Mr. Refreshing #12

It wasn’t the fact that the air was cold, crisp, and clean, or that his breath didn’t smell that made tonight’s date refreshing. No, it was the fact that it wasn’t the same date that I had the last two weeks, as well as almost every other date all year. Nope, it was a little different. More thought and less boring conversation really made the night a success.

So, here’s how it went down. As usual, toward the afternoon part of the day I started to feel that awful sense of dread. I began to wonder why my friend set me up with this guy. Why did I wonder? Well, she is my age and single too…so why doesn’t she date him? You always have to wonder that when a fellow single traveler on the ship of life sets you up right? I tried to force all negative thoughts out of my head and went for a quick run between work and the date…just to build up some happy endorphins and let out a little nerves/dread. Running always makes you feel better, right? Yet worse at the same time…it’s funny that way.

Well, Mr. Refreshing picked me up right on time and we headed downtown. It was really nice that he picked me up and wasn’t on a bike because it was snowing. It would have been a cold trip downtown. Anyway, on the way out we mostly talked about me and I felt bad because we were talking about me. At the same time, it was so nice that I didn’t feel like I had to carry the conversation…it just flowed easily, mostly thanks to him. We got out most of the usual things on the way there and then put it behind us to have a little more fun. Really, I want to know the guy but I just don’t want to have that conversation again, ya know??

So, we ended up at the church history museum. This is always a cool place, and while it was cool tonight…it was also warm which is a bonus on a snowy evening. I always enjoy seeing all the old stuff from way back in the day and learning a little more about church history. This guy seems well read on the subject and I learned a thing or two. When it comes to history, I’m a little bit of a slacker and I can never remember details so I had nothing interesting to contribute sadly. On the way there and in the museum, it became apparent that the man had a sense of humor…thank goodness! It was nice to laugh, I needed that.

So, after the museum, we grabbed some hot chocolate to go, and walked over to temple square. It started to snow on us just as we did. We stood under the tabernacle and watched the snow fall down over the temple…it was really pretty! As we did so, we played that game where you make up stories about the people walking by. I was a little shy at first and ummm, not very good at that game, but it was fun to try. For some reason, my stories all came out slightly disturbing and now he thinks I’m emo (even though I had to tell him what that was)and blind, due to my inability to tell male from female, but that’s okay. ? He suggested that in my future optometry appointments, I add the gender deciphering feature to my glass. Well, that and he gave me a lesson on how to tell the difference based mostly on their clothing, which isn’t always the best indicator!

So, either these tipped him off to my trench coat past, or the story about my near death experience at a buffet and my fear of dying at such a place…how embarrassing would that be?? Okay, didn’t really happen but it made a good story anyway, right?

So, it was fun to laugh and talk about other things and make up stupid things…like I used to do with someone else. But I didn’t think of him then (someone else) because it wasn’t worth it or necessary. Mr. Refreshing seems like a good guy; very nice, gentlemanly, funny, and easy to be around. Thanks friend for setting me up!

Ps…#10 called me while I was out. My phone was off so he left a voicemail. I guess I’ll just see if he calls back again because I don’t feel like putting out the effort to call him back. He was boring and didn’t make up funny stories or do something outside of my regular box….despite being a very nice, good guy.

Tuesday is a Special Day

This is going to be a quick post because I really need to go to bed. I just wanted to update all my fabulous readers. I have another date coming this Tuesday. Wow, can you believe that? That's 3 Tuesday's in a row...right after I quite this whole thing. I'm pretty excited for this one though. My friend set me up and he sounded on the phone like a nice normal guy and one with a plan. I like him already, just because he had our date all planned out and it's not dinner! Refreshing! So, we will see how it goes.

I also want to say that I feel so, so blessed today. I know that there is a God. I know that He is my Heavenly Father and is sooo mindful of who I am and EXACTLY what I need, whether it be something silly or not. He blesses me and I know that He blesses all of you, whether you take time to recognize it or not. His blessings are abundant and so much more perfect and thorough than I would ever have been able to imagine up in my mind. I love Him and am grateful for the knowledge of His presence in my life!!

ps...guess who I hung out with tonight? Lot's of guys...and girls...including, Mr. Hopeful. Remember him? He will never want to date me but I still had a lot of fun with him and his roommate. Fun and funny guys. Plus, as I mentioned before, he is really good looking! Well, until Tuesday then. Or maybe Wednesday.

Special #11

I promised a good story when it came to #11. The thing is, I was kind of being judgmental and rude. Let me tell you why though. There is a lady that I work with all day every day. She is pretty much the only adult that I see consistently every day. Lucky me. Okay, there I go again…sorry. Anyway, she is pretty nice and definitely has good intentions, even though they are not always apparent. So, there is this guy that she goes to church with. She secretly has a crush on him but is 35 years older than him. Since he is off the market for her, she felt that she should set him up. Her first choice was another girl who is much cooler than me but doesn’t work with us every day. We only have the privilege of her company about once a month. Since I was the next available single female within reach, she decided to do me the honors instead.


After committing me to go out with said co-worker’s eye candy, she proceeds to describe him to me in this fashion. She says, “He is a little bit socially awkward. I think he is just really shy. He rides his bike everywhere because he went to get his driver’s license once and the lady yelled at him so he has never tried again. He lives at home with his parents, didn’t go on a mission but he is a really good guy!” So, that was my first impression of him. Well, that and that fact that he shares his name with my grandma…a deal breaker in itself! Seriously though, what was I supposed to think of this guy? Immediately I began to regret committing to give just anyone a chance at least once.

Since the guy was supposedly socially awkward, I had high hopes that maybe he wouldn’t call. When asked if he had a few days later, I reported to my co-worker that he had not. She began to imitate a conversation between him and their bishop and herself. When she imitated him saying, “I’m gonna call…” in a very whiny sort of voice, sounding perfectly like someone who is a little bit slow, I began to be a bit suspicious. When he did call me and in the same voice really quickly, and without pause said, “Hi this is #11, co-workers friend, she said you would go out with me?!” I definitely knew that things were not altogether right. She may not know it but I think that he is a little more than just socially awkward.

Mentally handicap or not, he was very friendly on the phone but seemed like he wanted me to call the shots. I told him I would get back to him at the beginning of the next week when I was less busy. We set the date for Tuesday though. That’s when I asked him if I could ride on his handle bars and he said, “well, I don’t know how good I am but I have a rack on the back you can ride on.” Haha…sweet! What a gentleman!

Sunday rolled around and he called to confirm our date and this time he had a plan. He was told by his buddies that we should go to the Spaghetti Factory. Mmmm, I’m a fan so I agreed. Plus, it’s close enough to my house that I knew I wouldn’t have to go too out of my way. We planned to meet there at 6:30. Tuesday came along and by the time 6:30 finally arrived, I was starving!! On Sunday I told him that I would call him when I got there and he said, “or I will just call you when I get there.” So, I figured I would just let him call since he would be riding his bike and all.

I got there close to on time and waited until 6:35 before I finally called him out of sheer hunger and near starvation!! As it turned out, he had been sitting out front the whole time. He said he arrived quite early, having really over estimated the bike time. It only took him 40 minutes. At that point I felt pretty bad for not picking him up. I didn’t think about offering until after we hung up on Sunday. What a horrible person! He seemed completely okay with it though, as if it is the most normal thing in the world. It is good exercise I guess.

Okay, when I first saw him I must say I was pleasantly surprised. He really wasn’t bad looking. He was better looking than #10. He had cute dimples anyway. Still, when he spoke, it seemed overly loud and definitely somewhat abnormal. I decided to do my best to be a good date for him. Upon further communications previously with my co-worker, I found out that he doesn’t talk to girls or date much. After the date she said that it was probably his first date so she hoped that I showed him how it was done. Great. Anyway, we got a table in the back corner which was good for my prideful self.

Our conversation mostly centered around him. Good. I just tried to keep him talking which really wasn’t hard at all. He likes to talk. I think that the highlight of our conversation was really a toss-up between him converting fractions to decimals for me, and him telling me on and on about how his co-worker keeps trying to get him to go to the nudie bar across the street from where he works. He told me all about what such a place would be like. Awwwwkkkkwarrrrd! I tried not to notice however and to steer the convo elsewhere.

All in all, he really is a good guy, which is why in the end, I can’t really make fun of him or be demeaning in any way. He works 12 hours a day and then helps neighbors with things they need fixing. In the winter he shovels about 10 driveways and 25 sidewalks a day…before his 12 hour work shift. When his family is out of town he remodels one of their rooms for them. He is the elder’s quorum president in his ward and seems like he really takes that seriously. He was named after their neighbor who died while snow blowing his driveway. My date inherited his name and the snow blower. Now, every time he uses it he thinks of that man. It’s kind of a creepy story but I felt a little sad for him when he was telling it to me. He said the guy was like a grandpa to him. Anyway, it was at that point that I realized I really couldn’t say anything bad about him. He is a very nice, very good guy…I am not. First of all, I am a girl. Secondly, I just don’t think I am good enough to accept him in a relationship kind of way.

As we left the restaurant, we were getting ready to part ways; me to my car, he to his bike, when he pulled out his old school walkman/tape recorder and got all set to continue his book on tape for the long journey home. I like listening to books on CD as well…only in my car. He seemed happy to be biking back home in the dark but still, I felt bad once again. I hope he made it okay. I wish him the best…bicycle and all.

They Loved Us!

Who is they? The men. What men? The men at the fireside I went to tonight. Who is we? My friend and I. So, there was a mid-single’s fireside in Layton featuring Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. It seemed like it would be a well attended event and a good opportunity to see this popular LDS group for free, so I finally decided to make the drive and see what this group was all about. I recruited a friend of course because everyone needs a wing man at these types of gatherings right? Almost immediately upon entering the building…no wait, before we even entered the building, we could feel scoping eyes looking us up and down. It was awkward to say the least.

We went in, took our seats, and tried not to notice the noticeably different atmosphere from our little single’s ward where no one dates each other, to this not so subtle meat market with its over abundance of elevator eyes. Being a mid-single’s group, my friend and I were definitely the younger of the bunch. I’m not saying the bunch was bad, just that they were quite obviously appraising the meat for long term storing. But anyway, we will get back to that shortly.

The fireside itself was GREAT! These musicians are talented and had some insightful words of wisdom to impart to this attentive audience. Good times seemed to be had by all and if I’m being honest…their current drummer is HOT! He seems pretty young but hey, I like that. So yeah, I did a little scoping myself but tried not to exceed the limit to reach creepy. Because really…he wasn’t the one checkin me out. He was probably horrified to be at an older single’s event, being single himself. Seriously though, he was REALLY good looking and super talented...

At the conclusion of the fireside, refreshments and a mingle were announced to follow. Yay…another mingle! I was slightly curious so my friend and I stuck around for a bit. It wasn’t long before we were approached by what appeared to be our new best friend. This guy was very friendly and nice to chat with for like a minute. The minutes dragged on however and I finally found myself devising schemes in my head to get rid of him. When the subtle walking away from him didn’t work I had to resort to greater and more obvious tactics but let’s back up again for a minute and talk about why this was necessary.

Our conversation with our new best friend seemed to center around the fact that I am a very busy person. He told me that I’m not married so what could I possibly be so busy with! Are you serious? Only married people are busy? What do they do all day? Don’t answer that…I wish I were too but really, why can’t I be busy and single? Also, he asked me if I ever hang out with friends or date…since I am so busy. I told him that I do…on Tuesdays and Fridays. He obviously wanted my number, or my friend’s, but never asked. He just kept telling us that we need to come out to the institute class that he goes to. Nice. Is that all you have? I know I am sounding a bit petty now but he kept throwing his age at us like we cared. He kept letting us know basically (without ever really saying it) that he was 30. Like we care…we are the same age! It was just an interesting conversation that was essentially leading nowhere, hence the need to leave.

Leave we did. I said to my friend, “hey, did you want to go meet the band?” She agreed that she did and he finally let us be. As we were approaching the band, we were stopped by what appeared to be a relative of Kramer, with a moustache. Or maybe it was a goatee. I don’t really remember but the conversation was awkward and his oogle could not have been any more apparent. He was definitely somewhere in the 40’s yet still unpolished in his communication skills. This was apparent when he asked us if we had been married or had any children. Or maybe that's just the norm in this age group. Seems to be kind of. Anyway, he obviously wanted to talk to us but didn’t have much to say…other than that we should all hook up on facebook. Oh yeah!! This is the new way I guess. Only guys add you and then never talk to you. So, we are gonna hook up on facebook. Yay! (This is completely sarcastic of course…the guy was seriously a creeper!).

After this encounter, my friend and I decided to make a quick escape. We hurried out the door, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. I did however pass mr. hottie percussionist on the way to our car and told him that he had some sweet skills. And that was that. I’m glad we went. We laughed about it on the way home so all in all, I think it was a successful night. Moral of the story: Men need to be men and ask for girl’s numbers if they want ‘em and then they need to use those numbers and ask them out. Then there might not be any more mid-single events because there would be far less mid-singles to go to them. The end.

Ps...Happy 100th post!!!!

Mr. Boring #10

Let’s start at the end. You know how I’m over 30 but my mom still tells me what to do sometimes? Today she said, “Make sure that no matter what, you try to go out with him again.” So, at the end of the date when Mr. Boring said, “Would you mind if I called you again sometime?” I replied, “yes, that would be great.” Everybody has rules and everyone knows how dating and marriage are done and apparently I don’t follow those rules because I am not married. I read the books, I tried on the advice, I met a lot of men, dated a few, and mostly...all I can say for it, is that I am sick of everyone’s rules! This is why I decided to go on a break from this project. Of course once I put that up, I had four people lining me up, two of which actually called me. Amazing I know.

So, today was the first set up of the four. Here’s how it went down. My mom has been training this lady at work. She is apparently a very nice lady and knows a single man in his 30’s. Well, he is single, my mom has a single daughter…why not?? So, I gave the okay to the mother and she passed my number along. Sunday night, just as I was about to go to bed early, the phone rang. Mr. not so interesting was on the line. Right away he gave me an out, as if I hadn’t given the okay to pass my number along in the first place. I professed to enjoy meeting new people and told him I would love to go out sometime. So, we set up a dinner appointment for Tuesday evening.

Today is Tuesday. Tuesday’s are the loooongest day in history at work! Even so, I finally made it through my work day and took a half an hour to get pretty and try to smell less like kid. I thought things turned out pretty well. I decided to sport the ever so popular skinny jeans and now firmly believe that despite what you or I may think of such apparel, they are magic. Men love skinny jeans…that’s all there is to it. So anyway, we met up in the parking lot, drove together in his truck (which wasn’t really all that impressive for a truck but hey…it was a truck!) for a whole block. I seriously thought we were going to walk and really would have preferred that method but I followed his lead and entered the truck.

We had some fine Italian food at the good old staple, Johnny Carino’s. I was really eyeing this chicken/shrimp pasta dish that looked so, so delightful. I thought it was quite expensive though. He ordered it however, so I went ahead and ordered myself up a plate as well. It was spicy and delish! Our conversation was somewhat broken and awkward at times. I was a little tired from a long day at work and honestly just not feeling it. Whoaaa…back up a second. Before I left, inside my head, I was screaming, “I don’t want to go…I don’t want to go. Don’t make me do it!” Yes I know, it strongly resembled something from the mouth of a two year old. It’s just that I am soooo tired of meeting guys. Seriously, I am bored of the same conversation, over and over and over and over again! This particular conversation (no thanks to me) did not prove any better. Oh well, what can you do.

I’m sure that I could have been a little more flirty. Okay, maybe I could have been somewhat flirty. I looked hot, I was totally polite and friendly, thanking him for his gentlemanly ways, etc. At the same time, I also felt like I had a little bit of a negative vibe going on. A vibe like, “hmmm, I’m not really interested but I’ll be polite because we are here.” So then, why….does he want to hang out with me again?? Sure I call him Mr. Boring but honestly, he could have said the same about me. I was not in any way my usually jolly and delightful self. Nope…I was miss boring pants! Oh well, I told him (because it’s apparently the right and acceptable thing to do) that I would love for him to call me again sometime. So, maybe next time we will both be less boring and I will by some miracle, suddenly become attracted to him! Yay, we are so getting married!! Well, that is if next Tuesday’s date doesn’t trump this one. He doesn’t drive…he rides his bike everywhere. So, I asked him if I could have a ride on his handle bars. But…I am getting ahead of myself and will save all of those details for next week. Can you believe it…I’ve just about made it to eleven?! October shmoctober!

The More You Dance...

The dizzier you become. Boys like to make you spin. And spin, and spin, and spin. After awhile, you get so dizzy that even when you are standing still, the world continues to move around you in circles, and all over the place. Last time I went dancing, a couple of weeks ago, I felt this. I couldn’t dance after a certain period of time because I was just tripping all over the dance floor. Life itself has seemed much like this lately as well. I’m a little sad that I haven’t had time for my blog but I’m happy to be here now. Things are settling down a little and slowly starting to turn at a normal pace again!

So, I have been working a lot lately, but I have also played hard enough as well. One of the last times I went Country dancing was a packed full day. I had a short day at work so I went hiking with #7. We went up to Dog Lake and it was gorgeous!!! Have you seen the leaves lately? I love the feeling in the air during Fall, and I love, love, love the leaves!! They reflected beautifully in the lonely lake while we sat quietly by watching the blue jays and enjoying the peaceful stillness. It was wonderful!

After the hike, I went straight to teach a music lesson, then straight to dinner with some great friends that used to be my roommates back in the day. Good times! Then I went home and quickly got ready for a fun filled night of dancing! Lots of guys asked me to dance because…I was wearing my skinny jeans!! Yes, that is the secret I decided. Ah men, you are so predictable! Oh well, I received a fair share of practice and had a ton of fun with my young friend who just left me for a life in New Jersey. Well, currently she is enjoying new friendship and a whole lot less dancing down in Provo where she learns Spanish and wears dresses and nylons all day every day. Poor girl! Love her though…and totally miss her! She was so good for my social life. She will make a great missionary though, because she has a fun personality and a great testimony!

Okay, so other than hanging out with that friend and working, I’ve been playing in a local symphony (not the one I want to play in but another), walking at 5am, trying to put together an entire relief society from scratch, forgetting about boys, and reading a few books (where in my schedule I don’t know…but had to squeeze in the Mocking Jay). Life is good! I feel a lot less stressed not worrying about boys, although a little bit guilty. At the same time, I currently have four men out there with my number. These are all set ups so I really can’t do anything about whether or not they call. If they do, they do. And I will let you know all about it. One has a lot of potential for a very “interesting” date story so seriously, read up friends! He doesn’t drive, he bikes all over the place, so I’m going to see if maybe I can ride on his handle bars…oh yeah!!! Do you think that would be too forward of me? Haha…it’s gonna happen anyway. More soon!