How did I get here (or WTFJH)??

What can happen in 20 years? You can meet a guy and he becomes your best friend. You can watch that guy jump in and out of meaningless relationships while he watches you do the same. You can realize that you and this guy are a perfect fit and he realizes it too...You can move in together, get married, be deliriously happy and have the kind of marriage that people envy. You can find your soul mate.

What can happen in 20 seconds? That guy can make it all disappear. All it takes is one sentence..."I am in love with someone else".

What The Fuck Just Happened??
After lots of crying, screaming, wallowing in booze and self pity I was finally able to pull myself up and put myself out there. But....I just want to date. This means I am not actively looking for a long term thing, I am not trying to find my "soul mate" (did that once and it is WAY overrated), I JUST WANT TO DATE!

So, first decided to try it the old fashioned way - getting picked up in a bar! I put on my sexiest jeans (you know, the pair that magically raises your cheeks up to the height they sat at 15 years ago), a tasteful but low cut top that showed just the right amount of cleavage (I have been told by many brilliant men that I have a "great rack"), some moisturizer to smooth out those lines around my eyes that seem to have appeared overnight then I "sexified" my hair. When I looked in the mirror I thought "Baby, you are HOT", then I realized I really was hot....I was having a hot flash!

After the sweat dried I headed out to my favorite watering hole, found the perfect spot at the bar so my beauty could be see by all and ordered a Goose and tonic, hold the tonic.

Sure enough I was approached by a very attractive man...blue eyes, black hair, great body and nice smile...woo hoo! He sat next to me and saw my cigarettes (yes, I am a smoker) and said "I can't believe I found another smoker, you know we are a dying breed!" Bad joke but an attempt at humor nonetheless.

We talked and smoked for a while, exchanged names and he bought me a drink....pretty good so far. So I asked his age and he said he was 50....I coyly said "Oh good, I only date older men". He chuckled and said "Good, I only date younger woman". He asked my age so I seductively flipped my hair and told him "40ish". His response was "...........oh, you are a lot older than I thought. I don't date woman that old." My response "oh, that's good cuz I don't date shallow a--holes"!

He leaves quickly, I stay and order another Goose. I meet 2 more men that night and have pretty much the same experience with them. Disgusted, I go to leave and run into a male friend I will call "the dog whisperer". I tell him about my poor attempt at meeting men my age and that I have no idea what I am doing. The dog whisperer tells me to try on line dating. He does it all the time and has met some great people. He also tells me that here in Southwest Florida, men in my age group do not want to date women in my age group. They are looking for 25 year old trophies to display and brag to their friends about. The dog whisperer should know, he is a man in my age group!

I get home, pour myself a large glass of water and start researching the many sites out there. I decide on one of the free site because I do not want to pay money only to find that the online men are just as bad and the men I met that night. I register, fill out a "questionnaire" and create a profile....

Let the fishing begin!
~Annie
Next post....my first date.