I would ask her about favorite tv shows, what kind of books she likes , things like that. It doesn't really matter what she answers -- just that she can answer with more than a shrug or don't know.

I think that is about all you can expect.

I would ask her about favorite tv shows, what kind of books she likes , things like that.

Oh, I do have that information. We have a couple in common, but our tastes aren't all that similar.

It doesn't really matter what she answers -- just that she can answer with more than a shrug or don't know.

There is something to be said for that, though. Only two people showed up to my "TV Worth Talking About" klatch tonight, and neither one of them watched much TV. One of them didn't know who Tina Fey was. It was awkward.

I think that is about all you can expect.

I told my mom that I was tired of this whole process of them finding me girls that I didn't click with, and her advice to me was to be my best. I feel like an Active.

I told my mom that I was tired of this whole process of them finding me girls

Therein lies the problem, dude. My mom can't even pick me out a sweater, much less a spouse.

If she can talk about why she likes a show, or why she likes to go shopping , or why the she never tried tofu -- you might have an interesting conversation.

That is all you can hope for. You don't really have expectations for a spouse. But you can be a nice, articulate man.

ION, I'd like to ignore asthma for a day. It is just irritating

But you can be a nice, articulate man.

I can try that out for twenty minutes, maybe.

Congratulations on the job, Jilli.

Any blind date advice from previous blind date havers?

Just chill and be yourself.

How's that for the Worst Advice Ever? You're meeting someone you've never met before, who has the added psychic weight of being a potential wife, and you know you're being evaluated as a potential husband and...just BE YOURSELF?!?

Yeah, blind dates are awkward even when marriage ISN'T a possibly planned-for outcome. ("So...uh...I like cheese! How do YOU feel about cheese?" "I collect wasps for a living." "My appendix! It just burst!")

(None of that really happened; I was just trying to think of awkward shit.)

And for all that, the best thing to do is to just be yourself. I'm not so sure you can't bring up comics; just don't spend an hour explaining how there have been 5 Robins (6 if you count Dark Knight Returns), and one of the Robins was Robin twice, and oh, did you mention Superboy-Prime PUNCHING A HOLE IN REALITY?!?

When I go on and on about that, even my friends, who I don't have to worry are evaluating me as a potential spouse, start to edge away and make excuses about going home to shampoo the carpet.

Is there any way you can separate yourself from the high expectations/stress of it being A Date To Meet A Potential Future Wife? Like, just tell yourself that your mom can view it however *she* wants, but to you it's just a chance to hang out with someone, nothing more? Because if you can mentally remove some of the high expectations, maybe you'll be more relaxed and things will go smoothly.

I know when I've been in a situation when I haven't given a shit, haven't been "looking" for a guy (and really, for 95% of the time that I was single, I was always looking for a guy), I was more relaxed and could just hang out in a non-pressured way, which led to a more natural interaction, which then often led to sparkage. But sparkage was never the goal from the outset.

So maybe try to think of it as just hanging out. You hang out with women a lot, and while it may feel easy because you share interests and can geek out togther, I'd bet that some of the ease comes from it being a no-pressure situation.

Now, forcing yourself to think of meeting the potential future wide as "just hanging out," with no pressure, is WAY easier said than done. I get that. And maybe it won't work very well *this* time. But if you try it, and keep trying it in the future, it'll get easier to be laissez-faire about it, and the relaxed attitude will be good for everyone involved.

Especially for you.

(I hope that some of that made sense. I'm a little loopy on flexiril, due to over-zealousness on the elliptical machine 2 days ago.)

I got a note home from Owen's special ed teacher today. Apparently, he's having trouble with "transitions." Which is to say that he's taken to wandering the halls when he's supposed to be changing rooms. He asked to use the bathroom today and decided to start looking in other classrooms for his friend. She says they will be giving him more adult supervision when he's going to therapy, etc. but she asked me to drive this point across at home as well.

Do I acknowledge this note with a return note? Or do I just keep reminding O that he needs to listen to the teachers and go right to class?

Mmmm...flexeril...mmmmm....

Mmmm...flexeril...mmmmm....

I know! It's hard to think that back when my back was so badly injured prior to surgery that I was taking 2 at a time, 4 times a day (maybe only 3, but that's still a lot), and it didn't feel like it was doing ANYTHING, both for the pain and to make me fuzzy-headed.

Now, *1* flexiril makes me all silly and "I love you, man!"