Awkward moment: The Lady and I were casually mentioning what we normally do over the holidays. We both visit our families, hers in Virginia and mine in the outskirts of Atlanta. Then, the question sat there, unsaid, for several moments:

"What are you doing for the holidays this year?"

It's been a while since I've been in a serious relationship over the holidays. And this serious relationship is relatively new - I have met her folks, briefly, and she has had dinner at my parents' house. But we have kept the parental contact very limited. But the holidays - how can you avoid it?

I want her to hang at my house and experience those magnificently boring lulls in the day that happen on Thanksgiving. I want her to give my little brother a hard time with me. I want her to taste my mother's homemade noodles, which are atrocious (sorry Mom!).

She wants me to hang out with her dad on his deck, before a fire, and listen to his stories about hunting. (I don't want to, and probably never will, ever kill an animal.) She wants her mother to treat me like the son she never had.

So, what do we do?

Well, actually, I have very little money for travel. But she's still driving up to visit her parents, while I stay down here with my family. Four days, we'll be apart. The way we figure it, if we really are serious, we'll have plenty of time to visit with the other's family in the months...

Man, some days I just look at the girl I'm dating and I think, "I'm really glad, for whatever reason, she likes me." One of those days is here, on Halloween. Because this girl loves to dress up for Halloween - and not just dress up, but tramp it up (and, I should say, camp it up).

This year, she will be a 1960s flight attendant. (Following her lead, I will be a pilot.)
There will be skin showing - probably more skin than any 1960s flight attendant ever showed. I simply cannot wait.

It's great to have someone you can be a team with on Halloween. It's also great that you can go home and have sex with that person. I'm spending my day thinking, "I'm really glad, for whatever reason, my girlfriend likes me."

This is bizarre - a brain chemical could spur love sickness. At least, according to a study on a prairie vole.

Read to the end, and it sounds like the set-up for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

It is also comforting, though, to read about why I miss my lady so when she goes out of town on business. Even in this hyper-connected world, where me and my girlfriend text and email all the time, there are moments on a business trip (like, bedtime) when you really miss the warm body and the pretty smile.

Now I know why - a brain chemical is causing it.

It's interesting to me how this same chemical could also cause couples to stay together, long after they should have split. I'd rather just miss my lady on a business trip than worry about that ...

Ever since I started this blog, people I know have been asking me for ideas on what to do on a first date. The thing about a first date is that if it's really successful, you keep dating the person and then, well, you only have one first date. So being successful at this also means you might have limited experience!

But I will say that my girlfriend and I went on a great first date. She had mentioned to me in a previous conversation that her mom and dad used to take her riding on glass elevators when she was young, but it had been a long time since she had been on one. So when I asked her out, I didn't just ask her out and wait for her to say yes. I said, "Hey, I got a great idea. Do you wanna go ride some glass elevators with me?"

Of course, she said yes. So we spent the next Saturday afternoon and early evening visiting the hotels and office buildings downtown that have glass elevators (about a half dozen of them). We rode them, took in views of the skyline, acted goofy, talked ... and then went for drinks. It was totally laid back, different and fun. And it was something we both wanted to do. That, combined with our chemistry, made it a great first date. I highly recommend it.

Now, if it's not your style, here, here, and

So, this is the video my friends have all been debating about today. A woman asks for advice from Slate's "Dear Prudence" - seems she's having interesting dreams about her exes, and sleep-talking about them to her current boyfriend. He's upset. I would be too, and so would most of the guys I've talked to.

Of course, my girlfriend doesn't see a problem with it. Says it's something that can't be controlled. And she backs up her feelings with Prudence's advice - man, that lady is hardcore! Basically tells the guy to get over it and not listen to his girlfriend when she's sleep-talking about doing things with other guys.

I don't know about that. I mean, I can see her point - the subconscious is off limits, and there's no need to get jealous over something that has not happening.

But what about this woman's subconscious longing for something else? Am I insecure?

Then again, what if I sleep-talk about another girl? Never mind ...!

So, there I was, at work, and I got an email from my girlfriend. This is interesting to me because she can just as easily IM me. But email - it indicates that something more is at work.

And I was right - we had argued the night before, and it was left unresolved. When she got to work, she took to the Internet to learn more about arguing, and she happened upon this site, that lets you take a test and find out what kind of arguing style you have.

Well, I took the test, and I have to admit I'm not the best kind of person to argue with. Neither is my girlfriend.

The good news is, after taking the test, we both realized this, laughed at ourselves, and talked about how we might make things better. My dad always told me, "You can be a kid your whole life. But do you really want to be a kid your whole life? It's not that easy."

I think he might have been referring to this kind of maturity. Let's hope I can grow up, with my girlfriend!

So, judging by my recent post about facebook, I guess my girlfriend and I would be the happy couple near the beginning of this video that's "in a relationship." Very funny stuff!

So, there I was, sitting at my computer, chatting with my girlfriend, who I love beyond all comprehension even though we have been dating for just a month. And she sent me a message that said: "I noticed that your relationship status on facebook is listed as 'single.'"

"Yes," I wrote back. "I noticed yours says the same thing."

There was a prolonged silence between us. How many other couples have faced such a modern, Interweb-times scenario? Should I wait for her to ask the question? Then I remembered that I am a gentleman and I should be the one to take the risk here.

So I wrote, "You know, I don't want to date anyone else, and I consider myself not really 'single' but 'in a relationship.'"

She wrote right back. "I'm so glad you said that. I feel so stupid bringing this up! But then again, why have single on our status, if we're not single?"

"Hold on," I said. I went to my facebook page and changed my status to "in a relationship." Then I went back to my chat with my girlfriend and told her to look at my page. She did the same immediately.

"I have to tell you," she wrote to me, "this makes me really happy, and I feel completely stupid saying it. Because facebook has nothing to do with our dating status, ultimately."

"I'm crazy about you, and I feel stupid about how crazy I am...