30 Days & Not Confused (Chapter 7)

It's only been a month, but it feels like it's been a lot longer.

Of course, the first pictures have to be completely goofy.

I speak of the budding relationship I am in currently. It feels like the relationship has been going on for a few months - but in a good way. When you talk to someone consistently for a 30 day period, that's what will cause that feeling.

The conversations span from texts to calls, and of course, in person. They are conversations that are all over the place too - from sports to our pasts, from music to food and pretty much everything in between.

It's been a while since I've had such a wide base of conversations, especially with a g/f. I don't know if others look at that aspect of a relationship as much as I do. Looks are important, sure, but what good is a good-looking girl to date if you have nothing to talk about. Communication is the key to any relationship we develop in life, whether it be a business relationship or a personal one.

It's because of this good and open communication that I find myself more and more optimistic about what will come out of this relationship. Plans of Halloween parties and Halloween-related activities will be followed by a great birthday weekend for the lady (taking her to her first Bears game in November). There are also plans of not one but TWO! Thanksgiving dinners together (one with her family, one with mine).

(At this point, she and others of you reading this can tease me about my liking of having plans set. While I realize this is part of a self-diagnosed OCD, I attribute it more to having something to look forward to. And as you've read in the above paragraph, there's plenty to look forward to)

It's been as great of a 30-day start as one could expect to a relationship, and as you can see, the next 30 days and beyond have a lot to offer.

If you haven't had the chance to meet the lady yet, you're definitely missing out and I hope that changes soon.

up-Date (Chapter 6)

About 6 weeks back, I ventured into the online dating world. I had no idea what would come of it, but I figured it'd be better than continuing the same failed path that I had taken for the most part of the past two years before that.

Outside of meeting girls through friends, I never had any luck with meeting new people. A new path was necessary.

As you read in Chapters 2, 3 and especially chapter 5, I chronicled dates that I went on. With Chapter 5, I did not give it as much lip service because I wanted to respect the privacy of the date in addition to not exposing myself as much as I did in previous blogs.

In any regard, I feel comfortable giving a two week update in my first relationship from the dating site. She's an awesome girl. Lives in the city, but not afraid to come visit the suburbs (a necessary for this to work).

(to think I almost didn't message her because I figured most city people would not want to maintain a relationship with someone who lives in the burbs!)

She's met a few people so far and seems to get along well with those that she has met. She got to meet Buddy in the week before we put him down and has been a great help in getting me through it.

She has great taste in music - not like most girls I know who seem to like country and country only. If you're a girl and reading this, don't get wound up by this generalization! This summer, it seemed like every girl I knew went to country music concerts this summer and country music concerts only.

She knows how to cook, works a steady job that she loves, and her friends and mom who just met me love me. Who could blame them? Seriously, I'm awesome.

But seriously, I can't remember being this happy in a while, even amid the tragedy I just experienced.

I figured I'd give all of you an update on it, even if it was just a short update, and hopefully you'll get a chance to meet the new lady soon.