The Day I Woke Up In Kirsten's Bed And Found Out They're Re-Painting The Front Porch On Thanksgiving And Won 700 Bucks At Thunder Valley After Getting Celena's Number

Kirsten talked me into going to the casino again, for the third night in a row, because she was wearing her lucky squirrel shirt. We'd walked away with frowns last night, after breaking about even the night before that, so it seemed like a hint that gambling wasn't my thing. Fun, yes, and worth the experience, but probably nothing I'd actually get into. Tonight changed that. Tonight I also felt lucky because Celena had come into Old Soul and I totally got her phone number. We'll see if that leads anywhere, but it's still a nice development. After our first good interaction about a month ago, I hadn't expected to really ever see her again. It was a bit strange, admittedly, to ask for her number while Kirsten was there, waiting for me to close so we could go to the casino. 

Stranger, still, because we've been having sex together all weekend. Once that very morning, actually, twice the day before that, Sunday night after the first casino trip, and for the first time Saturday when she spent the night to be closer to work for her opening shift with me the next morning. Not the most surprising twist considering we'd shared a bed a few times already and have been spending so much time together. Unsurprising as it may be, I'm not complaining. She's an attractive woman. Smart, good-hearted and friendly. What's difficult, however, is predicting where this plot-line is going to take me. 

I don't want to be a boyfriend and that's all I'm focusing on. 

Emma was in town on Saturday night for a Young Democrats Club meeting at the Radison Hotel. We met at the lobby and shared a bottle of Sonoma-grown white wine (nostalgic for our college-days) and talked about our lives after graduation. Emma was my first friend at SSU. Now she's working some office job in Lancaster, living at home after a three-month stay in Australia. She's doing this Democrats stuff because she had nothing better to do, but has already shaken hands with Obama and Bill Clinton, and she's starting to get good at politics. She looks good, too. After so long, it's fascinating to notice how much more grown-up we're starting to appear. Put plainly, Emma looked more like a woman and less like a student. We talked about plans for a springtime road-trip through Canada with Kayla, then I left to go meet Kirsten.

My family made a surprise pit-stop at Old Soul during a busy Sunday shift. They lulled about Midtown for an hour until I clocked out at 1:40, after which we had lunch at Paesanos. At around 1:20, Aly came by with a friend to say hello, back from her trip to Reno or San Francisco or both or something. So I've got my family, Aly, and Kirsten in the same room together: mother and grandmother, a pseudo-girlfriend, and a woman I've just become romantic with. During the shift, I felt like everyone around me could tell what Kirsten and I were doing, like it was stamped on our faces, like we were high and everyone could smell the pot. But it wasn't strange and it wasn't weird. It was so normal, I think, that we felt compelled to do it a few more times.

I am nervous. I can't help but think of Cameron Diaz's character in "Vanilla Sky." 

I don't want to be a boyfriend, but I don't want to turn away from any life experience that appeals to me. All I want to do in the meantime is not hurt anybody else. I don't want another AJ (and Kirsten is astonishingly similar to AJ in many ways, which makes me curious). And no, Kirsten and I haven't really talked about what's been going on. It just started happening. 

700 bucks is not bad. That's not far from an entire month's paycheck. Two hundred of it was loaned to Kirsten the night before, when we weren't playing so hot. Roulette's been the game and the middle's been the hottest. Kirsten puts a chip or two on every spot across the 2nd 12 section of the board and splits the zero's with a hefty stack on the three-to-one bar. Every time. Almost always the same play, the same strategy, and it can either pay well or knock you out fast. Dealer spins a wheel of cards with numbers on them corresponding to squares on the board, picks the one where the Wheel-Of-Fortune arrow points, and distributes chips to the winners accordingly. 

First night we won some and lost some and left 100 up. 

Second night we went with only my 500 and I lost 100 and loaned her 200, which she lost.

This time we each went with 200. We won 900 and 500, with her all-out strategy working more often than not, and my play-it-safe campaign working enough of the time to keep me playing. She gave me back that 200 I loaned her last night, leaving me with 700 bucks of winnings and 900 in my wallet. 

Just like that. 

Kirsten may be a bad influence on me.

Any 80's song that comes on the radio, she'll ask me, "Who's this?" and three times out of five I'll know. It's crazy how different our musical knowledge is with a seven-year age gap. My expertise shines with the modern bands, which she's otherwise ignored since Y2K, and because of this little game we play I have the opening line of Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" stuck in my head forever.

Standing on the corner, suitcase in my hand...

So my mom and grandma are coming to Sacramento to get dinner at a restaurant for Thanksgiving. My sister is with her dad's family. My aunt is in Portland, I think. I'd planned, sort of, to go see my Dad for the holiday, but I barely have time between the Run To Feed The Hungry and opening at Old Soul Friday morning. 

Pretty sure this will be the first time I've not had a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal.

Meredith knows about Kirsten and I. She could see it on my face. I think Hank knows to, or he at least has a feeling that something's up. It was hard to be nonchalant when we walked in together on Monday morning before my shift started. Never had a work romance before. It's basically an act of keeping a big secret from everyone else. I'll probably tell Joe, who's going to ask me anyway.

Hank got accepted for Law Enforcement training. He's excited and I'm happy for him, but I'm reminded that our time together is quite short. He'll be gone by January. Shaun has also confessed to plans to leave the area and I think he's going to move to Alaska to become a fisherman (no joke) after he finishes college. Meredith had to go to her sister's house and help her deal with a ghost dog (no joke).

Also a new fan of Billy Collins' poetry. "January in Paris" is my favorite, so far.

- Left to Fry