Play Ball!

I am a three strikes and you are out type of person, and while I was in the shower this morning, it made me realize- is dating like baseball?

Maybe this is because Tinder is a baseball fan and he has been on my mind more than ever lately, but this really might be true! You get 3 balls- or maybe it’s 4 balls- and then are allowed to walk to first base, these are dating gimmes, and then the big strikes- 3 and you are out.

As much as I was thinking Tinder had used his 3 strikes, he has not… he has just used his 3 balls (that sounds weird… and dirty, but you get my point!):

• First ball- broke our first date due to his sister having a baby. Legit!
• Second ball- could not meet me out for the Wicker Park Food Crawl due to a car accident. Legit!
• Third ball- broke our rescheduled 1^st date because he was hung over. Legit, but less legit than the first two reasons.  DISCLAIMER: Thank you for not wanting me to watch dry heave. In my moment of being annoyed, I did not state this, but it is much apprecaited.
• If there are 4 balls, make up your own forth annoying thing that would hinder the first date.

After these 3 things, my first reaction would be to write him off- completely. Delete his text messages, delete his phone number etc. You get the idea. But, that’s just the bitch I pretend to be. Deep down, I have so much faith in Tinder. I am normally a pretty good judge of character (Yes, that is a pat on my own back and I like it!), and this one seems like a keeper- go figure I start a dating blog and maybe meet someone I could potential start a relationship with- story of my life.

I didn’t want to let Tinder walk to first base- Screw that, I am annoyed!!!! However, writing people off way too soon and way too late is a flaw of mine and truthfully, part of the reason I started this blog was to change that. I decided to let Tinder know I was annoyed and he was very sweet to offer to reschedule for the next day, but I was not up to committing- after all you can’t change over night! I asked him to get a hold of me the next day and we will see how we felt and what our plans were. I just felt that every time we have made plans, they get squashed some way, some how. I couldn’t handle being let down again as by this point I am pumped to hang out with Tinder.

I did not hear from him until 9pm the next night. It was a text that just said “Hello.” How the hell do you want me to respond to that one, TInder? Sure, you screwed up and know this, and probably are saying this with your tail between your legs, but good God, just a hello?

Tinder calls me around 10pm. I won’t lie, I was not sure if I wanted to answer his call. But because I only talk a big game, I did. Tinder is the type of guy that I really don’t think will lie or if he does, wants to- not like any of us want to lie, but point being is he is not being a selfish dick. He wanted to be honest with me and showed up at my house- with his over night bag packed. How could I say no to this? I am such a softy at heart, and secretly love to snuggle. DISCLAIMER: It’s safe to say strike 1 is wearing away at this point…and in my head this is playing out like John Cusack in Say Anything…..

Tinder and I spoke about what was going on with him- ugh, the dreaded ex-girlfriend. DAMN IT!!!! How can I compete with that? I have been in his position before. Remember Tornado? He showed up at my door step, in a blizzard, telling me how much he missed me and the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. With Tornado, I thought ok, not a problem, you just needed to miss me and everything will be better and we can pick up where we left off. Wrong, we still broke up for a reason- a big reason that couldn’t be fixed.

Don’t get me wrong, if Tinder still has ex-girlfriend problems, I need him to figure those out before we can start anything. What throws me for a loop-hole is I did not expect to feel this way about Tinder- AT ALL. I am such a tease and have such a huge wall up all the time that recently, I don’t let any male in. But, Holy Shit! Did Tinder just knock down the wall a little bit without me realizing it???

<instert your own explicit here- mine is FUCK!>

Tinder and I have talked probably every day for the last month and a half and not talking to him today almost left this void in my day. Once meeting Tinder, I automatically felt comfortable around him. Sure, you get the weird butterflies just because it is new, but there is nothing normal about how we have been dating for the past month. He has met all my friends and we have spent the night at each others houses, and we still have yet to have our first real date. Needless to say, he doesn’t make me feel like I need to pretend about who I am or cover anything up because “it is the beginning stages.” I like that Tinder can just go with the flow because after all there is nothing normal about my life.

Today I realized this about Tinder:

• I  really like this kid! Not that I didn’t before, but can now see that it just isn’t someone is “paying attention to me and I like that” type of feeling. Ya know?
• This kid gets my jokes. And throws me for a loop with his. God, I love good banter.
• I like that I can be honest with him. He doesn’t make me want to yell or pack his shit up and throw it down the hallway. He listened to me when I stated I was annoyed and instantly tried to make it better.
• We didn’t talk today, and all day I kept checking my phone for just one text message. Do I miss him already or do I just miss having someone to text with?
• Oh, Shit! I really like this kid!

I think Tinder feels the same way or slightly the same way based on the things he has said to me. So Tinder, if you are reading this, I am not ready to write you off (like I tried to convince myself I was on Sunday) and as you stated, I really hope we have a better string of luck. You also haven’t gone through your strikes yet so why quit now? Oh God, did I just make myself look desperate…. well, whatever, it wouldn’t be the first time nor will it be the last.