You're Pretty Creepy

My poor parents. The revolving door of random match men that they meet continues spinning, and this time Daniel came flying out as he tried to not let the door hit his heels on his exit. I hate when that actually happens. I was tired of schlepping to Alexandria, and while I don’t enjoy having all these guys meet mom and dad, I would rather it happen than have to be the one to constantly drive and sit in traffic. Daniel isn’t worth traffic yet. M & D were harmless as usual, leaning on conversation about dogs and football, something we could all relate to. Dad’s main comment to Daniel wasn’t, “Oh wow, you’re a cop, that’s a dangerous job, how noble of you,” but instead, “Oh wow, you’re a big guy.” Come on, dad, you’re killin’ me. What is it with him and stating the obvious about their physical stature?

Daniel’s first visit over went well. We had some decent conversation and he led it into more serious topics which wasn’t at all uncomfortable, and unlike Eric, we found we shared common views. Daniel then noticed all of the pictures that are set up around the family room. His Channing Tatum-like body (yes—how yummy is that?) stood up from the couch and started browsing the pictures as if he were in a museum. “You’re really pretty,” he said after looking at a couple of pictures. “Thank you,” I told him, caught off guard because no guys that I “date” really ever tell me that I’m pretty. He continued looking—at pictures, not at me—well, kind of at me because the pictures were of me, and he said it again, “You’re beautiful.” I laughed as I told him, “Thank you” and added, “You just told me that a minute ago,” to be sure I wasn’t dealing with a 50 First Dates type of situation. “I know, but your face, you have a really pretty face.” I know I should be all giddy because a boy thinks I’m pretty, and part of me is because what girl doesn’t want to be told she’s beautiful? But another part of me is feeling like he’s about to become a character in Law & Order: SVU in an episode about some creepy infatuation. I brushed off my uneasiness because the school girl giddiness triumphed, and I enjoyed the compliment. It’s been only a few weeks, but Daniel has been one of the more promising guys that I’ve spent time with. He hasn’t said anything outlandish (minus the near creeper-status comments about my pretty face), he doesn’t have ridiculous background drama, and we seem to be heading in the same direction of life. What bliss this is; I wonder how long it’ll last?

Protect and Serve

Based on previous experiences with cops, I was a little weary of Daniel’s police officer occupation, but this past week he has helped changed my mind. Just a tad, though. I’m not influenced too easily anymore. Even though he works 12 hour shifts from 6pm-6am with days off scattered among them, he has been really good about staying in touch and not letting his job interrupt anything between us. Too often I think the “job” is an easy way out, when in reality, if you reeaaaallllyyy liked the person, you wouldn’t let the job get in the way. So bravo to Daniel for taking on a scary and tough job, but will still find time for lil ol’ me. His accent cracks me up. It actually cracks us both up because I sometimes struggle to understand him so there’s this great comedic moment when we’re just staring at each other trying to make sense of what just happened with our miscommunication. We’ve been having a lot of fun together, and he even showed his skill on the BBQer during this gross winter weather. Really? This was the first time a guy cooked for me? So sad that it took 26 years to happen, but it was delish and he scored some bonus points for working it while standing in snow. I'm hoping that things continue as happily as they have been, but of course my expectations are low.

Cop A Feel

The same night of my coffee date with Jared, I went out with someone else I had been communicating with. I actually had two guys I was communicating with, and I was leaning more towards Nick than Daniel, but my friends were pushing me to pursue Daniel harder. I trusted myself more than my friends because they just thought Daniel was cuter, but I was more attracted to Nick, and I wanted to go out with both of them. So, that’s what I did. Or at least I tried to do that. Nick had to cancel at almost the last minute when we were supposed to go out a few days ago. He said he would be in touch to try again. Yeah, whatever. I’m not waiting around for an “I’ll be in touch.” So Daniel actually followed through with his scheduled time, and we met for some drinks. If I felt like I had lost my alcohol tolerance after college, it’s definitely increasing again thanks to all these dates. Daniel’s a cop (I think this is probably the fifth cop I’ve dated…I completely buy into the claim that there’s a special connection between teachers and cops!), he has a southern accent from his home in North Carolina, and he just looks like an All-American guy—tall, broad, blond hair, blue eyes—not really what I usually would be drawn to, but the thing that got me with him was that he called. Yes, not just typed some words, he picked up the phone and spoke to me. It was nice to hear the voice before I actually met the guy.

I love now that after so many dates, I never get nervous. Only slightly, but I pop a piece of gum in my mouth and the nerves go away quickly. When I got to the bar I knew he was already inside, but I stood near the front door trying to find him. I heard my name and felt a hand on my waist in a sweet, protective way. I turned and saw Daniel was the one touching me. He was yummy, and I’ll never forget the way he smiled as he bent down to hug me. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t scare you, I saw you looking confused trying to find me so I thought I’d come get you,” he said. He was nicer than I expected, maybe I mean more genuine. His emails and phone conversations were fine, but I wasn’t getting a clear read on him until we met. We talked for-ever, and I felt that he meant well and was truly interested in wanting to meet someone. During our date, I was showing off my awesome new touch screen phone with scrolling phonebook. As I was showing this off, the phonebook landed on “Jared match.” It took Daniel about 2.5 seconds to make a comment that I was going out with other people. I responded with, “Well, I expect that from other people, too. I think that’s the good part of match, you can go out with different people until you find one that you want to date.” He informed me that he was only going for one girl and that one girl was me. Wowzer. I just about deleted every guy in my phonebook after he said that. If he wants me, he’ll come get me. Daniel made his declaration so let’s see if he follows through.