Date with Bean and Coming this Week...

I had my "date" with Bean on Friday. I use the term loosely because it was really more of a chance to just meet than an actual romantic date. For starters, we met at Chili's...his choice, so that sort of set the tone to casual. It's funny, I was just reading an article on MSN about the worst places for guys and girls to choose for a date...on the guy's list were generic chain restaurants like Chili's. I swear I just read that article like an hour before he called and suggested we meet there. Oh well. I will say he was a nice guy and would probably be fun to hang out with, but just as friends. He wasn't really my type, but I did appreciate that in the time it took me to go to the bathroom he had asked for the check and paid it. Good guy, just not for me.

I was invited to a barbecue at Atlanta's house tonight. He texted me this afternoon with the invite...he said he knew I was out of town, but just in case I came back early. I wanted to go but decided not to for a couple of reasons: 1) we've only been on one date, it would be a little weird to be at a bbq with him and his friends when I barely even know him; 2) I had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of me and knew I would be tired, and; 3) I bought my friend's old XBox from her over the weekend and was looking forward to a night of Karaoke Revolution. Okay, so #3 is a lame reason, but that's the beauty of an anonymous blog. I didn't even end up getting home until almost 8 anyway, so it was too late (since my bedtime is around 10:30...yes, I am 12). So instead I am going to his house on Tuesday and he's cooking me dinner. I am in charge of dessert, so any suggestions on what to make would be appreciated.

Maverick and I have arranged our first "date." Once again, the term is used loosely, since he is still overseas. We are meeting online to chat, and that will have to do for now. There is a 16 hour time difference between us so hopefully we can figure out a meeting time.

In related news, over the weekend I went to a party of my friend's friend. I was talking to her friend and that friend's boyfriend and it turns out they met on eharmony, and have been together almost 2 years. It's nice to hear encouraging stories like that!

So this week it looks like I have a dinner date with Atlanta, a coffee/drink mini-date with TA, a dinner date with Gandhi (which I may seriously regret, but I have to give the guy a chance), and an online date with Maverick. Thank goodness this is a three day weekend, I may need the recovery time!

Oh, several people have asked if they can forward this to their friends/coworkers/whoever. Yes, please do! The point of this blog is to share my experiences in an anonymous way with my friends or whoever (or is it whomever?) may be interested in reading it...so forward to your friends and comment whenever you feel the need!

The "No Update" Update

Not much going on here...I have my date with Bean tonight, and then I am leaving directly from there to head out of town for the weekend. If I were going to be here I would have a few dates, so sorry boys. Atlanta texted me last night to see if I wanted to hang out (go shoot pool), but I already had plans. And by plans, I mean it was the 1 hour Office season finale, so I couldn't miss that...I do have my priorities, after all.

Several of you have left comments about what I should do about Gandhi. I've decided to give him a chance...I mean maybe he's just not good at the online thing and comes across weird. And maybe he just seems too nice because he's from the South and actually has manners and stuff (shocking). I figure at the very least I will have wasted an hour or so of my time. Plus, I don't want to really focus in on one person quite yet, I want to really see what's out there.

Speaking of, I have been emailing back and forth with Maverick. We are trying to figure out a time to actually chat online, which is hard because of his schedule and the fact that he's on the opposite side of the world. Ironically, a good friend of mine (who lives nowhere near me) is doing eharmony, and he got matched (and is going on a date with) a girl who lives in the same place where Maverick will be moving...I told him we'll need to set up a double date.

I probably won't update this until Monday, so please, try to cope until then!

We all know what happens when you assume...

As of quittin' time yesterday (5pm), still no word from Gandhi. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 and because I hadn't heard from him, I really just wanted to head to the gym. After consulting with several people, I decided to send him an email saying that because I hadn't heard anything I am assuming he needs to reschedule. When I got home an hour later, I see an email from him...apparently he thought I would be contacting him with details, and when he hadn't heard, he assumed I was not interested (which is true, but beside the point). Since I was no longer getting a free meal, I had to throw something together to eat. In true singleton fashion I pulled some 5-month old turkey sausage out of the freezer, and added it to some Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat) for mock jambalaya. It was gross, so I instead ate some cereal and my three left over ravioli from the night before.

Over the course of the evening I was also in contact with Atlanta...he was working late and we were emailing/texting back and forth. He ended up calling me a little after 7 and we talked for 15 minutes or so. And of course, while thoroughly enjoying my conversation with him (and his cute little southern accent), I get an IM from Gandhi. I tell Gandhi to hold while I finish my conversation with Atlanta (not that I rushed, I just made Gandhi wait a long time). Atlanta asks me if I want to get together this weekend, I say I can't, but that I'm available next week, so it looks like I'll have a date #2 with him. Yay!

So I hang up with Atlanta and start chatting with Gandhi. He asks if I am busy this weekend (Yes, I am) because there is some "party" he wants to take me to. I use the term "party" loosely here, since this is also the same guy who was surprised that I was okay with the type of humor in Knocked Up (Um, yeah, love it and own it). He then tells me he's disappointed in me (yes, he actually used that word) because his birthday was a couple days ago and I forgot. Stop laughing, I am totally serious. A guy who I have "known" know for about two weeks is disappointed because I forgot his birthday. How is it possible to disappoint someone you don't even know?

The good news is I now know that if I ignore him he will assume I'm not interested and leave me alone, so I'm seriously considering going that route. Or, should I give him a chance, just because everyone deserves a chance (ie one date)? Please leave comments with your opinion!

Now I Remember...

...why I hate dating! The wait, it's horrible! You go out with a guy, have a good time, and then have to wait for them to contact you. Boo...

I have some updates from the e-harmony world. With e-harmony, you don't just get to start talking to people, there is this whole process to go through. There are four phases, the first is where you choose 5 multiple choice questions for them to answer, the second you send them a list of must haves/can't stands (you pick 10 of each from a huge list), the third is where you pick 3 questions and they have to actually write answers (mini-essay question), and the final stage is open communication, where you can basically email back and forth.

I have finally made it to the final stage with a guy on there, who I'll call Maverick (please note the Tom Cruise reference is pre-him going psycho). Maverick is military pilot currently stationed overseas, but will be coming back to the US this summer. While he will not be in my town, he will be fairly close (anything under an hour flight is okay by me). So I broke the rules and gave him my email address, so that we wouldn't have to communicate through e-harmony's system, and today I got an email from him. We haven't emailed back and forth very much yet, but there is something reassuring about meeting him through e-harmony, since I know we were matched based on personality. Of course I will keep you posted...

Tonight I have my date with Gandhi. Well, I am supposed to at least, he hasn't emailed me to tell me where we are going yet. I'm not really looking forward to it, just because he seems like too nice a guy and not necessarily my type. But I would obviously love for it to surprise me and be a great date, we'll see. Hopefully I won't spend the whole date wondering when/if Atlanta is going to call.

One down, Three to Go

I have been fairly amazed at the response I'm getting from match. I get at least 3 emails/winks a day. Not to say all of the guys are my type...my favorite so far was a 61 year old who described himself as a "great lover." Yuck. Or the guy, who after chatting with him for all of two minutes, asked me what I was wearing. Yuck again. But there have been a few guys with potential. As of Saturday, I had set up three dates through match.com for the week. I potentially have a 4th date with someone a friend is setting me up with as well. Date #1 was yesterday, with a guy I'll call Frat.

We met at a local restaurant. I hadn't really talked/emailed him much, so I didn't know a ton about him, other than his profile information. I did know he was 35, pretty cute, and fairly new to town. Everything went pretty well, the conversation flowed. He was interesting, but didn't really have that "it" factor. Sort of like when you order a dish that is okay, and you liked it, but wouldn't order again. The check came and he just let it sit there for about 30 minutes. I wasn't about to reach for it, so we just kept talking. He finally paid, and I was thinking it meant that I got to leave...nope. Finally, after being there for 2.5 hours, I sort of motioned that it was time to go. Frat wasn't a bad guy, he was nice, and he had some good stories. But he was a 35 year old frat boy- I think if given the option he would go back to his college years. So I'll rate date #1 a C+, not horrible, but could have been better. I think if he calls I will do the mature thing and let it go to voicemail. :)

Scheduled for this week is a date with Atlanta on Tuesday (he's a baseball fan) and Gandhi on Wednesday (seems like a really nice guy, maybe too nice). I think I'm going out with Bean on Friday (he's a CPA), who is the friend of a friend. It is going to be a very busy week!