Bar hopping with the boys

Thanks to my recent attitude adjustment, it's come to my attention that I've been in denial about my need for physical interaction. In high school, my group of friends was very affectionate and not a day went by when I didn't get a hug or three. Same went for my friends in college...sitting on a couch watching movies with my head on someone's shoulder was the norm. Walking down the street arm in arm with a friend was the norm. After college, when relationships started to drift in different directions, I started to shut out the people who I had suddenly stopped feeling close to and shy away from letting anyone touch me. I was convinced that I would be hurt by anyone I trusted and if I let anyone get close to me, they'd take advantage of my vulnerability. In that alone time, I started to accept some things about myself I needed to work on and saw the potential I have to be the person I want to be and know I can be. And by relaxing and being honest even when it hurts and taking each day as it comes and being conscientious of the big picture as much as possible, I am becoming that person. So, what does all that have to do with bar hopping, you might ask? Well, it's a hell of a lot more fun hopping with the girl I am now than the girl I was....

So, what do you get when you add 2 girls, 4 boys and 6 stops on a tour of alcohol? A damn fun night out. Trust me, I know. There I was, dancing slow to a badly sung karaoke country song in the lounge of a hotel with a friend of a friend right before last call. The alcohol had started to kick in and everything seemed louder than normal (which doesn't help badly sung karaoke, let me tell you). And we're laughing about how bad the singers are when this friend starts singing the song soft in my ear with that deep voice of his and everything else in the room tunes out. Drivers, start your engines.... I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's something about certain voices that triggers a warm fuzzy feeling - and this boy has one of those voices. Maybe it was the fact that the group had spent the evening going from bar to bar, having a drink or two at each place, and this was the last of 6 stops that night, or maybe it was that early-hitting strain of Spring Fever I've been suffering from lately, or maybe it was that he was still kinda wound up from the nudie bar we'd all been to earlier that night and I was vibing off of that....whatever the reason, I was in a snuggling mood and I was pleasantly surprised later that the evening ended just how I wanted. Thank you, friend of friend, for making me feel accepted, for being a gentleman, and for really seeing me....