What about the blog?

I had some friends over last night for a party games night. #5 was coming a little late and I was telling everyone, "All right, everyone be nice to him!" and someone said, "What his name anyway?" I told them and a couple of them said, "OK, gotta remember to call him that and not 'number 5.' " I was like, "NOOOOO, do NOT call him that. And don't mention the blog!"

Question: What?! He doesn't know about the blog?
Answer: No, he does not.
Question: Why?
Answer: It hasn't come up.

It's not like this blog is a secret, but it hasn't come up in conversation yet. I haven't necessarily avoided or purposely omitted the topic, I just haven't actively brought it up, mainly because I don't feel like it's a "big" part of my life or anything. Also, I kind of am still feeling like, maybe this one won't really turn into anything, so why even bother saying anything to him about it? I figure this is like classified info. I'll tell him on a "need to know" basis. :-)

I don't write anything super personal about the relationship or him, so really, I don't think it's a big deal. I wonder if he'll think it's weird though. I think it would be different if I shared all the mixed up feelings I have at different points about him. In general, I try to stick to the positive. So far, nothing majorly negative has popped up, just minor stuff that kind of bothers me. But I haven't said anything to him about it yet because I kinda feel like it might be me, so I'm trying to be rational. Which can be challenging at times. Sometimes parts of my brain just wanna do their own thing and I have to rein them in.

Oh! And it seemed like he fit in just fine with my friends and he enjoyed himself. Everyone seemed to like him. I think he would go to another games night!

Bacon Salt

Ron - you are the best. Why is Ron the best?

Because he saw this website for Bacon Salt and forwarded it to me. It's salt that makes everything taste like bacon. You can have bacon French fries!!

I want some. Anyone else wanna get in on an order? It's kosher, vegetarian friendly and most of all, bacony and salty! :-)

Check it out!!

Random update tidbits

I made it back home safely and I'm feeling a lot better than I was when I was diagnosed last week. My throat is not hurting nearly as much and my lymph nodes are no longer sore and swollen.

I just found out that one of the kids at Gulf Games has mono too. He already was sick by the time I got there, but I did see him last month when I was in Atlanta. My guess is that I somehow got it from him. Either that, or I somehow gave it to him last month. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that we both have it at the same time.

I ended up playing quite a few new games last week. OK, I just added them to my "New Games" list for the year and I played 24 new games last week. So, I'm up to 114 new games for the year. Whew. That's a lot of games!

I did learn how to play Memoir '44, so now I can try it out with #5 tomorrow night. I'm taking it, we'll see if we get around to playing it. There's a movie on deck also.

I was supposed to go out with eHarmony guy #9 when I got back and he called today to see about setting something up, but I basically told him that I wanted to see how things went with #5 first before trying to meet him. I think I'd feel weird about it since I do like #5 and am kind of interested to see where this goes first. #9 said that was totally reasonable and said to give him a call if it doesn't work out and wished me the best of luck. I think I'm just not good at dating more than one person if I have any kind of feelings about one of them.

Also, #5's birthday is next week and he's turning 40 (!) and I asked what he was doing for his birthday. He's having dinner out with his family on his actual birthday, which I figured would be the case, so I offered to make him dinner some other night next week. He said that it sounded perfect. Now I just have to figure out what to make! I have a couple "company-worthy" dishes, but they involve the oven. Maybe some homemade spaghetti and meatballs will be what's for dinner... I'm going to have to do some research.

As it is, he's meeting a lot of my friends on Thursday night. I have a very small games night (I don't want him to feel intimidated) and he agreed to come. Hopefully he will have fun. It will be interesting to have my friends meet him. I wonder if he'll "fit in."

And last, but certainly not least! I received an email from RedOctane.com today letting me know that my copy of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s has been shipped. I should be receiving it tomorrow!! I might play a bit tomorrow night before my date just to try it out and maybe unlock a few songs for Friday night's GH Fest! Anyone interested in coming should email me.

Gulf Games so far

Well, it's only been one day so far... And I made it all the way through a full game of Through the Ages. It only took, let's see, with a dinner break and welcome party break, hmmm... about 7 hours with rules. Whew. I hope it goes much quicker the next time I play it. And I've already got a game of Die Macher set up for tomorrow at 1 PM. What was I thinking? I'll never win friendliest gamer playing games like that!!

However, James was gracious enough to drive me around to two doctor's offices yesterday so I could get diagnosed, but while I was asking James about it, Alan Moon (Shane - he designed Ticket to Ride!) offered me his car! Luckily, James was free and could take me, which was much easier on me, that's for sure. I would've been so out of it trying to figure out where I was going with being sick.

I've managed to play a bunch of new games too. I need to get some sleep. Update tomorrow.

It's official - I'm sick.

I woke up this morning and my throat felt even worse. So, I decided it was time to see a doctor. The verdict? I have mono. How great is that? So, basically, there's nothing I can do except rest, drink lots of fluids and take all kinds of over the counter stuff I picked up: vitamins, echinacea, lysine, Tylenol and Halls. I'm contagious, so I have no idea if anyone will even want to play games with me. Supposedly, as long as I'm not ejecting spit onto people, I shouldn't be contagious. So, no sharing drinks/food or kissing. Good thing I didn't have any designs on anyone while I was here!!

Arrived safely at Gulf Games 20

I slooooowly got ready for Gulf Games 20. Why so slowly? Because I'm SICK! Something I am NOT happy about at the moment. It started with an itchy throat on Wednesday that got worse on Saturday with a fever on and off.

I don't want to be sick for the rest of the week, so I'm actually already back in my hotel room at 11 PM!! I'm going to take some Nyquil and watch some TV. However I did manage to play two new games before I came back to the room!!

Date #5.5 - The arcade

I fell in love with Atari 2600 at age 5. I distinctly remember thinking my dad was so cool because he had an Atari and he let me play it before I'd go to kindergarten. My favorite game back then? Breakout (game 11). So, no big surprise that I still love going to arcades! That's why taking me to an arcade is always a winning idea. Even though I hadn't told #5 that yet, he took me out for video games and miniature golf Wednesday night. We wanted to do the batting cages, but there was a line! He was very affectionate while we were out and we had a great time. He's actually pretty decent at the Dance Dance Revolution! We went to Starbucks afterwards for some more chatting afterwards.

Also, after more thinking about the weird feeling I was getting last weekend, I thought of another possibility as to what it could be. In my past, I've often just gone out on one or two dates with someone and then just sort of "fallen" into a relationship with them. So maybe I'm feeling weird because that isn't what's happening even though I like him. Maybe because we're taking our time, I'm feeling weird about it because it's just not what I'm used to. It's just a theory.

I think now that we've reached five dates, I'll go ahead and stop recapping them. If anything major happens, I'll post about it, but until then I think I'll quit talking about it so much.

Heroes: Season One - Finished

I finally finished up season one of Heroes today. Wow. That show is so good. I can't wait for next season. I hope they don't mess it up! One thing this show has going for it... there is eye candy for everyone on this show. There is a rainbow of colors and types. Seriously. Someone for everyone.

Speaking of, I was smitten with Peter Petrelli at the beginning of the show. He's my favorite type: sweet, caring, Italian, thin, pale and dark hair! Well, that crush I thought I had for Peter Petrelli at the beginning of the show was exponentially magnified in the "Five Years Gone" episode. He's hardened, angry... bitter, even. And I love that scar down his face. Oh! He was way more sexy with those five years of attitude under his belt. I'm not usually into the "bad boys," but man, it worked wonders on him! I think this just points out the fact that I like the angry ones.

Parlez-vous Français?

Oui, je parle Français! At least, in theory I can. I took four years of French in high school and then took a year and a half during college. The last class I took was approximately 13 years ago. Wow. It sounds so long ago when I put it like that!

My friend Ron and I are planning a trip to Paris and Germany this fall and he's taken it upon himself to learn German by listening to these German language podcasts. Meanwhile, my job is to brush up on my French!

I saw an ad last week on Craigslist for someone looking for to exchange practicing French with an English speaking person. So we met up for coffee last weekend and had a blast! She's French and teaches at a French high school and says my French is pretty good! And I'm helping her with her pronounciation. We're meeting again this weekend. I should be much better by the time of my trip!

OMG, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock!!!!

I just saw this article on Yahoo! that has some interesting information on the new Guitar Hero III that is coming out this October!!! Woo-hoo!!!!! There's a link to a preview too.

Here are the highlights...
Over 70 new songs (all original recordings! Yippee!!) including:

• Welcome to the Jungle
• Paint it Black
• Rock and Roll all Nite
• Even Flow
• Knights of Cydonia
• Cult of Personality
• Sabotage
• Cherub Rock
• My Name is Jonas
• School's out
• Rock You Like a Hurricane

There's going to be a co-op career mode, Slash as a character in the game that you duel with at the end, a new head-to-head battle mode where you can screw your opponent up by breaking their strings, make their fretboard all wobbly and unreadable or making their guitar orientation swap between righty and lefty flip! And we'll be able to post scores online without having to use a site like Scorehero!! Nice!

This is going to be so awesome! I'm WAY more excited about this than Rocks the 80s now. The song selection is already better. I see a Guitar Hero Halloween party in my future!!!

Date #5.4 Recap

I could go over everything that we did and talked about, but I think the bigger picture is this. I am attracted to him and I would be interested in spending more time with him, but there was a minor incident that made me go "Hmmm..." (just like that C+C Music Factory song!).

I won't bother with the details, but something happened that was just odd. I asked him about it a little later in the evening and he told me why and what had happened, but if it's the truth, it's just weird I guess. At this point, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it is the truth, but I'm definitely going to be watching for any else that even smells like an untruth.

On Saturday, I was feeling like something was a little amiss. I can't quite put my finger on what it is exactly, but I have some ideas of what it could be. I was feeling stressed about it until I realized that there is no reason to be stressed about it. The worst thing that happens is what? We stop seeing each other. At this point, certainly not a big deal. That combined with the "maybe lie" is making me glad we're taking it slow and just trying to get to know one another better.

Since our date, he texted me on Saturday afternoon to let me know that he had a good time on Friday and then called me on Sunday to set up our next date, which will be this Wednesday evening. I think that's what the confusing part is. On one hand, I am getting a weird vibe, but then on the other hand, he keeps calling me and asking me out. So, maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something. Either way, my guess is that it'll get resolved somehow over the next few dates.

Meanwhile, my date for Sunday night had to reschedule, so we're going out on Thursday night instead.

eHarmony Update

I talked to two different guys from eHarmony yesterday. One was a quick phone call because I was at work and the other was a longer phone call (over an hour!) because I was at home and actually had time to chat.

The long phone call guy asked me out for dinner on Sunday, so I'm going to meet up with him after tea on Sunday. I'll already be out in his neck of the woods so that works out perfectly. One thing that I liked about him is that he asked good questions. Not just chit-chat, surfacy questions, which I appreciate! We'll see how the date goes. He does have a cute accent because he is originally from London.

Only 3 1/2 more hours til date #5.4! Tick tock!

Tomorrow is Date #5.4

He contacted me Monday to ask me save Friday night for him. Smart guy. If he had waited til Tuesday, it would've, no doubt, been occupied! I don't know where we're going because I left it up to him. I do know that he felt bad about his bachelor dinner he served me on date #5.3 (which was actually perfectly fine), so he said that he's going to buy me a "good dinner" which I can only take to mean, something that includes a side dish! :-) The upside is: no having to get up early for work the next morning!

The Third Date Rule

Last year, when I moved into my new apartment, I was newly separated and soon to be divorced, so I started dating. One morning, I was eating some cereal and thumbing through a copy of Self magazine that Shane had left at my place. What I read made me almost choke on my cereal. I wish I had it so I could quote it for you, but basically, it stated that there was something known as the "third date rule" and that basically that rule was that usually by the third date, guys are expecting to get laid.

What?!

I remember calling Shane asking if she'd ever heard of such a thing. I think she had heard of it, but wasn't really sure of all the particulars, not being a Third Date Girl herself.

While dating someone at a later point, he asked about sex and the approximate time frame involved and I said that I wasn't sure, but it wasn't in the immediate future and I needed to think about it. Then we started talking about it. Frankly, I was curious! Since I had been married for ten years, I was trying to find out if this was, in fact, true. So I asked him how quickly women would normally sleep with him and he said that there was this "third date rule." I was amusingly shocked! I'm just glad I had read about it in Self, otherwise I would've been totally surprised and shocked. Then I asked if that actually did happen. He said that sometimes it's later than the third date and sometimes even sooner (depending on how well the dates go I guess).

I can't, well, actually, that's not true... I could imagine having sex with someone on the third date. However, I don't think I could actually do it at this point in my life. If I was 20 and careless, then yeah, I might do that, but at 32, I feel like I should definitely know better than to do that. Not just for physical reasons, but for my mental health too. Making out is one thing, but to become intimate in that way would be something completely different and I want to make sure I'm emotionally connected to that man before I basically turn myself over to him. I want to love him and know that he loves me and doesn't just want me solely on a physical level. I seriously doubt that all these Third Date People really care about each other. It just seems impossible to truly care about someone after only three dates. You barely know each other well enough to want to start caring at that point.

For anyone who's reading this and thinks I'm on crack... this just in! My friend went out on a second date with a woman that he is mediumly attracted to and she asked him (also something I wouldn't do!) if he'd want to go out on a third date. He was up front with her and said that he was still dating other women that he had met online, but he did want to see her again. She said that was fine because she was seeing other people too and then said that if they went out again (the Third Date), maybe things could go a little farther. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, so he said, "What do you mean by that?" and she said, "You know how attractive I think you are. Next time, maybe we could go out and then go back to your place..." Wow. I have no problems flirting and being playful, but I would not say that to someone that I had only been out on *two* dates with.

Obviously, I'm not a Third-Date-kind-of-girl. And I'm fine with that. There are so many people out there saying, "Just because we're women doesn't mean we can't enjoy sex the way guys do!" or "Forget about stupid rules, do what you want!" I just know that while I may want to do it on the physical level, mentally, I need something more. I don't even want to imagine how awful I'd feel if after having sex with a guy that I liked, he didn't call. Ugh. Because as much as I hate to admit it, I'm a fragile creature. I don't consider it a weakness, just a reality. So for my own sanity, I refrain. Even though it sometimes feel like I will go crazy. Luckily, frustration isn't lethal!

And here's how I know it's working for me. I have no regrets. I've never looked back over the past year and thought to myself, "Yeah, I should've had sex with that guy." Conversely, I know that if I had gone further with any of the guys I was dating, I would've regretted it. So, clearly, I've been doing a good job following my instinct about what to do. I don't stay up late wondering, worrying or fretting about what I did and whether that was a good idea. I sleep easy knowing I've done what's best for me.