Right under my nose?

I spent time today with a friend I had not seen in years. We would email maybe once a year or so, but had not really kept in touch that well. She got married last spring and lives within an hour of me, so it was great to see her, meet her man, and hang out. We talked of relationships, as people will do. She was asking me about what happened with CF, who she didn't know much about, if you need an indication of how frequently we talked. She laughed that at least I was not dating the ex-ex.

She and her hubby have known each other for 10 years but only started dating a couple of years ago. They spent a lot of time "not liking" the other, before they found themselves at an event, she mentioned some other guy, and her now husband started making his move. So we were joking about maybe there is someone right. under. my. nose. A guy who has been there all along; who I am missing.

I cannot think of that guy though. Over the years, through grad school and my post doc, I have had some serious, but fleeting, crushes on various guy friends. A couple of whom if they ended up in my current city, well, look out boys. A friend from college and I have a fair amount in common, but I have sadly never had a crush on him (although I did promise to run a half marathon with him next November in Disney if he decides to do it again, and he's not the type to let me get out of it...who's in???). And just this week, because several people are leaving my church where RF is, I told him that I suppose he has to leave next, and he should move to my city! (We have an ongoing "competition" to see who can get more friends to move to their locale. I figure getting him to move here is the ultimate win. He did not go for it.)

The dude from the online dating thing and I have been out twice now. As with previous online dating experiences, I do not really need to make new friends with random people, that is what my job, possibly a new church I have been visiting, and maybe even my alumni club here, are for. I definitely have stronger feelings towards guys with whom I have been friends first, but I do not think I find him attractive enough to get to know him better to see if his attractiveness grows on me. Make sense?

I also hung out with someone who used to work at the same company as my BIL. I call it a non-date, because it was under the premise that we are both new to this place (although he went to college here), and are happy to meet new people. Non-dates are funny when it is with only two people who are attracted to the gender of the other person though. One beer turned into two, turned into bar trivia and hanging out for nearly 3 hours. We are hanging out again this week. He seems more like the kind of guy who would totally grow on me; I am much more comfortable hanging out with someone with whom I share a common person; and as I am sure Rapunzel would agree, pre-screened friends are always better. So yay for another non-date with BIL guy?

Also my cat is sick. Boo. She is perking up a bit, so I think the antibiotics and appetite stimulants are helping...

Waistline

So, apparently the past couple of months have been good for my waistline. The 10 pounds I have unintentionally lost in the past two months could be from a variety of things. I first thought my scale may have been harmed in the move, but more and more of my skinny clothes are fitting these days, so it must be true.

Other possibilities include stress - chronic stress can cause weight gain. Perhaps the move removed some chronic stressor. I can be a stress eater, though. The move impacted this too because I was finishing up food before the move and have not built up the random food stash here yet.

Maybe it is from catching up on sleep since the move? I think I am falling behind again though. I just have that much exciting stuff going on.

I find myself hungry a lot, so it is entirely possible I have just been eating less unintentionally (again, because I have had reduced food options). I had 1 1/2 eggs (why eat two yolks?) with cheese and tomatoes and coffee yesterday morning for breakfast and I was STARVING three hours later, but that seemed like a reasonable breakfast. Last night I had a handful of almonds before meeting a former coworker of my BIL for a drink...which turned into two with no dinner. And I forgot to eat lunch last Saturday. Maybe it is skipped meals? Now that I think of it, I did not really eat a real dinner on Tuesday either.

I do not think I have been physically active enough to explain this either. Although I have been using my brain A LOT over the past couple of months as I worked on writing and starting a new job and teaching, and your brain uses a large proportion of your energy.

I have a hunch that it could be because they sent me a different generic thyroid hormone drug about two months ago. WAY back when I had my thyroid out, the doctor said with thyroid replacement they usually specify 'no substitutions' because those inactive ingredients seem to make a difference with thyroid replacement. (They probably do with other drugs too, but we can't go thinking generics and name brand drugs are different, can we?)

Whatev. As long as the pounds stay off, I will continue to be able to wear most of my clothes, which is useful between caring what I look like for work and for dates.

Convince me

I am not going to lie. I know that I am a catch. (I think) I am smart, funny, grounded, motivated, somewhat driven. Granted I can be practical to a fault, opinionated, and I like to play devil's advocate to make people think, but these things can be good too.

I remember back to my friends' wedding that I was in, and after which I dated one of the groomsman for a short time. (Funny things I had forgotten. Thank goodness for the memory of the internet, right?) Over the course of he and I dating, someone told me that it was easy to convince him that he should make a move, but they needed to convince me he was worth my time. Now the Groomsman was (and probably still is) a kind, intelligent, and attractive guy. This begs the question of whether I seem to have super high expectations or am not easily won over. Feel free to weigh in on that.

Now that I am back to the online dating thing, I do need to be convinced though. I am weary of men and of relationships.

I had my first date last night since setting up my profile. The guy was nice, attractive enough, easy to talk to. I will hang out with him again.

(This comparison is just to illustrate what I mean, not to imply some lingering regret.) When I met CF, I avoided him for a few days because I could tell he was 'trouble' in the sense that I found him attractive, but he did not live near me, and I was no longer interested in random hook-ups. I felt something from the first day our group in MT went around the circle introducing ourselves.

Now, I expect some spark at first, and I didn't get that last night. Am I expecting too much?


Excerpts from actual online dating interactions that will make you say, "WTF".

Boy X: You are definitely easy on the eyes, but I bet you're a heartbreaker. [24 hours] Well I could be wrong. I just figured being as gorgeous as you are, that you had to break some hearts.
Me: Haha. I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered.
Boy X: So what do you like to do for fun, do you go out much sweetie?
[Call me sweetie = end of interaction.]

This conversation? Well, this is just insulting. I'm in white; the dude's in green.


















(He proceeded to say he can tell I'm a selfish woman. I blocked him, but now I'm angry?!)

All I can say is learn how to use the 'shift' key and the difference between you're and your.