What Are My Next Steps?

imageI have no idea what is next.  I have been unemployed for 10 days.  The longest I have been unemployed since I was 15.  I have spent this last week thinking about things.  My mind is a mess.. but I have tried to stay focused, to focus on what is important to me – my nieces.  They are only 6 and 8 once.. and they still idolize me.  But my mind wonders and I get very anxious – I get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.  The fact that:

1 – I don’t have a job

2 – that I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up (or I do, but it isn’t what I’m currently skilled at)

3 – that I have zero motivation to get back “into the (software) game”.

My main goal at this moment is to stay focused in the present with my nieces.  This is where I am spending most of my energy right now.

So my life is not orderly right now (I know, very nice way of putting it right?!?).  The odd part for me is all about men – in the last 10 days,  I have had 2 men ask me out. I know.  I have been semi-ready to date again, and just as I get comfortable with this, my life turns upside down.  I met both men while employed – I met them 8 and 3 months ago.  What is interesting is that they both reached out to me just last week – within hours of each other.  It is strange to me – had one or both of them reached out to me months ago things could be very different.  Now that I’m unemployed and not sure about  my future, it doesn’t seem like the right time to start something – What if I decide to move to Turkey?  What if I move to Utah…?  What if I decide to do nothing and collect unemployment for 56 weeks?  My point is, now seems like the wrong time to start dating.

What are your thoughts? Seems like the most important thing for me right now is to figure my shit out….

Oh, I forgot to mention that A-Train has offered his 2nd bedroom up for free. So I can sublet or get rid of my apartment and live with A-Train for free. For those of you who don’t know, A-Train was my boyfriend for 2 years. We broke up in March of this year…. it was inevitable that we would not be together, but he did break up with me so he could be with someone else… which hurt.  It has taken time, but we have remained friendly, and is probably my best friend right now.

Just from a dating perspective, it’s probably not best to be living with an ex while trying to see other men.  Seems so Jerry Springer-ish…

So for those of you that don’t have your life all neatly wrapped in beautiful paper and with a pretty bow, what would you do? What have you done in this situation or a similar situation?  Love to hear and learn from your experiences.

Got The Message. Loud And Clear.

As much as I don’t want to admit this, I’m going to.  Blogs are a great way to keep it honest….I want to learn from this .. and I want other women to learn from this.

So, the guy I went on a brunch date with last week, the one I really liked (its been a while since I have felt that tingle.. that excitement and desire to get to know someone)  … and that he said he liked me (he did invite me back to his home after our date AND asked me out for Tuesday)…. is not interested. Yes, I got the message on Tuesday night when he texted me from a meat market happy hour instead of calling me to make dinner arrangements.  BUT,  I wanted him to say it.  So I sent him an email.. here is what it said:

Gosh XXXX, I sure hope you have not fallen off the face of the planet.. that  would be bad news. Anyway, Woody Allen’s new movie, Midnight in Paris is opening this week.  Being a Woody Allen fan, I’m definitely going to see it sometime this weekend/next week.  You care to join me?”

His response, below. Mind you, this is the man who did not want me to leave our date (but I had to), invited me back to his house mere hours after our date to “warm his couch”…  Returned this email, timing wise, a mere 5 days AFTER our first date….

“Thanks for the update.  I think I have fallen off the planet.  You are a good person and I wish you good luck with everything you got going. I am going to be unavailable for a while.”

What did I do?  I thanked him for his honesty.. which I do appreciate.  My only guess is that he met someone between our date on Sunday and scheduled date on Tuesday that piqued his interest….    Good for him, nothing wrong with that…  Just saying’ dating can be a challenge.

What I’ve learned is that I still got it – I can meet someone and get that tingly feeling, that excitement of wanting to know more about someone.  I spent a lot of time dating this year, waiting and wondering when that feeling would come…  Its nice to know that I can get it… 

I don’t know what this means for me or interenet dating.. My profile is hidden on the sites I was using …  I’m going to lay low for now.  Online dating does bring people together that wouldn’t otherwise meet, but I’ve not had any luck with that… so I’m going to stick close to home for now.. just get out more, do new and different things, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll meet someone who makes me tingle..  🙂