all the single ladies

so let's face it. 99.9% of those who blog are married woman with a happy little families, wicked craft skills and white picket fences. or something like that. but i've found that the reads i've most been attracted to are those outside of the norm. whether it's where they live, some strange job, some overwhelming life challenge, male (you know who you are), and most of all singles. there aren't very many singles with blogs i've found. but i LOVE the ones that are (holla!) they have something different to offer. now, i'm not particularly open on my blog about the details of my life, but i thought it would be fun to share a few of the "single" experiences i've gone through in the past 4 years. maybe some of you loved your single and dating years. i never liked them the first time around so now being a divorced, single mom and trying to do it is a bit of a chore for me. so for those of you that have forgotten about those gem experiences you're missing out on-enjoy.


The first date

scene: i've been separated for close to 6 months. my divorce was recently finalized as of a few weeks ago. i hadn't been on a date yet. so many people in my family ward had met online and were encouraging me to try it out. so i do..very reluctantly. i meet a nice guy from out of town. a town that i just so happened to be visiting soon with my family. after chatting and emailing back and forth several times, we decide to meet up when i'm in his area. at this point, by his (blurry) picture, i had decided that he was good looking. this was not so much the case when i pulled into the parking lot of a local denny's (nicest restaurant in town) to meet him when the time came. if he didn't see me notice him, i might have just kept driving. i becamse a little worried. i park,we awkwardly greet each other, and head inside for some dessert. (i'm so grateful i planned on doing just dessert. genius) after being seated and about 3 general questions into the conversation, i quickly realized, i already knew the basics about him! i knew where he worked, i knew how old he was, i knew about his family. blast those generic emails and chat sessions! and if you're wondering, i also soon learned, he was not the chatty type. like he was so shy and quiet i talked the entire time. i could probably count the words he said on 2 hands. i was practically in a full sweat trying to think of topics to talk about. i just kept thinking how awkward i felt, how annoyed i was at listening to myself talk, and please waiter-keep the water coming cause drinking occupies a good 30 seconds. thankfully, after finishing our desserts, we got up to leave. by this point i was seeing the finish line and practically sprinting for it. i figured due to his lack of conversation he was feeling the same "not into you" vibe i was. imagine my surprise when he invited me to a bonfire with all of his friends. after spending .5 seconds imagining how much more awkward the next few hours could possibly be with him, i quickly made up an excuse of having to return to my kids. (bless them). i kind of even felt like we should split the bill because the date was so uncomfortable (in my opinion apparently).bless his heart, he was a nice guy, but i felt completely tortured in the conversation. after an awkward goodbye, i climbed in my car and checked the clock. 45 minutes. our date was 45 minutes. 43 minutes too long in my opinion. not sure whether to laugh or cry, i returned back to our hotel and watched a whole season's worth of the office to curb the "i hate being single" blues. it worked. for that night anyway.