S: Quitter Quitter Don’t Be Bitter

As March nears its end, it's time for me to get off the fence and make a choice. And so…it’s official, Dateketeers…Sheila the Spinster is out of the Date of the Month Club Challenge.

After a paltry two sanctioned dates (and one accidental friend date), I am calling it quitsies.

Apparently what they say is true. The more you do not want to be in a relationship, the more likely you are to stumble upon the one someone you cannot help but jump in feet first with.

And, so, here I am, head over heels in love with someone who I figured would only have a passing interest in me. Someone I almost never met. Someone who, if I had met sooner, I would possibly not have connected with quite as well. Someone who thinks I am far better than I am and makes me want to be what he sees in me.

Someone unbelievable and unlikely and unignorable.

I never saw it coming, but if this relationship goes the way I would like it to, I will not go on a date with someone new ever again.

And according to Rule 4 of the Official Date Club Rules...

Members must go on one date with someone new every month for a year.

So if I refuse go out with anyone new any more, I must forfeit the Challenge.

Here goes.

Let the record show that I, Sheila Barnes, being of unsound mind and mostly sound body (except for these cursed thighs), do hereby forfeit the Date of the Month Club Challenge.

This is quite the sacrifice because, according to Rule 4 of the Stakes in the Official Date Club Rules…

If a member drops out of the challenge for any reason, especially if she decides to tie herself down to one fella (ahem…Jake), she forfeits her ante and any shares of the pot when it is divided at the end of the challenge.

Little did I know when we laid these rules out, that I would be the first one out. That I would be the Challenger who tied herself down to one fella (who isn’t Jake Gyllenhal). I figured I’d be in it until the bitter end…last dater standing. The spinster spinsting all the way to the bank.

Ooopsies. As Kelly Clarkson said, Miss Independent fell in love.

And I can assure you that Guy is worth every penny of the ante that I am forfeiting. He’s far better for me than any of the other guys I thought I would be trying to add to my roster of months. He’s worth missing out on any of the dating experiences I was looking forward to in this adventure.

He’s the adventure now. One I never thought I would experience. One I don’t deserve, but I’ve been lucky enough to find. One that frightens and comforts me at the same time. One that I cannot deny.

Even though I won't be dating anyone new, keep reading. Sheila is not out of the blogging business. As I mentioned in an earlier post, with Guy’s blessing and the generous agreement of my Date Club Sisters, I will continue to post about our journey, because after all, this is part of the dating experience…finding the someone who takes you off the market.

This is not the end of the story…it’s the beginning.

Aaaaaand GO!