the fear of cute guys and kittens

The other day, prompted into delusion by a horoscope, (something that happens more often than I care to admit) I re-posted a personal ad (without a picture). Honestly, I didn't expect much.
My prior posting of this particular ad (which is markedly *not* sexual in nature, btw), has only ended up garnering the occasional solicitation of sex by married, unattractive men....and more often nothing.
I'd prefer the nothing.
Anyway, the point is, I didn't expect much.

Imagine my surprise however, when what seems like a sane person responded.

He was amazed to find a sane, decent ad himself he said. And he actually seemed to have read my ad. We even share some interests. It's all too amazing.

So of course, I got excited, despite myself. He writes well. He's 32, a decorator,(for God's sake!) from SF, been in New Orleans only since February.

So for the past few days I've been fretting. I mean, I've been through this probably a hundred or more times (I wish I were exagerrating, but sadly I'm not).

I picture it as a sort of Olympic challenge....one with hurdles. The first hurdle is getting noticed in the ad, of course. 2. Building rapport in email 3. The exchange of pictures 4. The meeting 5. The second date 6. well....who knows?
Every hurdle is a chance for being tripped up. Something always seems to go wrong somewhere. Now, it's totally against every best instinct I have to be posting this. I typically keep my infatuations to myself, to risk the inevitable embarassment later on, but maybe it's time for a new tactic, right?

Anyway, tonight I tentatively, nervously fired off my photo. I figured he might bolt and I'd never hear from him again, but it had to be done and like ripping off a bandaid, it's best done quickly, I've always maintained.

Imagine my surprise when but a few minutes ago he fired off an email back....with a picture of himself attached. Oh goodness...he's cute ...and to make things worse he has a kitten named "Billie Joe McAllister" The cuteness is going to kill me.
Kitten picture was attached, with some witty repartee...the sort that always gets me.

So, now who knows what happens....we're on the track to the well worn number 4 hurdle...at some point. You'd think practice would make this less nerve wracking, but it doesn't.
Wish me luck.