I'm tired of waking up when it's dark

And she's back.

Last week was a bit crazy to say the least. Between the match dates and work, I barely had a spare minute to think.

I think I had more dates last week than I did my entire time living in Boston.

Also, I'm starting to feel like a walking zombie again, because I'm having a horrible time getting used to getting up at 5:30/6am to teach my 8am class. I just can't seem to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

Anyhoo.

I've backed off a little this week, because I have my plate full trying to think of ways to tell a few of the fellas I've already gone out with that I'm not interested.

Let me explain.

Friday night I had another match date. I went out with Techie. The back story on Techie is that we had been exchanging emails amidst is crazy work schedule. We had discussed getting together for a movie, but it took a while for us to nail down definitive plans. In one email that he sent, he invited me to join him, his recently married friend, and said friend's wife for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Red flag.

I'm sorry, but it's already "hard" to meet someone for the first time, but it's even harder to join him on a double date. What was he thinking?

That's a recipe for a-w-k-w-a-r-d pie. Or maybe I should say cheesecake.

Needless to say, I said no to that invitation.

We finally made plans for Friday. We decided to meet earlier in the day, for a 4pm movie, hoping maybe to grab a bite to eat afterwards.

I went to meet him in my work clothes.

He had the wrong time for the movie, so we ended up seeing The Pursuit of Happyness. I enjoyed it by the way, it's "heavy," but it's not as depressing as everyone had warned me about. I didn't cry, I just choked up, so that says a lot. I cry like a nut at certain things. Damn Extreme Homes gets me every time.

After the movie was over, we went for dinner (I drove), and then after dinner he still wanted to do something else. There had been some uncomfortable lulls in the conversation, and I was reluctant to do something else. He suggested coffee (even though he doesn't drink it), and I played along.

Apparently, I am incapable of saying no.

At one point during coffee, and following a few more silences, he had a smirk on his face. I asked him what was up, and he said: "Oh, it's just that this is a first."

"What's a first?"

"I'm trying to figure out ways to prolong the date instead of the other way around."

It was approaching 10pm (6hrs later). We left the coffee place as they started to close up. We got in my car and without giving him a chance to suggest something else, I dropped him off at his car. He reached across the car to awkwardly hug me.

He said he'd call me.

Again, I didn't feel much of a "spark." He was a nice enough guy, but I didn't feel like I was getting as much from the conversation as I was putting in. He didn't always take my bait when I tried to generate something, so I was surprised when he said he was enjoying himself so much.

Saturday's date with Inspector felt even more awkward even though it was the second date. We met at a Japanese Steakhouse at the mall, and I knew from the start we were in for a long wait. A long wait turned into two hours, and the time we spent trying to pass the time felt like even longer. We walked. We went to the food court for water. We talked. We stood. We shifted. We browsed. We stood.

Before we had even eaten, I wanted to go home. My back began to hurt, and I felt my cranky meter rising.

At one point, I came out from the restaurant after having checked our status on the list, and he asked me if he looked like a security guard.

He was wearing black slacks, with a khaki-colored short-sleeve shirt with pockets tucked in. It was topped off with a black hat and heavy duty black shoes. Yes, he sort of did.

The fact that he was standing in front of a now-gated store with his arms behind his back increased the security factor even more.

"Yes, you sort of do," I said. "I'm sorry, if I'm being honest...yes."

Whoops.

Someone had evidently approached him to ask him if he was one.

Eventually we abandoned our now seemingly hopeless chance of Japanese dinner theater and opted for another restaurant instead.

We ate over more smalltalk, and I told him that "I was testing the waters," and that I had met other people that week.

He told me I was the only person he had met through Match so far, after a month.

We finished dinner around 10, and he also tried to come up with options to extend the evening. This time I just said that I wanted to go home.

I offered to drive him to his car given the chilly temperatures. He said that he had something for me.

That something was a dozen yellow roses.

Very sweet, of course.

But it made me wish that I liked him more. After our first date, I thought I should give it another shot. After the second, I knew that my interest was strictly platonic.

I should also say that he has been calling me regularly. He called me three times last week before our date. He called me today and left me a message to tell me that he was "thinking about me."

It's too much. Or really, it's too much because I don't feel the same way.

I'm glad to be dating again, but I never know what to do when I don't reciprocate their interest. I never learned that part. I've become more familiar with being on the other side.

That's why I had to back off a little this week. Until I figure out how to say "I'm not interested," I need to re-group.

I am meeting someone new for a drink on Thursday, but otherwise, I need your best advice on how to let these guys down easy.

Apparently, avoidance is my only trick so far.