24 Hours: Three Dates

I’ve always wanted to go on at least two dates in one day. I don’t know why, I just want player status for a day or something. It always seemed like a fairly legit desire. Last week the opportunity finally presented itself. I had a date scheduled for Thursday evening with a slightly younger man that I met on the internet last week. Since I just returned home from an amazing month in Europe, where I consumed a life time’s worth of ice cream, he decided that he would take me out for gelato and ease the withdraws I was having upon my return.

Before heading out the door, or even getting ready for said date, I was online browsing for more men. The day I signed up for this particular dating website back in April there was a man that started up a chat with me. He wanted to see more pictures of me so he added me on facebook. I didn’t really hear much from him since then so I assumed he wasn’t very impressed. Also, after looking more closely at his profile, I wasn’t too interested either. Still, I see his facebook updates from time to time and wonder why he didn’t just delete me. You probably wonder the same about me right? Well, I thought many times about deleting him but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. So, the other night as I was browsing before my date, Mr. Confident started up a chat with me. He said, “You’re back!!” He had recently “liked” a few of my pictures on the old fb so I knew that he had been paying attention. He asked about my trip. We got to talking and I told him I had a date that night. He told me I should meet up with him after…so I did…because there was my opportunity!

So, first of all I quickly got ready and met up with Sweet Guy # 37 at a gelato establishment downtown.  As soon as I walked in, it took me right back to my gluttonous days in Austria where I consumed at least a cone a day. It looked delightful. As for my date well, he didn’t look quite as delightful. It was one of those situations where I was hoping that real life might improve his looks. I like to give people a chance if I think there is any hope because I am not the most photogenic person around! Anyway, I wasn’t super attracted to the man…or attracted at all…but he was really friendly and gentlemanly so we sat and ate our ice cream and chatted for awhile. It was a pleasant evening and the dessert was amazing, but I don’t think it will be repeated. 

As soon as I left the gelato shop, I texted Mr. Confident #38 to let him know I was on my way. He lived down in Provo so I had a little bit of a drive ahead of me. On the drive, another guy I had met online (but not in person yet) decided to give me a call. He was super nice and it was great to have company on the drive. We are planning a date soon. 

Back at Mr. Confident’s house, he had been putting his kids to bed and awaiting my arrival for a little movie night. While in London I missed my opportunity to kiss a random stranger so I decided that this was my night to make up for that as well as to finally get two dates in one day. Apparently it also wasn’t my best night for improving and being a good person. Still, sometimes you are over 30 and you just want a little lovin’! Also, sometimes you are a little upset over being rejected and…you want a little lovin’ as well as some validation. Silly, I know. I should be above that! Still, I went for it. We put on a movie, “Iron Man 2” which looked kind of interesting but I didn’t see the first one and I never finished that one. I wasn’t the most attracted to him either to be honest but that’s mostly because he was kind of small. I felt really big next to him which is never my favorite. He was good looking otherwise though. 

In person he was a lot nicer than I thought he was going to be. He was also fairly respectful which I totally appreciate since I was being dumb. In some ways I felt like I had known him for a long time though and I was also comforted slightly that his kiddos were there. It was kind of a lame night but fun at the same time, haha. I don’t think I will see him again but it was fun to have a second date in one night and to kiss a random stranger…even though I’ve kissed other guys on the first date, just not so quickly. At the same time, I know that if I am seriously pursuing for marriage purposes, I don’t want to be that girl and I want a guy who will want to get to know me a little first…

Moving on though! The date I was most excited about happened the next afternoon. While in Austria I had lost hope in ever hearing from Mr. Man again (still a VERY sore subject :-( ) so I decided to browse on. I found a guy who had checked me out that had served a mission in France. I decided to send him a message since I had just been there. His profile also said that he wasn’t looking for a serious relationship right now. He is divorced and also recently got out of a serious relationship. I was kind of glad because I was feeling WAY too hurt to even think about putting myself in that situation again! I guess that partly explains (though I shouldn’t make excuses) my current actions. Anyway, I wrote a friendly note thinking that if he wrote back, we would just be friends. He did write back and we continued to communicate quite frequently. He gave me his number and as soon as I got back to the USA we started texting. 

It seemed that Mr. Burned and I had a very similar sense of humor. I don’t know what got us going but we laughed a lot and had some very witty text messages going. It wasn’t long before I had him so hooked he just couldn’t wait to meet me. He told me that several times and that he thought I was pretty, etc. He didn’t want to think all of that either and he let me know. We talked about our current single situations and just decided to see what happened. 

Last Friday he decided to make the 2 ½ hour drive just to see me. We met up and went to see the movie, “The Bourne Legacy.” I was a little disappointed at our meeting. I honestly just wasn’t feeling the same connection. I know we both were guarded but still, he just doesn’t seem like someone that I would end up with at all. We both were a lot more quiet than usual…even when the movie wasn’t playing. The movie itself was long and it reminded me of Mr. Man which just made me sad! Afterward we walked around City Creek (the new mall in town) and then went our separate ways. He told me to let him know when I was coming up that way. He shook my hand before we left which in some ways was weird but kind of nice after the night before. 

Since the big date, I haven’t really heard much from any of these guys. Mr. Burned and I still play Words with Friends but he hardly responds if I text him. I guess he wasn’t feeling it either. I have a date tonight though, and two more scheduled for the week, and two more guys trying to schedule. Tonight will put me at 40 so I guess I didn’t find Mr. Right within 40 but you can’t say I didn’t try!! I am going to keep on going until I find that man and then give him a whole lot of crap for hiding out for so dang long and putting me through all of this!!!

Exciting News!!

No...I'm not engaged! No, I'm not dating anyone or having a baby! Haha...I know that my Europe trip seemed like all the excitement we could handle for awhile but there's more! While I was away, I was reading my good friend Mariel's blog because I love it and you can't leave all of your entertainment behind, just because you leave your continent behind, right? Anyway, it turned out that she was looking for some sort of fabulous new contributor for her blog. She has a lot of followers from all of the world because it is THAT good! So, I've talked about it before but thanks for letting me share it with you again because some of you have forgotten, or have been to lazy to click the button on the left side of my page. :) However, on a whim, I decided to inquire about this contributor position and it turns out that she thinks I'm as cool as I think I am and my first post will appear today so check it out!! You will be able to find me there monthly....and the rest of the month you will find many other fabulous women with amazing ideas. It's kind of addicting and we all need another addiction right? Okay, it's late, I'm tired....I just finished a double/triple header and I'm all worn out. I will be blogging about the double header....tomorrow...after yet another date! Thanks for sticking with me! See you on....Or So She Says!

50 First Dates

I’m considering changing the title of this blog to “50 First Dates,” since I am well on my way to 40 and can see myself moving far beyond before Mr. Right decides to make an entrance in my life. Yes, I’m back at it again. Apparently Mr. Man decided that my recent month long excursion to Europe was the perfect opportunity for him to make his exit from my life. It was a good time for me too because I had a lot of great new experiences and met awesome new friends while abroad which all aided in distracting me from my current heart break. Now all I can do is just try not to think about it and to move on with my life. Things were a little weird before I left so I definitely saw it coming. Actually, things were never really the same once he got sent back to his homeland. Maybe he just saw it as a convenient relationship while he was here for work and that was that. Oh well…

Speaking of Europe though…wow…I am SO glad I went!! It was amazing! I was able to visit a friend in London where we hit up a couple of volleyball games at the Olympics and saw a beautiful performance of Les Miserables. The site seeing was also quite enjoyable. One day I even took a little trip out to the country to visit the home of Jane Austen. Appropriately, I had brought “Persuasion” as my travel book and it has been most delightful considering the places I have been. Her home was in such a charming, quaint little village, it just took you right into one of her books! 

Among some other sites in London, I also visited Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the London Eye, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Abbey Road, and much more! I especially enjoyed a river boat tour on the Thames. Such good times!

My London friend and I also took a quick two day side trip on the chunnel. Can you guess where we went? Yep, Paris! Our hotel was so cute! I don’t know why, I just thought it was so adorable with its’ full size windows with window boxes and flowers. In fact, much of Paris was decorated in the same way with its’ old ornate stone buildings! 

It was fun to see the Eiffel Tower, both during the day and when it sparkled at night! We also visited the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, Sacre Couere, and Versailles. So many beautiful and interesting places! Seeing one of Michelangelo’s statues in person was especially delightful for me after having read his biography last year, “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” Very cool!

After spending a week and half on that side of the continent, I set out on my own to Austria via Germany. This trip was especially meaningful for me because I had the opportunity to play in a symphony with a classical music festival. We were settled in the small city of Eisenstadt, where Joseph Haydn lived and worked for many years and where so much music history took place! We practiced daily in the Esterhazy palace where he had been employed. We performed his “Creation” there with both a choir, and for the first time ever, a ballet. The whole experience was absolutely incredible! I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of such a meaningful music experience! 

The rest of that trip was filled with touring palaces, castles, and cathedrals of great significance. We performed Haydn’s “Farewell Symphony” in the same room where it was originally performed, in a palace in Hungary. We had an extra special treat because a descendant of the Esterhazy family was in attendance, Prince Anton Esterhazy! We performed Beethoven’s “Mass in C” at the church where it was first performed and in the cathedral where Mozart was married, and where Beethoven’s funeral was held, and Schubert was a candle bearer. We saw many of their graves. It was fun to picture them there years ago making the same music I was then attempting to recreate! Incredible! 

From there we were able to take a side trip with a smaller group from the festival. I chose Budapest for my destination and was glad to find out that many of my new friends had chosen just as well. This city turned out to be one of my favorite from the entire trip! It was soooo beautiful!! I think that all of us would agree that our dinner cruise along the Danube was a huge highlight of this trip. Wow! I promise, there are no words to describe that amazing experience. On our second day we had a chance to see much of the country side along the Danube, including a look across the river at Slovakia. What an incredible piece of God’s creations! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to enjoy it! And that our crazy bus driver didn’t kill us so I could live to share it with you!!

A few days later I was on 4 more planes that took me through Germany, where I was momentarily locked in a room by myself at the airport and then questioned extensively by security and the border police, and then back to London and finally good old Salt Lake City Utah. It’s good to be home and see my friends and family again but I will always remember how awesome that trip was. Now, because I don’t mess around, I already have two dates lined up this week. So, stick around and you will find out what happens. I am not feeling like I want anything serious right now but staying out there in the game doesn’t hurt right? That’s funny cause I feel like the whole game hurts but…you know what I mean.