Since our first date was forever deemed the BEST EVER, Matt decided we should re-create it six months later. EXACTLY as it was.

Pro: Very sweet idea. Everything had to be the same. Including the clothes.

Con: The jeans I wore on that fateful night six months prior were “holy hell suck it in” tight shrunk in the dryer.

Pro: The place where we first met was not at all crowded. We had lots of privacy.

Con: Although we were cold and not wanted.

Pro: We found some awesome possible spots to say, “You bet your cute ass I Do!”

Con: “Re-creation” turned into a working date and included things we didn’t do on our first date, like plan a wedding.

Pro: First date we ate at State Street Brats on State Street, so of course that’s where we had to dine this time.

Con: Even though being a vegetarian in a location like “Brats” doesn’t lead itself to many choices, they did have fried cheese curds.  LOTS of cheese curds.

Pro: We bellied up to the exact same spot, at the bar just up State Street, where we sat on 8/18/09.

Con: My stomach now filled with beer+fried cheese curds+Captain & Diet combo wasn’t joining us in our Love-Fest.

Pro: Matt confessed that the first time we were at Hawks, there was a chalkboard in the men’s room above the urinal (you men are so classy) and someone had written “Becky is so cool!”  He thought that was a such a good omen that six months later, Matt wrote on the chalkboard and took my camera back into the restroom to show me.

Con: Remember the beer+fried cheese curds+rum VERY angry stomach? He still hadn’t bought his ticket aboard the Love Train nor was he impressed with the profession of chalk love. Therefore the night ended a tad early.

Pro: This time we went home together.

Con: None.

Let’s see, what should I write about…

By a show of hands, who wants to hear about Ben’s first day of fourth grade?   Hmm, I count one. Thanks Aunt Sheila. I’ll email you.

Who wants to hear about the Cubs game we went to in Chicago last weekend? Anyone? Anyone? Wow, no Cub fans huh? OK, skipping that story.

Who wants to hear how TBFDE and I are going away for a romantic weekend up north this Labor Day? Whoa! Good lord people! Don’t shoot your hands up that fast! You’ll pass out!

OK so maybe I was just exaggerating a little and just wanted to see if y’all were awake. We really ARE going away for the weekend but it’s with six others in tow.

My good friend Lisa is the wonderful mom of Ben’s best friend Aaron.  Since “Baron” (as we like to call them) can’t get enough of each other, Lisa invited Ben and I to join them at her parent’s cottage for the long weekend. When Matt came into the picture, Lisa not only invited him too but bought us a bottle of champagne! Who knew she wanted to partner me up that badly?

On Wednesday night at Ben’s first little league game of the season, the game that Matt said he “wouldn’t miss for the world” (please take a moment to let that sink in and make an audible “awww” sound) he not only got to meet Lisa and her guy Mike but my parents.  It went great!  Matt was a hit.  They were all a hit.  It was such a magical moment I made everyone sing “Kumbayah” and have a group hug.

So yes, things are still going quite well in the Land of Dating.  And no, they are some details you aren’t ever going to get. But let’s just say I am very happy. Happier with Matt than I have been with any other man in a very long time.

Therefore even though your fingers, legs and toes are turning blue from constantly being crossed, I don’t care. KEEP THEM CROSSED!
Keep doing what you’re doing because, Internet, it’s working.

Last night I introduced The Best First Date Ever to Ben. I probably should work on a better nickname for him. Or maybe just call him T.B.F.D.E for short.

What better way to get boys to know each other than in a setting where they can interact but don’t really have to talk. This is also known as SPORTS!
Ben and I were playing catch in the park when, weird, TBFDE showed up. With his glove no less. (OK this is getting annoying. Matt. His name is Matt.)

I backed off and let the boys do their thing. Every once in awhile I would get a courtesy “Girl Toss”. God forbid I missed it or it hit my glove wrong and therefore hurt. That’s when the true bonding between those two started. Hey if it takes laughing at me to bond, laugh until the cows come home.

Somehow I got them to stop playing long enough to get ice cream. Amazingly that was a very difficult task to do. If it was a couple of girls you would just have to think ICE CREAM and they would come running. Not these guys. In fact they continued to throw the ball as we walked to the ice cream shop. It was mildly annoying as I was worried I was going to get hit but it was also endearing enough to quell my “getting hit in the kidney with a baseball” fear.

When they finished their ice cream (and I “helped” Matt with his shake) Ben and I invited Matt to come over and hang out. My normally shy boy sat right next to Matt on the couch talked in detail about his baseball game on the DS.

At one point in the middle of their love fest, Ben asked for more water. I said, “Sure but what do you say?” He smiled and said, “Please Mom?” and off I went. Only to get into the kitchen to hear him say on the sly to his new BFF, “My mom will do anything if you just say ‘Please’.”

And that, my dear friends, is the very reason the boy doesn’t meet more of the men I date.
That and the simple fact that none have been as “meet and greet” worthy as TBFDE.

This post is inspired by the fantastic first date I had on Tuesday night and the perma-grin I have had glued on my face ever since…

10) you have to go to the bathroom so bad but don’t want to miss a beat of conversation; so by the time you finally go you can barely walk and hope he doesn’t notice that you look like his great aunt Bessie waddling.

9) while securely in your stall you give a large fist pump and mouth “YES!”

even though you are in a college town and therefore 15 size-four-21-year-old’s walk into the bar you’re in, your date doesn’t bat an eye as he continues to look only at you.

7) your cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much.

6) the only time you look at your watch is to pray the night isn’t over yet.

5) the only time he looks at his phone is when he gets a text message from YOU while he was in the bathroom. He says nothing as he reads it. Just smiles a huge smile and leans over to give you a kiss.

4) even though you have only just met and been together for no more than three hours, you already have inside jokes.

3) the “good night kiss” at your car takes your breath away.

2) once at home he writes the sweetest message to you on your Facebook wall. For all the world to see and admire.

1) you don’t need to look at any of these “signs” to realize this was The Best First Date Ever because you already know in your gut that it was.  And you can’t wait for the next one.

Some people have “working vacations”.  Some might have “relaxing vacations.”  I had a ”dating vacation”.

A few weeks ago, my friend Tammy told me about this great guy she met on Plenty of Fish.  It’s a FREE, yes TOTALLY 100% off, FREE dating site.  Since clearly the eHarmony boys aren’t filling up my dance card, I decided to put my profile out on the Fish site.  All the while, giving eHarmeanie the stink eye. 

After just a couple days I was chatting it up with cuties RIGHT IN MY OWN CITY!  Not 2 hours away in small towns around Wisconsin I have never heard of.  And no one “closed” me.  Yeah, you heard me, E.

So while Amy and the kids went to visit friends up north on Wednesday and Thursday, this Hot Mama had TWO dates in TWO days.  You might want to read that again.  I’ll hold.  Two dates.  In 24 hours.  With TWO DIFFERENT GUYS!   And get this, they were BOTH CUTE. 

On Wednesday, for date number one (we’ll call him Pete) we met at the Union.  Yeah I know, he too was worried about bad mojo since that other recent date  that also started at the Union didn’t end well.  But we took our chances and had a great time.  Found a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant on State Street where we sat outside, ate, talked and had great people watching.  We then strolled up to the Capital, went into the Wisconsin Historical Museum and checked out some “Odd Wisconsin” exhibit.  But the only thing that was odd is that we couldn’t figure out WHY it was odd.  Maybe the joke was on us. 

It was a beautiful day, chemistry was definitely there with some sparks flying.  My only concern with Pete is that he just moved here from New Jersey and has a lot to figure out.  Namely a house to sell, a car to get here from there, and a job to secure.  He would disagree with me (and has, vehemently) but I really think he needs to figure some stuff out before this goes any further.   I’m not writing the “Dear John” letter just yet so we’ll see.

Yesterday while enjoying the silence (Ben was at camp, Amy and the other campers were still up north) I started IM’ing with, we’ll call him, Paul.  He’s a very cute YOUNG (only 29!  Cougar in da HIZOUSE!) works for the State Senate at the Capitol, has two young boys, a house in Madison and basically has his shit is together.

We met for lunch downtown, and besides Paul pointing out a piece of my pulled pork sandwich that landed on my boob, (me = classy) it was a great time.  After lunch we walked over to the Monona Terrace, enjoyed the view and laughed about how we should sit uncomfortably close to a woman who was enjoying her silence and speak loudly about disturbing things.  I like a guy who wants to get in trouble every now and then.   Lots of chemistry was brewing with Paul too.  In fact I’m hoping to see him again on Tuesday.  

After my date with Paul, I went to the local pool (sans kids = heaven!) and had a mighty good time texting both boys.  I had to be careful because their real names do really start with the same letter. 

So apparently all the cute guys are hanging out with the Fish on the FREE site.  Therefore I’d like to take this opportunity to tell good ol’ eHarmony to SUCK IT! 

Apparently I’m a fisherman after all.

It had the makings of a perfect first date.  The texts between boy and girl were flying until just minutes before they met, filled with such giddiness it was palpable.  The mid-summer weather was perfect.  White puffy clouds with robin egg blue sky behind.  And not a hint of humidity; which greatly pleased the girl and her straightened hair.

They met at the Union, first in the sun then moved to the shade to prevent unpleasant first date melting.  They talked.  She drank a beer, he had nothing but a sweet smile.  However, the girl couldn’t help but notice something was off.  She pondered.  What could it be?  Her nerves?  Her desire to make it perfect?  They had such a connection online…

She ignored this nagging feeling that something wasn’t right and suggested walking up State Street to the Art Fair on the Square.  Once on the square the shiny silver things, in what seemed like every other booth, distracted her and pulled her toward them like a tide.  He laughed at her and her predictability as they passed many more silvery dangles. 

She found herself starving and suggested eating, even though it was barely 5 pm.

They shared a nice meal and laughed at the eccentric people at the tables next to them.  She made out the writing on the shirt of the man to her left and laughed out loud.  He asked what it said.  She read, “If a man is out as sea with no women around and says something wrong, is he still wrong?”  He asked, “Well, is he?”  She responded, “of course!”

After dinner, on the walk back down to their cars, she knew she could no longer deny that something was missing.  That One Thing you look for and need but can’t create no matter how hard you try.  She knew he was confused by her back and forth behavior and she also knew this sweet man needed to know the truth.  She asked him to sit in an empty bench as she said, “I’m so sorry…” 

They parted ways, hopefully with no hard feelings and hopefully still as friends. 

Afterward, she went to a nearby restaurant and got, yet another, table for one.

Well well well… eHarmony you little devil you.  Pulling out the big guns this holiday weekend huh?

I’m the first to admit when I’m wrong and thanks a “Free 4th of July Weekend” offer that eHarmony had going, turns out they might not be totally worthless.  Go figure.

I’m not going to go into details because 1) I don’t want to jinx it and 2) like a bad TV series finale, I need you to keep coming back for more.  Pictures of my cute kid only get me so far.

However, I will say, he’s very nice, funny as hell, cute, articulate, successful and we are meeting on Sunday.

So fingers crossed Internet.  No really, I mean it.  CROSS. YOUR. DAMN. FINGERS!   Thanks!

Since clearly my experience with eHarmony has been a bust, it got me thinking.  Granted the subscription was only $30 but think of all the other amazing things I could have done with that hard earned money.  

Please read this in David Letterman’s voice.

Here we go…

#10) could have bought 10 bottles of 3 Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s.

#9) bought 4 bottles of Pepto Bismol as a result of too much 3  Buck Chuck.

#8) had my eyebrows waxed in hopes of finding someone OFF of eHarmony and not looking like a Yeti in the process

#7) gotten a pedicure for 8 of my 10 toes

#6) bought “5 Dollar Foot Longs” from Subway for me and 5 of my lucky friends

#5) had a 10 minute Psychic Hot-line reading

#4) gotten 3/4 of a spray tan

#3) paid the fine for being late on every single library book I take out this summer

#2) adopted a child from the Christian Children’s Fund for the month

and the #1 way I could have better spent my precious thirty dollars is to have flushed 30 one dollar bills down the toilet… just to see them swim.

Keep your panties on, this post isn’t in regard to my love life.  Although I will say that eHar-meanie hasn’t been AS mean lately.  I have actually gotten some emails and responses.  So… thanks Jack!  More on that later, if there is anything to tell.

But I HAVE been getting lucky in the Blog Give Away department!  Last month I won a Greeblemix from Aimee – an awesome mix CD.

And just today I found out I won Season 4 of Weeds from my dear-cyber-friend-I-haven’t-actually-met-in-person-but-know-we will-be-BFF’s-when-we-do Kelcey!

Therefore this weeks activities will now include watching copious hours of the greatest show on TV, and listening to some kick-ass music on my way to buy a lottery ticket!

Also coming up this week, details on my Saturday night out with The Boys.   Of which I think I’m still recovering…

Yesterday, in regards to my blogging about the fantastic results I’ve had to date from eHarmony, I got the following comment:

Sorry to hear that your journey on eHarmony has been a bit rocky so far. But be encouraged; there may very well be many ways to improve your experience. For one, you may want to contact our Customer Care team and see if they have any suggestions for you on adjusting your settings, arranging your photos and enhancing your About Me page to create the optimum response potential for you from the matches you would like to hear from. Here’s the link: http://help-singles.eharmony.com/.

Also, there is a whole different mentality and approach on eHarmony. Members on eHarmony are more likely to be thinking very seriously, and therefore, it’s not a dating site as much as a relationship site. That means that you may get less communication, fewer dates, but a better chance that the right person could be matched with you at any given time.

We also encourage members not to take getting closed personally. The match doesn’t know you, and they don’t have the power to speak into your life to evaluate what kind of partner you would be. In fact, as you’ve seen, the reason for closing the match may be what they really mean, or it may be arbitrary. Anything could be happening on their side, including anything from dealing with personal issues to not being able to continue for some practical reason. Here’s a brief video you might find helpful about how to make the most of eHarmony: http://www.eharmony.com/keystosuccess

The good news is that we have an average of 236 members a day who do get married through using the service, but these members report that it took some time to find the right one.

Hope things improve soon! If you want to contact me, you can find me on Twitter @eharmony_jack.

-Jack

Oh Jack.  I do appreciate your concern to my “rocky start” but I think I’ll refrain from contacting customer service to find out exactly what my problem is.  That might be scrapping the bottom of the Pathetic Barrel a little too much, even for me. 

So thanks again Jack.  And um, hey… are YOU single?  Wink wink…