The undesired suitor has been resolved, though perhaps not ideally. I didn't realize when I used the word "inappropriate," his mind would leap to my being a widow, but, duh, obviously I should have, because apparently it is a big neon sign flashing over my head. I meant "inappropriate" because we have to deal with each other professionally - he's an outside contractor who works on our cases, not an actual co-worker, though functionally it's equivalent. I thought it was a way to turn him down and save face on his part and kinder than just saying NO. The emailed response was to the effect of, "I understand, let me know when you are ready."

How about NEVER? Is NEVER good for you? Jesus.

I hope his response was just face-saving on his side, and not a sign that Hope Will Spring Eternal here and we'll be revisiting this issue regularly. Oy. Men. They don't get any smarter about these things when they get old, you try to ditch them gently and eventually have to use a verbal baseball bat. It's like I'm 19 all over again, but now I'm dealing with men with grandchildren. You'd think they'd have figured something out by now, but apparently not. I'm sorry, he's too old. Not just his age, which is, uh, old, but his idea of a date was my idea of root canal without anesthesia. Lifestyle-wise we are generations apart, though the age difference is probably 15 years or so. (I'm being kind, maybe closer to 20.) I know men are looking for women 15+ years younger than they are and I certainly don't have anything against older men, but as I ranted to Boss (who was clued in on this because if it became an issue in the office I wanted a witness that this was unsolicited and unwanted attention), I'm thinking about a youngish looking and acting type. It's not the age, it's the Old Guy World. No. Thank You.

Boss, ever the supportive type, said I'd better get used to this happening, because guys want hot young chicks and in that demographic I am one, so I better get good at brushing them off. This was so not comforting.

The worst part is that this guy is a chatty old fart and may spread the story that "I'm not ready to date" far and wide in male bonding moments - I can only hope that people are perceptive enough to figure out that there was a reason I "wasn't ready." Yeah, right, men will be that perceptive? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I'm 46. I never imagined dealing with these dorky social issues at this age.

And then, in a shocking change of topic, she actually discusses a KNITTING BOOK!

I surrendered to temptation and curiosity and bought Knit Wit. This is the one by the editor of Knitty. I had ordered it before I saw it getting mildly dissed on KR for recycling some Knitty patterns. I don't care, I like it. It has enough cute new things to keep me happy and I don't mind seeing the older Knitty designs reproduced in a sturdy format. I am going to make the Laptop Sampler. My laptop is shiny and silver and so far, unscratched, but my laptop bag is a nasty old black canvas thing with too many compartments and zippers. I'd love to be able to protect Baby in a purty sweater, whether in my nasty old bag or on the shelf. It's fun knitting. I knit for fun, not because I actually need many knitted things in my climate. I like the shape of the Suki II tote better than the original. I even like the water bottle tote. It has fun small things, and that gorgeous purple haze sweater I want to make in the Rowan yarn called for in the pattern, in that exact color. After I knit down the stash.

It's an early to bed night, I didn't sleep well last night - hormonally induced sleep disruption. Nuff said. I'll turn on the debate for yuks, but if Dubya is too annoying I'll turn it off. The format could be amusing, but I'm baffled that there can be any Undecided Voters still out there. The Daily Show did a screamingly funny bit on that, I could have been the woman screaming at the "panel of undecided voters" (who couldn't decide where to sit either) "What the **** is the matter with you? How can you ****ing get dressed in the morning, honey?" But it's not like I have strong feelings about this, or anything....