shared it I began to talk about a couple of relationships that I was confused about and might have to back away from for a while.

“Is this one of them?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. I had never been so direct with any guy I had ever been out with before. What in the world was I saying? Little did I know that I would be MUCH more direct and bolder than I’d ever been in the near future.

He explained that he really liked me and would like to date me but if I only wanted to be friends then that would be fine.

I blushed and smiled a little. I don’t remember saying too much, if anything. Paul suggested we change the subject and just enjoy the evening, which we did.

After a delicious meal we went ice skating. I, of course, almost fell on one occasion and Paul chivalrously took hold of me so I wouldn’t ungraciously hit the ice. In doing so we ended up holding hands. He kept holding my hand, and after having to let go in order to avoid colliding with a fallen child, he took my hand again. I grew giddy, excited. This was developing into something quite quickly.

We left the ice rink to rent a movie and went to my apartment to watch it. “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” could have been left at Blockbuster however. It would go down as one of the not-so-good-movies-I-have-seen. Paul departed after the movie was over, and I was left with my head spinning….and I hadn’t even been kissed. The night that didn’t start as a date most definitely ended as one.

A few more lunches came and went. A budding friendship was almost in full bloom. While our friendship was deepening, Tanya was busy being pursued by another suitor. Despite this fact, I refused to let myself consider Paul anything other than a friend…however difficult it was proving to be.

Paul and I were spending more and more time together, going to the gym, which I later found out was something Paul rarely did, and continuing to go to lunch once or twice a week. On one such day Paul and I headed off to Hulen Mall’s food court to meet up with some friends to take advantage of the buy a combo get a free sandwich deal for seminary students at Chick-Fil-A. After lunch he and I loaded up in his Silver Chevy Silverado and headed back to campus. Almost as soon as we began to drive out of the parking lot Paul say, “So my parents sent me some money for my birthday to go eat and I was wondering if you’d like to go.”

Chirp…chirp…chirp…those birds chirped away for what seemed like minutes. What was I supposed to say??!! Of course I wanted to go, but my mind immediately jumped to Tanya. Then went to “In what way is he asking me out? Is it just as friends or something more? What just happened??”

However, my response was, “Sure.”

I get home and immediately begin watching the parking lot for Tanya to pull up so I can charge into her apartment, explain myself and ask for permission. Upon hearing what had happened, Tanya says, “I think that’d be great. You guys have a lot in common. I think you should date him.” WHAT??!!! I say, “No, no, no. This is just a friend date. There’s nothing going on.” “Well, it’d be just fine if you wanted to date him,” Tanya says.

Between the time of Paul’s asking me to go eat with him and the actual going out to eat I had to play for a pre-party for a School of Music event at Bass Hall. A group of friends had gotten tickets to attend the actual event but it turned out Paul was the only one who showed up. Again, I thought nothing of this.

After finishing up with my responsibilities, I met a fast-food holding Paul outside Bass Hall with only about five minutes to find our seats before the curtain went up. Grateful as I was for the food Paul had brought me I was eager to get inside. So we found some hungry event workers to give the food to and headed in.

It was a great night of music. I believe it was a new experience for Paul, but it was one I enjoyed every time I had the chance. I love sitting in a theater, watching musicians passionately convey emotion to you through their chosen instrument. After a rousing finale of the

“Hallelujah Chorus” Paul and I headed to Chili’s for a bite to eat. As we’re walking Paul stops suddenly and touches his hair. “I think a bird just pooped in my hair,” he said. “Really?” I asked through a bit of laughter. Yep, it was bound to happen to somebody I knew with all those pesky pigeons downtown. It was even funnier that it happened at this moment.

We get a table at Chili’s and Paul excuses himself to the bathroom to wash out the bird poop of his hair. He gets back, we order and I hit him with the question of all questions, “How is it that I get the privilege of going out to eat with you for your birthday?”

Chirp….chirp….chirp…can you hear the birds?

I took my naive self down to GAP and spent every last penny that was on the gift card, plus a little more I’m sure. Outwardly I now looked even better because I had some new GAP clothes. Inwardly, I was confused, muddled, distracted by the events that had taken place over the last few weeks. There was no way I could allow myself to even begin to dare to think about having feelings for Paul. It was a been there, done that kinda thing and I did NOT want to go back down that road.

So I resigned myself to just be friends with him.

The Spring semester was my final one, or so I hoped, at Southwestern. Having a semi-lighter load than normal I opted to take Systematic Theology II with Dr. Malcolm Yarnell, one of my favorite professors ever and also one of the professors who was on the Oxford adventure, because at that time my degree required hardly any theology. Thinking this was absolutely insane I tried to cram a few classes into an already busy schedule. So Systematic Theology II it was. Did I mention I had not taken Systematic Theology I? Here’s to hoping I didn’t miss anything.

Turns out there were a “crew” of us in there. Old friends, new friends, all huddled up in the back of a lecture room. I sat with my friends Kristen and Jamie behind a row of the Halloween party folks who lived on Sandage (from now on I will refer to them as the friends who lived on Sandage Avenue). Paul was amongst them.

One Tuesday not too long after classes began I thought to myself, “I’d like to have lunch with Paul. I wonder how I can ask him without everyone else finding out and wanting to go.” To this day I have no idea what really prompted that thought. It was not like me to be so bold with a guy. What was I thinking? But contrary to my nature, I casually asked Paul after class if he would like to grab a bite of lunch at the newly redone cafeteria. He agreed, and somehow we ended up at the cafeteria without any friends around. Who knows how that happened.

After deciding on some well-balanced lunch options, we found a table with not too many people around. Small talk was made for a while until Paul pops out with, “So, MacKenzie, what do you look for in a guy? What’s your type?” Ok, just part of NORMAL guy-girl conversation. I did mention the word NAIVE at some point, didn’t I?

“I like outdoorsy guys. Funny, smart, likes to have fun, likes to … yada-yada-yada.” The list went on and on.

Little did I know, Paul was mentally checking things off that list.

Somehow after Halloween my group of friends began to merge with another group of friends, most of whom made up the cast of characters at the Halloween party on Sandage Avenue that I attended even though I knew all of five people.

So two and a half years into my seminary life I found myself making new friends, which is always a bonus, especially when those new friends like to celebrate birthdays by going out to eat fajitas. Paul Davidson was one of those new friends.

Thanksgiving came and went and finals hit hard. We all breathed a sigh of relief when Christmas break officially began. Usually after that sigh is exhaled you begin to pack to go home for the holidays in an excited frenzy, but not me. I had to work until right before Christmas Eve. What can I say? Rent had to be paid. It seemed that all my friends, new and old ones, left as soon as it was possible though, leaving me all alone. Or so I thought.

Paul, having also to work hard for the money, had to remain in Fort Worth long after everyone else had left. Being the only two people remaining behind leading up to the days before Christmas, we of course hung out together. The only other option was sitting alone in an empty apartment, watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” all by yourself, crying like a baby because you hate that you have to work and you can’t be at home cuddled up on your parents couch watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” holding a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles made with love by your mother.

Not wanting to be alone Paul and I decided to go Christmas shopping together one day. It was probably the one day we both had off and could actually do something with another person, outside of work. We headed off to Hulen Mall, which in hindsight was CRAZY because Hulen Street is absolute chaos at Christmas time. But we braved the traffic and crowds to shop for our family.

I think we walked the length of that mall three or four times. I learned Paul has really good taste in clothes. He learned that I was obsessed with GAP. I mean, what other store has such a distinct, wonderful smell? There’s no other clothing store I have ever walked into and before touching a piece of clothing, taken a deep breath just to get in the mood of….GAP.

A few days after our shopping day, Paul and I both headed off for our respective homes in Mississippi and Louisiana. After we had all returned from a relaxing, but rushed, break we all spent some time just hanging out before classes resumed. One day on my way out, not too long after returning to Fort Worth, I found a GAP gift card taped to my back door. WHAT? It couldn’t be true. Forty dollars of FREE GAP MONEY! My day was made. But then I realized, there was no name from whom had sent it. Hmmm…it was a mystery, and I like a good mystery. The writing was in a girl’s handwriting. I immediately texted two friends, both of whom denied it was them. Who could it have been then? No other girl I knew who was there would have done it? I said I like mysteries, not that I was good at figuring them out. Did I mention I am also really naive when I started writing this story?

A day or two passed and I had finally narrowed the giver of the free GAP money down to Paul and another guy friend. But I couldn’t figure out which one. And why would either of them give me such a great gift anyway? Could one of them be interested in me? If it was Paul then I had a problem. He was Tanya’s ex. Those lines were not to be crossed.

I had to find out. I went to the only source I could go to: Mindy. She was friends with both guys and I figured she had to know something. Her response went something like this, “Well, Paul just had such a good time with you shopping the other day and he knows how much you like GAP and he does this kinda thing all the time. He doesn’t like you or anything though. He’s just a really nice guy who likes to give people things.”

Ok, I guess my very naive self will buy that little tale.

Summer passed away and fall quickly approached. Classes resumed, and I was quickly back in the old routine of school, practice, work. I began to look forward to college football kicking off and before I could blink it was October.

October. A great month. What’s not to like? Football is going strong, the leaves are changing, deer season has started, and Halloween approaches. I like Halloween for two reasons. Reason one: you can dress up and people won’t think you’re crazy. Reason two – and most importantly: CANDY!!!! YUMMY CANDY!!!!!!! I mean, what’s not to like?

Halloween 2005 I was sitting in my apartment in Carroll Park, probably doing absolutely nothing. I was awoken out of my stupor by a loud knock at the door. Upon opening it, I find a ghost and a tall guy with one of those fake behinds strapped to him. My friends James, the ghost, and Carl, fake behind guy, had come to whisk me away to a costume party on the next street held by some people I knew vaguely. On the way out, we decided to grab Tanya and drag her along. After all, I was going to need someone to stay by side since I had no idea if I was going to know ANYBODY at this party.

On arrival I realize that these seminary students have gone all out on their costumes. There was an African lady, a terrorist (no, I’m not joking), a school girl who looked more like Alice – the one from Wonderland, Dr. Blaising (the assistant dean at Southwestern Seminary), and the scary looking, snot-faced nerd.

Not too many people approached Tanya and I…except the scary looking, snot-faced nerd. Who was he? Because he was playing the part really well, staying in character the ENTIRE night. Turns out, it was Tanya’s ex – Paul. And this was the second time I ever saw Paul H. Davidson. A lasting impression was made.

That’s right. Paul is gone for just a couple of days, and I am taking full advantage of it by making girlie food that he refuses to eat. Maybe refuses is a little strong….he just doesn’t like it but will eat it if he has no choice. Tonight a friend is coming over to give me a Mary Kay makeover and we are having pasta with portabello mushrooms (how do you spell portabello…is it portobello?) courtesy of the Pioneer Woman.



For lunch today I made myself creamy roasted tomato soup and was so excited about it I thought I would share the recipe with you. I made enough for just one person and I eye-balled some things. So the recipe will be for one person. But you guys are smart, just double or triple or quadruple or do whatever you need to get the amount you need to feed your clan. Sorry there are no pictures. Paul took the camera with him.

Ingredients:

-3 tomatoes (I used Better Boys, I believe, but I saw a recipe that called for Roma and those have -GREAT flavor. The next time I will be using those)

small handful of cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes (I had bought a bag of cherry and grape tomatoes that was a mix. There were purple and yellow and normal red ones. So I just grabbed a few and threw them in)

-2 cloves of garlic

-1 teaspoon of sugar

-1 small finely diced onions

-1-2 cups of chicken broth

-1/2 cup heavy cream

-butter

-2-3 basil leaves

-salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Put on a pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Drop in tomatoes and leave for 30 seconds – 1 minute. Drain and allow tomatoes to cool. Peel tomatoes, cut in half and put on a shallow baking pan.(I might try skipping boiling the tomatoes first next time and see how it comes out.)

Put unpeeled garlic cloves on pan with tomato halves. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, celery seed, red pepper flakes. Go easy on the celery seed (a lot goes a long way) and the red pepper. I have to go eat some TUMS as soon as I finish writing this. Pop in the oven for an hour (I only had about 30 minutes to do this and I thought they were ok, but a little longer would have been even better). Take out and allow tomatoes to cool in pan. I chopped up the garlic and tomatoes but after having done it, I don’t know that it is necessary.

Saute onion and sugar in a heavy pot with about 2 tablespoons of butter. Let onion cook until it is transparent. Add tomatoes and garlic and any juices from pan, chicken stock, and chopped basil. Let simmer on medium low. Keep a close watch, stirring occasionally. I was busy trying to feed Lily, so I did not keep a “close” eye on mine and a lot of the liquid cooked out and I had to add more chicken stock. Allow to cook for 20-30 minutes. You want the tomatoes to have time to cook down really well. *Some sherry would probably be really yummy in this soup and if I had any I would have added it at this point.

You could blend up your concoction at this point if you wanted, but I don’t have a blender or food processor so I skipped straight to this next part.

Put a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the soup in, straining out all the big pieces. I had a few pieces of garlic, onion, and tomatoes left in my pot…and I left them there because I like texture.

Add strained soup back into pot. Add heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer on low for just about 2-3 minutes.

I like my soup a little thicker so I mixed 2 teaspoons of all purpose flour with just a little bit of chicken stock and added it to the soup. Stir constantly because it will thicken really fast. If you don’t like thick soup…just skip this part.

Pour into bowl and for added bonus put some croutons on top and maybe a basil leaf. Bon appetite.

Last week my parents came up for a visit. Mom and I looked for fabric for the baby’s room. Daddy and Paul played golf. But the highlight of the visit was on the last night when we went to eat at Mayberry’s.
After a scrumptious supper of hamburgers and spicy chicken sandwiches we decide to order some ice cream because Mayberry’s is known for their ice cream. My dad, who didn’t want any ice cream, looks at the long list of ice cream flavors and sundaes and sees a big box towards the bottom of the menu. Inside the box is written “Lock Stock and Barrel”. What is the Lock Stock and Barrel? This is the description from the menu:

…..oh yeah, there is a cherry on top. He decides this would be a great thing for four people and a baby to try to consume. So, of course, the rest of us jump of his band wagon.

The ice cream part of the restaurant is at the front, and we are at the back, away from everyone else in the place. I look over and see the waiter pull out a trifle bowl and begin to put our 12 scoops of ice cream into it! A TRIFLE BOWL! We all move from unbelief at what we have just done to uncontrollable laughter as the everyone in the restaurant is watching the guy make this thing. As he brings it to our table, heads turn to follow him and our laughter increases.

This is what the Lock Stock and Barrel looks like and this is my dad – the man who did not want any ice cream 10 minutes before this picture was taken.

My mom…she and I finished the thing off.

Out of my mom and I, of course, I am the last one eating. I blame the pregnancy.

End result

Lily was happy, full, and on a sugar high by the time we left.

Oh, and on the way out a group of ladies stopped us to ask if we finished it. Fun times with the folks.