Mr. Tardy #16

It is a small world. That’s what they always say anyway. Though I find it to be rather large, it is quite coincidental how often you find yourself interconnected with people of your acquaintance. The story I am about to tell you lends itself nicely to the old adage…”It’s a small world.”

So, there I was one day in the faculty room at lunch, just sitting on the couch reading my book and minding my own business, when the teachers sitting around the table (including my partner that travels around with me all day every day teaching music as I do) began talking about dating. One such fourth grade teacher began her tales of the bad luck her son has had. My partner inquired as to how old this son of hers was. As it turned out, he was 29 years old. Partner immediately offered up myself as a sacrifice to the dating world, declaring my great interest in “younger men.”

Well, what could I do at that point? The mother who despaired for her son looked hopefully at me and asked if I liked being set up. I told her I didn’t mind and gave her my information as she told me all about her son. Just as I was handing her the paper disclosing my contacts and signing my life away, she told me his name. Now, I have a pretty good memory sometimes. It is weird the things that I remember. They at times seem a little irrelevant but in this moment, I was somewhat grateful for my powers of remembrance. As she spoke his name, a bell immediately rang inside and a memory of not so long ago came to the forefront.

Ahh yes, just a few months ago, in my state of bliss and like, I was at a birthday party for Mr. Keeper. At the bowling alley I met several of his friends. One such friend, who was kind of a different sort of guy but friendly, went by his last name. I asked what his first name was and since it was the same as a brother of mine, I guess it just stuck in my head. Also, he, Mr. Keeper, another girl, and I, were the only ones that bowled that night. So yes, when his mother said his name, I knew immediately that it must be him. I texted Mr. Keeper and soon found out that indeed this was the same guy. So, friends with Mr. Keeper huh? I didn’t say anything to his mom, just went about my business.

It’s been several weeks but Mr. Tardy finally decided to give me a call. You know the story from my previous post. He called, set up the date, and then fell asleep and left me hanging. Needless to say, when we rescheduled for this evening, I was a bit skeptical. I didn’t do much to get ready because I wasn’t sure he would show up. But, show up he did…only 20 minutes late this time. Wait? No problem, it’s what I do. Anyway, I never told him of our connection but when I answered the door he immediately said, “oh, I do remember you.” Apparently Mr. Keeper gave him a hard time for ditching me last week. He never told me about that but I think it’s super sweet. That’s all.

While I wasn’t to this point very intrigued or impressed by the man, I had to give him props for driving a nice big truck. You know me…I like a man with a big truck, what can I say? He nicely opened my door and set out down the street. Then, just as I feared, he asked me where was a good place to eat around here. I directed him to the nearest restaurant mecca and we settled on Johnny Carrino’s. Hmmm, how many dates have I been on there? I should get some sort of frequent customer discount or something. Anyway, we talked easily enough, though he kept bringing up Mr. Keeper which is still somewhat of a painful subject for me so that was awkward. But at the same time, I understand because it is common ground for us.

The food was delightful as always. I mean, what can I really say about another dinner date? It ran smoothly enough…nothing too exciting to tell. He was polite though the conversation eventually drifted toward dating which is always awkward when one is on a date but oh well. He complained about the difficulties of dating and so forth. At that point I was kind of ready to go. Finally we did and he asked me if I was ready to go to Vegas. I answered with a vigorous ,“NO” and he said something about that being too bad because he was going to take me there where a plane was waiting to go to Hawaii. Umm, awkward… Haha, but knowing him a little, I laughed it off and directed the conversation elsewhere. It did give me cause to worry for a minute that this was more than just a dinner date though. But, he told me that he wasn’t looking forward to going in to work tonight so I knew that he needed to be home soon. Whew. I was all set for a nice relaxing night at home so that was a relief!

He took me home and narrated the fact that he was doing the gentlemanly thing and walking me to the door. He walked me up, gave me a quick hug, and apologized again for blowing me off last week. He said something about talking to me later and I was like, “see ya!” and hurried into the house. Nice guy, nice truck, good food, and home early. Not too bad of an evening. Do I want to date him? No. But it turned out, Oh-Kay, so that is good. I had another offer for a date today as well, from a friend, so I guess when that happens, I will write some more. Hey, I may even write about something else in between! : ) 

Stood Up

Yes, you read that correctly. In an effort to experience every aspect of the dating spectrum, I thought I’d try my hand at being stood up this week. It’s all for you, friends…all for you. Okay, I didn’t actually plan this little scenario (who would??) but it happened nonetheless.  I had a date scheduled for 6:30pm on Friday night. The man was supposed to call me before then to get my address so that he could pick me up and take me to dinner. I got all ready (not too ready because I wasn’t all that thrilled in the first place but…you will learn more about that later…on another post) and waited for him to call. 6:30 came and went and my phone remained silent. Yes, the ringer WAS on. The more time passed, the more annoyed I became. There were honestly other things I would have rather been doing at that moment but I had to decline due to the date that I did not want to go on (because remember how I am done?? Yeah, still feel the same way). 

Finally, I decided to take myself out to dinner. I was starving and not about to sit around all night on a Friday night, waiting for some guy to call. I took myself downtown, toward the nearest Zupas location. As I neared my destination, Mr. Late finally decided to give me a call. I was in no mood to talk to him over an hour after he was supposed to pick me up, so I ignored the call. He left a message apologizing but I knew that there was no way I could call him back at that moment. No need though, he called me again. Still, I did not answer. Immediately he tried again and I realized that he probably was really sorry so…I picked up. He apparently works nights and had fallen asleep and not woken up in time. Yes, he said he did think he had set his alarm but, apparently hadn’t. At any rate, I was still annoyed but talking to him anyway.

He wanted to come pick me up but I told him I was downtown. Ahh, he knew then that I don’t sit around waiting for guys all night. Good. He wanted to reschedule. I told him that I would probably be available Wednesday or Thursday of this week (I wasn’t about to give him another weekend night!). So, yesterday I let him know that Thursday would be best and he finally got back to me today and set it up. Soo, tomorrow it is I guess. It was good of him to persist in making things right. Props to him for that. No props for me and my bad attitude but no worries, I will be friendly…and I will tell you more about the interesting story regarding my acquaintance with this young man soon.

Ps…Being stood up sucks, whether you wanted to go on the date or not. It still really messes with your ego. Lame! This is his last chance so I hope he shows up. J

Mr. Quiet #15

Can you tell I’m done? It’s been almost a week since my date with #15 and I still haven’t posted about it! Since I have another one coming up tomorrow, I thought I’d better write about this one. I know I didn’t even tell you this one was coming, but it was kind of a cheat date. You see, I am in the relief society presidency in my single’s ward. The bishopric came to me a few months ago with the suggestion that we begin a ward date night. Considering our ward and its lack of daters, I thought that the idea certainly wouldn’t hurt. The Elder’s Quorum agreed and we set right out to plan the whole fiasco. It wasn’t just a one-time thing however. It is a tradition we mean to continue bi-monthly throughout the rest of the year. This not only gives those in our ward the opportunity to fine tune their social skills on a regular basis, but it also ups my numbers in this project. Wahoo!!


So how does it work you ask? Well, we plan a date that is mostly free or that the ward pays for, and then we let members of the Relief Society (Women’s organization) and the Elder’s Quorum (Men’s group) sign up if they choose to participate. We then secretly put the male names in one bowl, and the female names in another and pull them out one at a time to make matches. Once the matches are made, we put them into small groups as this is a group dating event. Believe me, this is the best thing for these less experienced daters. So then we give the men their date’s information and hope that they call. Later, we check up on the men to make sure they have actually called.

Now that we have the logistics basically thrown out there, let me tell you about my date. It was fun pulling names out of a bowl by the way. I ended up with a pretty nice guy though. He is quite a bit younger than me, but that was to be expected since I am the oldest one there. Anyway, he didn’t call me until the morning of the planned date. I was a little frustrated by that but not too worried because even though I am supportive of the event, you know my feelings about dating right now. I’d rather not.

Anyway, he picked me up a little later than I would have liked but at least he showed up and came to the door like a gentleman. We set off to the first house we were assigned for our progressive dinner. Though I had been there previously, I still got a little lost and we enjoyed a nice tour of the neighborhood on the way. We still ended up arriving just as the rest of our group did however. Lucky us, we got dessert first! We entered the house and I was immediately worried as the girls and guys had separated to sit down. Finally someone had the bright idea to sit near our dates though…whew! I mean really, we had to go back to the basics here. We finally got the conversation rolling and it seemed to flow fairly well. I felt slightly responsible to keep it moving and to involve all parties but others seemed pretty well versed in their communication skills as well and it turned out pretty well.

So, as I couldn’t wait to mention above, our first stop was dessert. Mmm, we had a chocolate fountain with every dip-able treat imaginable! It was heavenly and well worth the week of no sugar in preparation as well as the whole part about me being on a date. We ate, we talked, and then we moved on. My date was a little better in the group than alone. When he first picked me up, it seemed a little awkward. As we both interacted with the group however, our conversation became easier on the next drive. Our next stop was salad and bread. We arrived early and the previous group was still there. It was fun to see them though, and to view how the evening was going so far for them. They cleared out, we moved in, and we sat down to some delicious salad and bread rolls. The conversation continued without anything too memorable to share. We did play a couple of rounds of “Cranium” before leaving the house and my date and I made a good showing. Games are always fun and good ice breakers.

On to the main course...finally! It was fun to end here, although we were a little full on chocolate fountain deliciousness (hmm, maybe that’s why we don’t eat dessert first on a regular basis!). We had some good BBQ chicken and rice and veggies. We ended up talking about all kinds of things and I mentioned to everyone that my goal in life is…to know EVERYTHING. We laughed and they thought I was joking but secretly, I really do want to! Haha!! Knowledge is my latest obsession and I’ve been reading like crazy!! They couple who’s house we were then invading are one of the smartest people in my current acquaintance and we enjoyed great conversation. My date didn’t add a whole lot but oh well.

Finally, it was time to go home. My date took me home and walked me to a door like the gentleman he had been all night. He opened my doors for me and all of that. I hate the “end of the night” scene though. Don’t you?? It can be SOOO awkward! He kept kinda saying goodbye and sort of throwing his arms up so I finally just gave him a hug and got outta there! AWK-WARD!! But that is his personality anyway. He is really nice, but a little awkward. We didn’t have a whole lot in common, other than our interest in guns…but his is much more deep than mine! Either way, I learned some things, had another date, and ate some good food so, I guess we call that success, right?

The bottom

I think I hit the bottom of the pit and the treasure is yet to be found. This weekend has felt more like digging through a junk yard, looking for a diamond. And to be honest…I just can’t do it anymore right now. I feel like I’ve been through so many guys lately…maybe haven’t dated them all…but I’m constantly disappointed. I cannot handle one more disappointment right now. I actually feel slightly repelled by men at the moment. I do not want to see or talk to another one for…awhile. I’m tired of trying so hard to be such a great person for them when they are doing nothing in return. I am a good find dang it! And I deserve someone who can appreciate that and who is willing to try to better their lives from time to time. Someone with a little motivation to be somebody…and maybe a little intelligence too. That would go a long way! These small requests however, seem monumental to the task at hand. It seems that there must be some quality somewhere…but I cannot in any way search another minute for it! Not right now. Not today.