List #160: Daily Dating

I am a firm believer that first dates should occur on a weekday. This may not be true in the younger years of our love life. But as adults with a full-fledged career, an active social life, family, and the inability to stay up as late as we once were able, the weekday date is a wonderful idea.

In fact, I've only broken it once during my adult dating career, and though it was worth it at the time, in retrospect I should have stuck to my rule.

It's hard to date as a true adult. There is too much to balance, too much or too little at stake, too much baggage that everyone brings to the table. But I kind of love a first date. Even with all of the stress, there really is nothing to lose with that first meeting. No one is in too deep and no one's feelings are terribly hurt if something doesn't happen. Sure, it stings our pride a little bit. But heartbreaks don't happen on first dates.

And personally, I think the beauty of a first date really happens before the two parties meet. Like so many good things in life, the anticipation is really where the excitement lies. And quite frankly, best served in the middle of a work week. Each hour fueling the energy to the apex moment of meeting:

9:00 am:  Announce to coworkers/friends that you have a date tonight. You don't tell the whole office, just the ones who you consider friends. They'll be the ones who cheer you on and ask how it went in the morning. They can also be great at calling to check in emergency situations in some circumstances. But hopefully you're the type that doesn't really need to use those excuses all too often.

10:00 am: Check your personal email to see if your best friend responded to your email to her late the night before. Respond to whatever she says and tell her you'll call her when you get home.

11:00 am: Nothing really happens in this hour. You're just looking forward to lunch and getting work done.

12:00 pm: Eat your lunch. What you have depends on your plans for later in the evening. Just drinks? Better load up on a big lunch. Dinner? You'll go with a light sandwich or hummus or soup.

1:00 pm:  Either respond, or send, an email to the first date confirming the time and place of meeting. You mention that you hope he's having a great day.

2:00 pm:  More work.

3:00 pm:  Reference the date in a text message to another friend. Or tweet about it something of the like. Friend will ask if you're excited and you reply nonchalantly that yes, you are. But it's only a first date and who knows what will really happen.

4:00 pm: Wrap up as much work as you possibly can.

4:45 pm: Excuse yourself to the bathroom. This is where you fresh up your make-up, fix your hair, make sure your outfit still looks cute.

5:00 pm:  Leave work. Everyone wishes you well. You head to the meeting place. Try to arrive early, bring a book to read, stay cool.

6:00 pm-ish:  Date arrives. Put the book down. You've got nothing to lose.

So what do you think readers? First dates on the weeknight? Care to share any of your favorite dating tips?