I felt Hallmark, as I like to say, standing there in an almost abandoned parking lot with my arms wrapped around a girl who doesn't quite realize how beautifully she really is.

Seven hours. Seven spectacular hours together and we still can't bring ourselves to say good night.

I didn't want her to leave and she wanted to stay there, for perhaps eternity. Who knows? I felt the same way, but in my mind I knew her parents wouldn't look too kindly on the fellow they've never met who kept their daughter out so late. In the end, I had to make myself make her leave. She agreed that it was time for her to leave, but she still didn't want to. She said she knew she had to be getting home, yet her feet didn't start walking to her car and her eyes never shifted from their gaze into mine. For the briefest of moments, time froze and everything felt right. That's what I like to call Hallmark. Where worry and stress melt away and joy and happiness remains.

Funny how life works.

I went to Six Flags seeking thrills and excitement. I'll grant you that I found my fair share of those things along with something unexpected. The question isn't 'What did I find?'. It's 'Who did I find?'.

The answer is I found a girl that I clicked with almost immediately. Actually, scratch that. More like we found each other. Girls like this one are few and far between. I could probably go on forever weaving a beautiful tapestry of words, but let's keep it simple.

I like the girl a lot.

Today is a good day, I thought as I sat on my back porch typing up a story on my typewriter while sipping on Mountain Dew and wrestling my cat, Johnny, with my foot.

Yes, I think it's fair to say that it's been a good day for me.

I spent half of it sleeping in. Depriving your body of sleep for 36 hours is not the greatest idea. Let's get straight to the heart of this story. 32 hours ago, I, accompanied by many great people, was leaving for St. Louis to enjoy a day at Six Flags. The journey led us down countless miles of concrete and asphalt. Six Flags was fun, so fun that even the most minute details are too numerous to mention. Let's just say that the word "great" doesn't even begin to say how fun it was, ok? After failing to get into Dave & Buster's, we headed for Steak and Shake, at least some of us did. When everyone had safely arrived, we went in and ordered our food. Apparently, it was my "birthday,"but there was no cake or singing. I didn't get my food that I ordered, either. Last time I checked a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate milkshake aren't that hard to whip up. After we told the waitress, I got my food. Trust me, a grilled cheese and a chocolate milkshake are a perfect combination, especially late at night. They forgot to write up my check as well. So I left with a stomach and a wallet full. I had a poem written about me, which was quite exquisite The rest of the journey to Taylorville was a blur of cartoon conversation and movie memories. The final stretch home was ran by Mark A. and yours truly. We ripped down the country roads to my home. I walked up to my faded red back porch as Mark dissappeared into the oblivion of fog and darkness. After I checked on Johnny, I crawled to my room and then finally after 36 hours without sleep I closed my eyes and everything went black. I woke from a peaceful sleep at about one o'clock in the afternoon.

So you see we've come full circle. I've storytold my way back to present.