Heeeeeere's Joey and Janaaaaaaaa

Speed dating Episode III

. . . I sit at the table directly in front of him and proceed to relax and enjoy the band. Several songs begin and end and I've just about forgotten where I am when someone taps me on the shoulder . . . "Would you like to dance?"

Smile

“Absolutely”

It was the cute one with a kind smile.

It worked . . . I can’t believe it . . . it worked. We start to dance and I immediately notice the smooth, Latin rhythm of his dancing. “This is great” I think to myself.

“Where are you from?”

“I’m living in South Ogden right now. Where are you from?”

“South Ogden”

NO WAY! I am dancing with a good looking man with kind eyes AND Latin rhythm who lives five minutes away from me? NO WAY!

We continue to dance. Afterward he states that he will probably ask me to dance again. My heart is happy. I then ask if I can join him at his table since I came alone. He enthusiastically agrees.

And then it starts.

We talk about what brought us here, past dating experiences and my need for touch. The band is done but the DJ begins. The DJ is set up in the courtyard below where Brigham himself is poised looking over the Salt Lake Valley. “This IS the place,” I think to myself. We dance almost every song breaking only a few times to get to know each other.

He was born and raised by his Grandparents in Layton, Utah. He has eight older Uncles and his Grandfather was a Prize Boxer in the Military. He reads my mind, “A lot of testosterone.”

We walk back to the pavilion to hopefully find a drink. There is a guy filling up two cups of water. Thank goodness there are cups left. As Joey reaches for two cups, he jumps back in disgust crying out, “ewwwww.” What is one man’s cup receptacle is indeed a garbage can. We find a drinking fountain.

His Grandmother whom he adores was a devout Catholic. Both his Grandmother and his Grandfather died in the 1980’s when he was in his early teens. He was not raised by his mother but she and his step-father along with five little brothers and two little sisters were in his life.

We dance and dance and dance. It is fantastic. I look around at all the groups of girls “making the most of it” and I am thankful that I am not one of them tonight. I got the guy. I am dancing with the one with kind eyes. It is my turn. We take a break and sit enjoying the view of the Salt Lake Valley. Out of the corner of my eye I notice fireworks lighting up the southern part of the valley. At this point of the evening I think, “Of course there are fireworks. Why wouldn’t there be fireworks.” As we watch, trying not to state the obvious, we contemplate what they are for. Maybe the Bees won or it is an end of summer celebration. Joey offers that it may be a prison riot at the point of the mountain. As we laugh I secretly think what a great story for our grandchildren.

He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 2000. He had hit a low in his life and needed some guidance. On his way up the stairs to answer the doorbell in his mother’s home he crossed paths with one of his little brothers telling him, “if that’s the missionaries tell them I’m not here.” He was excited to talk to them. Although it was not the missionaries at the door his brother gave him the Book of Mormon that he had received earlier that day and Joey called them. The missionaries later told him that they had been prompted to track his mother’s house several times but were turned away every time. They did not understand until Joey called them that day. It has been a struggle since that time but he is an active, Temple worthy, Priesthood holding, Home teaching member and very thankful for the experiences of his life.

It is 10pm, time for speed dating. He looks at me and states, “I found what I came for.” We both rip off our name tags (That’s as racey as this story gets I promise) and continue to dance until 11:30. He walks me to my car after an announcement that snakes like to hide under cars. And they tell us this AFTER the prayer!? After a quick snake inspection we exchange phone numbers, a hug, a goodbye and a promise that tomorrow is NOT too soon to call.

He works for the LDS church with the Humanitarian effort. Enough said.

Driving away I can’t believe what has happened tonight, a night 32 yrs in the making. My phone goes off flashing JOEY. I answer. “I just wanted to make sure the number worked. You still on for a call tomorrow?”

ABSOLUTELY

Speed dating Episode II

Brian is sitting alone in the pavillion. At first glance he looks to be one of the five men at this activity that are still in their 30's.

*deep breath*

"Hi, is anyone sitting here?" He looks up with a smile, "No, go ahead." Seeing him face to face I notice that he is a little older, wait, A LOT older than I first thought. I don't want to be rude so we converse until there's nothing left to say and then I begin to scan the pavillion. . . .

12 o'clock, table of women
3 o'clock, table of women

6 o'clock, table of women

9 o'clock, a Man! yes that's a MAN! . . . surrounded by a crowd of women.
*sigh*

I now scan the perimeter. After two or three sweeps I focus in on two men who just arrived. One looks shy and a little backward but the other one is cute and seems normal. Excellent. I pull out my check list:

1. Man . . . check

2. Younger than 45 . . . check

I'm OK to go.

I decide to practice my femine skills. I will give him signs that I am interested and let him take the lead. He and his friend sit down facing me but two tables away. I proceed to glance at his table often in order to catch his eye. After several attempts we finally make eye contact. I smile and wave. He smiles back with kind eyes. I watch. I wait. He doesn't move. He doesn't wave. My heart falls. He is no different than every other man. Tonight is no different than every other night. NOTHING is going to come of this except embarassement and pain. Suddenly I feel exhausted with the weight of years of rejection and loneliness on my shoulders. It is such a small blow but after years and years inside the ring I am bruised and sensitive. I resign to the grassy hill outside of the pavillion with the other girls who have sighed their last affirmation. I feel myself crawling into my shell for protection.

The speaker starts and drones on and on through the worn topics of faith and hope while I stare at my phone in disbelief that it is only 6:30pm. Speed dating doesn't start until 10pm. I have THREE AND A HALF HOURS!

*deep breath*

I have options:

1. Get the HELL out of here.

2. Call someone to help pass the time.

3. Try my luck at Hogle Zoo where the odds, unfortunately, seem better.

4. Stay in the most painful and awkward situation since the Activity of '96* and continue to master my femine skills.

*The Activity of '96 was a USU ward activity in which a committee paired up the boys of the ward with the girls of the ward for dinner and dancing. It was an unforgetable expirience, unfortunately. My date answered all of my questions with two words or less and never looked me in the eye. When I had run out of energy trying to keep the conversation alive I let him loose to dance and eventially go home with a girl he was obviously more interested in. I told myself over and over it was not a big deal but I still I felt the bruise from the massive blow.

It all comes down to the fact that I really want to speed date. Plus it guarantees me a conversation with the kind-eyed, cute one, so I stay in the awkard situation. The band is playing a selection of music from the 50's and 60's. All of the people in the pavillion are having a great time dancing and singing along, so I get up to join them and at least enjoy the music. I begin to walk into the pavillion when I notice him sitting by himself, the cute one with kind eyes. My heart is pounding, my eyes are dilating and my legs aren't moving. What should I do?

*deep breath*

I decide to stick with my original plan and "encourage" him so I reaffirmed that my hair is soft and curly around my face and that I have sexy, Calvin Klien jeans and a red, hot shirt. I proceed to walk toward him. As I approached I slow down every so slightly . . .

eye contact

smile

"hi"

smile back

"hi" back

starting to stand

pause midgait

sits down

continue walking

*sigh*

I sit at the table directly in front of him and proceed to relax and enjoy the band. Several songs begin and end and I've just about forgotten where I am when someone taps me on the shoulder. . . "Would you like to dance?"

Speed dating Episode I

Well, it has been over three weeks since my last adventure, and what a three weeks it has been. You will never guess what happened. . . wait, I am getting ahead of myself. We have to go back, back to the beginning. Yes, speed dating, wow it seems so long ago.

Aug 22, 2009 a Saturday not so different from any other Saturday. There I am getting myself into my sexy, skinny, Calvin Klein jeans and my sexy, chest accentuating, red, hot shirt. My hair is down and curly, falling soft around my face. My makeup is applied at exactly the right pressure and with exactly the right colors. I am looking good if I do say so myself. It's an end of summer LDS singles activity and I'm bringing the HEAT baby! Ok so you see the process I have to go through just to get myself ready physically and mentally. Without all the positive affirmation crap there is no way I would turn off my latest DVR'd episode of "Facts of Life" to go to an event that will end up being a huge disappointment just like the hundreds of huge disappointments in the past. BUT if I put "Eye of the Tiger" on repeat, describe my wardrobe as sexy and repeat over and over again how good I look, I can get myself pumped up enough to get in the car. Once I'm in the car I am too lazy to get out so I end up driving to the destination. This is how I've done it for years. A lot of times I have a friend I go with who keeps the affirmations coming but this time I went alone. I was going for one reason and one reason alone, a good story for my blog. I am 32 and need a good story.

Here I am at 'This is the Place Monument Park' in Salt Lake City. I wonder where everyone is meeting? Oh wait there is a huge mass of women walking toward another huge crowd of women. Yup this is the place alright, thirty women to one man. Great, just great. Sexy pants. Sexy shirt. . . no. . . sexy, RED shirt. Hair down, curly. I look good. I look good. I look good. I am good enough, smart enough...

Wait, I'm seeing a lot of white hair and several canes, is that a wheelchair? I must be in the wrong place. I'm not this old, I can't be this old. I'm 32 for heaven sakes. I'm not a cougar, I'm a fox. I'm not a cougar, I'm a fox. Ok, now I'm calm and I turn on my best "make the most of it" attitude and sit down to eat. Who do I meet first? Brian.

My second post ever!

Well, my friends, tonight is a pretty big night. I have 12+ dates tonight (don't forget I am making up for lost time). It's called speed dating. This is new territory for me but it seems like a good way to meet a lot of eligible men in a short amount of time. That's right, I will sit down at a table, an eligible man will sit down, we will converse most efficiently for 3min, if I am interested I will give him my best 'come hither' look, if he is interested he will scoot his chair closer under the table, the bell will then ring and I will wait for the next man to come to me ("wait for the next man to come to me" now that is an exciting phrase!). At the end of the night everyone will make a note of who they were interested in and if you match up you exchange phone numbers. Like anything in life worth doing, I am excited and I can't wait to go, yet I am terrified and I'm going to vomit. Here I go off to my next adventure or at least next interesting expirience. Details to follow.

Jo

My first post ever!

Truth be told I have been dragging my feet on the whole blog revolution. I didn't feel like I had much to say or time to say it. Yes, I have done great things in my life but are they worth blogging about? I didn't think so, well at least not until today. Today I talk to a long time friend. We have been friends since High School/College and have a lot of memories together. We laughed through many get togethers, dances, group dates and home movies. We sang through many choir practices, trips and competitions. We cheered through many football, basketball and Dance competitions. We talked through her many boyfriends and "guys next door". We watched movies and went to dinner with neighbors. We stayed up late singing with "Juan Julio Jorge" and "Jimmy Flinders." I was by her side when stalking her last boyfriend and current husband. I was there keeping his roomate occupied while they interacted and he asked her out on their first date. The three of us spent time listening to music and eating Marshmellow Mateys that will never run out, no never run out. I was there helping her through her doubts and fears. I was crying like a baby (literally) at her wedding. I was there watching with pride as her family grew. She was the first of many friends that I have done similar things for, the pattern being: laugh, play, stalk and cry; next, laugh, play, stalk, cry; next, laugh, play, stalk, cry. Where were my social conquests you ask? Well they were out there but I was too busy studying to be personally involved. I had plenty of time to be the "Rosie" to my friends "Meg" but as for myself I was immersed in my career goals. There was also fear of rejection and low self worth that more than likely played a role, but those issues are better discussed with my more than qualified Therapist ; ) The studying paid off because 11 yrs later I have the career I have always dreamed of and I am very happy and settled in that aspect of my life, BUT I am not settled socially. It's finally time to become the leading lady in my life. This blog is a means to document my social transactions and to provide some accountability and motivation.

Currently I am using different medium's (internet, speed dating, single activities etc) to meet eligable men. After a social interation I will post post-date updates. I am also using this blog to network. If you, readers, know of any single men please feel free to set me up. My only requirments are that he be between the ages of 28 and 45 and that he is at least 5'11" and he knows that I am 6'1". I do not have a problem dating men of any race or religion as long as they meet the requirments above and know that I am an active and serious member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I welcome any help or advise you may have but also know that I will pretty much do what I want in the end :) Thanks for all of your support and love.

Jo

Oh and all the names will be changed on this blog to protect the innocent, me.