A Kick-ass Liver

Happy Monday, readers! Hope everyone's weekend was as wonderful as mine.

I saw Mr. #35 (AKA Mr.  #34 and 31) yesterday.   He informed me that he has a kick-ass liver, as evidenced by the fact that after spending Saturday at a beer fest, he powered through a 5 hour hike with me.

But beyond that, I would have to say he IS a kick-ass liver, as in, one who lives a kick-ass life. My first indication of this was when he cancelled our original plan for Saturday because he realized he already had plans with a friend to go to this beer fest.  While bailing on that plan in favor of a date would have been fully supported by the universal "Bro Code," he didn't do it-- a sign, I think, that he is someone who does the right thing and is loyal to his friends. He is also open, considerate, un-frazzlable (I just made that word up. Like it?), and hilarious.   He somehow managed to order up the most gorgeous day for this amazing hike:

(I don't know who this girl is who got in my picture. I'm pretty sure she's NOT the same girl we almost accidentally pushed off the rock.)

Two thumbs up, readers. He is just a lovely, lovely person, and we have plans to get together again in a few weeks.  I don't think you'll be seeing me before then, but I'm pretty sure I'll be smiling.

My First Rainbow

Hi readers!
I finally met up with Mr. #34 on Sunday. (We've met him before, but only on Skype.) He lives a few hours away and travels a lot, but we've had several phone and skype convos in the intervening weeks, and I even got to see China from the window of his hotel.  Ain't technology great.

We met for a drink at a not-quite-mid-point between our houses (he over-drove, I under-drove), and decided to go somewhere else for dinner. (YES, I had both a drink and dinner on what some might say is technically a first date. Rules are made to be broken, ok?) When we walked outside, he pointed out a rainbow-- the first one I'd ever seen. How cool is that?!?!? Maybe a sign of magic to come.

As for the date, other highlights included lots of laughter, conversation, non-awkward silences, openness and honesty. It was real, and it was fantastic. I'm seeing him again on Saturday-- already smiling in anticipation.

Some Thoughts on Introverts and Extroverts

Hi Readers,
I decided to keep going for awhile, and went out with Mr. #33 last night. We've met this guy before here; he is smart, funny, quirky and interesting.  We had fun seeing some outdoor music, having a great dinner (melon soup for me!) and, eventually, getting caught in the rain (no, no pina coladas).

And not only was it fun, I learned an important lesson.

As an extrovert who comes from a family of introverts, I've always known that some people are totally comfortable with (and, in fact, PREFER) loooooooooooong silences.  I've also known that I am not one of these people. My threshold for the length of a comfortable silence is much shorter than that of many people, some of whom share my last name. :)

Mr. #33 would fit right in in a conversation with my dad, my brother, and other introverts I know and love.  And while I love them, I don't think the eventual Mr. Amazing is going to be such a strong introvert.

Onward...

Dispatch from below the Mason Dixon

I'm still in North Carolina, and embraced it by going out with a real southerner. Mr. #32 is from Georgia but now lives here.  He's determined (has set and attained some pretty huge goals), self-aware, and, like me, a little obsessed with both physical fitness and general self-improvement. No chemistry, but I learned a little more about what I do and don't want.


Readers, I must admit, I am kind of losing steam for this project, while simultaneously gaining steam for work, yoga, and all the other things I do. My mama always said I would find  love when I least expect it, after all.  


Will you be very disappointed in me if I don't a) make it to 52 or b) find a big love this year? Any words of wisdom you'd like to share?

Details be Damned

As you may know, I'm a fan of technology. In fact, I'm writing this post on my iPad in an airport. (Hence no picture--sorry.) So when I realized that a smart, funny, interesting guy who I'd been match.com emailing with actually lives 2+ hours away, my first thought was, "Maybe we could Skype." (Actually, my first thought was "I need to learn a little more local geography," because I really thought he was just down the road. Sigh.) But, Skype we did, on Wednesday night, and it was lovely. Mr. #31 had wine. I had water. You might say this isn't a date, but it's my blog and I'll count it if I want to. We talked about work, family, small town living, and other standard first date topics, and also about how if something's right, it will work out, and everything else is just details. We also talked about meeting in the flesh after both of our travel schedules settle down a bit, which looks like it might be at the end of July. Stay tuned! PS-- I'll be in New York for the next week if anyone knows a potential Mr. #32 I should meet!

Welcome Back!

Hi readers! I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me. Well, you haven't, and I just had date #30. Mr. #s22-29 is great, but we're in different states for now so...onward.

(Quick life update: I'm living in North Carolina for the summer. Here's my new house. Isn't is sweet?)

Mr. #30 is sweet, too. We met for coffee at my new favorite coffee shop. He's also a recent transplant from the midwest, so we swapped stories about Ohio turnpike driving and commiserated about the heat.  He was smart, interesting, and hilarious in a dry, non-midwestern kind of way that I find very appealing.  And he sent me a text later saying that I had very nice hands-- a compliment I've never received but that I found kind of intriguing.

The One I've Been Waiting For

Hi readers.  Sorry to leave you hanging after last week’s date with Mr. #21.   I didn’t want you to think I had stopped the whole endeavor!

In fact, I’ve stopped writing because Mr.#22 (who is also now Mr. #23 and #24, thank you very much) and I are really digging each other. So, the 51 frogs project is now on hold indefinitely while I spend some time getting to know someone who is fascinating, creative, warm, thoughtful, open and honest, who carried my dry cleaning on his bicycle and has big dreams and talks about big ideas and makes me laugh, laugh, laugh. He also likes Seinfeld and does yoga. And yes, he’s hot.

Onward…