Danger!

Crap. I'm starting to actually like this guy. And the more time I spend with him, the more I like him. Darn it. I hate when that happens.

My new Motto

My new motto is short and simple, comprised of three little words: HAVE MORE FUN! Natalie's suggestion to me to "not think too much" is the key to making sure I follow my own advice. Problem is, it's kinda hard to turn off this brain of mine! But, I'm trying, I'm trying. Case in point - new guy, the artist dude. If I allow myself to think about it, I know he's totally wrong for me. But turn off the brain and just permit myself to enjoy it (or him, rather) while it/he lasts - that's what I'm gonna do. If you could see him...or if you have seen him...you'd understand completely :) Oh my gosh. Last night when he was over, I was in the kitchen pouring some water and he had taken his shirt off, and he stood in the doorway between the room where my bed is and the kitchen and was holding onto the doorframe and his gorgeous, tan, tall, body was stretched out and I just looked and him and kind of melted. Oh my gosh. That picture is going to be etched in my mind for a while. Plus the fact that he came over to see me, knowing I was sick, and he wasn't going to get any. He said he just wanted to be next to me. Do I fall for this stuff? Totally! Going to see him tonight, and tomorrow, and we have plans on Tuesday - and I am so having more fun.

Socialites

Contrary to popular belief, single people like myself don’t necessarily have wild and crazy social lives. Truthfully, the older I get, the more often I find myself hanging out at home and relaxing on the couch as opposed to going out and drinking and flirting. Take this weekend for example. I tried to get some friends to meet me at concert in the park on Friday evening after work, but it didn’t happen. I ended up going for a long walk with Carolyn instead, then going home and reading three magazines while watching “School of Rock” playing on Fox. I think I ended up going to sleep at around 11 p.m. Pretty exciting!

My friends and I actually had a number of social obligations on Saturday night, however. We were pretty excited about this and conveniently, all three parties were within about 5 blocks of each other, making getting around pretty easy. We started off at a wedding reception for some friends who got married recently in Hawaii. Free drinks and appetizers, sweet. Checking our watches, we headed out to party #2, a wine and art reception at a new downtown winery. Another of our friends invited us, she was helping the artist to promote his work. We walked in and I asked her who the artist was, expecting some effeminate “artsy” guy and was surprise when she pointed out a tall, dark, and handsome guy, dressed preppy in khakis and a button down shirt. All of a sudden I became a great patron of the arts J We all hung out there for an hour or so, and two of my friends ended up buying art. They convinced him to come with us to the next party, our friend’s birthday shindig. Yeah – he left his own party to come with us, cool. The birthday party was great. It was in this beautiful old, renovated empty apartment that is going to be a salon. Perfect setting for a party, and they had a bartender and a DJ. I stayed fairly close to the artist, desiring to learn more about this hottie and his many “passions” that inspire his art. Sure, his compliments were a little on the cheesy side, but I needed a little ego boost after my rejection by the blind date, right? Plus, like I mentioned, I do like to support the arts. And local artists. He told me he would call me tonight, so we’ll see. But, wow, he is nice to look at. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with him again.

Rejection

Based on the way my date with the hot dad went last weekend, I was pretty sure he was interested in me and that he would call me. All the signs were there. He complimented me on my appearance (he did not have to do this). He was the one who wanted to extend the date and keep it going. After dinner, he could have easily begged off with an excuse that he had to get up early the next morning for something or other. When I invited him in for dessert, he could have declined, after all, it was already 1 a.m. Then, when he was leaving, he said something about wanting to take me out again. Taking all of this into consideration, I don’t think it was unreasonable to expect a phone call. So I have compiled a list of possible reasons for why he has not called:

1. he got in a car accident on the way home to Folsom and was recovering in the hospital
2. assuming #1 is true, he has contracted amnesia and doesn’t remember a thing about me or our date
3. or, as a result of the accident, his cell phone was destroyed and he lost my number
4. let’s say there was no accident, but after thinking the evening over, he decided that I am way too beautiful/smart/funny for him and he is terribly intimidated by me
5. thus, he is going to check with Vanessa and see if she has any more friends to set him up with

Unfortunately, I’ll never know, unless he decides to share his reasoning with Vanessa. Oh well! Like I said before, at least it was fun and interesting night.

The Set-up

I've noticed that married people take a great interest in trying to get their single friends paired off. It's like they've joined a cult and their main purpose is getting others to follow suit. Right?? My dear (and married) friend Vanessa only has my best interests at heart, I’m sure. Apparently she’s not satisfied with any of the guys I meet on my own (usually younger men). She’s always promoting some way for me to meet new guys, usually online dating sites like match.com or eharmony.com. She always has success stories to use as examples and support her cause. I’ve joked with her that she should get a job in marketing for a dating service – she’d do well! So I wasn’t terribly surprised to get a very enthusiastic voice mail from her one day, claiming that she knew a guy who I HAD to meet. Turned out he is a “hot dad” who she knows from her day care center. She said I need to meet an older, established guy who is “domesticated.” I was skeptical from the get-go, not only because he has kids but because he lives in the ‘burbs. So far removed from my cosmopolitan, big-city lifestyle, right? Ha. I convinced myself I wouldn’t like him or have anything in common with him. I told myself he was probably a Bible-beating Bush-supporting right-winger. At least I set my expectations to zero – not a bad idea when it comes to blind dates, based on my prior experience.

She told Hot Dad about me and gave him my number. He called, we had a good conversation, and we made plans to go out this Saturday (last night). He showed up at my door at 8:30 p.m. and the first thing I thought was “he’s really cute!” The second thought was “he’s kind of short.” But, the cuteness made up for his lack of height. We walked from my place to a nearby restaurant and had a nice dinner, then moved on to a microbrewery place and had some beers (just one for me, low-tolerance and small bladder girl). We walked back to my apartment and I invited him in for dessert. No, really. I had baked a pear cobbler earlier in the day. Talk about domesticated. Anyway, he was definitely interested in the dessert. Maybe he thought I had something else in mind?? He ended up staying and hanging out till about 2 a.m. Just talking, I swear. He gave me a hug goodbye and said something about wanting to take me out again. He didn’t say “I’ll call you” which nearly always means they won’t, so maybe that’s a good sign? Who knows. If it turns out that this was just a one time thing, I’m satisfied that it was a nice evening. And if he does want to go out again, that’s totally cool with me. After all, I learned he is not into church and he’s not a right-winger. Meaning, this guy’s got potential!

Since My Last Post...

...a lot has happened! I received a job offer that I was very, very excited about. That meant I had to quit my old job - something I was very, very nervous about. But I didn't need to be. My boss was cool. I started my new job at the end of June and I'm pretty pleased about the way things have gone, so far. At first, it was an interesting transition to go from being someone's supervisor to being the supervisee, and having someone else be in charge and make the decisions. But, considering I'm working fewer hours, have waaaay less stress and pressure, and I'm making more money, this was something I quickly got over.

What else has happened? Well, in the larger scheme of things, two of my friends had babies in the last two months. Another friend is newly pregnant. Two of my friends moved away to Texas. One of my good friends, who has been single for at least as long as I have, met a guy and now they're "official." Good for her! She deserves to meet a great guy. I really did finally send an email to Mark and...never got a response. Not surprisingly. I went on a fun trip to Vancouver, BC with Blake, Carolyn, Susan and Shannon S. I went on a weekend trip to Visalia to visit Katie, Dan, Jacob, Luke and Erik. Katie and I went on a day trip to Sequoia National Park and saw the biggest tree in the world, the General Sherman. Pretty cool! I have been to SF many times in the last two months. On several of those occasions, I did see Derek. I have finally admitted to myself what I knew previously to be true, but did not want to admit, that it's just not there. Totally cool guy, very intellectual and intelligent and interesting, not to mention super-cute, but I'm not for him. And he's not for me. At least I tried.

I plan on being in SF on a regular basis for work, and I'm thinking seriously about arranging a little pied-a-terre in the city. Since my work will be paying for me to stay in a hotel anyway, I figure I may as well look into renting a room in an apartment, and having a place to keep some belongings. This way, I can figure out whether I may want to live there full-time or not. Living in SF has always been one of my dreams, and this is a way to test it out and see if I want to take the plunge. Of course, that would mean never, ever buying real estate. For me, that may be OK. Homeownership, while a must for many people, has never been something at the top of my list. However, for the time, I do plan on remaining in Sacramento, where it is entirely possible to purchase real estate. I've been doing some research and establishing my priorities. I think I'd like to buy a place and rent out a room to help with the mortgage. Now it's just a matter of learning what I can qualify for and figuring out if I can afford to buy something in the neighborhoods I find desirable. I'm not particularly interested in buying the perfect house and creating a little nest for myself. It's more about whether the place will be a good medium to long term investment. In other words, will I be able to sell the place in 10 years and make enough money to finally pay off my student loans?? My current options for ridding myself of debt are the following: 1) win the Lotto, 2) find some rich guy to marry, or 3) buy real estate and be patient for 10 years or so.

Time to go to bed...

R-E-L-I-E-F

Relief, because my big event at work is OVER. Thank goodness. I had been thinking this day would never come. All of my dreams, when I was able to fall asleep, have been about the event. Now that it's done with, I feel relieved. I do feel a sense of accomplishment, things went pretty well. Most of all, I feel kind of free - as in, I've fulfilled my obligation and now I can think about moving on without any guilt or attachment. I left work today at about 5:15 p.m. and felt really weird about that. Yesterday, my day was just getting busy at about 5 p.m. and that's after having been at the office since 8:30 a.m. I worked until midnight last night so leaving while it was still light out was really strange. Tonight I'm doing whatever I want, which is basically nothing. I got some Thai takeout and turned on the TV. I was searching for something mindless and entertaining and found That 70s Show on Channel 4. Followed by King of the Hill. Perfect! And the wine I bought at Boeger on Saturday went great with the spicy red curry. I have been relaxing on the couch for exactly 1.75 hours and it feels GREAT.

I hope to have some good and interesting news about work-related changes SOON. In the meantime, I'll be content to leave work before darkness falls. Sometimes I don't know what I would do with all my free time if I didn't work so much. How pathetic is that??