So, I met up with the girl I've been chatting with on-line for a couple of drinks after work on Wednesday. As I said in a previous comment, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Of the pictures I'd seen, one was indistinct but not promising, a couple were so-so (but slowly grew on me), while a couple were very good¹. There was also the question of whether or not we'd get along - we'd spent a few hours chatting on-line, but that's not necessarily a guarantee of hitting it off in real life. Even IM gives an opportunity for careful consideration of one's words, and copy/paste of canned responses, etc.

1 one of which was very good. No, not like that. Perv.

Well I needn't have worried. Over the course of a couple of drinks in a quiet pub, we continued to get on really well. Reality turned out to reflect the good photos rather than the so-so ones, with the vague disquiet of the indistinct one completely dispelled. We chatted about this and that, the conversation flowing naturally without any awkward silences or forced conversational gambits. She even has a cute accent...

A quick hug and a kiss goodnight rounded off an enjoyable evening, and had me smiling and trying not to bop away to my music all the way home. I'll definitely be seeing her again (this weekend, in fact...)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my ex's mother has acted true to form and blitzed the house top to bottom - it's not been so clean and tidy in ages. To be fair, my ex did a lot before they got here, but her mum seems to have an innate ability to find a place for everything, even those things that we are entirely at a loss to store away. Now all we have to do is keep it like this - that's always a lot easier than having to start from scratch. We just have to be a lot more disciplined with ourselves, and make sure that our daughter keeps a handle on her naturally messy tendencies; a task that I fear may prove Sisyphean in nature...