How emotional, How fast?

Because it is, I'll mention it...Valentine's Day, who gives a crap? I don't feel any more single today than I do any other day. It is, however, a great reason to post this following quote, which is one of my favorites.

"Today, though I'm normally unperturbed by my single-ness, I walked by some squirrels engaged in mating rituals and felt a pang of jealousy. FMyLife.com" And that's about all I have to say about that...

As a bonus, here's a dating tip from my new friend Todd. In addition to great dating rules, Todd is also spectacularly good at crashing on skis. Todd has implemented the "One Month Rule" in his life. This means that he is willing to initiate conversation, dates, and generally pursue for 30 days before requiring some sort of initiation on the part of the lady. This is a great rule and ladies should take note - you gotta let us know you're interested at some point and a little effort on your part will go a long ways.

So the question in front of me today is this: when you're dating someone, how emotional should you expect to be, and how fast? To clarify, by 'emotional' I mean, "feels butterflies and genuine excitement beyond that felt with friends" when you get to spend time with the other person. There are very few girls I have ever felt this way about up front, and I don't necessarily believe that's the best way to go anyways, but the question is, how long should I wait before feeling this way? How many dates before you call it 'just friends' and move on. (I think 3-5 should be sufficient)

Conversely, how many dates do you go on with someone before you let yourself feel this way? I really don't feel like there's a right answer here as it's a judgement call based on where you feel the other person is at as well. That said, in the spirit of V-day, the following quote by C.S. Lewis seems appropriate, risky though it may be.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” - C.S. Lewis

Here's to broken hearts and bruised egos, and love.