New York was AWESOME!

Although I could hardly move for a day or so when I got home from all of the walking and going up and down stairs to the subway, NYC was AWESOME!

I finally made it to the castle, the one place in Central Park that I have been looking for what seems like the last few trips. I manage to find a local who actually knew where it was, and he directed me. I also got to see all of the balloons for the parade being blown up at Macy's Inflation Celebration. I never realized how large those balloons were until we were up and personal with them. I got some great pics.

The hotel we stayed in, The Hudson, was a place I'd happily stay again. It was right by the park and near a subway line at Columbus Circle. Everything is neon green on the bottom level, but then you go up the escalator into the lobby which was a rich dark mahogany color, with a beautiful chandelier. We ended up having to get two rooms, since they were too small to hold 4 people in them. However, the front desk lady was able to match my priceline price, which worked out well. My cousins were funny... they had never stayed at a 3 1/2 star plus hotel before, so they kept pointing stuff out and making comments. It was cute. The hotel also has an amazing courtyard that is only seasonally open, a library/bar, and an outside terrace/lounge. Pretty cool!

We got up early on Thanksgiving morning to get our spot for the parade, and the weather actually played along well with us - the temp was warm and sunny. We had an awesome front row spot, but then the officers decided to come by and make the block we were standing on handicapped only, so we had to move. The spot we had wasn't too bad, but no longer front row! We did some sightseeing the rest of the day, and then had dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner. I had a blast as the waitstaff sings, so I was singing along with them! Pumpkin ravioli was my choice for dinner, and it was yummy.

Friday was spent doing more sightseeing and shopping, and then we finally caught the bus at 8pm to go back home. Saturday I spent all day in my pjs recovering on the sofa. My legs were killing me from all the walking, but it was worth it!

I spent today helping Mom put up the Christmas decorations, and tonight I'm meeting F for dinner - this will be our 4th date. I'm still unsure if I'm interested in him or not, but he seems to be the one that is hanging in there with me. I haven't been back to his place to get a sex-life complex, so that is probably why. I heard on and off from D the rest of the week, but he is just weird. He's off the list, and the list is starting fresh... although F is still on it! :)

Here are my pictures from NYC:

NYC Thanksgiving 2009

One more sleep!

I have one more sleep before I wake up and go to NYC for Thanksgiving! I am so excited! I can't wait! :) I get to go to the parade!

Life has been interesting as of late. Mostly it is the drama/stress at work that is keeping me going. My boss is a perfectionist, which annoys the hell out of me. Her J gets in when she is stressed, and she becomes a control freak. She started to freak out over the time line of the project, which means she would prefer all of us to sit right in front of her so she can watch us work - that's how she really knows we have a sense of urgency. I'm sorry, but I finished the work a month and 2 weeks early for her, so she can just get off my ass!

Then she called me last night to check-in to make sure I was on board with her, since I asked a question in opposition of her viewpoint at a meeting yesterday afternoon. I'm sorry, I will never believe that you should pay a company $75,000 so they can ask me questions about my content that I developed, so I can sit through a 3 day training session so they can tell me back what I just told them. That makes no sense! But I always tow the line like a good little doobie. Politics bite.

I am also starting to get a complex about my sex life. I think the few guys I slept with must have lied to me when they volunteered the information that I was good and giving in bed. Because twice now I've semi-slept with someone (i.e. heavy petting, naked) on the second date (yeah, I can move fast) and they seem to trickle off communication with me afterwards. The first, K, didn't want a relationship since his divorce, but it was him contacting me every 30 minutes to send me kisses and hugs and tell me he's into me.... not me! Then he freaked out when we were in bed because I was "too giving" - he said "women aren't like that!"

Then the other, D, couldn't get enough of me for two weeks... another one with a text message every 30 minutes, telling me he feels a connection with me... I go over there, before I even take my coat off he's kissing me hello. We cuddled on the couch, and I thought it was kinda weird that he kept saying or asking me if I was his, all his to love. He wanted me to say it... in the moment I did... I slept over, we woke up at 5am, had lots of pillow talk, I got motivated and ready to leave by 9am, and now its like I never was. He was happy, I wasn't. But I figured the next time he would focus on me... But it is weird. He sends me text messages but they are unrelated to the conversation, or they are as if he never got my reply. I finally sent him an email and asked him if he's getting the messages, because they seem weird last night. We'll see if I get a reply. But who knows!

I'm still practicing loving-kindness, and I'm learning a lot about myself in the process. i.e., no matter how much I'm into the guy, don't plan a date at his place on the second date. No going back to anyone's places for a long while! hehehehe

I have to laugh, because I think the whole situation is very funny!

Catching up

So I had a whirlwind of an emotional weekend. But everything is sorted out now.

Thursday was spent being crazy at work, trying to get everything prepped for a huge meeting on Friday - which went really really well!

I talked to D in the morning drive on Friday, and we finalized plans for me going over to his place on Friday night. After book club, I got there around 10am, and it was instant attraction! He's so funny! We had a lot of good laughs, some good cuddles, lots of kisses, and just together time.
I ended up spending the night, and got up in the morning and left because he had to get ready to go to his brother's for his brother's bday. That's when I started to feel a little emotionally shut-off. But I think it was my own insecurities creeping in.

I had, what I thought, a valid reason to be leery. Leading up to Friday we were in constant contact. Except when he was sleeping, he literally texted me or facebooked me every hour, a few times an hour. He wanted me to text him on Saturday when I got home, which I did, and then I told him that I had a lot of fun last night. To which he replied he did, then I didn't hear from him. I knew he was going to the birthday party, so I didn't stress until it got to be around 6pm. He hadn't responded back yet, then I finally heard from him, and he asked me how I was, to which I responded, and asked him, then I never heard from him. I didn't hear from him again until 3pm on Sunday. He sent me a "howdy," to which I responded, then nothing.

My immediate fear was that he changed his mind about us, not there is an us, but he lost his interest in me, because it was just so weird to have heard from him so frequently for over a week, and then nothing. Actually, even when I was at school last weekend, he was constantly texting me. He even was hanging out with his friends on Saturday night and texting me. Even checked in when I was out with some girlfriends on Wednesday to see if I was having fun. And, he was the one who kept pushing for us to be more together, wanting to know if we could be exclusive and telling me that he's really developing feelings for me. Which we both recognized was so quickly, but said that we both feel so comfortable with each other. I thought I fell very neatly into a trap.

So, I put my big-girl panties on and dealt with it. I texted him and said, "Ok, I'm not a crazy psycho woman, but I just wanted to check and see if everything is okay between us, because I'm getting weird vibes?" He immediately responded to that, and said that, "All is well!!!!" I responded and said, "okay, I just wanted to check because I am feeling vulnerable this weekend, and wanted to make sure." He then responded back and forth like "normal"... so I guess it was just my stupid insecurities playing with my head. Or... he didn't want me to feel bad and didn't know how to tell me.

Oh well, the ball is in his court.... I have too much interest vested in me to get myself hyper over this. I really like spending time with me, and I'm okay being single, but I just don't like to be played for a fool. If he just wanted sex (and we didn't go all the way) then I would have appreciated him being upfront about it, and not pulling the "I think you are the one for me" routine. Again, he may be genuine, so I shouldn't be so bitter.

Its time to let it go, to stop falling into my old pattern, and just let it be what it is! :) I am cultivating the witness.

I'm just really proud that I spoke up and didn't triangle about it with 50 of my friends and never said anything to him. That's a major learning for me.

Thoughts

As we have all established, I'm spending a lot of time in my head, and its giving me resistance to what my heart is telling me.

I've changed my loving-kindness prayer to include the statement, "May I find my life partner, and accept him into my heart."

What has been happening is that ever since D and I met last Wednesday (one of the guys) things seem to be sweeping fast. He works overnight, so he gets up around noon, and from noon until I go to bed at 11pm we are in constant contact - and I love it. We were both talking yesterday that we feel so comfortable with each other and it feels like we've known each other forever. And we are both looking for our life partners. I have book club on Friday night, and then I'm going over to his place for a date, and we keep talking about how we have all night to talk and just enjoy each other's company. He even made the comment yesterday that he is so excited to be starting this relationship with me. He even said that he thinks we found each other's other-half. And I feel the same way - its not creepy or weird.

But then my brain steps in, plus everything that I've ever stood for or said. Which equates to, "This is moving too fast - you had one freaking date, Amy, you aren't being logical... this is heading for disaster!" "Don't be one of those people who have one date and then think you are a couple, that's kookie and it means BIG trouble down the road."

Then the other side of my brain argues that maybe this is what people are talking about when they say that they knew, from the moment they met, that they were for each other.

As an interesting side-note... I've been getting a lot of messages from my spirit guides. When I was out with F on Sunday for dinner, we went to the bookstore and somehow we got into the Horoscope-ish section. I looked up my karma destiny which mentioned that I am on the path for understanding and I need to just go with my gut and not think so much. Then I looked up those born on April 29th, which said that we have a capacity for an extra level of love that most don't experience, which is unconditional. However, we need to learn to just accept things when the universe gives it to them, and not question it. Then I went to see David to breathe on Monday night, and the two cards he pulled for me for the spirit guides were Isis and the Ladybug. He read the interpretations which said something like this, "You are wondering if it is too good to be true, and since you attracted something into your life you are unsure of how to keep it. Let go and enjoy it, and just be full of gratitude, that is how you keep it." Then I saw my horoscope for today, which mentioned that I have been doubting, and I just need to learn to accept.

HELLO - wake up and smell the coffee Amy. But I can't help but think, what would other people say if I rushed into something. But who cares, its me, not them! :)

Mindfulness

I've been practicing that again. I did my breathing with David last night and it was a good experience. I didn't get activated, but I had an amazing experience when he was moving my energy around in my brain charka. I actually felt like he was touching my head, I could feel it! IT WAS AWESOME!

Then he also pulled two spirit guide cards before I arrived, and he got Isis and Ladybug. He showed them to me afterwards and they matched everything that I was experiencing.... this stuff is AWESOME! hehe

Now I'm stressed, but I got my work done by the deadline today. I'm not even going to get into what is going on, it will just make me rant.

On a happier note, I have a date this weekend with my crush! WOO HOO! :) I may end up spending the night if all goes well.... get your mind out of the gutter!

I'm making it rain, baby!

When Adam joined our cohort, I don't think he realized that he would get 16 older sisters. Yet, there we are, standing there, busting his balls. His quote of the weekend was "I'm making it rain, baby!" That's his way of saying that he's meeting lots of women on campus because the ration of men to women is slim. He gets to excited when we have a male professor, or in this case two male professors, because he needs some guy bonding time. The ladies and I just indulge him and laugh, but we keep telling him that we are going to shape him into an excellent husband one day.

Class this weekend was interesting. I discovered a lot of stuff about myself, which I think I knew, but it was good to put it in a context. My one professor, is a young, arrogant, ENTJ, and I had my usual reaction to him. I was attracted to him for his geeky intelligence, and I wanted to take his arrogance down a notch and put him into his place. He started being dismissive in conversation when he was teaching, which is the wrong thing to do in front of me, so I got into it with him over one point he was trying to make. I'm sorry, but no one dismisses me. I shared with Stephanie that I am falling into my typical pattern of being attracted to an ENTJ because I can be mentally stimulated, but the relationship usually turns combative and passionate because on many things we see equally but there is enough antagonism to drive me into bitch mode. My bullshit meter just starts alarming whenever he starts talking, which my initial reaction is to call him out on it. I think my father was this way, if I had to type him, and considering that he is a pathological liar, I can state that I am recreating the relationship I had with him in these men, and not letting them get away with any of their shit. It was funny, as I can tell that my cohort didn't know what to do with me, because I was terribly vocal this weekend answering and contributing to class. Its something that I am going to continue to play with and see what happens.

On a great note, I spent Saturday night relaxing in my hotel room. I brought in dinner, took a strawberry bubble bath, and watched movies laying in my pjs while eating chocolate. I don't think I could have planned it better if I tried.

Sunday I met one of my guys for dinner and we had a great time at a place in Columbia. He's my vegan, so I always get to try different things when I'm out with him. This was our 3rd date, and I don't know where to take this. I'm thinking its the friend zone, as all we have done is tentatively hugged hello and goodbye. He may just be very shy, but usually guys who are interested in me start with the sexual innuendo by now, and I haven't gotten any of that with him. Which can be refreshing, but his nervous jittery habits may be something on the nerves. I did test the waters a little, just to see what he would do. But he's very tentative. I came up behind him, bumped hips and poked him in the side with my finger, and he didn't shy away, but then again, he hasn't made any physical moves. I also found the Worst Case Scenario book while we were rambling around the bookstore, and by change fell on the "How to tell if your date is an axe murderer" page. I jokingly began to give him the test, and he didn't try to clarify that it wasn't a date. He paid for dinner, and mentioned that next time he's coming up to White Marsh to meet me.

In the meantime I've been talking to the one I had coffee with last Wednesday, and this one, this one I see going places. We have similar thoughts and I get high communication and interaction from him. We traded texts on and off all weekend, and I talked to him on the way home Sunday night when I was going to meet the other one for dinner. There's chemistry there, but I just hope there is more than just that. I like talking to him too, but I don't want this to be just a relationship about one thing. Although our conversations aren't just about sex, we do share a lot with each other, but like he said, he's ready to find his other half.

Stress. Oh fun. I came back into it this morning to work. Luckily I'm seeing my David this evening for a breathing session. I will need it.

Sigh time

I worked from home yesterday, and I loved it. Well, let me clarify that... I worked from home in the morning until about 10:30am, took a shower, and then was at Starbucks on the Ave by noon and worked there for the rest of the day, until about 4pm. I got so much done, without interruptions.

I am actually in the kitchen of our building, working, which is where I have been since I got here this morning, and I'm being very productive. I just work so much better when I have to focus when I'm not at my desk. Its a mental thing - if I'm somewhere else, I know its important and I have to focus on it to get it done.

While I was at Starbucks, guy #4 stopped by and visited me. I really really really like him. I'm thinking this is the one that I will probably be starting a relationship with. The vote is still out, I'm not jumping into anything, but he seems to be more for me, and he's really into me. And he's just really sweet and adorable. And funny, he had me hysterical the entire time. Cross your fingers for me!

Grumpy

I have so much to do, and no motivation to do it... and I really don't care to do it!

Okay, with that said and complained about, let me get organized so I can begin the process of getting everything done that I'm supposed to do:

1. Respond to an article I read on blackboard in 250 words.
2. Read the entire Teams book.
3. Read various chapters of 2 other books.
4. Read a few online articles.
5. Design the goal setting training for the system project. (Isn't it ironic that they give the procrastinator the job of writing the goal setting module?)
6. Go to the gym every evening.
7. Design the opening and overview of MSH for the system project.
8. Deal with the goofie dynamics that my cohort are going through over a race conversation. Stay out of it as much as possible.
9. Attend the benefits fair for two hours, working my departments table.
10. Attend and facilitate the directors meeting for one of my clients.
11. Respond via email to three clients.
12. Send another client the proposal.
13. Pack my bag for this weekend's class.
14. Get interrupted every 15 minutes so my coworker can show me what she's completed on the project.
15. Work from home and go out on a date at the same time. (I really am that talented)
16. Finish knitting my vest that I am making.
17. Write lists of things that I have to do.

By the way, all of this is due Thursday.

Have a nice day! :)

#4

So I have number 4 guy to add to the mix of the three. Actually, he was part of the original 9, and we have been emailing back and forth every day, but I wasn't including him because we hadn't been out on a date yet.

I was getting slower in my email response to him, just because I've been busy with the other 3, plus everything else that is going on, and he stepped up his communication to me, and we exchanged phone numbers. I'm really glad we did. We talked last night for 2 hours on the phone, and time just flew by. He's incredibly sweet, but still a guy. That sounds sexist, but it is what it is. And, he's actually looking for a relationship, not something to just pass the time until something better comes along. We should be going out on a date soon, but he's actually really interested, and I have to admit that I am too!

I spent this weekend shopping and cleaning up the yard, which was fun and relaxing. I also read a really good article for class on positive psychology. I have to share more about that when I have time, but since I'm heading out in a few to teach a class, this is going to be a short update.

My Man Type

I get spurts of ideas sometimes and I let it flow yesterday at work and I decided to write another book. No, I haven't written my first book yet on the secret to happiness, but after going through my emotional drama over the summer, I think I can write with more authority on that topic, as I've lived pulling myself out of it.

Maybe because it is something that I know and I can relate to, but I really hold providence in the idea of using the MBTI in romancing. Now, before the die-hards get their backup, allow me to clarify that I am not saying that certain types of people should be with other types. Nor am I saying that certain types are better at relationships. But based on my own experiences in the dating world, I've come to know what I like. And just maybe, I can help other people find it too.

It doesn't really matter to me if the guy is an introvert or an extrovert. I am an ENFP, which pretty much turns any personality type into an extrovert. My type makes me a good listener, so I can normally get anyone talking for hours about any given topic. What matters for me is the last 3 letters, and I'm finding that certain combos of them suit me better than others.

For me, I need to date an N, or an intuitive. I can get along with female S's, but I feel dismissed by the male S's. They don't get me. We have conversations on entirely two different levels, and it is almost stereotypical in the archetype of female and male conversations. I want to talk about the big picture and dream, and they get lost in the 5 senses. They don't get it if they can't taste, touch, smell, etc. it. A male S will cause me to shut down and not open up, because I can tell that they are tuning me out and really don't want to know what I'm saying. I think one of the guy's I'm seeing now is a S. He wants to talk and be in contact with me, but he doesn't want to say anything. On my date with him Tuesday night, we only spoke during commercial breaks, and I can clearly see that me talking during the show was not acceptable. I've also noticed that I get dismissed, even if we aren't around a tv. He doesn't know or understand how to respond to my humor, nor does he get when I'm joking. But I still like him.

I can give or take a T/F combo. Although I am naturally drawn to an NT. They stimulate my intelligence and I like proving them wrong or matching wits with them. For them, it is all about competence. They have absolutely no patience for someone who does not show competence. And God forbid if you try to share information with them and you do not have the credentials to back you up. The F male is not the stereotypical male or the male that is most celebrated in American culture. Although none of the types are linked to sex, a female T is usually called a "bitch" in American culture. And a male F is "artsy." But because I like to be stimulated and challenged in conversation, and like the alpha male type, I am naturally drawn to NTs.

I don't have a J/P preference for my type. But I will say that my theory is that if someone is a strong P, it will take a "weaker" P or a J to pin them down into a relationship. A P never knows what they want, they prefer to coast along and see what happens. A J knows exactly what they want, and I think usually it is the J that speaks up in the pair and says, "I want you."

Okay, so what is really going on here? I don't feel like working on my project, so I'm pontificating to waste some energy on that.

I'm busy

So, I'm dating 3 guys, doing homework, working full time on a huge highly visible project, maintaining friendships, and knitting a new sweater vest thingy. Plus exercising, meditating, and taking yoga. And having really vivid dreams. And there I was, a few months ago, worried that I wouldn't have a life and I'd waste away to nothing after 30. And that I'd be alone!

My new challenge is to get a handle on my spiritual and personal life and enhance it as much as my career-life is enhanced. I'm totally in control in my career-life. I know what I want, I know how to get it, and I'm damn good at what I do. I'm confident, earnest, and yet totally loving everything that I am doing. Its one place in my life where I feel totally in control and successful.

My new found spirituality has been amazing. Actually, it's not newly found. I had it years ago, but I lost it along the way. I'm spiritually feeling what I felt then, which is an openness around my heart and an energy in my soul that is just open to the world. I was driving home from my date on Tuesday night, on 95 looking over toward the city, and I found myself not struck by the buildings, but the idea that there are people in there, trying to live their lives and make their way. I felt connected to everyone. I actually was so touched that I wanted to cry and try to make everyone better. But I knew that I could only do that by making myself better. It truly was a holy moment.

As for my personal life, my romantic life, I don't know where to begin. I escaped the trials of growing up in a divorced home with sick grandparents and a cheating father and a hurt mother by reading romance novels. I've talked about this before, but its given me a warped sense of what I'm looking for. I want my eyes to connect across the table at theirs and hear a choir of angels, I want our lips to touch and feel a spark of electricity shoot through my entire body. I'm not talking about arousal, I'm talking about the knowing that something I've been waiting for has been found.

But when reality sets in, it doesn't work like that. Yet some people describe it that way, so I know it does happen for some people. I've been on two dates with two of the guys, and I have to tell you that I haven't felt the spark, nor heard the choir. One is gun-shy, because he's been married before to a terrible woman and had a horrible divorce. He doesn't want anything serious yet, but he communicates with me constantly. However I can see the struggle within him to protect his heart from moving too quickly and going after what he wants. The one last night, it was a great date, but he's incredibly shy and tentative. I had to contain myself, because I'm not sure if he can really hold his own against me.

Its weird, I feel like everything I just wrote I can share with the one from last night, F. But the one who wants to talk to me all the time, wants to be in contact with me, all of what I just wrote would go over his head. Maybe if I make a tv show about it, he'd get it. The third one, M, would get it, add insight to it, I feel like the spark would be there, but I can't get over the fact that he looks like my uncle. But I am going to go out with him again.

And yet, through it all, I continue to say my loving-kindness prayer, and have faith that it will happen.

Looking cute!

I feel really proud when I get compliments on my legs.... even if it is just from my female coworkers at work. I don't normally wear a dress, and when I have one on, they are usually startled. I'm looking cute - I have a black turtle neck dress on, and textured tights with little black flats with ruffles. I feel good, and look good!

Last night's date was a lot of fun. We ate dinner and then cuddled and made-out for awhile! I had to chuckle, as in typical guy fashion he only talked during the commercials, otherwise he was riveted to the tv. And it wasn't even sports, it was Fox News! But such is life! He's an okay kisser, I think his excitement got the better of him and he lost a little finesse... thus I took over and moved things a little more sensually.

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with another guy... this should be fun! I can't wait!

Disloyal

Okay, so here we go with my goofy sense of self, once again. I call it goofy because I really don't think normal people have this problem, but me, in my over-thinking and feeling glory, has it.

So I've been talking to 3 guys, who don't know about each other. When asked if I was seeing anyone else by one of them, I mentioned that I was talking to other people, but nothing serious. Which is the truth, I have no commitment to these guys, nor have we said anything about being exclusive. But my warped sense of loyalty is starting to have a problem.

I talk to two of them constantly, all day, every day. And both of them usually call me in the evening. Both flirt with me, and I flirt right back, both talk about wanting to see me and planning dates, and I want to see both of them and go on dates, so I go right along with it. But do to the amount of contact I have, and the quality of contact that I am having, I am starting to feel loyal to each of them, and talking and planning with the other one makes me feel disloyal to the other.

In my head, if we're just dating, then I shouldn't be talking to them so often, or be in contact so often. One shouldn't be sending me "xoxoxoxox" every few hours or, "thinking of you" messages.... the other shouldn't be checking in to see how my day is going. I'm not used to guys actively paying attention to me, and when they do, I always seem to think its a little more serious then just dating. In my head, "just dating" means two people who go out on dates, maybe kiss goodnight, but the relationship isn't headed anywhere... its almost the equivalent of two friends going out. Because of the amount of contact, I almost feel like I'm cheating on the other one and vice verse.

Which makes totally no sense to me, thus why it is goofy. I'm not in a relationship with these guys, so I shouldn't feel like I'm cheating. Thus my warped sense of loyalty.... get a grip, Amy!

All Souls Day

And my soul is feeling great! I had an awesome weekend, with some good highlights to share, and I can't wait for the rest of the week!

"This is it!" was amazing! I want to see it again. For all of that man's problems and issues, he was an artistic genius. He was one of the few performers who is totally hands-on with every part of the design of the concert and it was AWESOME! I highly suggest that if you ever liked his music at all, or want to see a true artist at work, go see it!

I spent Halloween going to the Amish market, then working on my paper. We only had 4 trick-or-treaters the whole night, before I left to go out on a date around 10pm. I met one of the new guys for a drink, and I was startled. I think he's lying about his age, because all of his grey hair makes him look like my dad. I felt like the "mid-life crisis girlfriend" although he's 37 and never married. But I did enjoy my time with him, and I'm going to go out with him again to get a good read if any attraction was there. He's a really great guy, and I don't want to through him off the list that quickly.

Sunday I taught my first Confirmation class, and mean Ms. Amy had to come out. I've really perfected the art of scaring the crap out of them. It doesn't involve yelling, it just involves sitting in silence until they grow extremely uncomfortable. We sat for 10 minutes before they finally got their act together enough to continue. Now that I laid the ground-work, usually by the end of the year I just have to shoot them a look and they behave. hhehehehehe, it really is fun!

I got to play Spongebob Operation with my little cousin Ben on Sunday night. He's a riot, he handed me the cards to the game and said, "here, I can't read yet." But he helped me count all of the money that he won, by using his fingers. His mom also told me about his trick-or-treating. Apparently some kids had went up on one of the porches right before he got there, so Ben didn't get to ring the doorbell. He then informed them that he has to ring the doorbell, before they give him candy. So they were good sports, closed the door, and let him ring the doorbell and say "Trick-or-treat!" Too cute!

I have two dates planned this week, one happening Tuesday and the other Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night... I think he's shaping up to be the one I'm most interested in... we'll see!