The Good Fella

Before I left for New York I went out on another first date…of course. It was Tuesday night. We had tried to get together a few weeks before but I had to cancel. I had a date that I had completely forgotten about until the day before. I was happy to find that he didn’t mind having to reschedule. He still wanted to meet me even though I was very absent minded. It took us a few weeks to be able to meet but it was worth it when we finally did.

We met out in the burbs at a fairly new restaurant that’s part of a local chain. There’s a restaurant with the same name and owner right downtown. The restaurant was located between where he lives and where I live. After meeting him and finding out he also works downtown I told him next time we’re meeting in the city so I don’t have to drive.

We sat at the bar and ordered a drink. We seemed to hit it off pretty well immediately. After a bit he asked if I was hungry and should we get a table. I was happy that he was going to commit to more then just a drink and said yes.

As usual one of the topics he brought up was about his experiences with on-line dating and the dreaded first date. See, the first date when on-line dating is a bit nerve wracking. You just never know what you’re going to get. Even if you’ve talked on the phone before you still don’t know forsure if the pictures are of the person you will soon be meeting or if those pictures are 5 years old…or not even the same person. I shared with him my 15-minute dating rule. I said I was impressed that he unknowingly played by the rules. We met at the bar, talked for a bit, then moved onto a table for dinner. I think it’s important to share this rule with the people I go out with or people who are online dating because it is a little scary at first and it is even more scary when you’ve been stuck in those terrible situations wondering who the hell the person sitting at the table with you really is because it can’t be the person from the internet.

The more I talked to him the more I realized I liked the guy. He’s taller then I’m usually comfortable with since he towers over me by at least a foot but I do like ‘em tall. His family is extremely important to him. He often baby-sits for his little nephew. His family and mine seem quite similar even down to the way we travel and places we like to go. He’s very conservative in his politics but I’m used to that because I come from a very conservative family and often lean to the right on a lot of issues as well. It must be my Midwest upbringing. He also applied for the secret service. He said he made it really far but in the end they didn’t except him. If he’s willing to take a bullet for the president imagine what he would do for friends and family.

I sent him an email this past Tuesday. I wanted to be sure the lines of communication were open after my trip. It took a couple days but when I checked my email this morning there was a message from him. Unfortunately he wants to get together on Sunday and my sister has booked up nearly my whole day with dance recitals and birthday shenanigans. I’m hoping that he’ll want to meet in the evening but I don’t know what his schedule is like. I guess I’m just happy that he emailed me and does want to meet again.

 

Coffee, Tea, or Me

Already this week I’ve been on 2 coffee dates. The first on Sunday. I didn’t expect this date to go anywhere. I had been talking to this guy, Chronic Match Subscriber, off and on for about 4 years maybe longer. In that time I’ve never felt a romantic connection he was just a guy who every now and then was fun to chat with.

We met at a coffee shop on the east side of town. He already had his coffee by the time I arrived. I ordered mine then we decided to take a walk down by the lake and find a bench somewhere to talk. On our short hike I heard all about his job and the people he works with…or more importantly about how much he hated all of it. YEA! This was panning out to be a lovely little date. **Note to all daters, no one wants to hear about how you don’t like your job AND no one wants to hear the f-bomb on a first date. Unless you burn yourself with the hot coffee your drinking and you scream fuck out in pain and embarrassment it’s inappropriate to say.**

We made it to the park near the lake and sat for a while and sipped on our coffee. I learned some more about him which wasn’t all bad but definitely not an upbeat guy. He would depress me if I hung out with him too much. After about 30 mins we decided to head back to our cars. I stood up from the bench and knocked what was left of my coffee onto my lap. Oops! Wait! Did I say fuck? NO. I said shoot! **I suppose my coffee wasn’t hot enough to say fuck.** I shrugged it off and we headed back to our cars. We were only together for about an hour which was plenty of time to know he’s not the guy for me in any sense of the words.

I said I’ve had 2 coffee dates this week.
Date #2:

 

Half Way Through The Dates This Week

My date with the Old Man was cancelled for tonight so you all get an update now rather then later.

Last night was the blind date, the set-up from my hair stylist.  He was cute and sweet and I believe we both had fun.  Was there a WOW initial attraction?  No but if he were to ask me out again I would go.  Besides, how many happy couples can tell you it was love at first site?  Not too many I’m sure.  So, just because the initial attraction isn’t there doesn’t mean I won’t give a nice guy more time to grow a relationship. 

So, I got to the restaurant early.  We went out for sushi, um, to the same sushi restaurant I was at last week Tuesday with the new guy.  Oops!  It was both guys suggestion and they both seemed pleased with themselves for thinking of that restaurant so I wasn’t going to hurt either’s feelings by suggesting a different place.  I have to say though, last night’s meal was much better then last weeks.  We ordered different plates and they were yummy. 

Anyway, I was early.  I took a seat at the bar and ordered myself a glass of wine.  At first I ordered a Riesling.  I wasn’t in the mood for anything red or dry.  No sooner did the word Riesling come out of my mouth before I stopped and said ”Oh, no.  That’s not what I want.  But I don’t know what I had.”  

The bartender added, “Yeah, I don’t think that’s what you ordered last week.” 

 

It’s ON

I had my short first date last night with a guy I met through match.  I was running a little late.  I’m glad I told him 6:30 but had I said 6 I probably wouldn’t have gotten distracted the way I did.  Oops.  I had a few things to get done at home, then I looked at the clock.  SHIT!  It was already 6:15 and it would take me at least 15 minutes to get there.  I was only about 5 or 10 minutes late.  On my drive there I was trying to remember what we had talked about in some of our emails and I hoped I could pick him out in the bar from his picture.  I’m not good at finding friends in bars not to mention total strangers.

 

Round 1

I’ve been emailing a guy for a couple weeks on match.com.  Not to sound cliche but he seems like a good down to earth guy.  As far as physical attraction, I don’t know yet but I’ll find out tomorrow.  We’re meeting for our first time at a well-known watering hole in a nearby suburb.  It’s definitely a neighborhood bar, nice and relaxing.  It’s a good choice for a first meeting. 

I stuck to my rules with this guy too.  **YEA!  I can’t say that too often.**  I’m meeting him without exchanging phone numbers.  This is something I always try to do but sometimes don’t.  After my recent experiences with middle of the night drunk calls and/or texts this is definitely a good thing. 

Well, I will keep you all posted on the outcome…of course.  When don’t I?  **Oh, yeah, there was that cliffhanger the other month.  JB, I think I still owe you a conclusion.  I’ll save that for a time when I don’t have much else to write about.  Ok?**