Sunday, August 29

Changes!

I now have a second blog that I am working on. Notice in the sidebar you will see a link to Love Spell. This new one is going to be used exclusively for blogging my experiences with taken men. I didn't want to make people have to bookmark another site, so there are links on both so you can navigate between the two.

The new blog states this, but to avoid hateful comments on here, I want to put it here also. I do not condone infidelity; in fact, it disgusts me. I hate that taken men are attracted to me and I have tried many times over the years to figure out what the attraction is. I have always and will always turn these men down and let them know exactly what I think of them.

With that said, for returning readers, you may notice another change, my chatterbox is missing. I screwed it up. So, once I get things fixed (read: figure out what the crap I did!) I will get it back up and running. For now though, if you want to leave me any messages, you will have to post a comment.

Tuesday, August 24

About the previous post...

I have no idea why there is so much space before the box in the presidential poll post. I have checked the post HTML a couple of times, and, from what I can tell, there is no reason for the space. Anybody got any ideas for me?

Who do you think should be President?










Who are you voting for in the upcoming election?
John Kerry
George Bush
Other


  

Free polls from Pollhost.com


Taken Men

I have been trying to decide something. I have a lot of stories involving married/engaged men, and I am trying to decide if I should include them on this blog, or put them in a blog of their own. There are a lot of them, so many that a lot of friends keep telling me that I should write a book. Since I haven’t got around to doing that, nor do I see that happening soon, I figure I will write a blog instead. Then, if in the future I do decide to write a book, everything is written down and none of the details are forgotten.

I pose a question to the readers now. Would you rather see the stories included in this blog, or do you think they deserve a blog all their own? A teaser to pique your interest—one of the men is referred to as “Stripper Boy” by me and some friends now…..

Boredom at its best.

It is about 10:30 and I am at my consultation. The equipment does the work once I get it started, so I pretty much sit here and wait. To pass the time I usually read a book or catch up on my safety and health magazines. Lucky me today though—I forgot to bring anything! Luckily I did bring my laptop, so I at least have that to fall back on. This now means that I am going to be doing anything in my power to keep myself busy, and that includes doing some blogging. It has been a few days since my last post, so it is about time I got around to doing some more.

No update to be made about my love life—it is still as dead as usual. Though, it was nice to see that Oncee thinks that I am hot. Thanks for the ego-boost!

Plans for the mystery party are coming along and I am growing more excited each day. I went out last night to find some rubber snakes for my hair and was sorely disappointed with the selection. I bought one small bag of about 12 snakes at the dollar store, but I really need some others. These are pretty small, 6-8 inches long and pretty skinny. I would like to find some just slightly larger and then weave both into my hair that night. I went to Wal-mart and they had some that were even smaller than the ones that I bought and others that were way too big to try to attach to my head. So, my quest for snakes will continue.

Geez, this is going to be an even longer day than what I was expecting. I just had a guy ask me to quote him a textbook definition of a respirator. I am sorry, but I have more important things on my mind (such as when to use what respirators to protect workers), than what the textbook definition of a respirator is. I gave him my answer, which he wasn’t happy with, so he began to go into a long tirade as to what the “official” definition is and why dust masks should not be considered respirators. My answer to him was that whether they meet his “official” definition or not, they meet OSHA’s definition, so that is what he must comply with. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy with that answer. I guess he wanted me to change OSHA’s standard, something that it takes an act of Congress, and pretty much an act of God, to do. I understand his frustration, I really do. But, my job is to make sure that he complies with OSHA standards, whether he agrees with them or not. What a frustrating situation to be in!!! He was arguing his point like he really thought that I would say to him, “No, what OSHA says doesn’t matter—do whatever you like.” It would be different if I was a compliance officer and he was trying to get out of a citation. But he invited me in and then attacked me!

Okay, enough about that. It is so annoying when things like that happen. I guess I can be happy that it gives me something to do though!


Thursday, August 19


Here is a recent pic of my friend, Christina, and me. I am the one in the stripes. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, August 18

This sucks.

Looks like I won't be seeing my guy at the party in September either--he is going to be out of town that weekend. It is Labor Day weekend, so I understand, but it still sucks. He of course apologized profusely, and I told him not to worry about it. But, I had to make him feel a little bit guilty--I told him it is his turn now to make plans, that I give up--he doesn't want to do the things that I plan. So, he promised that we will get together soon. It just doesn't seem like he and I are ever free at the same time. Plus, he lives over an hour and a half away, so we can't just decide on the spur of the moment to go do something. It is just frustrating.

On a funny note, I went ahead and told him about the characters for the party. BTW--it is a murder mystery party set at the circus. When I got to my character, I of course, had to be a little evil. >:) I will be playing the most popular character of the freak show, a Medusa-like person, Indian, sultry, and mysterious--very sexy. I plan on wearing my belly dancing costume that I made last Halloween, so I had to let that little detail slip. After hearing all that, he was really regretting making other plans. hehehe Yeah, it was kind of mean, but it a fun way. :)

So, a question now. Was it really wrong of me to use sex appeal that way?

Tuesday, August 17

Words taken from within my mind...

I followed the link to Chris's blog (from the chatterbox) and looked into some of his archives and found something that sums up being single. I hope he doesn't mind me copying this here!!!

The guys that I fall for do not fall for me. The guys that fall for me are the ones that I do not fall for. I am not looking to settle for less than I want. I'd rather be single and happy, surrounded by good friends than with someone that I do not love. ... How I got to this point, I don't know. But right now I am holding out for the guy who takes my breath away. The one to whom I can look and see his imperfections while still feeling my heart skip a little. The one you just want to hold. The one you want to just be with. He's out there. Maybe I have met him, maybe I have not. Maybe I will never meet him. But I wait just the same.
This sounds so much like me, it is uncanny. He put into words everything that I have been thinking for a long time. Chris, if you are reading this, thank you. And, if you'd rather I remove it, just say so and it will be done.


Monday, August 16

New Thingy!

Not to be outdone by my sister, I too have a chatterbox now. Look to the right of your screen and you will see where you can "Leave me a message!" Please do--it is so much fun to get on here and see that other people really are reading this. Have a great day and I hope to hear from all of you soon!

Saturday, August 14

I'm Back!

Hello again!

After a long week with no internet access, I am finally home and things are slowly getting back to normal. So, that of course means--back to blogging!

The trip went well. I had a decent class about safety in construction. Luckily, I had a couple of decent instructors, so the class as a whole was pretty good. There was this one man though, I think they said he is 72, who should NOT be a teacher. I figure they are trying to force him to retire, so they gave him a teaching job, thinking he would hate it so much that he would leave. Unfortunately for us students though, he has decided to stick it out. For over an hour one day he stood at the computer and proceeded to "teach" us how to use the search function on a webpage. It turned out that we had to tell him what to type and where to click each time. It was so frustrating!!! I think we were supposed to be learning about trenches at that point. Thank goodness the main instructor in the class later went over trenches, or I would still not have any idea what the safety standards are for them. That was the major downer on the trip. Otherwise, it was pretty good. I enjoyed having my coworker Carla with me. She is so much fun to do stuff with, and it just doesn't seem like we ever have time when we are at home. Of course, she is married with two kids, and I am still trying to have a dating life, so our schedules don't really coincide much.

It was really nice to have a friend to travel with this time. This was my ninth or tenth trip to Chicago, and this was the first with a traveling buddy. She was good luck on the flights also--I think this was the first trip where both of my flights were on time. It was funny, this trip was only a week, and I had a friend with me, but I was so anxious to come home. I think I have spent too much time up there over the last couple of years. I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and play with my dog--is that really too much to ask? My next trip isn't scheduled until next March or April, so hopefully by then I will be ready for another. It would be nice if I could travel somewhere besides Chicago also. But, our training institute is in Chicago, so that is where I must go.

Well, it is late, I am tired, and therefore I am certain that I am just rambling, so I am going to end this before it gets too painful and boring for you to read. It may be kind of funny when I look at this later and likely see that half of what I wrote doesn't even make any sense. :) Goodnight all!

Sunday, August 8

Twenty seven is too old for Twister

Okay, so I lied yesterday--this is actually my last post before I head out of here this evening.

Last night I went over to Christina's house for a little get together with some friends, Shawn, Chris, and a friend of Christina's, Nikki. I hadn't seen Chris (not the Chris mentioned in earlier posts), since 1998, so it was really great getting to see him again. Shawn I see about once every month or so, and it is always great getting to see him. And Nikki, I hope you are reading this--you kick ass! We had a great evening, starting with Shawn making pizzas (that boy should be a chef), and of course drinks were had by all. We played a couple of drinking games, went out and met Christina's new neighbors, and then broke out Twister.

I am sure everyone remembers how much fun they had as kids playing Twister, right? It is still that much fun and more. However, when you have been drinking, I am not sure Twister is the right choice of games. It came down between Shawn and me during the first game, and I ended up losing because I may be flexible, but I am not a contortionist. Anyways, the reasoning behind being too old for it--when I fell, being inebriated as I was, I didn't notice where I was falling. I now have a lovely knot and bruise on my forehead from falling into the bookcase. Nothing like looking as though you've been beat up when you are headed out of town on a business trip. Also, I used muscles in that game that I forgot I had--I am not hurting this morning, miracle of miracles, but I wouldn't be surprised if I feel it tomorrow--you know the second day is always the worst. :)

Is this going to stop me from playing Twister again--NEVER!!! It is just too much fun. It did teach me to look where I am falling though, so it wasn't without worth. Oh, that, and I need to contort myself into really odd positions on a regular basis to work out those new found muscles! :)

Have a great week everyone!

Saturday, August 7

Taking a break

Emma came home yesterday!!! The doctors ran all kinds of tests on her and she seems to be a healthy baby now, so they released her. Thanks again for all the prayers!

This is likely going to be my last post for a little while. I am headed back to Chicago, yet again, tomorrow and will be gone until next Friday. For those of you who don’t know, I take training classes for my job in Chicago. I have had it now for a little over two years and in that time I should have taken maybe five classes. Somehow though, this is my thirteenth. I enjoy my time there and I am thankful for the training—I have a kick-ass resume now—but it has been a lot of time away from home. Most of my trips are two weeks at a time, but thankfully this one is just one week. So, it will be over in no time!

The bar is fully stocked now, and poker night was a success. Unfortunately though not everyone we invited was able to make it. The guy we planned to introduce to Michelle had a prior commitment, while my guy had to work. We still had a good time though. I really suck at poker, so I was the first out of the game. It came down to my neighbor, Kathy, and Tricia’s husband, Joe, at the end, with Joe winning and taking the money home.

Well, I had better get to packing. Wish me well on my flights! I hope everyone has a great week!

Wednesday, August 4

Happy Times

It has come to my attention that my blog is making me sound like I am jaded when it comes to dating, and that all of my dating experiences have been bad. I would like to go on the record now to say that no, they haven’t been. I have actually had a lot of fun over the years. I had my first boyfriend in kindergarten. :) Mostly I ran from him, telling him not to touch me, but, it was fun! Seriously though, I have had good relationships.

In college I dated a lot while I was single. My first semester at Marshall was one of the best periods in my life. During that one semester, I received flowers more often than anyone else I knew, and they were all from different men. It was fun and free and I had a blast. It was a time in my life when I never had to question if I had plans for the weekend, I only had to question who I was making those plans with. I started seeing Todd at the very end of that semester, so “fun-time” was temporarily halted. The time while I was single, between him and Brian (both mentioned in early posts), fun-time was back and I again went out with lots of different guys, never lacking for a date when I wanted one.

Also, I mentioned “my first love” in an earlier post and that is a relationship that I look back on very fondly. Chris and I dated in high school for almost two years and we were crazy in love. The problem was that we weren’t from the same "group." Granted, that would never be an issue now, but at the time, it was a very big issue and a huge problem. My friends didn’t much like him and his friends hated me. Most of the time we were together, we kept it a secret, to keep from causing trouble with our friends. It was very difficult and straining on us, and eventually it led to our split. We remained the best of friends though—we were too close to just cut the other one out of our life. Through the rest of high school and into college we saw each other through many a break up. And, we even tried dating again, a few times, but it was long distance, and we weren’t very good at that. We finally decided that we made better friends than we made a couple. Never once did things end badly with us and I really do look back at our time together very fondly. The memories of my relationship with him are what keep me going when I have such awful experiences with dating now. For me it truly has been better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all. Without him, I may have given up on dating by now. Unfortunately though, even the best of friendships often have to come to an end. Our continuing friendship often caused trouble in our other dating relationships. I guess it really isn’t all that common to remain that close to an ex, and many of the people we have dated have been threatened by our closeness. It had been such a problem so many times that we finally decided that if either of us was ever going to have a relationship that would go somewhere, our friendship had to end. We still talk when we see each other, which is rare, and I do miss him. I lost one of my best friends, and that is only natural. I guess then that there is one sad thing about my relationship with him--I can’t really call him a friend any longer. Other than that, I only remember the good times we had.

There have been others, but I feel that I have now proved that I have had good dating experiences and that I am not completely jaded. So, I will continue with my man—ditching blog. :) You have to admit, it makes for better reading!

Tuesday, August 3

The David Fiasco

Do I have anyone wondering about the David Fiasco yet? Well, ponder no longer, for I am about to tell you! :)

Other than the guy mentioned in the previous post, David has been my most recent disaster in the dating world. Our “relationship” only lasted a matter of weeks, but it has left me with more questions than any other in the past few years.

I originally knew David in college. He was my pizza delivery boy. I worked in the dorms at the time, so I knew all of the pizza men, better than I ever should have. Hey, when you are sitting bored at a desk for eight hours, and there is a pizza man waiting at the desk for people to come down, how else should you occupy your time but to get to know them? I ate a lot of pizza during those days—those of us working in the dorms got free food just about every evening from one of the various pizza places. Anyways, I talked to David more than the others because the first day I met him I was attracted to him. It was a miracle he was never fired because he would sometimes stand there for an hour or longer talking to me. But, it wasn’t meant to be—he was married. So, we remained just friends, but there was obvious chemistry from day one—both of us could see it, as well as everyone who knew us. We both respected the fact that he was married though. Eventually we graduate, leave college, and lose touch with one another.

Jump ahead a few years to this past April. I was headed to Chicago and am sitting in Yeager Airport waiting on my plane. Guess who happens to be on the flight with me—David! It seemed that luck was on my side. His wife had cheated on him and they were now divorced--sucked for him, but it left him free for me. We both had a layover in NC, so he stayed at my gate with me until my flight left. We spent the whole time talking, laughing, and catching up. The chemistry was still there, big time. We traded cards and he asked me if I would go out with him once we were both back from our trips. When I returned I had an e-mail from him asking me to let him know when I was back so that he could call me. I did, he called and we talked for over three hours, without one second of dull conversation. The only reason we got off the phone was because I noticed it was a little after one in the morning! We went out that weekend to dinner and shopping. It was so nice—we walked around shopping, holding hands, not a care in the world. We found out that we had a lot in common, from home furnishings, to clothing choices, you name it, we both had the same ideas. I had met him at his office, so at the end of the night he dropped me back off at my car. We stood there in the parking lot, not wanting to say goodbye, talking, kissing, and just “being” with each other. I am sure we looked like fools, but we didn’t care—we were in out own little world, happy to finally be able to be with one another. The night finally had to come to an end, with his kissing me lightly on the forehead and telling me that he’d miss me until he got to see me again. For the next few days, every time I thought of him, my stomach would flutter with excitement of getting to see him again. I had only felt that way once before, with my first love. It was so exhilarating!

I accidentally left my jacket is his car, but I didn’t care, because I knew that we definitely had to see one another again. He called me and we sat up a date for the following week, on Wednesday night. He had to cancel because of a last minute meeting for work. I asked if I could drop by his office to pick up my jacket—I needed it because I was leaving the following Monday for another two weeks in Chicago and wanted to take it with me. He about freaked out on me—he was so upset because he was canceled our date and he might not get to see me again before I had to leave. He insisted on coming to my house anyways that evening to drop off my jacket, just for the chance to see me, even if it was only for fifteen minutes. When he got there, he begged me to go out with him the next evening. Sure, no problem—I’d have been more than happy to see him two nights in a row. He called me the next day, super apologetic, because he had to cancel, again. Again, he was so upset because he wanted so badly to see me before I left. So, we made plans for that Saturday night—two days away. He ended the conversation with, “Can’t wait to see you!”

Those were to be the last words I would hear from him. I went out and bought a new outfit, did my hair and nails up, and looked damn good, I have to say, come that Saturday night. Seven o’clock comes and goes—no David. I actually got worried that something had happened to him. I called his house—no answer. Next, I tried his cell—no answer. I waited around for a while before finally accepting that, yet again, I had been stood up. It was a crushing blow because he had acted so excited and we were so perfect together. I expected a call the next day, with him apologizing, begging me to forgive him. I just knew that he had to have an excuse. Nothing. The morning before my flight I did what was likely the worst, most pathetic, stupid thing I could do—I sent him an e-mail. He had told me that the thing that had first drawn him to me was the way I expressed myself, no matter what the situation. So, I e-mailed him to express how hurt I was. I didn’t curse him or even “yell” at him in it. I just merely pointed out how much it hurt to be stood up and that I felt I deserved a reason. And, I wrote it in a way that he would know that I was willing to forgive him if he asked. Nothing. He apparently fell off the face of the earth.

For a while I secretly hoped that he had died—that would have been a pretty good excuse. But, I never saw an obituary, so I don’t really think that was it. :) But it left me with so many questions—number one of course being why. I can’t understand what I did to make him feel the need to treat me that way. If he had no interest in seeing me again, why did he keep making dates? Why did he act so upset at the idea of not seeing me before my trip? It was he who asked me out, he that reached out to hold my hand, he that kissed me the first time, he that had to see me that one other evening, even if just for minutes, and he that insisted on one more date before we would be separated for two weeks. Why would any guy, no matter how horrible a person, build a girl up that much, just to stand her up? Why, why, why, why why? None of it makes any sense to me. He was very genuine with his feelings, but I guess it turns out that he was just a really good actor. I have thought back over our friendship in college, the few weeks of our “relationship,” pretty much every second I can remember of us together, looking for clues as to why he would do such a thing, and I can’t come up with anything.

I think you can see now why I have dubbed it “The David Fiasco.” I have moved on from it, bent but not broken. Like I said it the previous post—the wound has healed, but the scar is still fresh.

Since David, I have not been able to shake the idea that I am doing something on my dates to scare these guys and run them off. I can't see if and if I am, then other people can’t see it either. I have gone on a couple of double dates with friends, where the guy has never called again, and they can’t pick out anything that I do either. My dates all seem to end the same—the first date goes well and ends with the guy planning the next, and then I either never hear from him again, or he stands me up. It is so hard to want to continue trying, to keep putting myself in that situation for it to happen all over again. I won’t let them win though—if I give up on men then I feel that I have done just that. I know that there are still good men out there. I am just having trouble finding one. So, now you can see why my sister felt the need to put me in her blog, and why I would be happy with even a second date.

Monday, August 2

A thank you and a solicitation for opinions

Hello again! I have started being lax about posting, so I had better get to it! First I want to thank those people that have been praying for Emma. She is doing better and has been able to come off the oxygen. She will still be in the hospital for about a week on antibiotics, but it looks like the worst is over. Thanks again!

Nothing too interesting has been going on, so that is why I haven’t really been posting. I went out on Saturday with a couple of friends, Tricia and Michelle, to Pizzeria Uno in Charleston, listed to a really bad singer while we ate, and then headed to Mulligans for a bit. It was a fun night, and fun to get to see Michelle again. I don’t think I had seen her since Tricia’s wedding two years ago. She is another one of the few single people that I know. She was telling us about a wedding that she has to go to in a couple of weeks that she needs a date to. So, we have devised a master plan for this weekend which includes poker at my house, alcohol, some friends, and hopefully at least a couple of single men for her meet. With any luck, by the end of the night, she will have a date to the wedding.

I have invited one guy that I am somewhat interested in, but I don’t know if he is coming yet. He is another of the men that I have tried dating, unsuccessfully. But, I don’t think he is a lost cause yet. We have known each other for about six months and have had a couple of really fun dates in that time, but things have not progressed from being “just friends.” I have not made any move to make things go any further, but that is because I am a huge chicken. And all the signs are there that he is interested in more, but he hasn’t done anything either. In fact, he already has plans this weekend, but he is trying to change them so that he can come to my poker game. Maybe he is a big chicken also—if so, this relationship is DOOMED! :)Who knows, he might not be interested in more. If he comes this weekend, that is what I hope to be able to figure out.

In the meantime, I will let you try to decide what is going on. Here are how things have gone the last six months. Our first date was a blind date back in February, the week of Valentine’s Day. We had a great time, had some good Italian food, some nice wine, he insisted on paying, and we left with plans to get together again. I get home that evening and have a message from him telling me that he hoped that I made it home okay and that he was looking forward to seeing me again. I get a sweet Valentine’s card from him and we continue talking off and on for a while, but nothing ever gets planned. Our next meeting was by chance at a conference that we both attended. He hugged me as soon as we saw each other, excited to see me. We spend most of the day together, and he invites me to his house that evening for a St. Patty’s day party. I couldn’t go, and I think he may have thought I was blowing him off. My best friend had just had a baby the day before and I was going to visit her that evening. The hospital that she was at was about two and a half hours from where he lived, so I really couldn’t make it. Still, that was when things sort of died with us. I started seeing another guy (he was still seeing other people also), which is a whole other story (the wound is healed, but the scar is still fresh), and “we” just didn’t happen. I don’t really remember what got us talking again, but a month or so ago he asked me to his house, for a poker game with him and his friends. Now, to me, this was a big date—I was meeting the friends. They all liked me and “approved” as you might say. Even his friends could see that he wasn’t making any moves toward me though and they called him on it, trying to do it in a way so that I wouldn’t know what was happening. Try as they might, they were still completely transparent. Jump to the end of the night—a long, goodnight hug. I like chivalry and guys being old-fashioned and all, but eventually you have to give a girl some sign about whether things are going anywhere. And since then, I have talked to him quite a bit, but not another date. I do know that he is coming to my house for a party that I am having next month, so I know we will be seeing each other again soon. But, it would be nice, if he is interested, to have a date a little more often than every two or three months.

Now, I would like to point out that my waiting around for months is not out of desperation. And I guess I didn’t really wait all that time—I did have the David fiasco (to be explained later). I really see some potential with this guy. We never lack for conversation, have a great time when we are together—the chemistry is great. I know I should just make a move and see what happens, but like I said earlier, I am a chicken. That is my number one reason for still being single; I let my chances pass by because I am too afraid to make the first move. The first step is to identify the problem, the next, to conquer it. That is what I am working on now. I have started in that direction by inviting him not only to this weekend’s get together, but also the one in a few weeks. So, we will see what happens!

Please leave comments! I love to read what others have to say about the situations I get myself into!