Three dates, one week

Maybe my actions, or interactions of late are exactly the kind of thing that my fellow bloggers hate... I have had three meetings with three guys in one week.
The first was on a Saturday. I got a text out of the blue, asking what I was doing later that night. "Mike" is a guy who I had been talking with and texting for a few weeks. He is a nice guy... He texts often, but mostly simple questions.
Besides, how can you really get to know a person through texting? So... Mike texted, asked me what I was doing and I let him know my availability. He asked if I wanted to get together around 9pm, since I already had dinner plans. I accepted and asked him what he would like to do....
He said that he would like to go to a movie. I was surprised. Dinner and a movie is great fun, but doesn't really seem appropriate when we have never before met face to face.
We got to the theatre and the movie time had been pushed back a half hour. This was good because it gave us a few minutes to sit and talk and find a little about each other. Sherlock Holmes started and the movie was pretty entertaining. Part way through the movie, Mike put his hand on my leg. the back of his hand... He was not so subtly asking to hold my hand.... I thought "first date?" "Are you serious?" "Who are you?" "Are you a guy who is only interested in the physical?" I looked at him and he smiled.
I figured that holding his hand couldn't hurt, and gave in. A little later during the movie he took out his phone and listened to a voicemail. Then he left the theatre to make a call. He was gone about 10 minutes. so strange! When he returned he asked if I was mad. I said "No." I wasn't mad. I guess because I was not emotionally invested in him at all, and also because it is his own choice to pay for the movie and then watch it or not.
After the movie, I said goodbye and that maybe we could meet again sometime. We hugged and he walked away. I was a little frustrated that he didn't have the courtesy to walk me to my vehicle, but oh well. Before I made it home, he texted me, asking "Do you really want to see me again?"... I told him that I didn't really know him, and that a movie isn't really conducive to learning about someone. We texted a couple of times after that, but I haven't heard from him in a while.

The Following Friday, I made plans to meet another guy from Match. "Ed" and I had exchanged several emails and a phone call or two. I felt that I knew him a lot better than Mike. He offered to drive half way to Boulder to meet, and we decided to meet at 7.
The day of my date I got a text from another friend. "Tony" is a guy I have knows for quite sometime. I haven't seen him in a number of years, as one or the other is always out of town. He let me know that he was at a happy hour near my work. i agreed to meet him for a drink or two, until my other plans required me to leave.
I knew that there was chemistry between us, but wasn't sure what it would be like to see him again. I knew he would be at the pub with several friends, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of Romance.
I got to the bar and found him easily. As soon as I sat down next to him we began talking, talking, talking. We talked about a bunch of things, and I noticed that he was completely ignoring his other friends! Before long I had to leave, and it was not a fun thought. Most of me just wanted to stay and hang with Tony. Tony was nice enough to walk me out the door of the bar, and gave me a great hug.
So I sped off time my time with Tony to go meet Ed. We met and had a nice time. We had a couple of good drinks while waiting for a table, and eventually sat down. We ordered guacamole that was made just for us and had a great meal. There was lots to talk about, and I enjoyed myself. It wasn't late, but we were both tired, so we called it an evening. Ed walked me to my car and made sure that I got in and it started. I waved goodbye and haven't heard from him since.

So, three up and at least two down.
None of these meetings were bad, but I don't know how much chemistry I feel for them.
Navigating the world of online dating is confusing! Who to talk to? Who to meet? Who to meet again??

I look forward to the days when this hunt is over, and I can just be committed to one person!

The Long Haul

Well, guess I am in for the long haul, I wasn't quick enough and Match went ahead and charged me for 3 more months... So I guess having a date for New Years can be parlayed into finding a date for Valentines Day.
I guess it can't be too bad.
On the upside I found like 13 super cuties that I am trying to communicate with! Let's see what happens!

Next Steps...

Well ladies, we are in the final stretch. I think that ONE of us has a date for NYE, while the rest of us are in different stages of being okay with it.
I am leaning more toward "okay" than "bitter" this year. I definitely oscillate, but I am kind of okay with the situation this year. Here are some reasons....
- I would rather have a New Year's Eve with someone who has potential to be someone really important in my life, not just someone alive and breathing.
- Most of my "Must Love" sisters are also single. (I hope that this doesn't make me sound shallow, but it would be REALLY hard to have a positive outlook if everyone else had a date and I was going to be home alone nursing my already fragile ego)
- I am bummed that 3 months wasn't enough time to find someone to be interested in. I have only met 2 people, one of which I am sure there is no romantic chemistry.
- I know that when it is right, it WILL be right.

So what do we do now? Do we continue in this experiment? Do we disband? While I have had every different emotion in regard to online dating, part of me doesn't really want to let it go, let it expire. I feel that at least being online gives me just a bit more opportunity to meet guys. God knows that there aren't any single men at my church(es) and very few at the workplace. At least being online gives me an opportunity to see some men that are single. It gives me space to try to learn about relationships and communication and boys and myself.
What do you think... Do you have any plans for Jan 1?

A Possibility

So, I went on my first date of this experience on Friday. As you may remember, my first meeting was only after I won a bet, so that doesn't count. I had only talked with my date a couple times over Match. We hadn't really talked of much when he asked to meet me. I was a little apprehensive, but agreed. He came to pick me up, and I was glad to see that he was dressed casually. I had a fear that I would be under-dressed, but it worked out. He picked me up at my house, which is another slightly nerve wracking decision. What if this guy turns out to be a complete whack job who now knows where I sleep... but I was happy to be wrong.
We went for dinner. He let me pick the place since he doesn't live in Boulder. We went to a place what I like, but don't frequent too terribly often. There were LOTS of people as I opened the door, and to my shock and awe our biggest fan was just inside the door!!
I kinda felt outed, busted, by the fact that someone else was privy to my goal, recognized that I was on a first date and about the fact that we had met over the internet.... luckily my date went to put our names on the waiting list, so we were able to say hi and confirm that this in fact was a first date, and that he is someone I met online.
It took a while to get seated, but we talked of travel and family and cities we'd lived in.
We were seated and had a great meal, good conversation and before we knew it 3 hours and a bottle of wine had gone by!
SIDE NOTE: During dinner, feeling brave, I let PART of the cat out of the bag as far as Must Love Us... I told him that a bunch of girls and I had all started online dating at the same time to see if we could get New Years' dates. He let me know that he couldn't be my New Years' date since he had already made plans to go out of town.

So, my date went well. I definitely see potential for friendship here, and I am gonna wait to make a decision on anything else. We made tentative plans to hang out again. I am happy to have made a connection.

Anticipation

Anticipation in the wake of suspended promises.
We wait. We pine. we see that what IS isn't what should be, what could be, what we hope for.
We know the promise, we see the future, we long for that to be reality.
We wait in anticipation. We wait with excitement happy for the day to come. We wait anxiously feeling the pain of things not yet realized. We wait with faith, KNOWING, BELIEVING and TRUSTING that it will be done here. Soon.

Food Meet Recap

So, I met my match on Saturday. We went to lunch and had good conversation for quite a while. There were no fights, no arguments, and while neither of us pulled any punches, we still had a good time.
Like I suspected, there weren't any romantic sparks, but maybe the beginning of a good friendship.

So, not much else on the meeting matches front, but I met one!