Joy Ride

Last week I had a first date with Peanuts. I met Peanuts on the dating website and found out she went to the same law school as me. We met for sushi. Conversation with Peanuts was mostly pretty easy. We decided to just meet for a casual dinner of sushi. Peanuts is cute but I am not sure yet how attracted to her I am. She put lip gloss on while I was still eating dinner. It was mildly frustrating. I think I will take her out again, although I am not certain. I told her I would on the date but I have second guessed myself a couple of times.

I am pretty sure I had a date with TAB but I can't really remember it. I am sure she kinda drove me crazy, whatever it was. I am still texting her, which shows maybe there is more interest there than I am willing to admit.

On Friday night, I went out with Dee and Dum. I might have also told them about this blog. And I might have also allowed them to read some of it. And I might have also read aloud to them some of the blogs about them. I don't know why, I just did. They didn't seem too mad. I was a little worried that they might be upset with me for their nicknames (sorry Dum) or because I said that they were crazy. Dee and Dum have set up accounts on another dating website to catch married men attempting to cheat. I don't think this sort of thing would even occur to me but they have it set up and they are going to set up meetings and sit in a car and watch some dirty guy show up expecting to have sex with them only to be stood up. They want me to come along. I am pretty sure there is a movie where this sort of thing happened and people ended up getting murdered. I can think of at least one. That trucker movie Joy Ride where the kids pretend to be some girl and they tell the driver a hotel room to meet them at as a joke and the next day someone was murdered in that hotel and then the semi starts following them all over. A bit unrealistic because how hard is it to outrun a semi-truck if you are in a car?

Simpson has been texting me again so I scheduled a date for her for Saturday. I guess it has been about two years of back and forth with Simpson. Hard to get my hopes up that this go around will be any better than any of the other go arounds. I have met a couple other girls on the dating site and am planning on going on dates with them in the next week or two.

How dating is not like house hunting - and why it should be

I wish dating were a little more like house hunting. When I decided to buy a house, the first thing I did is hire a realtor. Her name was Heather and she was fantastic. The first thing Heather did was figure out my finances to determine what I could afford. In other words, what sort of house (or girl) I deserved or could competitively get. We came up with an acceptable range and some of the deal breakers (must have an attached garage - no junk in the trunk, must have at least 3 bedrooms - must be neither underweight or overweight, must be in a good neighborhood - must come from a good family). That range basically laid out what I could expect to get in a house.

Next, we visited houses. Some nights we would go to 10 or 12 different houses. She always drove so that I could eat cookies in the passenger seat. Heather picked out all the potential houses and sent me pictures. I was free to veto any of the pictures if they looked like they wouldn't be something I would want. Heather and I probably looked at over 100 houses. We would show up at a house and Heather would immediately explain to me what the positives and negatives of that particular house were. I am picky but I don't realize it. So I would look at a house and say "well, I think I like this and this," and Heather would say "I can already tell you don't like this house." So we would move on.

I chose a house and put an offer on it. This is sort of like getting into a relationship with a girl. My parents came and viewed the house, along with a few of my close friends, and they said that they weren't really sure it fit me. So Heather and I went out on another trip and looked at even more houses. That last trip was almost a disaster. Heather and I looked at a number of houses that were not at all what I wanted. We stopped at our last house of the evening both feeling a bit frustrated. The house was gorgeous. It was well within my price range although the sellers were asking a little more than what I had hoped to pay. After 15 minutes of walking through the house, I knew it was the one. We got into the car, and without me even saying anything, Heather knew it was the one too. We did the paperwork, canceled the contract on the first house and made an offer on the second house.

Part of the problem with dating is that I never get to really see what all the options are. When I go to parties, I am only looking at the flashy expensive luxury houses. They are out of my price range and more house than I want. When I go to a singles ward, I feel as if I am looking at the fixer uppers. The ones where you get a lot equity fast but may need a little work before you can move in. If I go to a bar, I am really just looking at apartments (temporary) or condos (not really what I want). While I was still in college, I had the opportunity to view all the new models. It was like the Home Show where they show you all the newest latest and greatest house technologies. The problem with those houses is that everyone wants to buy them, so it is a seller's market, which drives prices up. Now that I am out of college, I hardly see any houses that are for sale. I follow the same path to work and home every day. I pass maybe three houses that are for sale and not one of them interest me. What I need is a marriage realtor. One that can accurately assess what options are appropriate for me and what options are outside of my league (up or down). And one that only charges once I actually settle down. How much can one expect to pay for a service like that? Do you know anyone that offers a service like that?

The Long and Short of it

So House and I ended things last week. Well, I should say that House ended things and I let her go. It made me a lot more sad than I let on to anyone. She did it via an email and her reasons made sense. She just couldn't handle waiting any longer to figure out what it is that I want. I think part of the issue is that since House starred in that commercial, she has been inundated with options. Everyone wants to know what her dating situation is like and they want to set her up. She told me that she felt like she was wasting opportunities by not going out on those dates since she had no idea where her and I stand. I am not the least bit mad at her for it. I totally understand why she did what she needs to do. But it's hard to explain to anyone else. Littlebrother seemed to be the only person that I talked to that really had any understanding. My mom actually came over and punched me in the shoulder. She was kinda mad.

I hung out with TAB twice last week. She drove me crazy both times. I don't think I can do much with her anymore. Besides being a bit controlling, she can also be mean. She isn't very sensitive to other's feelings and none of my roommates like her. I guess it's back to the drawing board.

We watched the Bachelor, well sorta

On Wednesday night, TAB and I went out. Well, sorta. I met her at her house and we watched the Bachelor. Well, sorta. See, TAB wanted to watch the Bachelor but then when we started watching it, she got really frustrated with it and didn't want to watch it anymore. So we switched to Modern Family. I don't really watch that much tv but it was a fun show to watch. TAB was being pretty obnoxious though. For some reason, I think she was trying to push my buttons. The thing is, with how stressed I have been at work lately, I was feeling particularly patient putting up with her shenanigans. Still, TAB acted like a spoiled 15 year old girl. We ended up kissing but I left wondering what it was that I saw in TAB. I didn't have lots of fun with her; if anything watching tv with her reminded me of watching tv with Jasmine.

On Thursday, I went to the wedding reception of House's brother. House had invited me and I was glad I went. I had fun just sitting and talking with House. On Friday, I had another date with TAB. After dinner, TAB said that she was tired and had to get up early the next morning so I took her to her house. I haven't quite got TAB figured out. She has the attention span of a 5 year old. She might like me a lot one minute and not like me at all the next minute.

On Sunday, House and I went to dinner with my family at my grandma's house. It was a lot of fun. House is just super chill with people. Compared to some of the other girls I have dated, of course my family is going to like House. Still, House handled it like a charm. We had fun playing with my cousins on the wii. Still, I couldn't help but think about what an older gentleman in my family ward had told me earlier that day. "But what if I don't know if she is the right one?" I asked. "Then she isn't and you should leave her and move on," was his reply.

TAB texted me on Sunday night to say she didn't think she could date me because, she said she is "really hestitant about things with you. I don't want to string you along. I don't know what to do..." Then 10 minutes later she said "I'm in a strange place and need to take it slow... but I want to see you. I'm annoying, huh?" Today she texted me and said "Let's try to get together and we'll play it by ear?" I didn't respond. The whole thing is just weird.

Am I just playing House?

I have been busy with the holidays and haven't felt like posting. Let's see if I can remember. My date with Lebron was rather dull. In fact, it was just plain boring. We drove to a Christmas party hosted by GetErDone and Lebron had a hard time giving us anything to talk about. I was in a bit of a fiesty mood so I wanted to talk about her opinions on politics or schools or something interesting. They were all dead ends. I tried talking about school vouchers cause she is a teacher and she basically said she didn't have an opinion on the subject. So I tried talking about movies. Turns out Lebron doesn't really like movies that much. I dropped her off early and headed home. I received a text from TAB saying her plans had canceled so I invited her over to watch a Christmas movie. While TAB was driving over to my house, I received a call from MrShit. It was fun talking to her but it's so hard when she is too far away to ever see.

That night, TAB and I cuddled and I felt myself kind of leaning towards liking her. The thing is, House is better than TAB in pretty much every category. Ugh, that sounds awful. TAB is a really cool girl but she is definitely a bit spacey at times. I think part of the problem is that I am driven to like girls that are a bit crazy. House came over one night and we exchanged Christmas gifts. It was short lived cause I was sick. I really do feel bad that I am not falling in love with House. In fact, I am kinda pissed off at myself.

Over New Years, Dee and Dum and RunsWithScissors and I headed to Las Vegas. We met up with Dee's friend Unwritten for dinner. I immediately kinda liked Unwritten. She is really tall and very pretty. Plus, she is super chill. Not a bad girl at all. But just more relaxed in social situations. As we were eating dinner, I came up with an idea for challenges that each of us was to try and complete before the evening was over. It was a fun idea and everyone helped come up with ideas. My challenge was to propose to Unwritten 11 times in front of large groups of people. So I bought a cheap ring in a gift shop and got to it. You would not believe the kind of reaction you get when you propose to a girl in front of a huge crowd on New Years Eve. People started cheering. They gave me high fives. They wanted to see the ring. On the fourth (and final time), people came running at us and started running in circles around us. Unwritten was a good sport but four times was enough for both of us. Unwritten is still getting over an exboyfriend and is pretty much undateable right now.

On New Years Day, we met up with Unwritten and her brother for dinner. Our waitress Dispatch was very pretty. She reminded me of WTEG a lot. Not fat but not skinny. More curvy. And she just seemed really fun. It was a bit depressing cause she flirted with Unwritten's brother a bunch. What was I gonna do anyway? Ask for her number? I doubt it.

House sent me a message on New Years Day in distress. She was trying to figure out why we weren't spending much time together. I think House has been a really good sport through all of this. I really don't feel like I have been stringing House along although I know a lot of people would argue otherwise. I wrote her an email today explaining how much I liked her but how I wasn't falling in love with her and I wasn't sure if it was because we weren't right for each other or because I have defense mechanisms set up. To be honest, I am really scared to see how she might reply. Of course it is selfish to want to keep House around without my being ready to commit to her. I don't like myself for even considering it. But should I really drop the girl that is probably the best fitted to me because I am unsure about myself? If I were sure that House wasn't the one, I would have dropped her a long time ago.