Noni's Stargazing Saturday: Back Up To The Top Of The Roller Coaster

***Noni is one of my really good friends from college. We were even roommates for a year and some change. But she's done with school (for now). She's starting a family with a baby boy and working on herself and her relationship at the same time. Things won't always be easy, but they're usually always interesting.***

Quick Recap [The last time I wrote about Noni, it was over a month ago. I wrote about how she was having a very difficult time in her relationship with Eric. Because of financial reasons, they were living separate and it wasn't going well. She had come up with a plan to keep her life on track and gain some independence.] Read Stargazing Saturday posts.

Things have improved for Noni. Right now, we're on a high of the roller coaster that is her love life. She's been back living with Eric for about three weeks now. He was finally able to secure them a place to live that works for him, her, and their son. Noni was able to get the job she wanted that would allow her to save a lot of money.

I'm so proud of her that she's sticking to her plan to gain some independence. And Eric is in with the plan. He likes that she's doing what she has to to finish school by the end of next year. He's supporting her. And things are much better between them. He's holding himself accountable for his whereabouts.

Noni and I have this thing we do where we describe what a perfect world would be for us in that moment. The perfect world she would describe is the one she has right now. It wouldn't be perfect for everyone, but she's really happy. And she's also terrified. She feels like things never stay good for long in her life. Experience has shown her that things never stay good, and when they go awry, they go horribly wrong. Since I've known her, that's been pretty much true. But I'm hoping that's not what happens now.

She has moments that I think a lot of people have when it seems like things are too good to be true. She feels like sabotaging things so they aren't so perfect. Because if you can describe a situation as "good, but it has it's problems" then you can handle it. But if everything feels perfect, there's nowhere to go but down. But she hasn't sabotaged anything yet.

For now, Noni has her schedule going where she wakes up in the morning, gets her son and Eric's other son to their day cares, and she heads to work. Then she gets home from work and has family time and then gets up and does the same thing the next day. I'm just glad she's happy right now. And I hope the next time I write a post about Noni, I'm still singing that tune.

Michelle's T.G.I.Fridays: Partying Alone? Not If She Can Help It

***Michelle is a girl that grew up next door to me and we attended the same church. Now she's in her early 20s and living the single life. She goes on these dates that are either lovely or horrific. She's slightly terrified at the thought of committing to someone any time soon. And of course, she has the occasional man who really catches her eye and her heart.***

I ended my last post about Michelle on a hopeful note. I was hopeful that soon, I would be able to write about something other than how much guys suck. That is not the case yet.

Michael sucks! He just does. I will be a much happier person when Michelle is done with him for ever and I never have to ask about him again. By not asking about him, I won't have to hear a disappointing answer. That will be a great time.

Michelle is coming to visit Chicago next weekend and we were discussing maybe going out to dinner and having a girls' night out. That sounds like fun, but we've got to find a party to go to as well.

I guess I'm not really looking for anyone for myself (I've pretty much decided it's much less stressful to only date one person at a time), but it will be fun to try and help Michelle find someone. So I have to figure out where we should go for drinks/dancing after dinner. Spontaneity is good, but to ensure a successful manhunt, there should be planning.

This weekend, Michelle's school is having this black student reunion. She's been looking forward to this for a while now. So maybe this weekend will yield an interesting story.

Michelle met this guy while out with a friend a few weeks ago. But she said he had horrible shoes, was kind of short, and acted a bit odd. I'm hoping she doesn't run into him again while she's out this weekend. What I'd like to see happen is for her to reconnect with some guy she had interest in who isn't on campus anymore. That would be more exciting, don't you think?

Camille's Wishful Wednesday:Regression, Remorse, and Roller Coasters, Oh My!

***Camille is a friend of mine I know from church. She is classified on another blog I read as a "hopeless romantic", and I think that describes her pretty well. I also think she's incredibly well-balanced and able to work on multiple parts of herself at once. She is a law student, a Sunday school teacher, and an all-around good person. She has some pretty concrete ideas about men and the type of man she'd like to end up with. But she's doing the in-my-20s-dating-follies thing as well.***

Last week, I told a funny story about Camille accidentally picking up a butcher-man while running an errand for Malik. I'm pretty sure she has forbid him from reading my blog, so I'm thinking he still doesn't know about it. It's probably for the best. So butcher man is a person of the past.

So now it should be free and easy sailing with Malik right? Of course not. Because he can't manage to keep it together for more than a short amount of time. I'm not saying Malik is a horrible guy. I'm saying that perhaps he and Camille have very different ideas of how a courtship is supposed to go.

So here's what happened: last Saturday, Camille went to get herself some food, but it was enough for two people. Malik said he was hungry and had just gotten off work, so she offered to bring her food to him and share with him.

He kept talking about having to go to the gym and being off schedule. She figured since she drove all the way to him that he would wait a bit to spend more time with him. She basically was there only long enough to eat and watch him get ready for the gym. When she asked him outright to wait to go to the gym, he said no, citing the importance of keeping his schedule.

Camille was pissed. They're not at the point where she stays at his house when he isn't there, so she left when he left, even though he'd only be gone for an hour. He was trying to make conversation before he left, but she was pretty upset and didn't say much. She basically left while he wasn't expecting it. He was standing on the sidewalk watching her drive away (that sounds familiar...).

Camille sent Malik a BBM later to tell him she thought he was rude. He apologized, but they haven't spoken since. She hasn't even really had the desire to reach out to him to see what's up. That's a far cry from what was going on three weeks ago with her emotions regarding him.

Camille told me her usual pattern is to really like a guy when they first start talking and then for those feelings to fizzle out even before they end things. I can imagine if they all have see-saw behavior like Malik, that would be the case over and over again. Only two men have inspired her to still like them before things ever ended. Malik isn't one of them.

If Malik doesn't reach out to her, I don't know that she'll reach out to him. Maybe things between them will just fizzle out like her feelings seem to have. Which sucks because I like Malik when I met him, and I had hope for him. I'm just relieved that Camille will not be pining over this man who insists on engaging in I'm-just-not-that-into-you behavior.

Selfish ass! If he had to stick to his schedule, he should've got his own food instead of having Camille schlep all the way to him to share hers! I just got mad about that. Seriously, who the hell does that? Malik is officially a selfish ass in my book. A thoughtless, selfish ass. And Camille deserves better.