I hate this part

I last saw T on Sunday morning and during our time together Sat night/Sunday morning I got so many good signals from him. He told me he had some out of town friends coming in for a last minute visit this week - they would be arriving Sunday afternoon and leaving Friday morning. He even told me that if it wasn't weird for me, I would be welcome to join them doing something this week. Totally good signal: he wanted me to meet his friends! Now, despite the fact that I stayed over at his place on Sat, there was no funny business. But he did say so many sweet things to me like how he thought I was so pretty ("you're really pretty, you know that?") and he asked me about religion and politics. Basically, it was a great date, again, and things were progressing nicely.

However, I haven't heard a word from him since he dropped me off on Sunday. I know he's got guests, but what happened to the invitation to hang out with them? And just because he has people visiting, does that really mean it's okay for him to completely cut me out? I've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt all week, because I know it's early in our relationship (if you can call it that yet) and he hasn't seen these friends in ages. But that brings us to the next point. Yesterday afternoon, I sent him an email asking him if he would be up for being my date at a work event on Friday. Haven't heard anything back yet and it's starting to worry me. I basically need to know one way or another if he's going now because the event is tomorrow after work and plans have to be made. I texted him a few hours ago asking if he'd gotten my email. Nothing yet. So is he ignoring me? Or is he busy? I really don't want to call him in addition to that because I feel like that would push me over the edge in his mind into "nagging" mode or something. I think I may have to though if I don't hear from him, otherwise how will I know what I'm doing tomorrow?

Gah, why can't boys just be better about this kind of stuff. I hate all this wondering.

ETA: I called and left him a voicemail. I've officially done all I can and maybe now I can stop obsessing.

You've got me wondering why I, I like it rough

I've spent the past 2 nights hanging out again with T and it's been amazing. Tuesday we decided at the last minute to get together and do dinner. He came by my place to pick me up and took me to a Mexican place near where he lives. We had some more great conversation and by the time we were done, he started throwing out suggestions for things we could do next. It was quite cold out at that point, so we decided to go back to his place and just watch some tv. I stayed there for a few hours and he really didn't make any moves on me at all the whole time I was there. So after the last movie that we were watching ended, it was about midnight and I told him I should be heading home since it was so late. He was like "Yeah, I guess", kind of sounding a little bit disappointed. Then as we were getting our shoes on, he started talking about how he's all about honesty and he's not really good at dating and that he never knows about statuses and how things are going. I tried to get him to say more, something more specific but I could tell he was really nervous at this point. I told him I liked how things were going and that I'd been having a good time with him. He said the same, and then kind of hesitated for a minute and finally then leaned in to kiss me.

His kisses were so gentle and tentative at first and then he started to pull me close and really get into it. I LOVE the way he kisses and I don't think I've ever been able to really say that about a guy 100% before. He didn't use too much tongue, but he used it enough and he just seems to do exactly what I like. After a while there on his couch like that, he stood up and took my hand and I asked where he was going. He answered "the bedroom", but I told him I didn't want to go too fast. We stood there and kissed a little while longer and then it really was time to go. I looked right into his eyes and told him I had a great time and he held onto my hands and said "I'm glad". So we headed out and he drove me back to my place and when we got there, I leaned in and kissed him one last time before I got out of the car. When I was walking away, I turned back to look at him and he was sort of looking down with his hand over his mouth smiling big. So needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night, reviewing all these events in my head :)

Then yesterday was new year's eve and since neither of us had had any concrete plans, we decided to get together that night too. We were planning to head into the city but there was a huge snowstorm here and the temps were going to drop into the single digits so he just came up to my place to hang out. He got here around 7 and for the first few hours we just watched some TV and talked a lot. Again during this whole time, there was no contact between us and he didn't make any moves. Neither of us knew how to break that ice again. We decided to order some pizza at one point and when we were done eating we headed back to the couch where we had been watching TV and this time, we both sat close enough to each other that our arms were touching. During a commercial break, I stood up to get my sweater because it had gotten a bit cold and when I sat back down, he put his arm around me.

After just a few seconds he took his arm away, moved a little closer and tried again. Then he looked at me kind of nervously and said "I never know what to do" and he laughed a bit. I told him I didn't either (I'm always sooo nervous in these situations too). And then, very shortly after that, we started kissing. It started really really slow, exactly the way I like things to go, and then he started pulling some things out of his bag of tricks. Wow, he has moves that I love - and I don't think I've ever said that before about another guy. He did this thing where he would suck on my bottom lip and really lightly use his teeth while at the same time, he was touching the front of my neck. Definitely did good things to me :) We probably started making out shortly after 11 and we didn't stop until 2:30. He complimented me on how soft my hands were and how he liked touching my hair. I liked playing with his hair too... it's slightly longish and also really soft. Several times during the night we ended up laying side by side on the couch, facing each other and just staring into each others eyes.

He reluctantly said he had to go once 2:30 rolled around and so he started getting ready, put his coat and shoes on, etc. I went to turn the heat back up on my thermostat because I had started to get cold once we stopped doing stuff, and he said something about how it would be colder now and how all good things must come to an end. And then our goodnight kiss turned into another 10 minutes of intense making out. He kept saying how I wasn't making it easy for him to leave :)

So, things are going well but I'm trying not to get my hopes up yet. Things are just sooooo different with him than they were with J. So much better. More soon....

Date Update

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had started up communication with a guy (T.) on the online dating site I joined that seemed promising. Well over the two weeks that followed, we kept exchanging emails through the site - very lengthy and in depth emails, and after the third or fourth exchange he asked me out. I said yes and we made plans to meet up for dinner at a restaurant in my town. Last night was the date and I'm still reviewing everything that happened in my mind and trying to read all the signs. Ah, dating... it's a constant game ;)

Anyway, the date got off to a little bit of a rough start because he was late. I got to the restaurant about 10 minutes early and sat in the car and waited for about 15 minutes there. I had a view of the front door and I was hoping he would make an appearance there and I would go out and meet him then. However, by 6:05, I couldn't see him, so I decided to get out and go wait by the door. Another 10 minutes or so passed and I was starting to worry that I was being stood up. I had given him my cell # ahead of time in case we couldn't find each other, but I didn't have his. Then I saw a car come into the parking lot in what looked like a hurry (having to stop rather abruptly to avoid hitting some pedestrians... lol) and then once he parked he sprinted up to the door, out of breath and apologizing like crazy. Apparently he got lost on the way. He even got out his phone and showed me that he had tried to call me several times, but apparently he had written down my number wrong. So, despite the fact that it was a little annoying waiting around, I found this whole display pretty endearing. Plus it broke the ice right away. Then as we walked into the restaurant, one of the hosts opened the door for both of us and he jokingly was like "oh, come on" because he wanted to hold the door for me. Very cute :)

Speaking of cute, so was he. and as we ate and talked we found out we have an incredible amount of things in common. He was so easy to talk to and I really felt like I was being myself the whole time. After dinner we decided to go to a movie and then after that, he proposed going to get coffee. Unfortunately the coffee place was only open until 11 so that's when we called it a night. Although, after that he did kind of seem like he wanted to find something else to do but there really just wasn't anywhere else that was open. During coffee, he really started to open up to me and told me some pretty deep stuff about himself. Some serious stuff about him too. I've got to think that he felt like he could trust me by that point to tell me this stuff.

He insisted on opening every door for me all night and he paid for everything, despite me trying to pay for my half at every opportunity. I'm totally not used to that.

There was no goodnight kiss or any physical contact at all during the date. Also, we didn't make any plans to meet up again before we parted (bad signs). However, after I got in my car and started on my way home, he called me on my cell phone and left a voicemail (it was in my purse on silent). In the message he said how he had a good time and he realized I didn't have his number so he was calling so I could have it (good sign).

So now today I haven't heard from him or seen him online, but I'm not giving up hope yet. I'll be honest, I like him a lot and could absolutely see this going somewhere. I hate this part now though, because I have to wait and I just might be the most impatient person alive. I'm considering emailing him tomorrow or the next day if I don't hear from him, just to say I had a great time and see if he wants to do something again sometime. I'm going to hold off as long as I can before I do that though, because obviously I want him to contact me first, plus I don't want to come off as too pushy. We'll see what happens.

Online dating update

So things have been going well so far with the online dating thing. The way this site works is that they automatically match you up with people based on certain things and they send me about 7 new guys every day. One so far has caught my eye and it seems that I might have caught his as well. His pictures look cute, he's in the same field as myself and we have things in common. I sent him the first set of site-generated questions. He responded and then immediately sent an email with the subject "you sound awesome". We've been exchanging emails for a few days now so we'll see where it goes.

The weather has sucked a lot lately and we're expecting a foot of snow on Friday. Tonight when I got out of work I literally spent 15 minutes chiseling frozen solid ice off of every window on my car. Tons of fun. This stuff isn't supposed to happen until February!

How can you sleep when Assisted Living Dracula is on?

I've just rediscovered an old tape from my extensive VHS collection that contains an Aqua Teen Hunger Force marathon from 2004. It was a Halloween type of event and they had some creepy old guy doing lead-ins before and after the commercial breaks. It's bringing back such great memories from that time. This was right around the time when I discovered ATHF for the first time and I would tape the episodes and watch them over and over. My favorite episode had to be "The Shaving" which was about an onion-looking monster that lived in the Aqua Teens' attic. There's something about Halloween episodes of funny shows that make them really excellent. My favorite episode of the Simpsons is also a Halloween episode and in the case of both shows, those episodes were the ones that got me hooked onto the shows in the first place.

On another topic, I've decided to try out online dating again. I did it for a brief time last year before I got involved in a relationship (with someone I knew offline) and it was a really fun, exciting adventure for me. One site emailed me a few weeks ago about an amazing deal they were having (3 months for $30 total) and the deal was simply too good to pass up. My matches had been accumulating since I signed up last week and I had about 50 to sift through when I sat down at the computer tonight. I sent my first round of questions to a whole bunch of guys and we'll see how things turn out.

Recap

So last night was the big date with J. and I have to say, it went pretty well. We met up at a Mexican place nearby and had some good dinner and conversation. By the time we were ready to pay the bill, he asked me if I wanted to go get some coffee. From there we went to Barnes and Noble (in our separate cars) and we sat there and talked for another hour or so. The conversation could have been a little better - there were definitely a decent amount of awkward pauses and every time, he would kind of stare at me, studying me, which was kind of weird. A couple of times I swear I caught him checking out my cleavage, though the top I was wearing definitely didn't show much. Overall though, he was super nice and I liked the way things were going. When we finished up our coffee, he proposed seeing a movie and I agreed. This time we took one car (his) because the movie theater was pretty close by. We had no idea what we were going to see, so we just saw the one movie that was available at the time we arrived which turned out to be The Secret Life of Bees. I was sure he was going to make a move on me while we were sitting there in the dark, but nope. Nothing. By the time the movie got out, it was late and quite cold outside.

And this is when things got interesting. Right after I got in the car and shut the door, he leaned in and we kissed. He put his hand on my leg right away and I put my hand over his to make sure it didn't go anywhere it was supposed to ;) It was very nice. During the first bit of kissing he stopped for a second to ask if I had had a good time and then we went right back. We kissed and separated about 3 times and for most of it, he had his eyes open, which I'm not used to. Anyway, this was probably about 5 - 10 minutes at most and then he drove me back to my car and asked me if I wanted to get together to watch a movie at his place the next day (that would be today). I agreed. Then we kissed a little more and I got out and thus, the night ended.

I was up until about 2am kind of reliving the whole night and thinking about things, which was unfortunate because I had to wake up at 7:30 this morning to take my car in to the shop. I was so exhausted that I had to cancel on J for today, which is good and bad. Bad, obviously because I REALLY wanted to have a little more fun with him, but good because I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Who knows what might happen when we're alone together at one of our apartments. But, regardless, I'm really hoping we'll reschedule soon :)

The next round of dating

I woke up this morning feeling a little "off" but nothing I didn't attribute to it being Monday morning and not having gotten enough sleep. But as the day wore on, I started to feel worse and worse. My nose wouldn't stop running and my throat started to hurt. Then I realized that it was the week before Halloween and resigned myself to the fact that yes, I was getting sick. It seems that every year, for at least the past 4 years or so, I've gotten a cold right at this exact time of year and it looks like 2008 will be no exception.

One reason this kind of sucks is because I have a date on Friday. A REAL date, unlike that fake lunch date thing I went on with J a few weeks ago. This date will be with J also, but I have the feeling it's going to be much different. This will technically be our third date, but that's only if you want to get very technical. Our first date was over a year ago, our second was the ever-so-brief lunch encounter I just mentioned. J and I ended up IM'ing a little bit last night (he initiated contact) and he officially did the asking out. We're going to dinner after work on Friday, so it's a night date which is a plus, and also our relationship and situations are a little bit more established than they were before.

Last year when we went out, we had a pretty great time. It was during my match.com dating phase so it was our first time meeting face to face. We arranged to meet at barnes and noble for coffee and we stayed there for a few hours chatting. Then he asked if I wanted to get dinner and proposed going into Boston to find a nice place to eat. So we did and we had a LONG drive both to and from the restaurant due to the always enjoyable Boston traffic but it gave us time to talk. On the way home he started making some moves on me. Actually it started as soon as we left the restaurant as we held hands all the way back to the car. During the drive, he had his hand on my knee. When we finally arrive back at the Barnes and Noble parking lot so I could get my car, he parked and we began to say goodnight. And then he kissed me, and it was not just a quick goodnight kiss - we made out for a good minute there in his car. When I finally pulled away, he asked me if I wanted to go anywhere (presumably back to one of our apartments to "continue"), but I told him I had to get back.

I would have gone out with him again back then, but shortly thereafter, P came into my life and well, what a long story that one is. I'll save it for a future post. But based on that date with J, I know that he's not shy about the physical stuff and this could be both good and bad. Good because I would not be opposed to a little making out on Friday. Maybe even more than a little. But I don't want to do any more than that. Overall I'm just really excited about going on the date and seeing what happens :)

BUT... this cold better not stand in the way of my potential making out on Friday, that's all I have to say.

The best laid plans

Tonight I was supposed to be meeting up with an old friend for dinner. This friend is quite an old friend, as we went to elementary school together. I haven't seen him since the summer after my freshman year of college when the two of us briefly worked together. A few weeks back I sent him a random facebook message saying something along the lines of "hey, it's been forever! let's get together to catch up". So we made plans.

Last night I sent a quick email to him to make sure we were still on for tonight and I started to get a little worried when he didn't write back. So I found his cell number through his facebook page and sent him a text message before I was about to head out to the restaurant tonight. Apparently, he wouldn't be able to make it because he was IN THE HOSPITAL. He got ELECTROCUTED at work today and they were afraid his heart was going to stop. We texted back and forth a few times and last I heard, he was still waiting to find out how it was all going to turn out. I hope he's okay!

Aside from that almost-adventure, a few days ago I decided to take the plunge and email J to see what was up with him. In case you've forgotten about him, this was the guy I had gone on one date with last year who I contacted after my breakup - we met for lunch one afternoon 2 weeks ago and I hadn't heard from him since. My email was quite casual, just asking him about his weekend, etc. He wrote back two days later apologizing for the lack of communication and I finally got the story. He had just broken up with someone right before he and I got together a few weeks ago and he was hesitant to jump right back in with someone. At the end of his email he brought up getting together again. So now we're making some plans and I'm excited. I would be more concerned about the fact that he hadn't mentioned that and the lack of communication, but I'm sort of going into this as casual as possible. I'm not looking necessarily for anything serious.

I'm meeting up with another friend for dinner tomorrow - this one an old (female) coworker. Hopefully that will turn out better than tonight!