Pre-Dating

While flipping through a magazine the other day (yes, this was at my ill fated doctors appointment), I came upon something that gave me pause. So much so that I took a picture of it and thought I'd get your feed back on it.

Here's what I found:


In case, for whatever reason, you can't see the image, it's a picture of a page in a magazine that defines something called "Pre-Dating." This is what it says:"It's a new term that describes what happens before a blind date: the research of someone's online history. It's a new phase of the would-be relationship!"

I love how it makes it sounds so peppy and normal - and not the slightest bit creepy or stalkery. But having just gone on several blind dates I can relate to the idea of "pre-dating." I will admit to looking the guys up on Facebook, at least. But beyond that, I'm kind of lazy when it comes to researching my dates. I always forget to google search them or try to find out if they have a criminal record or are on the Most Wanted list or anything like that.

How much effort do you put into stalking, er, I mean "researching" your dates? Should I be more concerned about the guys I go out with than I am?

I also can't help but wonder what a potential date would find out if he googled me. I suppose he would find my blog, but I'm going to try not to think about whether that would make him want to go out with me more or less.

Is the idea of "pre-dating" smart or creepy? And for those of you who have done it, have you found out anything that made you not want to go out with the person because of your research?

Dispute Follow Up

I'm feeling triumphant today because none of you voted for what the receptionist believed the time to be, and almost all of you agreed with me. I thought the card said 5:00 as well. Although, I will allow that it could have been 5:10.

So here's what happened. I double checked the card before leaving for work in the morning and confirmed that it said 5:00. I got to my appointment at 4:53. An hour later, I was still sitting in the waiting room. I'd leafed through all the decent looking magazines, read about what what clothes look best for my body type, what Julia Roberts liked best about traveling for her recent movie, and everything else the waiting room magazines had to offer.

The longer I had to wait, the more annoying the magazines became. I got really frustrated reading an article about "how to choose a hair style based on your face shape." Is my face shape oval, round, or square!? If I can't figure that out, my bangs will never look good! That's when I realized I was getting irritable because I'd been waiting for almost an hour.

But I figured I'd be next, right? No. When the old lady sitting behind me got called in at 5:45, I'd had enough. I asked the nurse who'd come out for the old lady how much longer the wait would be and she said, "probably at least 20 minutes." So I asked the receptionist if I could reschedule. That's when we had this conversation:

Her: Well, your appointment isn't until 5:50.
Me: The card said 5:00.
Her: Do you have the card with you?
Me: No. It's at home, but I double checked it this morning. I'm sure it said 5:00.
Her: Well, your appointment is at 5:50, so the card says 5:50.
Me: (This is where I imploded.)

Anyway, I rescheduled. And yes, I want to bring the card in next time to show her, because I'm mature like that. Whether or not I actually will remains to be seen. I have had to wait a long time in doctors offices before - probably even an hour. But the thing that really ticked me off was her telling me I was wrong about what the card said.

5:50! Yeah, right!

Dispute

What time do you think this card says? The receptionist at my appointment and I disagreed. I'm going to put up a poll with some options. In a day or two, I'll tell you what she thought. I think you might be surprised. I know I was.

Wednesday Thoughts

I'm not really feeling it today.

I will tell you one thing though. I thought you might enjoy this little story. When I was in Moab, I was looking around this little grocery store and I saw something I found a bit odd: anti-aging deodorant. I'm worried enough about aging on other areas of my body - but my underarms? Does anyone really care? And if I used the anti-aging deodorant on other areas - like around my eyes, would it work to fight signs of aging there too?

Wrinkly underarms. It's exhausting.

What's next? Anti-aging Q-tips?

Happy Wednesday. I guess. (Is it obvious I'm "blah" today?)

The real season of love

Check out what I saw growing in a local garden yesterday morning:


You know what that means...

Even though it still feels like summer, fall is coming. I've heard people say they can feel it in the air already.

I've been going into fall kicking and screaming but only because I hate winter, not because I hate fall. In fact, I absolutely love fall. I've been thinking about it lately and I think fall is maybe the best season for dating. What do you think? Here are some fun date ideas for fall:

*cider mills (creating traditions early on... so sweet.)
*corn mazes (even if you figured out how to get out early on, pretend you didn't.)
*haunted houses ("I need to hold onto you because I'm scared." - actually I do get this scared so I'm not mocking this. If I go to a haunted house with you, I really will need to hold onto you.)
*carving pumpkins (adorable - and competitive.)
*football games ("explain to me again what a 'down' is.")
*watching scary movies (cuddle, much?)

...and so many more.

Most likely I'll just be doing all of these with friends, but I'll try to trick someone into a date for at least one of them. What do you think the best fall dating idea is?

Observations on coming home...

...from vacation:

*I can smell what the inside of my car smells like again. From time to time people get in my car and say that my air freshener smells good. I wouldn't know because I've become accustomed to the smell of my car. But after being away from it for a week I could smell it for the first time since I bought it last December. Well, that's not completely true. A couple months ago my car smelled rank because I left a container with watermelon juice in the back of the car for a few days. That smell made itself known. But under normal circumstances, I can't smell my car.

*While I was on vacation, eggs became poisonous. This breaks my heart because eggs are one of my top three favorite foods. Here's a tweet from Conan O'Brien that sums up my feelings:

"The FDA egg recall has hit a total of 380 million eggs. I can't wait till they find the tired, evil hen that did this."

Maybe it's time I start raising chickens of my own so I can eat eggs again. I just hope I don't accidentally buy a rooster, like Kramer did (and some other people I know who will remain nameless).

Ok, I've spent far too much space talking about chickens and eggs for one post, so moving on....

*I wish I could tell you about my blind dates, because who doesn't love a good blind date story? But it's too risky. Yes, this is the end of the reflections on blind dates.

*Michigan is humid. My hair was flat in Utah and it's an afro in Michigan. Which is better? That's how I'll determine where I live the rest of my life. ;)

Ok, those are all the reflections I have for now... I'm home and trying to wrap my head around going back to work. But after spending time with friends and family today, I'm remembering that being home from vacation isn't too bad.

This is me, making a big deal about nothing.

Wanna see something kind of cool? Go to google, type in "Elizabeth Downie" then click on the "I'm feeling lucky" button.*

Don't ask me how I discovered that. I'm pretty sure it involved vanity.

*If doing that did not take you directly to my blog, I suppose I'd rather not know. In my head I'm pretending it means more than it actually does.