Creating A Winery for $35K, Part V

I was looking through my scrapbook to find some more fun “evidence” of our relationship and realized I got my timeline a little mixed up in my last post.  RJ actually came to my roommate’s and my barbecue even before we actually dated.  This was during our “cat and mouse” phase of asking our mutual friends about the other.  Anyway, here is a picture as proof.  On the back, I had written “R.J. at Cynthia & my party.  Oct. 1986 before we went out.”  Also, here is proof that we went to a basketball game as well as the Ice Capades even though he hated and continues to hate both.

I am missing the details on when between the barbecue (October)and the basketball game (January) we went to lunch and then to Giraffs, but it all fit in those three months, including  Christmas and New Years which we spent separate and with others as we were not yet enough of a “couple” to spend the holidays together (darn it).

Soon after the holidays and the basketball game, we starting spending more time together.  If not, in person, on the phone.  We spent hours on the phone and I mean hours, primarily because we both traveled a lot and because we lived 35 miles apart (if you went the long way, which I always did).  I remember one time, RJ was stuck at the airport for 7 or more hours because of bad weather and we must have spent half of that on the phone (believe this was in late January).  There was another time when he was on the road and ended up in the hospital because of a hiatal hernia.  He said it was because of the stress of our relationship.  What stress,  you ask!  Now is where I introduce another Rick in my life.  At the time I met RJ (Richard James), I was dating Rick.  Rick had a less than stellar reputation (you know who you are) and so I got a bad wrap as well.  What you need to know is RJ had a large staff, mostly made of single women.  I’m not saying there was competition (okay maybe a little), but those women were very protective of their RJ and did not want to see him get hurt.  But the competition between Rick and RJ was very strong and I’m one not to let a good competition go to waste. 

I had a very small, old house in New Jersey.  And even though I had a well-stocked garage including my own personal circular saw and a chain saw, the maintenance was more than I could handle.  So I created “the list.”  Some would consider this the “Honey Do List” but since my “honey” had not yet been clearly identified, the list and house became the battlefield.  Each time I would get together with one of the two, he would work on an item or two on the list.  Often times, what one “Rick” had done, the other had to redo.  But eventually the list got done and I made my decision known.  I would say “the rest is history,” but there is still a lot more to tell.