What ever happened to propper writing?

Now, I know that I am not the best author - my grammar isn't alway perfect, but at least I punctuate!! I probably OVER-punctuate. Here are some sentences from a profile of a guy that wrote to me. If a guy makes a mistake, no big deal. But to do this several times in a profile you are going to publish?? Come on now! Am I being to critical?

"I like to go out or relax at home and watch a movie. I like a nice weekend getaway as well I like to go out or relax at home and watch a movie. I like a nice weekend getaway as well "

"for fun:
I enjoy going to baseball games, fishing, traveling and doing projects around the house "

"my job:
I handle claims for an insurance company "

And MY favorite:

"last read:
I read extreme measures by Vince Flynn "

On Deck

I am still communicating with a few guys that I have not met yet. Scott, who I've mentioned previously and Zach, who I haven't.

Scott - seems really nice, but also seems to have a very busy schedule. We were supposed to get together this week, however he has too much going on. Then he is going out of town for the weekend. I don't know about this. It seems that he may not be ready for a chic in his life.

Zach - new guy with whom I've recently started to communicate. I don't know too much about him except that he is a couple of years younger than me and he used to live in DeLand. Oh yeah (and this makes me feel old) he went home this past weekend for his ten year high school reunion. Ouch.

Is it a ride or a "RIDE"?

Not sure on this one. I think he's asking me for a "date", but I can never be sure. We met in the parking lot of one of the mountain bike trails that I ride. He just came up and introduced himself asking if I ride with a group. Then he invited me to ride with his group - however, when we finally got together it was only the two of us. Cute, but I have no idea how old he is. He could be thirty seven (fine) or he could be forty seven (not fine) - still a good looking guy though.

He showed up in full-on bike gear - spandex and everything! This is fine for riding, but if we were to go out somewhere for a beer afterwords, I hope he has some other shorts to put on. ;-)

We stopped a couple of times and chatted. He told me that I was a really good rider - we just need to work on my endurance. I think I need to work on speed because I know he is really fast and was just being nice to hang back with me. Afterwards we talked for a while. He is heading out on vacation for the week in the Outer Banks to go kite surfing. Now that's my kind of vacation!!

He suggested that next time we ride that we go to the White Water Center because then afterwards we could grab a bite and beverage.

Got a text on Sat saying that he enjoyed our ride. I am looking forward to him coming back from vacation. Oh yeah - his name is Eric.

Apologies?

Matt texted this morning to apologize about last night. He says that he was slammmed at work and to let him know when I am free again.

Hmmmm....to give it another chance or not to give it another chance? That is the question.

Bikes

Meeting to ride with Biker guy on Friday. You guys don't even know about him. And to be honest, neither do I......

NEXT!!

So! (my mom says i say that a lot) I was supposed to go out with matt #1 tonight. So! I got a text from him at about 8:15 this morning. "Live music on the patio of Village Bistro in Ballantyne Village this evening. Want to join me?" So! Way down in Ballantyne, huh? I waited quite a while and wrote back asking if we might be able to meet in the middle. Bal is pretty far for me. After a long time I got a response (apparently his phone turned off) saying if I don't want to hang out down there, we can do something this weekend. Well, I wasn't very fond of that idea since I have plans for most of the weekend and had already planned a date with him tonight.... ??? So! We went back and forth for a while. I agreed to come down. Then he says "Pick a place better for you and I'll do my best." His reasoning being that he has to work late (um, like 5:00) and has to shower...and fight traffic in to uptown...??? This, of course, makes no sense to me since I don't get out of work until at least 5:00, and I was the one who would have to fight traffic. Every one is trying to get OUT of Uptown on Wednesday. Anyway, I suggested Village Tavern. And he said "maybe we should get together another time." Really, he just didn't want to drive that far! And the funny thing is -I offered to come to Ballantyne!! Weird. NEXT!

SMP

When a someone's screen name is SMP, it frightens me a little. Then I find out that his name is Scott? Yikes, even worse. Oh dear. Well, on the bright side, at least it will be easy to remember his name.

Scott seems very nice, our email exchanges have been good, but I'm ready to meet him. I'm not one for emailing or talking for weeks on end to guys before meeting them. This lesson was learned quite some time ago. You can write email and get along great. You think "this guy is awesome" and "he might be the ONE". Then you meet. And within the first fifteen seconds you know that you don't ever want to see him again. So, I no longer waste my time and energy writing and writing and writing. Me? I want to meet some one as soon as possible to see if there is any chemistry. If there isn't, I haven't spent hours slaving away at the computer trying to come up with something clever to say when there is really no need to say anything at all.

But I'm getting off on a tangent here.

Scott. Hoping that we'll get to go out some time this week. He's going to be doing a triathlon on Sunday and says he needs to train this week. But, I'm thinking, if you are doing a tri on Sunday, shouldn't you be "resting"?

Anyway - we'll see how it all goes. I'll be sure to keep posting.

Oh yeah...

One more thing. The good-bye. No hand shake. No hug. No nothing. Which is fine by me, but also shows me that this is more of a "friend" relationship than anything else. He went to his car and I went to mine.

The End.

Date #1

I'm going to start this the way I start most of my conversations about my dates. He's a perfectly nice guy...just not the guy for me....

It began with him texting me around 4:30 Friday afternoon. Of course, being the dedicated employee that I am, I was still working diligently at my desk. He was at the bar of the restaurant where we were meeting. (Points for him.)

It wasn 't difficult to pick him out of the crowd considering there were only two other people at the bar - one was an older gentleman, the other, a woman. I slid in to the bar stool next to him and glanced at the beer selection. It was ok, but what I really wanted was a martini. A cosmo. Turned out to not be very good, so I moved on to Spanish wine since it was a Spanish tapas restaurant. The food was good - small plates for sharing - and he ordered way too much. I was so full. I hate it when I do that to myself. Still, that doesn't stop me.

We decide that we'd had enough of the tapas and head over to Therapy in uptown. The newly renevated venue is quite nice and their martinis are superb. I ordered an "I gotta have it" martini, he ordered a beer. I can't remember what kind though....the good thing is - it wasn't a bud light.

We continued our conversation. There were not any uncomfortable moments. Convo flowed, however, there really wasn't much flirting going on as far as I could tell. He was an average looking guy with kinda skinny arms. I think his arms were skinnier than mine, but that isn't difficult to pull off.

Nice guy, I think he is more friend material though. He did ask me out again - in an email at 5:30 the next morning. I'm assuming that this is when he got in from his Friday night out with the boys. (Hmmmm..) I agreed. I mean, I had fun, so why not have fun again. However, this time, I'll have to tell him that I think we'd be better as friends.

Let the Dating Begin!

I heard from Matt #1 today. Seems that the reason he didn't call last night was because his iphone (?) shut down and he had to reboot it from his computer with the info from the last time he saved it - and that was prior to him having my number? Not sure how all that works, but whatev...

He and his brother own an appraisal company and he likes martinis - so I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

We are planning to go out after work on Friday. He asked what areas I normally hang out in and is trying to find a place with live music. Sounds good to me as long as I make it to the gym on Saturday morning. This is NON-negotiable.

We'll see.....

So, I've also been conversing with a guy named Bill. He's a little older, and his emails amuse me. Thus far I think I get along with him the best. However, you really don't know until you meet some one.

Where in the world are all the men?

So, I think it has been two full days since I've received an email (or wink!!) from any guys on match. WTF? This better not be a sign of the year in front of me.

Yesterday Matt #1 texted to see when it would be a good time to call. I told him I'd be home later that evening. Didn't hear from him. So, I sent him a text this morning, giving a very specific time for this evening. We'll see.

Matt #1 also texted on Sat and Sun, but we just haven't been able to catch one another.

Where is Matt #2??

Ok. I said that this time I'm really going to put in an effort. So, I'm going to go back to those winks I sent and send emails. Though here's my problem with this move: The "No Thanks" button. I'd rather not get anything than that. Just don't tell me. I'm ok with that. Maybe you never got my email since you don't subscribe - you just have a profile. Or maybe you are taking a little break from dating. But DON'T tell me "No Thanks"!! It hurts my feelings.

Fat Days

I should really write some updates, but I'm having some fat days. And who wants to date when they feel fat? Healthy life begins again tomorrow.

Why isn't my phone ringing??!!

Not much to say here except - WHY isn't my phone ringing???!!!

And...I did not recieve one email today from "matches"...this is going to be a llooonnnggg year.......

Wondering...

if Matt #1 will call....

Seriously?

Another guy, Brian, sends an email that he wants to get to know me. Ok, great. Cute, tall, owns his own gym. However, he is Young. Very young by my standards. So here's how the first email conversation went:

Me: I'm well. How are you? I'd like to get to know you better as well. Tell me a little more about yourself. Where are you from? What fitness center? In what part of Charlotte do you live?

Him: i was born and raised here,my gym is called bodywise custom fitness,i live near south park mall but my gyms in pineville

Seriously? No more than that? So, not really putting a lot of effort in to this one are you? Don't bother asking me anything. I have nothing to say.

Matt x2

Guess remembering names won't be very difficult - both guys I'm communicating with are named Matt. Now - how to distinguish them on the caller id.......?

Phone Number #1

Guess that didn't take all that long. His name is Matt and I don't know much about him. I'm not even sure if I read his profile. I really need to do that. I promised myself that I am going to be serious about this this time around - read profiles in their entirety and remember things about them. So, I just found out that he is 5' 9" - which means that he is probably only 5' 7" or 8". He seems cute, but did not finish college - didn't realize that before communicating, however, I am still willing to give it a shot. Maybe school just wasn't for him, maybe the "school of life" is better. Here's the good news: he does not have children and he put "not sure" of wanting children.

Funny - my phone just rang and then stopped. I looked at the number and it was Matt. I think I sent him the email with my number about ten minutes ago. Well, at least I know he has it.

Whole 'nother story: I received an email from a guy that I met a long time ago on a camping trip. Last week I ran in to him in the Overstreet Mall and he asked if I wanted to grab lunch some time. I said "ok", but I didn't know he meant this week. I don't know. He's one of those that is "good from far". But, what the hell - I'll go anyway. He probably just wants to be friends anyway.

I just read a profile from another guy that wrote to me. What is up with guys not finishing college? Is it really that hard?

Matt just emailed asking when is the best time to call. In this email he also told me that he lives in Ballantyne. Kinda far, but might be worth a drive.

And so it begins...

My profile is set up and additional photos have been added. Once they are approved, I'll change my primary pic, hoping that the "new" face will attract more suiters.

I've sent out several "winks" (aka: the lazy button) and six emails. My fear is the "No Thanks" reply that I've seen on a number of occassions. I'd rather not hear from a guy at all than get a "No thanks, you aren't good enough for me" response.

The very first time I tried online dating (many, many years ago), I had about fifteen emails in two hours. Not so much this time around. I'm not sure if it is because people have become complacent with online dating, I'm no longer the spring chicken that I once was, or I am no longer "fresh meat". (Meaning: men have seen my picture before and just pass by it thinking "why is she still on this site? if she is still here, there must be something wrong with her.")

Well, let's just hope for the best!

The Big Idea

As we all know, I've been dating for a long, long time. Sometimes successfully, but usually unsuccessfully. But, I'm giving it one more shot. For one year. I am joining match.com - yet again - and plan to blog about my adventures. Both good and bad. Please join me for a rollercoaster of a year, and who knows, I may just find what I'm looking for.

What am I looking for, you ask? The following are at the top of my list:

Ability to communicate
Great sense of humor that gels with my own
Sense of adventure - some one who enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains
Intelligence - he must be able to hold an intelligent conversation and have his own opinions
Stability - he's got to "have his shit together" as I do.
Ambition
Some one who will love me for who I am, during good times and bad.
Comfort - there must be a level of comfort and ease when we are together. If we aren't talking, it shouldn't be awkward. It should feel content.

I'm not looking for the perfect guy. I'm looking for the perfect guy for me. Here goes nothing!