Drivers Education

The twins turned 15 and now we are embracing on the great adventure of learning to drive. I have signed up to be their instructor. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. I guess I will keep you up to date on how things progress. I keep telling myself I have trained thousands of adults how hard could this be. Then I realize they are my sons and at some point they will have a few thousand pounds of metal in their grasp. Pray for me : )

The Month of Birthdays

I have gotten through what I am calling the month of birthdays. My daughter's is on the first, my twins' are on the 14th, Robin's is on the 21st and I just found out her son's is on the 28th. Hey they are all multiples of 7, that has to be a good omen.

New York, New York

Great weekend in New York with Robin, yes I said her name. No more referring to her as the "girlfriend". We took in a show on Broadway, Wicked to be exact. A wonderful dinner before the show. We spent most of Saturday walking the city, shopping, taking in the sites. It was truly one of the best weekends I have ever had.

Meeting the little man of the house

My girlfriend discussed when we would introduce each other to our families. We really wanted to take things slow and not complicate things for several more months, but her son wants to meet the man who is taking his mom off to New York in September. I think it is only fair but I am ready for this?

Finalizing the New York Trip

We are going to NYC, I can't wait. It has been about 4 years since my last trip. Now we will see if we can spend 3 days together without getting on each others nerves.

Weekend Away?

I asked my girlfriend if she would like to get away for a weekend to test the waters. She seemed up to it. As part of our last date we had a friendly game of pool, which I lost and as part of losing the bet I asked her where she would like to go away for the weekend and she said "New York" of course joking, but I told her I would take her. I think she a bit shocked, but again she seemed to be game for it.

Coming home from Buenos Aires

Long trip home from Buenos Aires, I can't wait to get home and see my beloved and the kids. This is longest I have been apart from my new girlfriend. It will also be great to get back to the Texas heat as it was freezing in Buenos Aires, but then again it is winter there.

Great Weekend with my Kids

As I get older I realized I have probably taken time with my kids for granted in the past. This week we spent most of the weekend at basketball tournaments. I did have some fun with them and took my daughter swimming. It is starting to hit me that my twins will be entering high school next year and the days of hanging out with them are going by fast. I am really at this point trying to help them become men and leaders. I know sometimes they don't want to hear it, but at this age if I can get through to them about what is important in life, even a little, it will pay off years from now.

Worried, maybe that is a sign

My new friend and I have had an incrediable last few weeks. I think at this point you could say we are in an exclusive relationship.

I found out today that she was under the weather and running a fever. My first instinct was to check in on her, but her mother was there. After the appointment she told me it was not the flu, but they did blood work. A couple of weeks ago she had a minor staph infection, I just hope that it has not entered the bloodstream and is turning into anything serious.

Let me call you "Girlfriend"

After several dates, I can now say I am officially in a "relationship". It's nice to be with someone who is intelligent, beautiful, sexy, and just a great person.....we will see how long I can keep this up : )

Onto the 4th Date

I have another date with a lady I met on match.com.  This is the fourth date and I want to do something different, unfortunately Wednesday in the 'burbs...hard to find anything fun or unique to do.  Probably be dinner, drinks and maybe set her up for a game of pool...get the competition thing going.

Seeing where things lead

Just when I thought these online dating sites were a bunch of crap, I meet someone who I feel like I have so much in common with.  We have been out on a couple of great dates.  I will just have to see where this leads.

The Sex Talk

Ok, well now after a few dates with a lady I am really interested in, she let me know that she has rules when it comes to physical relationships. Essentially no sex until you are in a committed relationship. Essentially she wants to wait until we have dated 90 days and then we will determine if we are in a serious relationship. I respect her wishes and I would like to see where things lead, but this is going to be difficult.

She told me about all the stupid things other guys have said or the ways they have tried to manipulate things, so I can understand her apprehension about getting physical early. We even talked about the 3rd date rule (or 5th date rule if you are conservative). I thought about it and essentially most women give up within the first 5 dates. That is what got me into trouble in my last relationship.

For now I am going to abide by the rules and see what happens.

Good Dates and Friendship

I have had a couple of good dates with one lady I met on Match.com.  There is definitely some interest there and I think she is interested in me.  Tonight was date number 3.  Overall we have really just sat and talked over dinner, so I am trying to think of something we can do to stir the creative or competitive juices.  

On the other hand one lady that I really only see as a friend at this point wants more from me I think.  I probably led her on a little more than I should have.  In fact I know I did.  I have to come up with a way to essentially say your a friend without upsetting her.

Time with Kids, but no time for dating this weekend

It is hard dating when you have so many events with your children.  This weekend was filled with soccer games, basketball tournaments and choir recitals.  All in all I don't feel any loss about not having time to date, I would just as soon spend quality time with my kids.

Goodbye to eHarmony for now

I decided to drop out of the eHarmony system.  Overall it was one of the more expensive sights and I didn't get many quality matches and for the ones that peaked my interest, it was difficult to really communicate on the sight.  Who knows I might come back to it later, but I am still on a couple of other dating sites and I don't want to have to keep up with all the different sites.

Another "First Date"

Last night I went on another first date. I think this is the 4th one in the last couple of weeks. Overall I was surprised, we had good conversation although I probably talked to much. I did ask questions and we had a couple of glasses of wine and hung out for about 2 1/2 hours. At the end of the night I got a hug, which I am not sure if that is a good sign or not. When I arrived home I had a text message that she had a good time and to call her. I would assume that is a good sign. Right now I have to decide if I want to pursue this or not. I think overall I could have a good time with this person, I guess I need to take a chance and see what happens.

Joining a new Dating website

Today I decided to sign up for a new dating website called Perfectmatch. It is similar to match.com. I had to answer a number of personality type questions. Overall my personality or behavioral style was very close, so we will see if I get any quality matches.

To many online dating sites

So the online dating world is filled with every imaginable site you can think of, catering to every individual need. I have chosen to try a few over the last month. Yahoo Personals, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, and Match.com. So far I have had some contacts on all the sites. Recently I cancelled the Yahoo Personals. After being on the site for 60 days I decided it wasn't worth the time or money. The problem I had with the site is that you give them what you are looking for like age range, location, ethnicity, smoking and drinking preferences. At first I received some decent matches, but over time I think they just started sending me everyone. The decent matches would never respond and most of my matches were not even close to my preferences. Funny thing is after I cancelled, I started getting better matches via yahoo email. To little, to late.

Now we are down to 3 services. More on those in a future post.

Another Friday, Another Mediocre Date

Okay, I am starting to wonder what I am doing wrong. This date was one of the worst, she didn't look like her pic, she was uncultured, uncouth and generally just unappealing. I ended it quickly and went on my way.

At this point I have more chemistry with the lady who hit me up from Maryland who is moving to Houston. Unfortunately she will not be in Houston until June and although I would like to see what happens with her, she is going to be busy with moving, finding a job and making sure her daughter gets settled in at school. Essentially we are just swapping emails, but hopefully we will talk soon.

A Friendly Dinner Date

Went out with an old friend for dinner. We dated briefly a couple of years ago. It was fun going out without any expectations and talking about our pathetic dating experiences.

Also heard from my ex, she wants to re-kindle things. At this point I just don't have those feelings for her anymore. I tried to be a friend to her but at this point I don't think that is possible. She just can't cut the cord.

Interesting date

I met a lady who I have been chatting with for about a month. We met for drinks and it appears that her divorce is not final. She came across as being very angry with her soon to be ex-husband, which I can understand. I get the distinct feeling that she would reconcile if he was willing.

About half-way through the date she basically told me she really just wants a friend-with-benefits. A year or two ago I would have jumped on that train in a New York minute. Right now I just don't want to play with that kind of fire. I have done that before and in the end sex does something to a woman, they get emotionally involved and in the end want more than a friendship. I think at this point I will probably shoot myself later because it has been a few months for any kind of physical intimacy. The problem is I would not consider it an intimate encounter, it would just be physical sex and that is not what I am looking for right now.

Not bad, but not great

This time I met with someone that I had known from a couple of years ago. We re-connected again and decided to have dinner together. We met and had a decent conversation, but the conversation was very one-dimensional from her. Now I remember why we have not hung out in a while. I get the distinct impression she is very goody-goody and I hate to say it boring. I am not one to go out and party all night, but you have to at least want to have some fun and put some spark into your life. Her life seems to be about church groups and her nephews little league baseball. Again I love my church and do tons of sporting events with my children, but I can talk about other things besides that. Have a life at least.

Sad thing is we ended up kissing goodnight. I could tell she wanted to kiss, and it was awkward. I could tell she was into it, but there was nothing there for me. She told me she wanted to see me again and I said I would call, but now I really don't know if I want to. Have to let this one go easy.

Onto the next contestant

Ok, so here we go with the next date. Again same MO, meet at Starbucks, interview them and hope that it works out. Again nothing wrong with the person, just not getting that spark. Maybe I shouldn't be meeting at a Starbucks, but I don't want to fork over a ton of money on these first dates, I have been burned before.

A First Date-finally

Tonight I went out on a date for the first time in a long time. We had been chatting and just decided to meet for coffee at a Starbucks. Overall she looked like her picture on the profile, but when we met there just wasn't any chemistry. Overall nothing to complain about. I guess I am just going to be really picky at this point and find what I really want.

Approaching 41

Next week I will be 41 years of age. Looking back at the first half of my life there are things I would have changed. Am I where I thought I would be? Probably not. I have great kids, my career is good but could be better. I have not been a lucky with my relationships. I was with one of the great loves of my life for almost 20 years. I thought I had found the one who would be the next chapter in my life, but it didn't work out. I have recently reconnected with someone that was the first love of my life, but I don't know how to approach them or even if I want to do that at this point.

I am ok being on my own, but it is really nice to have someone to talk to and just share time with. So far that hasn't happened yet. This weekend I don't have my kids and maybe I will find someone I can have a little fun this weekend, right now there are not any leads. Have had a few messages from the online dating pool, but nothing that would lead to a meeting at this point.

Baiting the hook

I baited the hook on the online dating sites. It's early, but no bites so far. Overall I think I did a good job on the profile. If you are a member of Match check out my profile at windstorm494 and give me your feedback. I know that first impressions are everything. I have been truthful, we will see if that works (LOL).

The journey begins

I am to busy at work and with kids to really get out there and meet people. Right now I have put myself out there on a couple of dating website, e-harmony and match.com. We will see what happens.

Does anyone have any experience with either site? If so what was it?

Where we start

I decided to start this new blog as I move into a phase of my life. As I put myself back out in the dating world I thought I would blog about what is going on in my personal life and chronicle my journey. Not sure how interesting this is going to be, but it is a return to what blogging started out as...an online journal. In the end it will be a record of my life after 40 and maybe I can get some good advice from people passing through on their journey of the web or maybe I can help others.