1) That finding love is possible regardless of my age, race, height, weight or background.

2) That outside of looking for "him", I have found those family or friends (or rather they found me) who see me, know me and love me for all that I am and all that I am not.

3) For an imagination that runs wild… so wild that it sometimes I surprise myself and squeal on the inside with pure delight.

4) For all the people I've met over this last year who opened their hearts to me, were kind and generous. I'm even thankful for the not-so-kind people that I met. They made me stronger and more compassionate.

5) For parents, who although are gone, continue to give me fond memories and a bright future.

Tomorrow I have to be all thankful and everything, so I think I should get my whining out of my system today. I got 6 emails from three different dating websites last night that make me want to say, "why me?" If you're 63 and from the UK, do you really think we've got "magical" happening between us? And Mr. Baltimore, you might want to change your opening emails to women to something other then "you look good. Chek me out and tell me what think." First of all you misspelled "check" which is a 2nd grade spelling word and you're missing a "you". Also, out of the 6 photos posted of yourself having one without a scowl on your face would be nice. And Jersey guy, I appreciate you contacting me, but seriously, email exchanges usually include each person saying a little about themselves and then asking a question that will help you get to know the other person. We've been back and forth several times and all you write about is you. I can only imagine what an in-person conversation would be like.

Aah. I feel better. Thanks for letting me rant. Now I can be nicer to the guys when I respond to them tomorrow.

Pick me! Choose me! Love me! These lines didn't work for Meredith of Grey's Anatomy and they don't exactly go over well during 8-minutes of speed dating. Well, I didn't actually say them aloud. But now that I'm thinking about it, how funny would it have been if I whispered these words to every guy who came to my table. It certainly would have made the evening more entertaining, because it definitely wasn't a successful night for me, unless you consider not finding one match in a room full of men successful.

When I'm in my 8-minutes with each guy, I never think about whether he likes me or whether he's going to pick me. I'm focused on whether I like him. I guess I assume all guys find me adorable. But when I got home and plugged in the names of the 2 guys I wanted to date again, neither one of them chose me. How's that for a rude awakening.

I think it's healthy that I find myself adorable and assume guys would too. I'm not arrogant or rude and I treat every guy like I would want to be treated - with friendliness, respect, and a touch of flirty (except for the socially awkward guy who kept his eyes down the whole time, spoke in a whisper, and only answered questions, but never reciprocated - I left off the flirty with him). But sometimes no matter how much positive self image you may have, it often times doesn't win you the guy. He chooses not to choose you. And now that a couple of days have past, I'm okay with knowing that I can't change how someone feels about me. I can only change me and try to be the best person I can be and then let God and chemistry do the rest.

You know what they say, 4th time is a charm! Maybe that's not quite right, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This week I'm off to another speed dating event. I've had absolutely 0 luck in the past at these events, but I usually have a good time. Honestly, I want more than a good time, I'm hoping to meet someone or a couple of great guys. I get at least 8 chances, and 8 guys have a chance with me. I'm down to the wire, but as much as I hope one of the guys is a good fit, I won't say yes to a 2nd date unless I think there's something there.

After 45 weeks of analyzing my dating, I know I'm not too picky, nor am I desperate. This event is about simply meeting different men for 8 minutes and seeing if there's one where I say, "yeah, I'd like to see him again." I'm not measuring each one up to see if I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I can't know that in 8 minutes. But I can tell whether or not I want a second date. Sometimes I have to remind myself of these things. Thanks for listening. Below are my thoughts on speed dating as a whole. Be sure to check it out.

A few years back I up and moved to a small town about 40 minutes outside of Philadelphia. It was the 3rd state where I resided in a 3 year time span. I moved to a place by myself where I didn't know a soul and no one knew me. My biggest concern was how will I make friends? I was working from home, so it wouldn't be through co-workers. No husband, so I wouldn't be mingling with any wives, and no children, so playdates with other parents were out of the question. But what I discovered was Common Creed.

Even before I moved, I looked online for a place where I could find a community of singles my age. I didn’t' want simply a singles group that met for drinks one or two nights a month, I wanted a surrogate family. As an adult, I've never lived around any of my relatives, so my friends have become family. But the older you get, the harder it is to find people who share your life experiences, whether you're married or single. So I was incredibly blessed to find Common Creed the first week I arrived. It is a singles group formed through a church only a few miles from where I lived. It is specifically for singles in their 30s or 40s. I didn't attend the church, but that didn't matter to them. Thank God for church leaders who understand the need for singles ministries. They are so incredibly rare these days, especially for my age group.

The people from Common Creed did quickly become my family. They were the people I called when I was sick, or when I needed prayer for a loved one. They were there for me when my car wouldn't start and when I had trouble finding work. They were there for me during holidays, vacations and even helped me pack and move to New Jersey. I am so grateful to God for a community that filled in the gap of loneliness and pray that more groups like Common Creed would pop up across the country. New Jersey certainly needs one .

Although I am now 90 minutes away from my Pennsylvania makeshift family, I still keep in touch with many of the men and women who made me feel at home. Some have gotten married since, others, like me, have moved away, yet there they remain ready to embrace another woman like me who needs a family to call her own!

If you are a single adult in your 30s or 40s, living in the Philadelphia area, you'll definitely want to pay them a visit: http://www.cosnet.org/commoncreed/

After 20-something first dates this year alone, I've had my share of good experiences and, of course, a few bad. Usually chemistry just runs its course and there's not a whole lot I or my date can do to change that. But there are a few things a guy can do that I think are pretty amazing. There are also things that really annoy me. Considering my dates are not mind readers, I feel a twinge of guilt when they do something where I'm probably the only woman bothered by it. But the rest on my "I hate" list are the general rule of thumbs and we should all know better. I had fun coming up with my top 5 love / hate for a first date. So, what's on your list?

I had a man cancel a date with me last week because his ex wife couldn't take his daughter on her day. Based upon the circumstances, which I won't get into, it sounded suspicious. But, how do you respond to kid issues? I mean, if he said he just found out he had to work, or he had to take his great-aunt shopping, I could roll my eyes and laugh it off with friends, knowing he was playing me with some lame excuse. But because he played the "kid card" I felt guilty for being annoyed with him.

Well, as it turns out, he was a loser who played the same hand too many times for comfort. After the third kid excuse - this time he couldn't call me for 4 days because he had his daughter, I began to see his true cards. His daughter is 9 years old and in good health, and as my friend Claire, who is a single mother, said "if you can't find 20 minutes out of all those days to make a phone call, it's not because your daughter is taking up all your time, it's because you don't want to find the time." The funny thing is I'm okay with a guy who changes his mind and doesn't want to date me (we all change our minds). I just want him to be honest about it. Don't keep texting me with excuses, just stop texting me all together.

With all the single parents who have legitimate reasons for having to cancel ore reschedule dates, it's sad there's a few bad apples who'll use their kids and anything else as their way out, instead of taking the responsible route.

New Years (aka my deadline) is less than 8 weeks away. If I were a gambler, I'd know that the odds in my favor… well, there aren't any odds in my favor. Let's see. What's the opposite of a sure thing? However, from my vantage point, things don't look so bleak.

I often get asked from other single women, how do you stay so hopeful when you've been hoping for so long and not getting results? And my answer has always been, "because it's the option I most prefer!"

I get to choose how I see my future. I could see it as a future without a husband. And please know that I realize that's not a bad future. I could be happy either way. But my desire is to have a life partner. And if I squelch my desires (especially when those desires are healthy, normal, and even honorable), or if extinguish every bit of hope just because things don't "look" like they're working out, well that's not much of a future.

So with only 8 weeks to go, the way I see it is that I just need one glorious "I can't wait to see him again" first date to set the stage for a fat lady with a sudden case of laryngitis!