Flying Toasters
Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig
Dude and I met each other in 1995 when we started working for the same company. He had been working there for 20 years, since the age of 18 and was in the IT department. I was only 27 and in customer service.
I hated him instantly…
Every time we had our quarterly meeting Dude won the top employee award for his outstanding performance. Blech, gag, cough. It infuriated me because he was always giving me a hard time about my computer. If I installed something that I wanted then he’d inevitably come to uninstall it. I also hated how much everyone loved him.
One morning I came into work at 6:30 am to get some extra work done. Dude showed up at my desk and told me he needed to install something new on my computer. When he told me it would take 30 minutes I became indignant and gave him a hard time. You would have thought that would have been a warning signal for him of what the future would hold…
Then there were the Flying Toasters. I decided it would be so much fun to install the Flying Toasters screen saver on my computer. When my co-workers saw my new screen saver they wanted a piece of the “Toaster” action too…so I installed it on everyone’s computer.
About six hours later Dude came to my desk and said, “Your screen saver has to go.”
He tried to tell me that it was bogging down the entire network and we argued about it for 10 minutes before I let him uninstall my coveted Flying Toasters. Everyone else lost their Toasters too. That’s when I knew without any doubt that I hated Dude.
Something changed after I was out of work for a few weeks during the summer of 1996. When I came back I ran into Dude and saw him in a whole different light…
See, one of my managers had asked me where I went to high school. When I told him the name town where the school was located he said, “Dude lives there.”
I instantly had Dude pegged for marriage with three kids and a pickup truck. So, I asked a co-worker if my instincts were correct and watched her laugh hysterically. At the time Dude was extremely single and drove a sports car.
Later I ran into to Dude and struck up a conversation about living in the same town I went to high school in and I think he was shocked I was nice to him. A week later there was a post-it note on my calendar, which had cows on it. The cow had a bubble saying, “Moooo….Hi Lisa, see you in XXXXtown”
My co-workers and I decided to plan a Happy Hour and invite Dude so that it would put us in a social setting without any pressure. Plus, we loved any excuse for Happy Hour. So, every Friday we planned Happy Hour and invited Dude. Dude would accept our invitation and at the last minute back out. We thought it was hopeless.
When our co-worker Paris received a promotion we planned a real Happy Hour and invited Dude once again. I didn’t think he was going to show up so when I got to the bar I was hanging out with the boys and showing off my beer chugging abilities. I can chug a bottle of beer less than 15 seconds.
Dude walked in to find the guys circled around me cheering, “Lisa! Lisa! Lisa!” Great first impression, except it really did impress him. He still tells me today it’s one of the things he was most impressed with.
We finally had the chance to talk and get to know each other at Paris’ Happy Hour. I told Dude that my mom lived in the same town as he did and that I’d be visiting her that weekend so he invited me to his house.
Later that weekend I stopped by Dude’s house, watched an Eagle’s game and he grilled some burgers.
We started dating and about three months later I got pregnant with our first daughter. At the time I found out I was pregnant I was actually thinking about breaking up with Dude. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him but I was actually afraid of how I felt about him. Finding out that I was pregnant complicated every thing.
Dude and I decided to take a leap of faith just four months after we started dating. We were married on December 28, 1996…my 30th birthday. Three months later our first daughter was born four months prematurely. That was the beginning of crisis after crisis to hit our marriage but 11 years later here we are still together. We’ve had our share of problems but we are probably one of the strongest couples I know.
We still joke that “we’ll always have Paris” but that’s the story of how Dude and I came to be…
Thanks for asking Kate!
By the way, After Dark made the screen saver Flying Toasters which you can download for free here.
Filed under Dude |18 Responses to “Flying Toasters”
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8:47 am on May 1st, 2008
That is a GREAT story!
EDWs last blog post..I know just when to face the truth
8:49 am on May 1st, 2008
Does he let you have flying toasters now
MrsRobbieDs last blog post..Let tiredness reign
9:23 am on May 1st, 2008
Awesome! Thank you for sharing. I love when gettin’ together stories stray from the “love at first site, knew we were soulmates right then” crap because that is so not what happened with me. I agree- great story!
10:04 am on May 1st, 2008
That is adorable. I could totally see you as “Oh my God, I hate him!” at first and then all, “Well, or not. . . ”
Captain Steves last blog post..5, dammit. Freaking 5.
11:16 am on May 1st, 2008
That’s a great story.
I just noticed you’re counter. You’re getting so close to Disney time! I don’t want to be nosy but did you check with your doc about that note I suggested? I just talked to someone who used one and said it was “a life saver” (her words).
Jens last blog post..Sometimes he’s so flipping cute
11:54 am on May 1st, 2008
Such a great story! I’m such a sucker for romance :o)
Penelopes last blog post..What did I say?
12:06 pm on May 1st, 2008
Great story! I can totally relate. I hated my Husband when I first met him.
J.s last blog post..Hmmmmm….
12:17 pm on May 1st, 2008
i’m 30 and i would like my own dude now. hehe.
shes last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #27: 13 Things I Keep to Myself
12:41 pm on May 1st, 2008
That’s an awesome story. You guys went through a lot of trials from the get go, but that is a strong relationship for you to make it this far.
annies last blog post..Gah! Where’ve I been?
1:35 pm on May 1st, 2008
Haha, I remember having many arguments about getting rid of that flying toasters screensaver.
I didn’t get married to any of those people though. LOL That was a great story!
yoshis last blog post..I am an American
2:35 am on May 2nd, 2008
Cool story. I too, didn’t have a great first impression of the future love of my life. I thought he was a grouch but there was a chemical thing there that I tried to ignore from day one. 16 years later and we are still going strong. He said he was impressed because I was the only girl that liked sports, worked on cars and like to play video games at the arcade. I always joke with him that he likes me because essentially I am a boy in a girl’s body….haha.
Mishkas last blog post..Thankful Thursday
7:14 am on May 2nd, 2008
MrsRobbied, I do have flying toasters on my laptop
Kate, That was the story of my second marriage and that only lasted two years.
Captain Steve, My personality shows that, does it?
Jen, Yes we are VERY close to Disney with countdown calendars everywhere around the house. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the doctor but I forgot that I have a cousin who works for Disney…she is helping me out. Thanks for thinking of me.
Penelope, I’m a sucker for it too.
J., It seems that the best relationships for me are when I hate the person first.
She, I’d hook you up with Dude’s younger brother who is just as awesome but he’s married too.
annie, We have been through a hell of a lot but we are still here!
Yoshi, Ha, you had them too! You are probably very lucky not to have married those people.
Mishka, That’s so cool.
12:43 pm on May 2nd, 2008
I love that story! It is great! I am happy that you and Dude got together!!!!!!
Christines last blog post..What to do, if your child is struggling with reading….
10:12 pm on May 2nd, 2008
What is it with giving us IT folk a bad time? We’re here to save you!
geeks last blog post..Heard recently
11:45 am on May 3rd, 2008
geek, I still give Dude a hard time when he wants to fix something on my PC. I think I know more than you guys do…LOL
5:12 pm on May 8th, 2008
This makes me have hope lol If you can start off hating him and end up with all you have now, maybe there’s a little more than a slight chance for me. Great story. I loved it.
8:35 pm on May 8th, 2008
This is a beautiful story and the line “We’ll always have Paris” is brilliant.
Love ya! xx
Colin Brookss last blog post..favourite quote of the day
12:35 pm on May 25th, 2008
Great love story!
Auroras last blog post..Greaves green