Week One Update

So I have been on Match.com and eHarmony.com for 1 week. There has definitely been a learning curve. I had to start searching guys and refining my criteria. Sadly, there are many people who are really cute, but a little outside of my driving range. If these guys want to come to Pittsburgh that's great, but I am not going to Connellsville for dinner. That's a bit too far with gas prices.

I've already noticed that some men are very laid back in regard to writing. Others want to get to know you right now. And there is no way to pre-qualify them. After the first couple of days I already had some emails.

Most of the emails I sent didn't end with a response back, so I started with the "wink". This is a great function I discovered that allows you to let someone know that you're interested without having to spend an hour trying to decide what to say in an opening email. I definitley enjoy the "wink".

However, I occasionally am feeling flirtatious and will "wink" a lot. I winked at a couple guys that upon revisiting their profiles, I found them not as cute as I did when I "winked" at them. This can be a dangerous option as then you have to either ignore them and feel bad since they "winked" back and are interesting, or you have to tell them that you're not interested through email (they email you sometimes). They do have standard "No Thanks" responses that you can send, but I feel it's rude to do that if you initiated the "wink".

I'm sure I'm really being way too sensitive about this, but this can be a very awkward and traumatic process. Especially when some 43-year-old guy puts his subject line as "Hey, you are hot!" I've also been winked at by 50+ year old hippies and creepy 40-somethings. I'm only 30 dude. Leave me alone. Or just send money, because that's probably the only way I'd date you because you're old. 20- and 30-somethings only please. Preferably employed ones. That's why I signed up - to meet men my age who are dateable.

It's Time to Add Another Online Activity to My List

Two weeks ago, I caved and did what everyone had been pushing me to do for about 6-8 months -join Match.com and start meeting guys. It's been over 4 years since I have had a boyfriend, which is way too long. And I'm really getting tired of being single. The last bachelorette party I attended - I was the only single woman out of the 10 of us. It didn't make me feel all that great.

I signed up on Match.com and eHarmony.com. I had better go on quite a few dates to make up for the hundreds of dollars I put on my credit card. To-date, I am not feeling all that comfortable about it so far. Maybe I should have taken a hint from when I almost cried while creating my profiles. I just never expected that I'd have to look for love online. It was a novelty when I was 17 and I wanted to meet people that I didn't go to high school with. Now, however, it makes me feel pretty crappy.