Sporty, but no spice?

I am still alive, apologies loyal readers for the slight drop-off. Have you ever just been so overwhelmed with things to do, you didn't know where to begin? Not really an excuse here, more an explanation. I promised myself when I realized I hadn't been back to share life with you all, I commit to at least 1x week posts, and hopefully more!

Sooo back to the adventure, in short:
-had 2 more dates with Sporty
-got a text from NMM
-got back online to find more dates

Why?
Well let's start from the top. Date number 2 with Sporty was on a coveted Saturday night. Drinks at a rooftop bar in DC, went from 8pm-almost 2-in-the-morning. Conversation flooowed. I was laughing, he was laughing, it was good. And we have chemistry. High five people. Yes, after walking out onto the bustling area that is U street, teaming with tipsy folks all around us, and right before a cab scooped me up, we made out. Twice. And it was good, really good. Phew. That was one thing left, could he kiss. Oh yes he can. The coolest part, he acknowledged that I can too, mid kiss with a "You are an amazing kisser" he said as I went in for another.

Second date was during the week, a movie at the indie theater downtown. A fantastic foreign film, no touching, which is cool as I get really into movies. But where my red flags went up is next...I suggest we go for tea, we chat for another few hours, so long that the public transport is no more. I did remember him mentioning that he doesn't take cabs (thus why I cabbed home solo the last date), but we had no choice, I said we can just split it up. He said no worries, he'd just get in the cab with me and we'd take the cab to my house, and he could just walk home from there, as it's only few blocks away. Then, as the cab heads north, he tells cabbie to stop and proceeds to fumble for money to contribute to our shared ride. I tell him not to worry about it, I can cove the cab. A quick peck and hug later, he's out the door.
I don't mind paying for the cab, but wondering what happened to the chivalry of walking a woman home? And strangely enough, he opened every door that night, which I clumsily faltered through (I am not accustomed to this, but I did like it).
Basically, have a bit of red flag action going on. He did text me when he got back from this weekend's trip and over a series of 5 texts, asked me to dinner this weekend. Texting. Ugh back to texting. You have my number why oh why don't you call?!

Beds and the wild child unleashed....

Beds. Sex. It's hard not to think about sex when I think of beds. In fact, 9 times out of 10, I prefer sex over sleep. You can sleep anytime. I would love to say you can have sex anytime. Okay, you technically can, but good sex, that's another story.
Out of DC, in a new city, I was ready to let my wild child out and part of that release automatically includes an extra burst of sensual/sexual energy. Don't worry, I'll get back to the beds/sex part. It was new year's eve last night, and I always try to not build it up, but it's slightly inevitable. The surrounding pressure to go balls out is palpable everywhere we went. Even on the bus to our first party...couples canoodling and a spirit of freedom and celebration in everyone's eyes. The first stop was a pre-game situation with lots of liquid courage and some fab home-made apps to steady the flow. Passed on the hornitos shots, but did manage to guzzle down one sip that proceeded to set my throat and heart on fire.

Next stop was our party bar, complete with beds. Surrounding the dance floor on the upper level, a u-shaped lounge of white beds and fluffy pillows. Initially, as you may have guessed this was for the bottle-buying high rollers (or suckers depending on how you see it). Geniuses, my group of friends, we downed our cheap champagne downstairs for the overrated midnight hour, and then headed up to the beds sans bottle purchase. Oh, and for an added bizarre effect, at midnight we were doused with white feathers. So imagine a dance floor full of un-ecofriendly feathers, drunk peeps and loads of liquid courage...followed by beds. So I unleashed the wild child -- but not in the way I may be leading you to believe.

Little quiet, but not for long

Puma in DC has been quiet. It's DC's fault, folks have high-tailed it outta here for the holidays, and the sharp chill in the air has this woman pretty unmotivated to prowl around.
I've been content prepping for a trip out of town myself, see my besties for some fun in the sun. I am pretty sure my mojo will be unleashed by the very nature of leaving that which is familiar. It's somehow always easier to release the wild child when you know there's almost no possibility of being seen. Not that I do anything illegal, but it is a small district we have here.
Case in point, on my way out from the gym, ran into green shirt. Yes, I have managed to avoid him since that first (and last date). I had a slightly uncomfortable moment when he 'friend requested' me on FB. I figured, why not, it's not like I am going out with him again, my silence surely painted the reality of that picture for him, which is why I was perplexed with his interest in friend requesting. If he really does want to be friends, cool, but we all know how fluid that term friend is when it comes to FB. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, and there was no way to escape. The paper towel I was tugging at just wouldn't give and he walked right up to me as I struggled with it.

The first (online) date goes offline

Delete. Right? Well I did, and then IM (Irresponsible Man, the one who never called to formally cancel date due to snow storm) stepped up, a little bit. As I left work last night, he texted me to ask when was a good time for me to talk. I like that, respect for my time, asking first, all good things. I let him know I’d be out and he asked me to ring him at my convenience.
I was out last night, yes. I sorta held out on you guys --I had my first ever match.com date last night. And I lived to tell! And I don’t have a horror story to tell you either!
I’ve been emailing with a few of these potentials, and only 2 have really been at the forefront IMO. One being RIM (Recovering Irresponsible Man, per above), and the other being the guy from last night, who for time being we’ll call Sporty, because, well he’s pretty sporty!
As I was walking to the neighborhood pub to meet him, I ended up running into him. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief;

Just follow through dudes...

So how was that blind-friend date thing? It was as I expected, I was not physically attracted to him , but really enjoyed a good time. I always find it interesting to meet someone who is focused on what they want and able to articulate it with passion and vigor.  We talked about a lot, from work to personal space and growing up, it was a good time...and as I was walking home, I started thinking about what I would have done had I not made plans that evening. Basically I started taking an honest look at how comfortable/lazy I have gotten in my comfort zone. When did I become a home body? Is it the winter weather? Probably partly so. But I also think that it's been hard to motivate, I value rest and unwinding and I suppose since I am in the midst of a huge life change, I am slightly justifying my home-body-ness. That said, I did go out and do it, and I could have very well canceled. Am I trying to find myself some pats on the back? Maybe. Heh.

Back to match.com - so the first date I was supposed to have was to be Saturday. And seeing how we were buried under piles of the white stuff, I knew the date was not going to happen. But did this potential match email to cancel? Was he responsible? Nope. I was, however, and emailed 2x, once prior to the storm, and once during. Nada. Zip. Zero. And when I logged on Sunday morning to delete a bunch of messages, he had not only 'viewed me' but also been logged on in the past 24 hours. Delete.

Fast forward to Monday night,

Strategic energy

I called NMM back on my way to the gym last week, and he not only picked up, but went on and on about how he was thrilled to finally hear my voice
“Hold on, oh my, hold on, let me sit down , is this really you, your voice”.

Super duper dramatic, and kinda cute. We chatted and he told me that he’s been soooo busy the last 3 weeks and not had a minute to spare, and now he wants to see me. Well that’s convenient. Not. I told him (the truth) that I’m going home for the holidays and then off to the left coast for some fun in the sun, with only a smattering of days here and there actually in the District. Of course the few nights that I am free, which I did offer up, he’s working and also lives about 2+hrs away. Sunday is his only day to ‘hang’ and I already had plans tonight that I was not about to cancel. Not for him anyway. Now, granted, he does not owe me anything, and the beautiful thing is that I DON’T EITHER. We were never in a relationship, we were just dating, and a few dates at that. That said, I did like him, found him incredibly attractive, charming and engaging on a few levels.

I can’t see it evolving unless we spend more time together, either in person or via phone and since neither one of those can happen, it’s best for me to leave options open. This is the key. We have to think about maximizing our time, be strategic about our energy, it’s precious.  Limited. Finite. I don’t spend every waking minute dating (thank goodness), and have so many things that I devote my energy to, things that are just as important as a love life. Wait, more important than a love life. What’s that you say?

Paris made me date online

Called NMM back last night, left him a brief VM. Back and forth the volley continues. Also heard from another online prospect, might do the coffee thing next week. Speaking of online…I mentioned in an earlier post my hesitations with doing the whole online thing…my hesitation goes back to earlier this summer…

            July 15, Paris train station, very, very early morning:
            Brother: So you haven’t had a date since May?
            Me: Nope.
            Brother: Seriously, what’s the big deal, why don’t you try online, lots of people are on match.com?
            Me: I dunno, I just feel like I’ll be SO OUT THERE.
            Brother: Uh ya, that’s the point! Listen, I’ll try this whole meditation thing if you go online, that’s a fair deal.
            Me: thinking, wow, my bro, meditate? He must really mean it, must really want me to give it a shot, he’s that confident about it that he’s willing to throw himself on a zafu! Crap, no way outta this.