Traveler

Another in the line-up of interested suitors was an interesting frequent traveler - He was witty, had a lengthy profile that was so intriguing - I sent him a message before I had even finished reading it!  Woohoo, this had potential!

Well, we hit it off in writing, had some travel, both him and I so there was some delay in talking on the phone, and after a few phone calls, some more travel, we finally we were able to meet....lesson learned?

1. Photos need to be current so they are not deceiving!  he came to the door and wow was he different than his pictures looked, and once I checked again online they were from 2010, a full year between.  It was hard to recover after that, because it felt a bit deceiving.
2. THE MEET - I have to remember not to get ahead of mysefl, it still comes down to meeting someone!  So we had delays before speaking on the phone, then more delays before meeting - that is a lot of time to 'hit it off' in those two venues, to then meet and think FAAAZZZIZZZZLE!!!  DUD!

Cutting losses, moving forward!  :)

Young Student

With my energy level, some people have told me to try dating younger than myself so one has a slim chance of keeping up with me!
Well I did have an opportunity to attempt this, since a 26-year-old studnent contacted me on the dating website.  I politely replied to him and was planning on being dismissive and moving on...and he replied again. He was smart, witty and mature, surprisingly for his age.  So we got to chatting and the like...

But, alas, after much chatting, messaging, we even met.  We discussed openly the age difference and it was clearly about life stages, not age. And we also joked about me being a cougar, him a boy toy, me a MILF....silliness!
Lesson learned, life stage can be too much to overcome and make a go of a relationship!
Cutting losses, moving forward, carry on!  And I got a good friend out of the deal, so that just can't be that bad!

Fellow Parent

Second up was a fellow parent of two children similar ages to my own.  Many lessons with this one after a couple dates!

1. Some people still hold a lot of anger, resentment or issues with the ex, so cut your losses and RUN!
2. It is logistically more difficult to date someone else with kids - based on schedules, time with the kids, activities with the kids...and then add distance on top of that, it feels 99% unlikely that anything will work out!
3. AND the biggie!  I am not a 'booty call'!  Man alive, after 2 dates, he was coming through town and literally wanted to 'connect' I believe is what he said, even if I had only lunch, coffee, or to meet at my house - no thank you!  And big surprise I haven't heard from him again!  WOWSA!

Cutting losses, lessons learned, moving forward! Dare to live...dance....be...date! :)

Goofy Fella

First up from the revamped online dating experience is the 'goofy fella' from a town about 80 miles away.  I have to think of the lessons learned here, so while some things were great, like his humor, wittiness, fun nature - there were some drawbacks that were clearly NOT going to work for me, my personality, or my lifestyle!

So the lesson learned for me was when I sent a text that unbeknownst to me would strike a chord as a litmus test - into the 'kid zone' since this man was 40 and does not have children of his own, I realized I didn't quite know how he felt.  So, one evening after a rough night with the kiddos I let him know that - and a) he made a smart-a$$ comment about kids and b) he didn't want to visit with me, preferring to read a bit instead, so clearly unable to step outside his own needs to be there for someone else. 

DONE!  Cut our losses, moving on, lessons and needs learned!  WOOHOO!

More Online

Each of us should take some time to refocus, regroup, recooperate and recover after a breakup - and at some point we have to get back on the horse, right?  Either people cannot resist setting you up, you are social and out and about, and you might like to attempt to add someone into your adventure of life!  Well, such is the case for me!  HOWEVER...

For me several factors are playing into the 'meeting people' scenario:  1) smaller town, 2) largely blue collar town, 3) working for one of the largest employers, but not wishing to date someone from work, 4) no phone numbers in bars, there to dance only not meet people!  SO, my friend encouraged me to try dating online - again! 

I considered her idea - I live close enough to several towns, so even the possibility of someone NOT in my town was appealing, opening up more doors.  As was another aspect - throwing myself out there exactly as I am!  Only those interested in my personality would message me right? 

Well, sort of - there is weeding the garden of the rubbish so to speak, but yes, I have had some dates from there and nothing has worked out so far, but I am trying to just have fun with this, learn something new each time, grow and even think of it as preparing myself for the right relationship as I learn, grow, expand, narrow in on what I would like or NOT like in a partner and relationship!