Stacy, AKA "Biker Babe"

What an eventful Saturday I had. Mom and I went shopping for things for my new house. I got a vacuum cleaner, a microwave, and cleaning supplies. Fun, fun. While we were at Wal-Mart, we were standing at the entrance of the garden center and Mom was going over the list. I glanced in the garden center and noticed a good-looking man standing in line to check out, so I did a double-take. Then I lost focus of my mother and was totally zoned in on this guy. Could it be? Is it possible? Is that Mr. Big??? I wasn't quite sure at first because he had his head turned. Also, I've only ever seen him in work clothes, which consists of jeans and t-shirts that are never tucked in. This guy was wearing nice clothes, shirt-tail in, very nicely put together, and maybe a little slimmer than I remember Mr. Big being that last time I saw him. Then he turned around and looked straight at me. Yep, it was him alright. Mom had broken my trance at that moment with her "Earth to Stacy" call. I said, "That's Mr. Big." So we both turned to see him again, and that time he winked at me and nodded his head. I managed to offer a half-wave back, but that was all I could do. I actually wanted to go talk to him, but I wasn't sure how to handle the situation with my mom there, and I had no idea of what I would say to him. "Hey, how's it going? Are you still as Big of a jerk as you always have been?" So I didn't do anything except watch him leave. But seeing him actually took my breath for a moment, and it knocked me off balance for the next several hours.

Skipping ahead... Brother and Daddy moved in my fridge, washer, and drier; Mom and I began the scrub down. My landlords introduced me to their son, and they took care of a few things that needed attention, and made of list of things to do this week. Roommate showed up around supper time and brought me pizza, Mom and Dad left, and she stayed to help me clean. A friend of her husband's lives right up the street from my new place. He was riding his motorcycle and saw our vehicles at the house so he stopped and visited. We sat around on the floor for a while, then started back cleaning. He said that he would be glad when Soldier returned home so that he would have someone to ride with. I said, "Buy me a bike and you will have somebody to ride with." He said, "You don't need to drive a bike, you just need to ride on the back." So I closed up shop at the house and hopped on the bike.

We went to town so he could get some supper. We were sitting at Wendy's and the sign across the street said that it was 9:00p.m. and 87 degrees. Good grief. It didn't feel that hot riding the bike though. The wind was cool. It was so peaceful. I did have a moment of "freak-out" when we first pulled onto the highway, but I settled down soon after. Luckily, it wasn't very crowded on the highway. Had there been a bunch of traffic, I probably would have freaked out. Because it's hard to hear each other talking, we didn't talk that much, and it gave me time to clear my head. And, I don't suffer from motion sickness on the back of a bike like I do when I'm riding in a car. Also, because he was driving, I was able to take in the scenery, which I'm not always able to do when I'm the one driving. As dark as it was, I was able to see what a beautiful place this part of the country is. It was awesome. I never realized this before, but there is an unspoken camaraderie amongst bikers. Every time we saw another bike, they would wave at us, and Friend would wave at them. So there we were cruising down the road, or sitting at red lights, waving a random strangers. I have a couple of saddle sores, but I had the most peaceful and amazing time. I told him that since he always wants someone to ride with, and now that I'm about to live right up the road from him, I'm his new riding buddy. He said, "OK."