"We
did not date, we agreed to eat at the same restaurant"
It
was in July 2000 that we first met at Magnolia Junior High School
in Moss Point, Mississippi where we both first taught. At that time
Brian was the Band Director and Tonette was about to teach Technology
Discovery starting August. Ron Burks, Tonette's fellow Tech Prep
teacher, did the introductions. Tonette thought Brian had nice blue
eyes.
Once,
while eating baked spaghetti during lunch at the school cafeteria
we found out we both love eating at Olive Garden. So an appointment
was arranged to have dinner that same night. The highlight of
that evening was when Tonette chased a stray Siamese kitten in
the parking lot in the hopes of finding a playmate for her Siamese
kitten Wang Yu, while Brian patiently stood and watched.
On
March 22, 2001 Brian asked Tonette out to celebrate his birthday.
Tonette was on the Internet at that time but luckily had one of
these answering service software so she was able to get the message
and call Brian back after checking with her friend Becky in Ocean
Springs if she should go.
Brian
showed up at Tonette's place with a box of cinammon sticks, his
favorite treat from Dominos Pizza. We had these for appetizers
and proceeded to Ruby Tuesdays, Brian's favorite restaurant which
Tonette has never been to before. It wasn't a romantic dinner
by any definition. Over steak Brian spent most of his time looking
at the ESPN shows on TV. But at one point Tonette took off her
glasses and Brian noticed that she was prettier without them.
The next day Tonette treated Brian at Cucos Mexican restaurant,
which she knows, doesn't have any TV monitors.
From
that point on the two of us started hanging out together, usually
at Tonette's place because she has cable TV, and going out on
weekends to eat and watch movies in Gulfport and Mobile. Notice
how skinny Tonette looks initially then puts on weight in these
photos from top to bottom :)