At the end of the conversation, he asked if he could fly to St. Louis to meet me! Sounds great, I said, and I meant it! We’ve talked many times since then and we have a lot in common. Now he’s due to arrive in four days. Oy!

There’s a lot to do to prepare for a man who is coming to meet me for three full days so we can see if we’re compatible to start building a relationship.

First there’s that extra five pounds I recently gained that must come off immediately. Then, there’s my apartment. What if he asks to see where I live? I want my apartment to look perfect. I’ll borrow my aunt’s carpet shampooer.

Then there’s me. Manicure, haircut and style for sure, massage to calm my nerves…am I forgetting anything? Teeth whitening maybe? Boob lift? No, no time for those things!

And, I tell myself, if he doesn’t accept me for who I am, then he’s not for me anyway. I wonder if he’s going through any of the same nervousness as I am. I am also quite excited. I think it will be a fun weekend no matter what the end result is between us. I love showing off St. Louis to newcomers.

Wow, a weekend visit sure is different than a simple date. And it happened so fast. I think that’s a big aspect of being an older single. We don’t have months to waste talking on the phone. We had a great initial conversation…now we have to see how it feels to be together in person. If it works, great! If it doesn’t, we haven’t given up months of time to learn this. We’ll know and we’ll each move on.

Can I say it again…Oy!