ROSEBUD!

Happy 100th to me! And Happy 2nd Birthday to Little-Man! I have had QUITE the CRAZY past twenty-four hours. Let me start out by saying that internet dating has produced the worst possible dating experiece thus far. I don't understand why people suck...I mean really.
I have been participating in ewhatthehellwasithinkingharmony for over a month. Another one of my friends has started using the same internet dating service, and he's a great guy, so the chances of me finding a great guy seemed favorable. If you are unfamiliar with online dating services, they basically send you profiles who they think will fit your personality, based on a long survey you initally have to fill out. Your profile is sent to the same people who you receive. Sometimes you start talking...Sometimes you delete the person from your file...and sometimes nothing happens.
I hadn't been too picky when messaging guys...If they were taller than me, and didn't appear to be in horrible shape..I figured "why not?"....Well, last night opened my eyes to the "why not?"
I had been speaking with a guy for about a week. He seemed nice via email. He was the single father of two kids, which he took care of full time. He was 25, but never married (and the kids were by the same mother, which was my first red flag). He was 6'1 and looked clean cut, but geeky in a slightly emo way. He seemed pretty intelligent via msn chat, and we seemed to share the same sense of humor (again, the humor I had interpreted through msn chat). I decided I was sick of the online chatting, so I suggested we meet for coffee.
The second red flag occurred when he said he didn't drink coffee and he would prefer to meet at a restaurant. My naive brain assumed that a restaurant would mean a sit-down-have-a-server type of place...like your local neighborhood grille. His idea of a restaurant was meeting at the nearest fast food joint. I did everything to stop myself from laughing...but I went along with it thinking "I can't knock it till I tryi it."
As I was sitting in the parking lot, staring at the door waiting for the 6'1 geekey but kind of cute looking guy to walk in, I decided I should call him to find out if he had somehow made it inside without me noticing. He said he was inside, and waiting.
I gathered my courage, and walked inside to be greeted by a man who looked worse than a homeless guy you see on the corner holding the "Will Work For Food" signs. He had a beard that was about four inches long, greasy hair, clothing that even the Good Will would throw out, and was eye level with me (I am 5'9 and was wearing 1inch heels...he was totally not 6'1). And to top it all off, he handed me a rose that was dead....dead like he had purchased it nine hours ago and not put it in water kind of dead. I wanted to run, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Call me crazy, but I stayed for "dinner."
He insisted on paying, which was unneccesary. We sat down, and I ate like the tazmanian devil. The conversation wasn't the worst, but he was talking extremely loud and everyone was staring at our table. At that moment, I wished I could magically turn myself invisible.
Twentyfive minutes later, as I was sitting across from him freezing due to the cold and uncomfortable senario I was faced with, I gave him the old "look at the time, I really should be going. It's getting late and I have to run to the grocery store and I would like to make it home to put little-man to sleep" bit. It was all true. I didn't have the heart to tell him I would never see him again. I didn't have the heart to say that showers are a good thing when you are meeting someone for the first time. I said good bye, avoiding all physical contact (i.e a hug) and drove off.
I still can't decide what part of the night was the most disturbing. The dead rose, his physical appearance that looked nothing like his original profile picture, the smell that I couldn't quite decide if it was him or not, or his awkward social demeanor. I know he had a good heart, but a good heart isn't enough for me right now, and I don't feel bad about that.
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On a completely different note, Little-man was swallowed whole by the "Two year old demon monster" while we were sleeping last night. He woke up a different boy. I still love him, but am planning on throwing a kegger when he turns 3 to celebrate the end of the terrible two's. I have also contemplated on making a paper chain (like the kind you make in kindergarten to count down the days to xmas) that is 365 days long....so I can physicially see how close I am to being done with this phase of his life. I hope it is less painful than I am anticipating.
This morning, he actually unzipped his jacket, and took it off behind my back. When I turned around, I found him glaring at me...he threw his jacket on the ground, shouted "NO!" and then I witnessed him run to the couch and throw himself down. After I picked my jaw off of the ground, I took back control of the situation. (isn't he just the cutest little thing???? HAHAHA, NOT!)

Hopefully, I can take something from the events of the past day...For the moment, all I can do is laugh!