A cool new bike...

I would love one of these!!!!

Is There an Age Limit for This Ride?

Throughout my life people would mistake my age. In high school, I wandered the halls without a pass, because many people thought I was a senior. In junior high, people would ask me which college I was applying for and how I did on the SATs. I was never carded, until I was 21.

This trend is taking a slightly different bent now. I'm in my late 20s(OK I'll be 30 at the end of the summer). Now I get the other end of the spectrum. I have people constantly underestimating my age. I have a few patients who are convinced that I am 19 and won't hear a word different. Usually, I get somewhere between 23-25. While talking this over with my best friend I came to the decision that its a good thing. We are youthful, in touch with our inner child, fun loving... All while having the hint of responsibility in our makeup.

My question is where does the age limit get placed in the dating world? Does age really matter? I'm thinking not so much. As a very healthy woman, I intend to live a long and active life. One of the main contributors to my youthful appearance is that I keep the Word of Wisdom. It is a type of health code that was made a commandment. People often mock Mormons for their non-consumption of alcohol and tobacco. But the truth is, most LDS peoples live to old ages, and are active right up to the end.

By living this lifestyle, the body is better able to be maintained. In my case, I have such a young, not wrinkled countenance that yet again someone under-bid on my age. Sadly, this someone is probably put off by my age now. (He is 22, and still in college.) Now, I have a bit of a confession to make. While I am very open to dating anyone, I do actually have age limits for myself. I decided a very long time ago that I would never date someone who is more than 5 years younger than me... This guy, however, has me reassessing my outlook. We'll see if anything comes of it. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy the ride, and the ... Summer?

The air is warm, the skies partly cloudy, and the surf is medium. It is a perfect beach day, so enjoy it.

Please give your thoughts and feelings, and share.

Thanks,

The Tallgurrl

Signs of Spring

I follow the writings of my friend's mother in the NH Mirror. Her column is called the Single Cynic. It makes me laugh. I wrote a reply and much to my surprise, it was printed in the June edition. Here's an excerpt from what I wrote...


I was driving home from work the other day, talking to one of my "coupled" friends. She was complaining about how she doesn't have time to herself... How she is always busy, and I'm so lucky not to have a man in my life who takes up my free time.
Meanwhile, she is planning her August wedding.
As I listened to her babble on and on about how "totally rough" it all is, I looked at the spring beauties that I was driving past. I was thinking about the symbolism of them. Birth, togetherness, coupledom, marriage, new beginnings. The birds, flowers and little furry animals all seem to show hope...
Then Mother Nature gave me a blazing sign of where my romantic life is at the time. A huge, ugly turkey vulture swooped down to land near my car. I don't know if you've ever seen them, but turkey vultures are probably the ugliest, scariest, most nauseating creatures on the earth.
And that isn't even mentioning the fact that they are carrion birds.
Suffice it to say, I finally got it. YES, I'm single. Mother Nature has too much of a sense of humor for my taste. I think I need to look for signs of spring in a city from now on.


Now this isn't to say I'm bitter about the whole single thing... More to say, I laugh very hard at it... Then I get over it and hang out with my friends.

Please comment and share... You know how I love to know what you are thinking.

Thanks,

The Tallgurrl

As Time Moves On...

So it has finally occurred to me what I do when it comes to blogging: I write the same way as how I write in my journal(whenever something interesting or momentous happens). That said, I think it would be a good idea to post something now. I've had a lot of things knocking around in my head. In the mass of randomness that is my mind these few topics keep coming to the forefront.

High school reunions- My 10 year reunion was held around Thanksgiving 2008. I found out about it when I looked at the pictures someone posted on Facebook. Now I will never be sentimental about my high school experience. To be blunt, I was one of the many victims of bullies. I have no desire to go hang out with the people who treated me poorly, while they are getting drunk and reminiscing about the "good old days". They weren't that great for me. Hard to believe, I know! How could this gregarious, outgoing, social butterfly that you all know and love be considered a social leper? Boggles the mind. I had no intention of going, but to be honest, I would have liked to have had the option to decline. Instead, I had the insta-declination that was being overlooked. The funny thing is that I think I was salsa dancing with friends that weekend.

Friends- I have amazing friends. They are legion. They are quirky. They come from so many different backgrounds and have such different tastes. This past weekend I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. First, LOVE IT THERE!!! Second, everyone who went got something out of the trip. I got a lot out of it. And not all of it was art appreciation. The trip was originally planned to be a group date, but eventually became just a mass of friends going to Boston to hang out. I am SOOO GLAD that it turned out that way. It would have been very awkward when the guy I had asked as my "date" left our group with the girl he is hanging out with. (I don't say dating because he's only known her a few weeks and still introduces her as "my friend___"). On the drive home my best friend Wanda and I commented that we got not only dinner, but also a show.

Valentine's Day- Every year I get myself built up with excitement for the holiday that celebrates love. I keep thinking that on this the most romantic day of the year, perhaps, I'll have met "Mr. Right". I have a very sarcastic/somewhat cynical bent to my personality, but one thing most people don't realize is that I am a hopeless romantic. I am such an idealist in every aspect of my life. I want to be swept off of my feet by some dashing man, who sees me as his queen. I love the sentimental sappy love songs, romantic dates, cuddling by the fire, and all of those other cliches. I work hard to hide that part of me. Probably because it is a lot bigger than I'd care to admit. This year, like many in the past, I will be spending it alone... Or at least with a serious lack of male companionship. Maybe I should line up a date with my bath tub and a Danielle Steel novel... Or maybe do a bunch of chick flicks and guy bash with my besties... Whatever I do, I know I'll have good company, and a phenomenal playlist.

I always tell my friends that I don't make resolutions for the upcoming year. This one is no different. But, I do make revolutions. Yes, I carry a gun, have guerrillas run around, and depose leaders, all while doing something good for myself. And this year, the revolution will take place in this blog. I'm going to write more often. It is getting kind of boring to be told by my sister that I never write blogs, so she doesn't read mine. So VIVE LA REVOLUTION!

The dew-point fell this morning, making the air a bit moist. I don't think the revolutionaries will mind, though.

Please comment and share.

Thanks,

The Tallgurrl

A Rant About Choices

I am a firm believer in "free agency". The fact that people are free to choose to act however they want, and take the consequences, is something I have always loved in my life. With that in mind, I have decided to take a break on dating for a while... Let me explain.
In April, when I moved back to NH I met a guy. I'll call him Brazilian Playa Man.(Playa for short.) We have been dating/hanging out since then. We had a falling out a few weeks ago that I chalked up to misunderstanding. Playa and I reconnected last weekend at a church camp out, and I thought we would make a go at it. We made plans to go on a date last night. During the afternoon he texts me that he wants to do a "rain check". I tell him "OK, it is raining today." In reality, he didn't get in touch with me in time to make plans- so I figured something better came along and made my own plans to go salsa dancing with some of my friends instead. I tell him about the dancing, which happens to be at a club near his home. Playa says he "might" come and I let it go.

At the club, he shows up, I introduce him to my friends, and he asks me to show him where I parked. So I went in his car and we parked him near me, and went to Taco Bell to assuage his hunger.(By the way, bad idea to eat fast food before doing exercise of any kind.) I sit there with him and chat. He was incredibly rude to the workers there, and proceeds to debate politics with me. Two things that are enormous turn-offs, not to mention taboo when trying to impress the opposite sex. We finally make our way back to the club, and he spends the rest of the night living up to his name, Playa. He uses the same lines on my friend Lilo that he used on me; even going to the point of taking her out to his car and making out with her.

When she got back to the club, she asked me if it would be cool to have him drive her home. I'll be honest. I warned her off of him. But she really wanted to go with her "wild night" and he happened to finish it off. So I told her to do what she wanted. Now this is where I got a bit petty. We're all adults here, but really! To cancel a date with me, spend the night flirting/macking with MY friend, then come back and act like its all good... So when he came back, I called it like I saw it. I told him he was an ass! He really didn't seem to see anything wrong with what he did, which I told him that if he didn't understand my being upset he wouldn't ever get it.

Playa and Lilo left together. I left with my other friends. And I have decided that I will never date Playa again. His lips will only ever touch mine again in one circumstance: I need CPR and he is administering life saving techniques on me. His car will never hold my body in it again. He has lost the girl. The ironic thing is that Lilo said he was too old for her. I wonder what he will say when he doesn't end up with a date next week.

To finish up this rant, I just want to say how grateful I am for this happening. I passed on going to a friend's mocktail party for this and really needed this to happen. I had been giving my heart to Playa in increments, and was hurt by him before. Now, he has cauterized the wound and the scar I now bear will not allow any further romantic involvement with him. My dating focus is going to turn towards the temple from now on. As in, I'm not dating for a while. Instead, I'm going to make temple dates with friends and feel the Spirit. I would much rather do good and be about "My Father's Work" than pursue dumb guys and make myself feel dumb in the process. I always feel choice when leaving the temple and know that my calm will be restored there.

Please give your comments and share.

Thanks,

The Tallgurrl

Update: I ran into Playa on campus. He was all solicitous and flirty, and I was all "nice to see you, I know I'm awesome... Gotta go." He has not aged well at all. And he is still single. His ambition has increased, though. I wish him luck and wisdom in all that he does. 

News, News

So life has continued and I have moved on... literally. After having lived for the past year in the Chicago area, I packed up and moved back to New Hampshire. It definitely wasn't in my plans to go back for anything save holidays and visits, but God had something else in mind for me. I can only ignore His nudges for so long before he uses a brick upside my head. In this case it was a mix of work and parental need. As in, I was growing weary of being the fall girl at work and my parents really needed my help for an undetermined length of time.

It was very difficult for me to move back into my parents' home. They had made it very clear before I left that it was "their" home and I totally respect that. Living away from them was very liberating for me. I found a new love in running and physical fitness. Dancing in clubs and singing in karaoke bars were things I enjoyed doing there. I think I had to go away in order to really discover who I am and learn my capabilities. I haven't found them all, but it was a good start.

One thing I did while in Chicago is date. Now don't get me wrong, I did date in New Hampshire. Its just that a 2 year dry spell was creeping on me and I wanted to actually go out more. Prior to my move, I was growing very frustrated in my lack of dating. I figured something must be wrong with me... Why else would no one want to go out with me? The ironic thing is that it took 1000 miles, and a couple months of not dating there, to realize that NOTHING is wrong with me. There is a phenomenal woman residing in my skin. I don't need some guy to validate my awesomeness. The fact is everyone is amazing. Once I really began to believe that, it was like I was a magnet. (At least for guys who didn't have confident women near them).

I've been back in New Hampshire for about 4 and a half months. I am living in my parents' home, and I'm okay with that. I have been dating, some. And I have been alone some. The whole bitter, desperate, fearful woman who can't bear the thought of being alone has died. The phoenix who rose from the ashes of that woman's demise is just discovering herself, and likes what she sees so far. I have learned so much from my mistakes, experiences. I can't wait to see where this part of my life takes me.

A hopeful breeze will be here all day, clearing the pollen and humidity.

Please give your comments and share.

Thanks,

The Tallgurrl