Off I go!

I am sitting in my room looking at my suitcase, racking my brain to figure out what I have forgotten to pack, but so far, nothing, which I hope means I have everything I need. I am pretty excited about this trip. I am going to three cities, seeing lots of friends and doing some really exciting work.

I saw the SSM for the last time until July last night. He came over for dinner and to help me pack. Mostly he just sat on my bed and made fun of me for packing so much stuff. If he was going on the same trip he would be taking one backpack, and a towel (very Hitchhiker’s Guide) as he couch surfs most of the time. Whereas this single girl is staying at hotels so I am not in need of a towel, but I do need four pairs of shoes for the journey. Other than the teasing it was lovely evening and he stayed over here for the first time– well kind of. He had to work this morning at 6:30am so he left here at 4am to go home and change and head off to work. Needless to say I am a little tired this morning as my night sleep was totally interrupted by a 4am alarm, oh well it was worth it.

As I have talked about him so much in the past while, I have made him his own label – big step, I know. So if you don’t know the history of me and the SSM feel free to troll the archives.

I must head off into the wild blue yonder now. I promise to post, but it may not be until next week.

Kisses

The Single Girl

Mea Culpa

When I got to work this morning this message was waiting for me in my inbox:

So I came to work just before 9:00 a.m. it is now after 10:00 and I have; visited your blog, read multiple entries of the first 5 links on your blog, gone to the goolge search for puppies (oh my god the woman with the painted breasts!!), and am now writing to you. I need to say this is likely all YOUR FAULT. If you had taken the time to post one small item on you blog (done your blogligations, to quote Jill) than I would likely have been content to read that entry and get on with my work. But oh no, you probably did something silly last night, like work or pack or some other useful thing….leaving me with out a morning fix and causing me to waste more than an hour. I hope you are appropriately chagrinned.

The Lady


Well Lady … I am sorry for the lack of posting for the past few days. I have had some eventful times. I spent the night at the SSM’s place on Saturday night and he is coming over tonight to watch me pack. Pack!?! Yes dear readers TSG is going on a road trip for work for the next two weeks. That means there will be very little posting – so Lady you are going to have to get some other blogs to enjoy for a time.

I am also feeling a little overwhelmed by … well … life and everything associated with having one, and that can be tough to write about in a blog without coming off whiny, or crazy so please be patient and I will be back to my good ole’ self in a few days.

Lots to do here at the office before I leave town, so I best get to it.

TTFN

The Single Girl

Eww Eww Eww

The man was a troll. It was one of the longest 45 minutes of my life. I don’t know what else you tell you all.

That was excruciating. I need a drink … and a shower. I need a drink in the shower.

I don’t think this online dating thing is a good fit for me.

The Single Girl

Eeeek!

Tonight I have a date with one of the guys I met through the internet dating site. I am really nervous about it. It is a bit strange to think about dating someone purely based on a profile picture and a few choice sentences about yourself. GB and I were talking the other day and agreed that the best way to find out if this guy is a good fit for me would be to drop both Polyamory and my gay boyfriends into the conversation and see how he reacts.

Maybe not the poly … but I am definitely going to make sure the man isn’t some sort of homophobic ass within the first hour.

Wish me luck!

TSG

The long weekend Part II – I Don’t Know How We Do It

After our morning beer GB and I hit the road around noon, stopping at a discount store for some cheap bathing suits so we could enjoy the hot tub at the hotel. That’s right after roughing it in the woods and the rain for one night we were on our way to a hotel to enjoy a long hot shower and a hot tub and pool before heading to a 30th birthday bash.

You may not know this about me but I am a bit of an evil genius. The party we were attending that evening was at the same complex as the work event I had to attend Friday night. When I was asked to help host our big supporter I said that I would in exchange for a room on the Sunday night instead of on the Friday night – as I had a friend I could crash with that night. Enough about my cunning, back to the story.

The drive was uneventful and we arrived at the hotel around 4pm. After a twenty minute shower and a quick check of the email GB and I settled in for an afternoon beer and a Simpsons episode. About fifteen minutes into the show I drifted off to sleep. Hey, even a hardcore party girl needs a cat nap every once in a while. An hour later I came to, a little groggy and GB let me know that it was time for the next party. As we walked to the pub I turned to GB and said “Truly I don’t know how we do it.” “Do what?” he asked. “All of this” I said as I gestured around us. “I know” he responded with a giggle. “Discipline … a lot of discipline and beer.” Then we enter to the pub for some great drinks and chats with old friends and new.

Around 11pm the pub was shutting down so we decided to move the party to a place we could all bring cocktails and drink for cheaper. We paid our tabs left the bar and wandered back to the complex. We sat around and enjoyed some more wine, music on the ipod and gentle conversation. I really thought I would be tired and toddle off to bed early, but no, the last time I looked at my watch it was 1:45am. Oy, now it is time for bed. The next morning, GB and I got up, donned out new cheapo bathing suits and had a great dip in the hot tub, where we again wondered how it is we these lives and then we packed up for the third time in three days and headed for home.

The adventure for the single girl does not end here. After arriving home, unpacking, feeding the dog and trying to nap I headed off to see the SSM for dinner. See, following the incident on Friday afternoon he messaged me and told m that he wanted to make me dinner to make up for everything. I Armed myself with a bottle of wine I headed off to his apartment not sure what to expect, or even sure what I was thinking going to his place at all. I was completely exhausted, a little hung over from the entire weekend and I’m not even sure I like him. I wonder what he will cook? Oh well, I was already half way there at that point. Too late to turn back now.

The evening was … well … really good. I had a bit of a panic attack and started to feel suffocated when I found myself back on couch with him after dinner. I quietly worked through my fears in my head and soldiered forward. I think you can fill in the blanks of where it all went once I calmed down and just enjoyed myself … At the end of our evening he wanted to cuddle and I think he was about to invite me to stay the night, but I stopped him and let him know I needed to go home. I wanted my own bed (he like many others has a bad bed), to be home for work in the morning and I needed a little space to myself. So I jumped up, called a cab and said my goodbye. As I made my way toward the door he once again planted a knee buckling kiss on me, pulled back, smiled and said, “You’d better go, or you are going to miss your cab.” “Right” I whispered as I walked out the door into the night and finally, to my home.

The Single Girl

The Long Weekend Part I – Here Comes the Rain Again.

To continue the story of the weekend … After getting towed and attending a work event on Friday I drove back to the city Saturday afternoon, dropped off the rental car and hopped in Roomie’s car with GB to head off in to the sunset for a party in the woods.

We headed out of the city after grabbing some groceries, beer and a rental tent. It was a scenic drive with periodic rain throughout. Each time we came upon the rain I thought to myself well if it is raining here it won’t rain at the party. After three hours in the car we arrived in the middle of the woods, surrounded by water, mountains and clouds. We quickly picked a spot to set up and put up our tent hoping to beat the rain. Within seconds of getting our tent erected the rain began. We were now stuck in the woods in the rain with little more than beer, DJs, two hundred strangers and a large fire.

We made the best of the early evening by drinking beer and hanging out under the various tarps around the dance area. Around 10pm we made the executive decision to get “messy” for the evening and went back to the car to enjoy some extra curricular activities. Fill in the blank as you see fix … just know we each had our own good time.

Not long after 10 the rain dies down and the dancing picked up. We moved from the dance floor to the fire, to the car and back again. At midnight we were treated to a fire show put on by Roomie and some other women. It was beautiful and Roomie looked totally hot spinning fire.

We continued to people watch and dance by the fire until GB decided he was done for the day at around 2:30am. I stuck it out a little longer but by 4am I was ready to hit my sleeping bag. I haven’t slept in a tent since I was about 18, as such I was a bit nervous about how will I would be able to sleep. Much to my surprise when I lied down in my sleeping bag with the bass gently thumping in the background, I drifted off just as I would in my 1200 coil, pillow top mattress.

We woke up around 9:30 and the bass was still thriving off in the distance. We hummed and hawed about what to for a bit but soon emerged from the tent to have some breakfast and a coffee. Once satisfied we grabbed a beer and headed back to the fire to see who was still up, or arriving again for the second day of partying. Roomie was up fresh from a short nap and joined us for a morning beer around the fire as the sun shone over the mountains. The beer was amazingly tasty – as only a morning camping beer can be – but it was time to pack up and hit the road again, as we had another party in another town to go to. So we packed up the tent, all our gear, said our goodbyes and hit the road for our next adventure.

Tomorrow – The long weekend Part II – I Don’t Know How We Do It

The Single Girl

Me Write? Nahhhh ...

On Friday I had to go out of town for work to host one of our big supporters. I was told if I wanted to I could rent a car instead of taking the bus – as the cost was about the same. I like driving, this is perfect I thought, I will rent a car drive out, get the wine do my hosting duties and so on and so forth. So I made a reservation with Budget and went about my day.

It was a really quiet day in the office as nearly everyone was gone early for the long weekend or working out of the office. I wasn’t being very productive and ended up chatting with the SSM for a few minutes complaining that I wasn’t very focused and I was hungry. He suggested that I come over to his place and have some sorbet and kill an hour before I had to head out of town. Hmmm, I’m not getting much done here, the boss keeps telling me to just get out of here … yeah I’ll go now! So I headed off to the rental place picked up the car and drove to the home of the SSM.

I got there and liked his little apartment. It is a cute one bedroom looking out onto one of the major downtown streets. I took off my coat and shoes and plunked myself on the couch and began telling him about my day. It was nice he listened as I droned on about the mundane tasks I did and stroked my hair. Before long we were kissing. “I have to leave by 3:30 or I will be towed.” I said in a very serious voice. “No Problem” he said and we continued to make out on the couch for about an hour. At exactly 3:30 I hopped up off the couch and started putting on my coat and brushing my hair to leave. “Sorry but I really have to go” I said as I took a quick peak to make sure the car was still there. Yep, all good. I finished brushing out my hair put on my hat and went to the door. “Have a good weekend” he said and then kissed me with such force that I virtually melted right there in the doorway for about 5 minutes. “No really I am leaving now” I said as I regained my composure. He opened the door and I quickly made my escape.

I hit the street flushed from the kiss and realized my car – the rental car - was gone. There was a meter maid on the street so I stopped him and asked if he knew where my car was. “There’s a number on the sign miss” he replied and continued on his way. I grabbed the number and dialed as I did that I looked down the street and saw my car on the back of a tow truck three blocks away. “WAIT!” I screamed and ran down the street to catch him. “This your car miss” the man said. “Yes” I responded breathlessly “I’m so sorry I was around the corner it is only 3:40 … and I …” “We take all major credit cards miss. If you get in the truck I can process you here so you don’t have to go down to the impound lot” he said. “Great I have a credit card. I will just get that …” I said fumbling through my backpack.

We got in the tow truck and drove around the corner to a less busy street. He processed my fine – $75.00 - unhooked the car from the truck and sent me on my way. By now I was running about 20 minutes late so I thought I would try a different route out of town to make up some time. I got about 30 blocks and realized I didn’t have my overnight bag so I turned the car around head home ran in the house and grabbed my things and hit the road for real. The whole event left me so flustered that two hours later while having dinner with people from work one of my co workers asked me if I had a sunburn because my face looked red. “Umm … I must have got some sun on the drive out here.” I said as I touched my still flushed cheeks and smiled.

Later that evening after all the formal festivities were over I recounted the story for a few trusted friends. “Wow,” one of them remarked “you should really write this down it is a great story!” “You think? Write it down? I don’t know, I don’t really do that sort of thing.”

;)

The Single Girl

Enjoy it She Says – as though I have any control over it

So it was a date that I went on with the slightly strange man the other night. And you know what it was a perfectly normal date with a slight strange, but perfectly nice man. We met at the pub we like, had a couple of pints, split a pizza and talked for about 3 hours. All the usual stuff, history family, mutual friends, drinking stories, vomit stories, near death experiences, work … first date chat.

At the end of the night we walked for a few blocks until we reached the corner where I had to go north and he had to go south and we said goodbye. I told him I had a good time and we hugged and he kissed me on the lips. I was a bit surprised, and I think I pulled back a bit smiled and said thanks, or something equally lame and then good night and I put my hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze. He then pulled me in and really kissed me. Right there on the corner of north and south we made out like two 15 year olds for about ten minutes until someone drove by and yelled get a room. This seemed like good time to make my exit so I pulled away and said I think I better go and wandered off towards my home.

Once home I was very quiet (which is unusual for me.) I asked GB how his day was as I checked my email. “Fine. Where have you been? Wait you had a date with the SSM didn’t you?” “Yep” I replied quietly and smiled in GB’s direction. “Well how was it … Oh Gawd. You like him don’t you?” GB groaned and looked up from his computer “It was good we had fun. I might like him. I’m going to bed.”

The three pints I had enjoyed at the pub allowed me to drift of to sleep fairly quickly but by about 2am their sedative effects were gone and I was left with a dry mouth and three slices of pizza sitting in my gut like a brick keeping me up. From 2 until after 4am I lied in bed thinking about the date and the boy and work and life and everything swirled and swirled as I tossed and turned wishing I could get back to sleep. I managed to get a few more hours before I had to get up and go into work but not enough to really function.

In the morning after having a cup of coffee in the shower to try and get me moving, I had a small freak out with Roomie as I told her about the date and grinned like some sort of Cheshire cat. “Aww it’s great.” She said and assured me that everything was going to be fine. “A good date is a good thing, remember you’re a commitment phob so relax and don’t think too much, this is fun. Right! TSG enjoy it.” Right, enjoy it I thought as I heading out the door to work.

I got to work and wasn’t very productive between the lack of sleep, the three pints and the date. I messed up a bunch of work and generally looked confused as people talked to me about various projects. Around 2pm I decided it was best for all concerned if I just went home and had a nap, my boss concurred. After my nap I decided to call The Lady as we hadn’t spoken in days and I told her all about the date and the freaking out and hating the fact that I couldn’t concentrate at work and that I couldn’t sleep. “What is wrong with you? This is the part that everyone else in the world loves. The butterflies, the giggles, RELAX enjoying it. This is great. My god it was just a date, who knows what happens next. Don’t borrow trouble and sabotage a good time.”

So today I am working on letting the butterflies and giggles and far off gazes rolls over me in waves like they naturally want to instead of trying to stop the feelings dead in their tracks before they have a chance to form. We will see what happens. Wish me luck, I am trying here.

The Single Girl

Nobody Puts TSG in a Corner

You know it is going to be a good day when you get to work and receive an iTunes song from a friend. The song you ask? She’s Like the Wind performed by Lumidee. It is fantastic. Thank you Jill you definitely made my day.

Can you believe that Dirty Dancing, one of the greatest dance movies, nay, one of the greatest movies ever made is 20 years old this year. This movie had a profound affect on me a very formidable age. I owned both the Dirty Dancing and the More Dirty Dancing soundtrack and loved to dance around the basement to all the tunes. I remember one girl in my class had Dirty Dancing Live and I was so jealous because it had Eric Carmen singing Make Me Lose Control (now that song will be in my head all afternoon). I think I can still quote the entire movie verbatim.

I carried a watermelon?

The Single Girl
a.k.a. Frances named for the first woman in the Cabinet …

Online Dating and Other Slightly Strange Encounters

I finally got around to registering for the online dating this weekend. I made a profile, answered all the questions, – which was extremely tough - and chatted with a few guys already. I think this venture is mostly going to provide funny stories more than any romance but we will see. I have received 15 messages, 12 invites to chat and made one date in the last 24 hours. Yes you heard it here folks I made a date with a guy. Well I am trying to make a date with a guy. We have chatted and tried to find a date that would work for both of us this week but so far it is not working out. I will keep you posted as things progress.

This weekend I also had brunch with the Slightly Strange Man. I did 5K on the treadmill and was starving for eggs but there were none in the house. I popped on to the computer and there he was online so I asked him if I could buy him brunch instead of beer. He was skeptical but agreed as he was hungry. It was a great plan, have brunch on Sunday so I could free myself up to have a drink with the online guy during the week. No go. SSM informed me over brunch that a deal is a deal and I am still obligated to have beer with him. GB thinks he has a crush on me, could be, I bet I will find out after the SSM has a few pints in him.

The rest of the weekend was pretty standard, hung out with GB and roomies BF on Friday night, attended a house party on Saturday night, and you know about my Sunday. It is going to be a busy week fair readers I will try to keep you up to date.

The Single Girl

I don't understand

As noted in my last post I recently put Awesome in touch with Fireboy’s Slightly Strange friend so they could talk about boy stuff I guess. In return for agreeing to talk to Awesome I promised The Slightly Strange Man a beer for his troubles. Seems fair, right? He is a nice guy we always have a good time chatting, what’s the harm really?

Yesterday I he sent me message asking me when I was going to buy him beer. We threw out a few different days but nothing was lining up including last night because I was going to a poker tournament. We continued along our idol chat for a while and then I said if I was kicked out of the game early enough we could have a beer after my poker game. Sounds good he said here is my number, give me a call. After an hour of poker I was out so I thought, beer, good conversation, slightly strange man, why not? So I called him. Here is an abridged version of the conversation.

TSG: Hi, it’s TSG. What are you doing?

SSM: Nothing really. I have a house guest here now and some people are coming over in a bit. And you?

TSG: Well I just went bust in the poker game, so I am calling like I said I would to offer you that beer I owe you, but I guess you can’t, unless there is a cash bar in your apartment …

SSM: No there isn’t a cash bar. I was just going to go to the liquor store and buy some booze and pick up a movie for the gang to watch.

TSG: Right … Okay well I guess … I guess I will have to buy you a beer another time. Later

SSM: Okay. Sounds good. Bye!


I don’t understand, he contacted me and gave me his number and told me to call … and then gave me the brush off. If this is some sort of mind game to get me to like him by acting all uninterested, it isn’t working. And it won’t work, because I’m not into aloof and artsy guys who ... oh wait … Crap.

The Single Girl

Fireboy Meet Awesome … I don’t think so

This morning Awesome emailed me asking for my help. He wants to organize his thoughts get them down on paper or maybe make a film blah, blah, blah. He knows I don’t work in film but remembered me telling him that I knew a guy that does some film stuff on the side who gave me some links to websites that Awesome had found helpful. So, could I get them together to talk about Awesome’s ideas and what he should do with them. Ummm … yeah, well my guy (aka Fireboy) doesn’t live here so I will have to get you in touch with another guy I know (aka Fireboy’s slightly strange friend).

I offered to set the boys up for a date to talk via an email introduction. As I was typing the intro email Awesome meet Weirdo, Weirdo meet Awesome I decided it would be best to offer to host the boys as they went on their first date as both an ice breaker and a safety measure. I don’t think the conversation would ever turn to me or how they each know me, but do we really need to go down that path? I don’t think so.

As the afternoon was filled with busy making but mindless work I spent some time and energy thinking about Awesome and Fireboy having a beer together. All in all it was a pretty amusing scene in my head. Those boys have only two things in common as far as I can tell (blue eyes and a short but interesting history with me). As I picture it goes a little something like this. Awesome would be there with all his muscles and bravado and Fireboy be there with all his intellect and subversive ness. Both would spend much of the time making biting witty remarks not really liking anything the other had to say after the first five minutes. Once the drink was done both would decide other was not worth talking to and leave without much fanfare. Then each would ask me why I bother with the other. I would just shrug and say I dunno I just do. And that would be that.

That isn’t as funny as it is in my head, but if you could hear what they are saying to each other in my head, trust me it is funny. It doesn’t really matter though because it is never going to happen.

And on the advice of Jenn I am opening myself up to suggestions for online dating nicknames. Although tonight I had a disturbing conversation about online dating and am again terrified, but send away. I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

The Single Girl

I Just Can’t Do It

Over the weekend I was chatting with a friend via MSN and he was encouraging me to try online dating. He gave me a host of reasons to give it a whirl, the first being it was a wonderful tool for him for both just hooking up and then for meeting his soon to be wife. For me he said it could be a way to meet new men and not just recycling through the old ones, which was the most compelling case I had heard for internet dating so far. Slightly less compelling but no less intriguing was if nothing else it will be great blog fodder.

So as we continued to chat via the internet I jokingly wrote maybe you should manage my love life for the next month. Ok he typed and began putting together a profile for me on a date site. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I typed and promised that I would create an account myself if he would stop now. He teased me a little longer making up usernames for me and then promised that he wouldn’t continue as long as I registered myself.

After our chat I went to a dating site and looked around for a bit and started to create a profile, but I just couldn’t do it. I actually froze in front of the computer and started repeating out loud I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t do it. The idea of creating a “username” – i.e. a fake name – to meet guys feels wrong to me, and I couldn’t think up a name so that didn’t help either.

I may go back to the site and try to register again, but I think it might take a few shots of tequila or some other catastrophic incident in my dating life for it to actually happen. So shhhhh don’t tell my buddy I didn’t register or before I know it a 40 year old man with two ex wives, 5 children (that he is aware of), will arrive at my door with flowers and wonder why sweet_cheeks17 isn’t ready for their date.

Shiver … Maybe I will register after work.

The Single Girl
Aka sweet_cheeks17

The things I am pondering on a Friday afternoon

Why do people think that they will be 100% positive about a relationship when they are never 100% positive about anything else in their life? We are lead to believe that in love there is “the one”, but we don’t think that about homes, or jobs or friends, so why do we believe love would be so different?

Why is it more fun (for me anyway) to flirt with three or four boys than actually date one of them? I think it is the thrill of the chase, or the vast amount of attention. Or both.

Is there a friendship maximum? If you get a new friend or reacquaint yourself with an old friend does that mean that someone will bump off the bottom of the friends list for a while? Strange question I know but really, is there a finite number of people we can have in our life at one time? And if so what is that number?

Should I try online dating? If not how can a meet some new boys so I don’t fall into the trap of dating and pining for the same boys over and over again?

And finally you really should stop reading my post and go check out SnH today. She has a great post; funny, well written and touching. All you mom’s and soon to be mom’s that read this here blog, you will love it.

Much love for the weekend.

The Single Girl

The New Routine

For the past few weeks I have had a new weekend routine; Friday night go to a bar drink copious amounts of drafts with a large group of people, sing and/or dance, make questionable decisions about/with boys, go home holding hands with a boy. Wake up early Saturday morning because between the dog and the hang over I can no longer sleep, drink three coffees without much breakfast, work (either yard work or paid work), spend from 3pm – 6pm extremely nauseous – therefore skipping lunch - from both the beer and the questionable boy decisions then go to pub and drink three Guinness and have pub food with GB and call it a night before midnight. Sunday wake up, work out, do some housecleaning, work on a blog entry that I don’t post, surf the internet, have dinner and wine with the roomies and go to bed.

I am pretty sure this isn’t a healthy routine and I am hoping that this weekend I can break the cycle. I do have a party Friday night and the roomies and I have more work to do on Saturday but the party is a house party there will be no draft which I think will help with both the questionable boy decisions and the hangover. I am also going to try and refrain from going to the pub for three Guinness on Saturday, but I just got my tax return so it will be tough not to go out and celebrate.

I have also managed to go three days without so much as a drop of booze, which is quite a feat considering GB brought home a case of wine on Monday night. I am fully determined to make it to Friday without the devil’s liquid … his beautiful, beautiful liquid.

Happy Hump Day!

xo
The Single Girl