m - 21 june 2001
From: Michele
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:36 AM
Subject: I’m off work today! Whoo-hoo!
Hi Anne!
I really liked the comics you sent with your last e-mail. That’s so cool how you can change the names and everything. I just got a new Foxtrot book: Foxtrot En Masse. I ordered it from amazon.com. Have you ever ordered anything on-line before? I used to be so scared to put my credit card number on -line but I figured, heck, everyone else does it and there’s never a problem. I really like amazon.com.
To answer your question about why we’re hiring so many people at once its because we need people and there isn’t enough to start with. Three girls recently quit- Anne, Selene and Carie (all valuable workers I might add). Plus we need help now to start preparing for the holiday season (yes, that soon!) Carla made it to work today (2 days!) and so did Shelly (4 days!) Maybe these two will stay after all!
I know what you mean about always remembering the nasty customers. I can wait on 99 nice people and 1 jerk, and its the jerk who sticks out in my mind. Why do people have to be so nasty? Don’t they understand that the nicer you are to someone, the more they go out of their way to help you? I go out of my way to help people who are nice to me. And for all the crabasses I don’t even want to give them the time of day!
I like your list of what you want in a man. Here is my perfect man. First of all, he is a Christian. He is a commanding, manly man who ges after what he wants, but he isn’t abusive. He’ll have dark, intense eyes and dark hair (or maybe bald). He will be brimming with goodness and yet have the potential to be wicked. He will be a hard worker, but his priorities will be straight. He will be strong yet vulnerable. An accent is a plus. His voice will be deep and sexy. He will probably be at least ten years older than I. He will be the leader in the relationship, both spiritually and sexually (after we are married). Confidence and a sense a humor are huge plusses. Respect is required. He will be a man who will go to the ends of the earth for me. Sigh. Is that too much to ask? If I could find someone with five or six qualities on my list, I’ll consider myself lucky!
Ray has four kids?! Holy crap! Well, Harry has three: 18, 14 and 12. I met them and they’re really nice girls. And for a brief instant in time I thought I could possibly, one day be their stepmother. Now, even though I don’t have a problem with them, I just don’t want to deal with it all, you know? Maybe if I met a man who had one kid, and he/she was younger, it wouldn’t be so bad. In a perfect world my future husband would be a virgin too, but I’m facing reality here and if I want to marry someone older than me, I have a better chance of winning the lottery than marrying a virgin. The best I can can hope for is maybe meeting a man who only slept with his wife and five (or how many)years ago she passed away and he hasn’t been with anyone else- until me. That too is far fetched, but I honestly don’t think God wants me to save myself for someone who’s slept with everything in a skirt. That wouldn’t be fair. I think about my future husband: "I’m saving myself for you. Why shouldn’t you save yourself for me? Don’t you love me enough to keep it in your pants until God blesses our union?" I do pray for my future husband. Every day. I pray that he stays strong in his convictions and keeps close to God, just as I strive to do every day.
Yes, being a virgin is a choice. You’re right. I could give up my virginity any day, but a non-virgin can never reclaim her physical virginity. Anne, you and I and Sara aren’t the only ones. Danielle’s still a virgin too. I’m sure there are a lot of other people who are virgins too. Attractive people. There’s an actress on Days Of Our Lives: Gillian Norris. She’s a virgin. And she’s beautiful. Inside and out. I also read somewhere that Lisa Kudrow was a virgin when she got married (at 31), and she’s attractive. I’m sure there are a lot more virgins out there who are good looking. Anne, don’t be so hard on yourself about "messing around" with those guys. Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect! Some days you fly, other days you fall. The trick is that on the days you fall, you just pick yourself up, ask God’s forgiveness and continue with your head held high. I never "messed around" (heck, that kiss with Harry was as far as i’ve ever got!) but I sometimes felt guilty when I flirted (knowingly) with married men (produce Bob wasn’t the only one) and sometimes I feel guiltily about the intense sexual fantasies I can sometimes have. I know I’m not perfect. And God knows I’m not perfect. And I know I’m not going to have pure thoughts 24 hours a day. Its simply impossible. God made us to be sexual creatures. I think "God, I want to wait until I’m married. Isn’t that enough? Must I be virginal in every aspect?" As long as my fantasies don’t cross over into reality, I try not to feel so guilty about having them.
Let me change the subject a bit here and ask for your opinion about something. Ok, my cousin, Kristen (she’s a year younger than me) is married. She got married back in December 1999. Anyway, I don’t know exactly what kind of job she has, but every five minutes she’s traveling somewhere for business trips. Right now she’s in Nice, France and not even a few months ago she was in New Orleans. Mind you, she goes on these trips without her husband. I don’t know about you, but I find that odd. I mean, they haven’t been married for two years yet. I know if it was me, I would want to spend as much time as I could with my husband. I know you might say "Well, maybe she has to travel." But what’s more important? Your job? or your marriage? And Kristen is a beautiful girl and she ’s built nice. I’m sure on these trips men hit on her. Will she be strong enough to avoid temptation? And isn’t she worried about leaving Keith(that’s her husband) alone all the time? I mean a man has needs (if you know what I mean) and how can he fulfill those needs if his wife is away every five minutes? I don’t know, the marriage just seems so strange anyway. And when she isn’t off on business trips, she’s always spending time with her friends. The whole wedding was surreal too. It was a beautiful ceremony, but it was so cold, almost like it was all for show. And I very rarely saw Kristen and Keith together the whole night. He was with his friends and she was with hers. It was almost as if it was a grade school dance where the boys are on one side of the room and the girls on the other. I know Kristen desperately wanted to get married (she and Keith dated almost four years and she pestered him about it) but what I think she really wanted was a wedding and not a marriage. Not me. I really don’t care about having a big wedding ceremony. I just want something simple. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll elope. Then after me and my husband get settled, we can throw a party. Did you ever see Braveheart? If you have I’m sure you remember the part where William Wallace (Mel Gibson
) runs off and secretly marries his sweetheart (I can’t recall her name). I thought that was so romantic. I don’t want to sound pessimistic and I only wish the best for my cousin, but unless there are some huge changes, I honestly don’t see the marriage lasting.
Its really easy to talk to you too, Anne. Its so uncanny how you and I are so much alike in so many aspects. I truly think God has brought us together. Until next time, take care and God bless!
Michele
