Dating in the 21st Century

Buncha Questions

...or whatever Tiff called it. Stolen from Tepper by way of the Ankle Biter.

Girlfriend Week

This is by far the strangest girlfriend-related week I've had in a long time.

Monday - get voicemail on cell phone from ex-gf of 2 years ago. Says she heard about layoffs, hoped I wasn't affected (I wasn't), is still in danger of losing her job (maybe because she's a self-centered know-it-all-but-really-doesn't bitch?) and oh, not to hurt my feelings, but she's getting married...this year. Whatever. I couldn't stop laughing, and almost drove off the road while listening to the message, I was laughing so hard.

Tuesday - apparently the ex-gf from Dec-May was on the news. Some man-on-the-street interview about this woman doing facial feature personality correlation or something. Ex-gf cheerfully tells reporter she thought it was "cool" and that her "chin" (or something) showed she was "driven". Hahahahaha. Which facial feature would explain to her that she's an idiot?

Wednesday - current gf tells me she's moving in. Long story, but she's basically been screwed out of her current home and couldn't find anything reasonable where she and the two big puppies could live :(. Give a girl a ring and she takes the whole house. Heh. At least it's good impetus to clean the place.

What will today bring, I wonder?

Two Months

Two months ago today, I went on a first date with this girl. She seemed nice enough, had a good sense of humor on the phone, and her pics were certainly attractive. When we met to get dinner, she seemed nervous, but gave me a hug anyway... I thought that was a nice touch. She was really quiet during and after dinner too - I couldn't tell if she was just really shy or wasn't interested, but she refused to end the date early.

While we waited to get into the movie ("Dodgeball", good first date flick, hehe), she showed me some pictures and came out of her shell a little bit. During the movie, she kept fidgeting, and I finally realized it was because she was trying to get me to hold her hand (aww). She hasn't let go since.

Two months after that date, I've awakened to an e-card and an instant message and a little card in the mail to wish me a happy two month anniversary. She still puts a daily message in the keepsake box she gave me a month ago, still one for every day we've been together.

It just doesn't get any better than this :).

Ring part deux

Last night, we went and exchanged the ring for the right size to fit E's finger. She's a very happy camper now.

I Gave Her A Ring

Nope, not the telephonic kind, a real jewelry-style, no-I-didn't-spend-50-cents-to-get-it-out-of-the-vending-machine-next-to-the-Series-4-Homies-at-Toys-R-Us ring.

You can pick your jaw up now, it's not an engagement ring. That comes later :).

E has been interviewing at the corporate office for her company for months, wanting to get one of the buyer-related jobs so she can move upward and learn something new. Each time, she was told they really liked her but had found someone who already had experience in that area. I kept telling her that her time would come, that when she most needed it, it would happen. I also gave her a fortune cookie fortune I'd been keeping in my wallet for months that said "You will receive good news soon."

This past week, she had a rather random interview scheduled by the General Manager of the buyer office at corporate. She met with the GM for 20 minutes, then was told she'd hear a decision in a day or two. Five minutes later, they called to say she got the job. What job? She doesn't really know, since there isn't a posting - they actually made a position just so they could bring her in. This is such an awesome event, especially in the face of being out of work for a month with a severely sprained ankle, and bitch-ass landlady aggravation. Therefore, I really felt like spoiling her with a "congratulations on your new job" gift :).

I bought it for her last night, and I gave it to her last night. It's the wrong size because
a) I'm a man, and
b) I'm a dummy
but we're going to trade it in for one of the right size, no problem. Best of all, she loves it, and can't wait to wear it. She says I'm stuck with her forever :).

The picture of the ring is in the continuation. This is the first time I've ever given anyone a ring, much less one with a diamond in it.

Take Note

After thinking through the past couple years (who knows why), I came up with this...

The Relationship Bill of Rights

1. I deserve to be in a reciprocal relationship. This means many things, but above all, I deserve someone who gives as much as I do.
2. I deserve to be a part of your life. A relationship is a partnership, and I want to share my life with you as well.
3. I deserve respect. If this doesn't exist, neither does the relationship.
4. I deserve to be let in when you're having a bad day or feel stressed or are upset. If you shut me out, I can't be your partner and help like I want. Push me away enough times and I'll finally just go away, and I'm sure you don't want that.
5. I deserve honesty. That's also my pledge to you - a relationship without honesty and trust is nothing.
6. I deserve affection and intimacy. I'm not here just to fulfill your needs, we are here for us.
7. I deserve to be my own person and have my own life. This doesn't mean I don't love you, or want to be with you. If you're the one I always come home to, there's a reason for that. It's the time we spend away from each other that makes us appreciate each other more.
8. I deserve to be loved for who I am. I love you just as you are, and if you can't do that, hit the road.
9. I deserve some big titties in my face. [Ladies, feel free to replace this with something related to shoes/handbags/etc.]