It's raining mens!

I’ve been up to my new tricks this week. I say “new” because I wouldn’t say that I’ve ever really been someone to juggle multiple men. E once called me a “player” in graduate school, but I think my blog entries from the past year show that may have been an overstatement. ;-)

Doing match.com has opened the proverbial floodgates. It has certainly been fun so far. I love meeting new people, and it’s nice to feel *attractive* again.

The one thing I am struggling with, as I mentioned before, is telling someone I’m not interested when they express interest in me. So far I’ve had to do it with the Writer and the Inspector. Today I got my first “I don’t feel a dating vibe, but you’re a good person to be friends with” from someone. Just before I started writing this post I talked to WorldTraveler on IM. It’s funny, because I felt the most “chemistry” with him – that is, up until today.

Let me backtrack first.

Last night I finally met up with MusicMan. We were supposed to go out two weeks ago. He canceled on me, and then when we tried to make plans again, he seemed non-committal. To me it seemed like he was blowing me off, so I never answered his email. He emailed me on Tuesday to say that meeting for drinks was starting to “sound like a fable of sorts.” At first I was a bit miffed at his accusatory tone, as if I were the one blowing him off. But instead I emailed him back and we made plans for last night.

We planned to meet at a local draft house for something to eat and drinks.

He met me with a single pink rose.

The flower thing still surprises me.

I don’t know if it’s the southern chivalry thing or what, but very few men have given me flowers in my life. It just so happens that it’s happened twice recently. First I got the dozen roses from the Inspector, and now this. It’s cliché, but I do love roses.

We ended up having a lively conversation over dinner and drinks. MusicMan is very chatty and energetic. He’s cute in a black-rimmed glasses kind of way. He was funny. I cracked up for the first time on any of these dates. I definitely like guys who can make me laugh; it’s important to me.

I had to leave a little early since I teach so early now, but we parted with plans to do something in the future. I was intrigued. I definitely liked spending time with him, but I wasn’t sure if the interest was romantic. Definite potential though.

Today has been a snowy/icy/rainy day in Raleigh. I had plans to meet up with a new fella for coffee. At 6am this morning, I emailed him and said that I was still planning on meeting him, but I wanted to see how the weather played out the rest of the day. I anticipated that I might have to cancel at the last-minute in the name of safety (since people here cannot drive in weather conditions that are even remotely treacherous).

When I finished teaching my last class of the day, I opted to pick up some lunch and head straight for the coffee shop. I still had an hour and a half to kill before meeting him, but I figured that I could get some reading in.

I had very low expectations going into today’s meeting. I hadn’t been all that enthused by his emails, and his profile was pretty standard. In fact, I had let a few of his emails go unanswered, but he had remained persistent (which I told him) and I agreed to the meeting.

I will say that after spending two hours talking to him, my opinion of him has changed dramatically. I felt a lot of chemistry, and we seemed to have small things in common. When I got there I ordered a mint mocha instead of my usual iced latte. I wanted something sweet and warm. A few minutes after showing up, he went up to order his own beverage since I already had mine. When he sat back down, I asked what he had decided on. Yes, he also ordered a mint mocha.

We talked about cars. I said I had recently bought one. I have a 07 Sentra. He has a 06.

At one point, he asked me what I was looking for in a relationship. I found the question bold for a first meeting; one that is hard to ask (and answer) face-to-face. But I gave it my best shot.

I asked him in kind and when he gave his own answer, I felt myself nodding internally.

For the first time I walked away feeling excited about someone. On the other dates, I’ve been somewhat surprised by the comments the men have made – comments that imagine the two of us doing things in the future. “You’ll have to come over and I’ll make you such and such,” or “we’ll have to go there,” etc. It has always felt a premature. But today I found myself imagining things I’d like to do with him in the future. If it goes anywhere, making him watch Grey’s Anatomy will be one of the things on the list (he’s never seen it).

I don’t have a name for him yet. If we go out again, I’ll have to think of one.

So, yes. I’m up to new tricks. My friends are losing track of which man is which.

I am having fun though, and for the first time I feel like I’m bound to find a good one.