Dodging the Bullet OR Have I ever had a better cup of coffee?

Well, here's the latest on the Homestead dramas du jour: the boy doesn't have to go live with the Paternal Unit YET. Although I am SO not pleased about getting a call from the Principal re: the chronic tardiness cycle, I'm also really not wanting to send him there. The bad really does outweigh the good at this point. I don't think it will ever be the other way around, actually. But, Grandma thinks she might have made an impact so I'm willing to let him try again, to demonstrate a little more responsibility. If he's late again, I guess he gets to go to "Alternative School". Is that so bad? I don't know, to be frank. Maybe he NEEDS an alternative to the way everyone else is doing it. The apprehension levels are quite high, but it's not completely out of the question that we could try a really alternative idea: homeschooling the last years of high school. Maybe that's what he will require to get himself ready for the rigors of college life. I hope we don't have to do that, but if it's going to be what has to happen, I know God will help us.
AND
As for the coffee reference in the title, Saturday morning (after talking on the phone until about midnite, maybe a little later)I got up and was ON TIME--GASP!!--to meet a new friend at Starbutts for coffee. Yes, it WAS about the best coffee I can recall having, for a very, very long time. No, I didn't have any special stuff in it. In fact, "Fred" was there just a little bit earlier than I, and was on his way back to a table with my large coffee and ice water when I walked in the door. I sat in Ellie for a few minutes before getting out, saying a prayer to behave like I was a pseudo-adult, and I think for the most part, I did ok. I'd carefully chosen the ensemble, (cords and a WHITE white t-shirt, and a Tres Dias denim button-up, with my clunky brown leather shoes. All-in-all a decidedly trendy, not dressed-up look for me)even colored the face a bit, and just dove in. We talked for 3 hours. THREE hours!? Is that normal?? Yes, we talked about a ton of things, and I interrupted him probably more than once--sorry Fred, I'll work on it--but it felt like we were on the same page in so many areas of our lives. My legs were so stiff when I got up to to to the bathroom, I tried to think of something we could do, like moving around, but it was cold and windy and even snowed a little bit while we were in there.
My friend was such a delight to sit with, I just want to talk to him like that for days. He said in the earlier part of our discussion that he tends to wait too long for things, sometimes. Like he will wait to be sure it's God's will, and then (it sounded like--> get stuck and not be able to move when he probably ought to. I have to remind myself to stay like that, in every area, today. I wonder if it's anything at all like the opposite side of the fence, where I am. I have to remind myself often that I must do the opposite of what I WANT to do. And, FWIW, this isn't limited to men, and not new since I've been an adult. It's the typical new-friend behavior I've always had. Dad used to say that we "glom" onto people and they get overwhelmed, with too much of us, too soon...
AND here's another crazy thing: I KNOW that I can read people, well, easily, and I like to do it OFTEN. But guess what?! I felt so stupid afterward, as I realized that I was oblivious to any signals from him. Was that because he is a professional at speaking to people, in general, and has learned to have virtually no body language? Or was it that I was just watching too closely? Or....??
Sheesh. I have always gotten really psyched at the prospect of a good friend who KNOWS the things of God like I do. That's mostly what this is. I know that I don't believe in coincidences, and I am grateful for whatever reasons He had for letting us meet. Probably just a networking thing. Time will tell.
P.S.
To those 2 or 3, maybe, who are reading this, could you p.ease send me an email or leave a comment or something, so I will know that it's not just me and the keyboard here? I'd really appreciate it.
I don't know what's next, but I have been blessed to have met this man, and I am grateful for another Godly person in my life.


~blessings
abbie