Well hello there!

Yikes!  I haven't written since May 7th.   Sorry about that!

I guess I hadn't had much to write about so I just figured why bother.  And honestly, I didn't really mind it.  I basically forgot I had a blog.  Maybe that's an indication?  We'll see.

So here's a little update I have for you:

JOB:
Still none.  I'm still job searching daily and applying to things that I am qualified for and am interested in.  But it isn't a lot.  I'm still waiting to hear from this head hunter about a job he contacted me about in April, so we'll see.  I really hope something comes up soon because I am honestly bored with not working and really tired of not having any money.

FOOT:
The foot is good.  I got the all clear from my doctor last Thursday so I won't be seeing her again unless I want her to remove the toenail completely because it's bothering me.  The nail is slowly growing in and she says that I won't really get the whole thing back, so we'll see.  I'm really more worried about what it looks like than I thought I would be.  At least I can fully function.

GYM:
I started back to the gym last week.  I waited a week longer than I wanted to because I was afraid I was going to do something to my toe.  But it's honestly been great.  I haven't been running or jumping yet, but soon.  I'm not really in a rush, especially since I'm not playing volleyball right now.

DATING:
Nothing much was happening on this front for a long time.  Guy #2 basically pulled excuse after excuse, so that was that.  Last week I went out with a new guy from Match.  He is very nice.  We went out again last night - so we'll see.  He's fun to hang out with, but I'm not sure I really feel attracted to him.

I snagged an outfit photo before my date last night

OTHERS:
This month has seemed really busy.  One of my old teammates got married two weeks ago and a bunch of my teammates were in town to celebrate.  We had a great weekend reconnecting and just having a blast.  I snagged a couple photos from the pretty crazy week.

 Me and Tera take a selfie

 Sprangers, Tera, Amanda, Me and Brooke

Then there were shots and fishbowl drinks - and things got crazy!

 Amanda and I heading off to the wedding

 Wedding attire - Sprangers, Amanda, Tera, Me, T, Brooke

 A little Sunday Funday in the cab ride home with Amanda and Brooke

 Finally, I took a leap of faith and entered a pinup contest with the MOTOBLOT event.  Shockingly, I made it to the top 20!!!!  That means I have to be onsite for the event on the 14th of June for audience voting.  EEEK!  I'll be spending the next couple of weeks practicing my pinup poses, picking out what I'm going to wear and figuring out my hairstyles!

Hello Out There!

I have completely slacked on blog posting.  No excuses, I just don't have much to talk about.

A few of you that have been bugging me for updates on life have been hearing about it constantly so I wasn't sure I needed to post.  But this is probably still good for reference.

The last I wrote was about St. Patty's day and the last time I saw guy #2.  Since there I have heard from him occasionally, but he hasn't made any move to ask to see me again.  So I'm not really sure where to go with that.  As I learn more about what he's doing, he is incredibly busy.  But there is a part of me still thinking - hey, if he was interested in seeing you, he would do it!"... So, that's where that stands.   Guy #1 is still around sometimes, but its so casual I can barely think about it as dating.  I heard from him last week while I had plans and there have only been a couple of texts since then.

I'm still on match, but nothing has really been progressing with that.  So, yeah.... that's about it from the dating end.  Not going to lie, I'm pretty bummed about Guy #2.

As for my professional life, that's not really progressing any faster than my dating life is.  I have a presentation next week for a potential job, but I don't know what the decision time line is for that.  I've been checking things online and there isn't much out there.  This week has started to set in the panic of realizing that I am not getting any more money coming in.  Yikes!  I did sign up to take my certification exam on May 2nd so I should really be spending this time reading/studying.  I need to stay focused on something!

On some good news (because right now this seems super depressing), I have been hitting the gym while I've been home and keeping an eye on my eating.  I have definitely lost weight, probably close to 10 lbs in the last 3 weeks or so!  It's definitely something I wasn't really focusing on and sort of happened while I was distracted with everything else.  The good news is that it has given me a new sense of purpose for right now.  Keeping on track with the weight loss - IE: Bikini Ready 2014!  Of course, this is going to become challenging for the next couple of weeks because I have my surgery on Friday and that will hinder my mobility for a while.  If I can keep on track with my eating, I should be able to push through that.

So that's all I got for you right now.  No dating, no job, and soon less mobility than ever.  2014 is not shaping up to be the Year of Megan right now...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sorry I haven't written in a while.  The transition from employed to unemployed has been difficult.

Also, admittedly I had a mental temper tantrum about the perceived fade away that guy #2 appeared to be pulling.

So the last week was a bit stressful - culminating a three week period of influx in my life.

I've mentioned on here that I don't do well with unplanned right? :)

After spending my last two mornings in the office on Monday and Tuesday, I spent Wednesday through Friday feeling sorry for myself by not accomplishing anything but walking Samson.  By the time Friday rolled around, I was officially bored.  So now I need to fix that.

Saturday was the big celebrate St. Patrick's day in Chicago.  I wasn't really feeling fighting the crowds of crazies, so Brooke was going to come over and my old coworker, Meg.  I ended up meeting Maren (from DC) for lunch before Meg and Brooke showed up.

While the three of us were just having a few drinks and chatting, I got a text from guy #2 who's plans had fallen through.  He ended up meeting the three of us over at Dry Hop for a few beers.  It kind of great.  Meg ended up leaving shortly after he got there.  We stayed until they closed and then walked back to my apartment since Brooke was staying with me.  He ended up leaving shortly after.  There wasn't really any discussion about going out again, but we did chat briefly about how his work schedule goes through periods of very busy to not as busy and right now was a very busy period.  So we'll see.

It was a pleasant surprise to hear from him on Saturday and even better that he showed up.

Today I am supposed to have my second date with guy #1, though we really haven't made any plans besides "let's do something on Monday".  Tomorrow I have to head up to Madison for a meeting regarding a job prospect and then Wednesday I am doing some babysitting for the Hales kids in the afternoon.

So my time is filling up.  It's easier when I am busy - obviously - to not think about everything that's gone down.  Plus, I have my surgery on the 28th, and then I will be a bit more restricted on what I can do.

Date #3 Update

I know that 3 of you are waiting for an update.  Well, date #3 did not happen.

Because of a work conflict, he had to cancel.  He said he felt terrible and was so sorry.  When I said that I was disappointed but I understood, he said that he was super disappointed.

So there's that.

Right now there hasn't been any talk about rescheduling, so I'm not sure where to go with this.

I'm trying really hard not to overanalyze anything right now and just go with the flow.

I'll be sure to update you if we end up rescheduling... or I guess if that's the end of it, I'll also be updating you.*

*Trying not to be pessimistic today.  I may be failing.

A Second Date

*Disclaimer: I am currently sitting in the jury assembly room at the Skokie Courthouse... Because of course, after the week I had last week I would get called in for jury duty.

Last night I had my second date with Guy #2 from last week.  He had been giving me a hard time about having little opinion on what we did for date one, so I made the suggestion for date two.

We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant I picked near my place and then I wanted to take him to Jeni's. (Thanks for the suggestion Leslie!)

I was hoping he hadn't made it to Jeni's yet, but he had been there once.  It actually ended up working out because I showed him the PROPER way to experience Jeni's and he got a kick out of how passionate I was about ice cream.  I'm still not sure how to respond to that one.

It was only around 10 when we were done with our ice cream and I wasn't ready for the night to end yet (I hope he wasn't either).  So I suggested grabbing a drink and we crossed the street to stop into an Irish bar.

We had a great time chatting and he makes me laugh a lot... Which I love but was especially needed after the week I had.  We talked about random stuff and also about dating and online dating.

When we were ready to leave, he walked me to my car and there were a few goodnight kisses.

We made plans to go out again on Thursday.

It was so nice to be on an actual second date.  That first date awkwardness is gone and conversation is just different.  And it's been a long time since I have felt excited to hear from someone and thrilled about getting to see them again.

Can't wait until Thursday.

First Date #2 of the Week

Date #2 has an incredibly lengthy and sort of weird back story.   Let's see if I can sum it up in bullet points.

1. Guy #2 randomly follows me on Instagram sometime last year.  I check him out and follow him back after seeing he went to NIU also.  Random photo comment commences sporadically.
2. My friend, Meredith, tells me about this new dating app, Hinge, based on connections through facebook friends.  Very similar to Tinder but not necessary location specific.
3. After a week of being downright frustrated with Hinge and ready to give up, Guy #2 pops up as a "connection".  I say YES (obviously) and anxiously wait all day to see if we "matched".
4. Two days pass with no alert of a connection, so I quickly pout and move on.
5. Last Friday, I wake up to a message that "You and Guy #2 connected.  Say hi!"
6. Messaging via Hinge takes place.  I send him my number irritated by glitchy problems with the app.
7. Texting ensues.
8. After waiting 3 days to see if he was ever going to ask me out, I give up and ask him myself.
9. I find out that we actually "knew" each other in college and he admits he's wanted to grab a drink with me since then (and has had a bit of a crush on me).
10. Planned Thursday date.

So that's probably as simple as I can make that whole process.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited about this date.  This date was in the works before Date #1 was even an option and it was really hard for me to get excited about date #1 because I just couldn't wait to go out with this guy.  As I told my coworker, I am not sure I have ever been this excited about a date in probably a decade.  The upside - YEAH something positive this week.  The downside - I was totally in my head all week!  Instead of being casual and relaxed about this date, I was over-analyzing every text message.

ANYWAYS...  the date was terrific.

We hit it off right away (not surprising) and had a great time chatting.  I laughed a lot.  He is cute!  It was great.  And the best part... we had already agreed to see each other again on Monday before we even ended this date.

So really, aside from my shitty job situation and now the toe surgery, my week has been pretty awesome.  

I'm responsible for planning the second date - AH SECOND DATE!  I better get my thinking cap on.

Trying not to jinx it - this week's dating

Over the course of the last week, I've been having a few conversations with people I've "met" through my various online dating channels.  Various - oh man - it's sad that it's so true.

Anyways, so over the weekend and Monday (which work was hitting the downhill slide), my dating life was getting interesting.  I'm dubbing this week my "playing the field" week.  Two dates with two different guys. 

You guys, this blog might just get interesting!  :)

Back to my point....I set a time to meet for drinks (yesterday) with Guy #1.  He and I have been "chatting" off and on since before Christmas.  He was that guy that thinks its okay to invite someone out "in 20 minutes", so I didn't think I was seriously going to meet him.  In fact, when we did actually pre-plan a date after Christmas, I ended up cancelling on him because I got a weird vibe and didn't want to go.

Long story short, we got back to chatting and decided to meet for a drink.  Given my work situation yesterday, I REALLY didn't want to go on a first day but knew  that if I cancelled on him again that this would be the end of that opportunity for him.  So I went.

And honestly, I'm really glad that I did.

He looked like his pictures.  I was actually attracted to him (imagine that).  He was very personable and chatty.  We had a really nice time talking about everything and anything.   And when the date was over, he gave me a kiss on the cheek, asked me to text him that I got home okay and said he would like to see me again.

So score one for the dating life this week.  We'll see when we get around to planning something again.

I have my first date with Guy #2 tomorrow - someone I actually know from college (very loosely).  Should be interesting.  I have actually been really excited about this date, so we'll see.

What a week

I am not sure I'm ready to discuss what's going on at work, but really anyone reading this would already know that I am being let go.

To make a really long story short, we've been having issues with our biggest association client since the new president came on in November.  On Monday, a forwarded email made its way to me that made a "before we fire them" comment.  So with losing this client, my small company cannot afford to pay me anymore.

So there's that.

I know am in the process of dealing with negotiations about when my officially "last 30 days" starts and how much I have to be in the office.

I will tell you, this situation has been handled extremely poorly!  But I'm not going to write about any details until everything is done here.  That's the last thing I need to deal with.  Which reminds me, this blog is no longer going to be searchable to the public.  There's really no point.

This post sucks.  I'm sorry.

Though, on the bright side, while my professional life is crumbling around me - my dating life is actually taking an interesting turn.

I'll write about this week's dating in a follow up post.

First date repeat

I have a feeling these first date posts are all starting to sound familiar.  I feel that way because all these first dates are starting to blend together in my mind.... because they all have a same theme.

zzzzzzzzzzz

Well, you will see.

A few short days after joining match, I received an email from a guy named D.  He seemed very nice and said that he enjoyed the fact that I was tall and that my family was important to me.  He was tall (6'5) and his profile implied that we may have quite a bit in common.  We emailed back and forth a couple times and then he asked if he could call me since he felt it was easier to get to know each other.  I, of course, said yes because (as I may have mentioned before), I really hate this whole texting phenomenon.

We picked a day to talk and ended up chatting for about an hour on the phone.  It was very nice, although there were a few things that stuck out for me as odd.  This is where I admit that online dating - or generally not dating much - has really made me feel hyper critical.  If there is something (even if it's stupid) that gives me a weird vibe, I tend to follow my gut and bail.  It's worked out for me - if you consider the first date and done behavior working out.  Anyways, we tentatively set a date time for the following Saturday and would be in touch again during the week.

We chatted on the phone one more time during the week to set plans for Saturday and I was actually looking forward to getting back out again.

Saturday came around and I was a little less than enthusiastic about it.  I blame it on the general winter feeling of NEVER WANTING TO LEAVE THE HOUSE.  This winter has sucked.

So I went.  We met at a restaurant I had never tried, but was familiar with the area.  He was waiting for me when I got there.

Now is the point (for all you non-online daters - which is basically everyone that reads this blog) where I tell you about the "blind date meet".  When you only have photos that the individual has selected to share, there are one of two things that can happen the first time you actually meet someone in person.

The first, the person shows up and is slightly better looking than they were in their photos.  There's a decent chance that this happens since photos aren't always the most accurate representation.

The second, the person shows up and does not look as good as their photos - OR - not even remotely close to their photos.  I'm sure you remember the date I had last year where the guy was a good 10 years older and 40 pounds heavier than his photos.  I will never understand why people don't attempt to put an accurate reflection of themselves online.  People don't like to be tricked.

Anyways, I'm regressing.  Getting back to my date.  So needless to say, when I first say D he was the latter.  Slightly less cute than he appeared in his pictures.  There was not an attraction on my part, but I knew that he was at least nice, so the date wouldn't be a total bust.

To spare you the recap of the entire dinner date, let's just say this.  He was certainly nice.  Almost too nice.  So nice is was kind of boring.

I feel terrible saying that, but he was.  The lack of general physical attraction plus the boringness did not bode well for a follow up date.  At the end of the evening, he said that we should do this again (this is starting to sound like a broken record of dates).  I told him that I had to head out of town and he said he would touch base when I returned.

Since then, not a peep.  I expected him to be the guy that would text a follow up after the date, and he didn't.  And to be honest, I didn't reach out to him either.

So, we'll chalk this up to another one-and-done date.  I'm getting good at these.

Giving Match another go around

I feel like there are several posts on here about how I am completely done doing any online dating.  And I'm sure I really meant it.

But after being prodded by another single friend, I decided that since I'm clearly not dating on my own, I might as well give Match another shot.

So while my How About We account is floundering in inactivity, I started Match for 6 months.

At the very least, hopefully, it will provide some more blog stories. :)

Online dating observations

Given that this will now start my 13th month of online dating (oh my god).... I am starting to acquire my list of "oh for the love of god, don't put that in your profile/don't say that in a message" things men should not do!

How was that for the longest sentence ever?

Anyway, more often than not I find myself wincing when reading something from a guy.  Superficial?  Probably.  Entertaining blog fodder?  Oh yes!

So this new dating site asks the question, "story you should remind me to tell you on our date" and one guy actually wrote...

"The stories of the 'one-hit wonder' girls that I've gone out with."

Isn't that dating 101?  Don't talk about your exes too soon or other dates you've recently been on?

Third times a charm... online dating

So - after trying Match and Eharmony, I swore that I was going to give up online dating.  It was not productive for me and more frustrating than anything else.

You can read my posts about it here.

Well, after reading a few blog posts about couples using How About We for dates, I was browsing the website and saw that they have a singles dating side.  So after creating an account, I decided to just pay for 6 months of service.

The premise is built more around getting out on dates and less about the endless emailing and texting and quizzes that these other groups do.

So I am giving it a 6 month try.  I'll keep updated (all 4 of you) on how it goes. :)

Dating through eharmony

This past Sunday, I had my first date from eHarmony.  If you remember, I mentioned that I joined eHarmony on a whim because they had a 3-month deal going on.

After my match.com experience, I was generally reserved.  I took the time to fill out the ridiculously long survey and then complete my really extensive profile and waited to get notice from eHarmony that I had some matches.

Instead, I got an email that said my requirements (close to Chicago, 30-40 years old, not a smoker, at least 6ft tall) were too restrictive.... seriously?  So I went back in and opened the area range to 90 miles around Chicago and that seemed to work.

Then I got a lot of matches.  Too many matches.  People out in the middle of no where Indiana.  And then I started to notice that MOST of the matches said "not exactly meets your criteria, but we think you have a lot in common".  What?!

So I did my best for the first month.  I reached out to people and I responded to people that wrote to me. Then I realized a few things:

1.  No one I wrote first actually wrote me back
2.  The guys I were responded to seemed nice, but didn't really appeal to me
3.  eHarmony has no easy way to respond to people to say "thanks but no thanks" so you don't leave them hanging.

The eHarmony messaging process is comprehensive.  First you send them 5 multiple choice questions, they some back.  Then if you like their answers, you can send them your 10 must haves and your 10 deal breakers.  After that, if you still like their answers, you can send them 3 open ended questions and vice versa.  Finally, if you both are on the same page, you can message each other actually conversations.

Well, I made it through this process with 3 people.  One fizzled out pretty quickly.  One of them I actually spoke to on the phone for 15 mins but we haven't set up anything (and probably won't).  The last one was my date on Sunday.

On paper, he seemed really nice.  He was thoughtful in his responses.  He seemed to have a lot of things to do.  He has a dog.  When we were writing, he expressed how excited he was to meet me and was looking forward to drinks.  A few days before, he wrote me another message to just confirm we were still on (even though he had my phone number) and then the afternoon of he wrote me again to let me know he may need to eat while we were there.

I got there early because I was worried about the rain, so I parked myself up to a table and texted him to let him know I was early.  This was 10 to 7 and he wrote back and said he was just a few blocks away.  At 7:10, he strolled into the place completely soaked with sweat.  I found out later in the conversation that he doesn't have a car (totally okay) and took the train and then walked.  I mean.  If I didn't have a car and I had a date, I may take the train but I'm sure as hell taking a cab to get there.  Anyways....

The date itself was fine.  Very chatty and had good conversation.  He ate and I nibbled on some chips and salsa because it's awkward when only one person is eating on a date - right?  We each had a couple beers and 3 hours later the check arrived.  We had that awkward moment when no one reaches for it or deals with the check.  Finally, he picked it up and I offered to leave the tip or split it.  He seemed really uncomfortable. So he handed it over to me and said we could split it.  The total bill was less than $40.

After we paid, I offered to drive him the 4-6 blocks over to the train station, he gave me an awkward car hug and said "thanks for meeting up with me."

I guarantee that I don't hear from him again - which is just fine by me.

On my way home, I was just annoyed.....  let me back up a tiny bit.

While this guy was very nice and we had good conversation, I was in no way attracted to him.  Had he asked, I may have gone out with him once more just to make sure but that probably would've been it.  And honestly, I was a little annoyed that he asked me to split the bill.  I feel that at least for the first couple of dates, the guy should pay.  Especially when I didn't really eat anything and paid for half of his dinner!

So, I was annoyed.  I spent 3 hours on my Sunday night at another unsuccessful date.  I was just stewing.  I figured out that where a lot of this could be going wrong is in the people I am talking to.  Because I am not hearing from the people that I want to hear from, I end up just chatting the guy that contacted me who seems to be nice even though I'm not really interested in talking to them.  And then I go out with them - and shockingly, they aren't successful.

It's good that it is forcing me to get out, but I definitely will not be doing any more online dating when my eHarmony account ends in September.  I am going to leave it up to good old fashioned luck, or someone I meet through a friend or family member.  No more "blind" dates for me.

Back in the online dating saddle?

So there was a deal for 3 months of eHarmony....  and I did it.  This morning.  And after browsing profiles and seeing the small amount of people they matched me to.  I'm already regretting the loss of that money.

I'm trying to be optimistic about it.  I do have three months.  Maybe it will end up being worth it?  At least I'm getting out there again.

The one with a random list of updates

As the title suggests, please enjoy this random list-style update.  Those of you that care, this will include a NEW date update.

1. I finally found shoes to wear for Lauren's wedding.  I don't know why I had such a hard time with this, but I did.  I managed to find this pair of Steve Madden's on the clearance rack at DSW for under $40.  Awesome!  (sorry this picture is blurry, I was rushing.)

1. So I had a date on Friday.  A date I had completely forgotten about.  This was one of the last guys I was talking to before my Match subscription ended.  We had a hard time scheduling something and had tentatively planned an outing for Friday.  I basically left it up to him and on Thursday night, he texted me to confirm plans.  We met up for dinner and it was nice.  He was cute (and actually looked pretty much like his picture), though pretty quiet.  Could've been because he's quiet in general or that he worked all day and was tired, but I carried the bulk of the conversation.  We left the night with a hug and him saying he would be in touch.  I had a good enough time to at least go on a second date, but I'm not too sure he did.  So we'll see.  By the way, this is what I wore out.

*shoes, Target, jeans, Express, Shirt - Express

1. On Sunday, I ended up staying home to get some things done and Samson attempted to lay outside for like 10 minutes.  Seeing as how we've almost lived here for a year, I'm taking that as progress.  Baby steps, Samson.  :)

I'm heading tomorrow to DC to spend a day visiting with Sara and I can't wait!!  A day of activity and fun before I head up to Baltimore for a week for work.

Match Update

I haven't updated on match in a while because I wasn't really doing much.  Sure, I was occasionally checking, but I had decided that I was not going to renew my subscription when it expired on March 23rd.

Of course, as soon as I made that decision, it was like match spammed me with attention from people.

So I have been talking to two guys, both very different but very nice.  I met up with one of them last night for dinner.

In our conversations leading up to the date, it was very nice.  I wouldn't say I was attracted to him (at least via the pictures I'd seen) but he was very personable and we had quite a few things in common.

Dinner last night was nice.  We had great conversation and had a lot in common.  And he was very nice.  And that was it.

At the end of the night, we hugged goodbye and mutually agreed that it was nice to meet each other.  There was no promise of being in touch or setting something up in the future.  And that's okay.  I think we both probably felt the same way.

I have one more date lined up for next week, so we'll see.

I had a text conversation with my grade school friends saying that just once it would be nice to leave a date with something more than "he was a really nice guy".  Just once.

I'm glad for this online dating experience and that it has gotten me out and dating, but there will be no more internet dating in my future.

First Date #3

This is going to be a short post.  I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I stayed home from work.  So far, I've really enjoyed sleeping.

On Saturday, I had my third first date through Match.  To be honest, I really had to pep myself up for this one.  When it was snowing during the day, I debated telling him not to drive in it.  See, we had started talking almost a month ago.  Also, there wasn't a ton of information in his profile and he only had one picture.

Just another reason I should trust my gut.  So far I've been 3-3.

He coordinated plans, called for a reservation and was there before me.  Thank God too because I would NEVER have recognized him if he hadn't come up to me first.  His profile on his photo was around 4 years old and he was about 40 pounds heavier.

We sat down and I did majority of the talking.... so much for the "chatty guy with a great sense of humor - who's very sarcastic".  I use quotes on that because that's how he describes himself in his profile.

I should give him a little credit.  He was nice enough.  I about 2.5 hours into the date, I started to get really tired of talking.  We had finished eating.  Both our of drinks were nearly empty, yet he made no move to do anything.  Not a "did you want to grab one more drink" or "well, that was fun".  We had also already paid.  So finally, after the waiter came over for the 3rd time, I said, "well, thank you for dinner.  I had a nice time."

He got the hint then and we started grabbing out coats and stuff.  Outside the restaurant, I gave him a hug and thanked him for dinner.  He asked if I wanted to do something again.  I told him I was heading out of town this week and he left it up to me to get in contact with him.

So when I return from my trip to San Diego this week, I will be getting in contact with him to thank him for a nice night, but that I don't think it's going to work out.

I don't know why but this match dating has made me extremely cynical and so judgmental I can't stand it.  

For example, at one point he was telling me about his work and he said that his boss was leaving and recommended him for the promotion to take over his position but that he wasn't really thrilled about it.  Judgy McJudgerson Megan couldn't help but think - why on earth would you not be motivated to take a promotion?!

Honestly, I can't wait until my time on Match is up in March.  I will most certainly NOT be renewing.

On the plus side, I'm getting pretty darn good at this "first date" thing.

The Online Dating Experiment

**I'm schmoozing with the Chicago foreign dignitaries today for work, so I wrote this last night.

It's been a little over 4 months of trying out match.com.  I've been on two dates and had a dozen email conversations with guys.

I have to be honest though, after date #2 and the spamming of completely uninteresting guys, I'm over it.

A blogging friend from the past posted an article (from NYMagazine) about online dating, found here, and I gotta tell you.... most of it is completely true.

"... online dating pools are increasingly contaminated by those so undesirable or socially awkward their meet-ups invariably fail to yield lasting connections."

Um, yeah.

I wanted to make 2013 the year I focused on putting myself out there.  I want to date.  I'm open to meeting people.  I just don't think online dating is the way I am going to do it.

So while my match membership doesn't expire until the middle of February, that will be the end of it.  I debated trying eharmony.  I think I'm going to wait.

Maybe 2013 shouldn't be the year I really focus on dating, but the year I just focus on me and let whatever happens, happens.  Doesn't everybody say, "It happens when you least expect it."?  (Honestly, that one ranks right up there with all the people that told me my breakup was "better now than later".  I get the sentiment, but not helpful.)

I digress.  I'm not sure what to do now.  It's so frustrating and exhausting.

A match update

With my third month on match almost over, I've come to realize a few things....

1. Online dating is both extremely frustrating and amazing comic relief at the same time.
2. There are an awful lot of poorly taken cell phone photos as main profile pictures.
3. Writing skills are terrible.  Period.

I have now taken to forwarding most of the emails I receive to my mom for a good laugh.  The other day I received an email that just said this:

I was so tempted to write back and tell him congratulations.  PEOPLE, USE PUNCTUATION PLEASE!  It makes you look like a moron.

Then there are emails like this:

Great!  I don't think it takes a whole lot of effort to mention one thing you actually read on my profile that prompted you to write in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, occasionally (and I really mean occasionally) there is an email that pops up that is well written, shows they actually read my profile, and have taken the time to see that we might be looking for similar things.  I went out with two people because of this.

And then there's the profile pictures.  Profile pictures that are bed self portraits taken in their bathrooms.  Or webcams.  Or weird random photos with people cropped out.  Or the guy with his photo of him holding a glass of wine and a lobster.  This one I actually snapped a photo of and send to a few friends who have done match.  Nothing like expressing - hey, I like wine... and seafood - right on your profile picture.

What I find most frustrating is that about 75% of the people I actually email never get back to me.  Which maybe they aren't interested - and that's fine - but could they at least send the auto "thanks but no thanks" email.  At least I'm not sitting here wondering what's going on.

My 6 month period ends in the middle of February so I still have some time to see if it's worth it.  More than likely, I will chalk this up as a great experiment and will not continue after February.

The weekend recap

For those of you interested, my date on Friday night was very nice.  He was cute and polite and actually let me do some talking!  He was basically the polar opposite to guy #1.  So, we'll see what happens with that.

On Saturday, I headed up to my parents place to visit, do some laundry and see the Hales.  It was a nice Saturday and Melissa and I were even able to see the new Twilight movie.

Sunday, I did nothing.  Samson and I went for a walk.  I emptied my DVR and unpacked a lot of my Christmas decorations.  I started to put some stuff up, but will really have to wait for a tree to do the rest.

I'm so thankful this is a short week - I am only working today and tomorrow.  Today didn't start off too well when I ripped a hole into my favorite jeans...

Looks like I am relying on getting a haircut this afternoon to make my day better!