Dating

The Sunday School class Southern Man attends is a ten(ish)-week package taught by two dear friends; this is his third pass through the material. Yesterday was the first day for the new session so we all got to introduce ourselves and the discussion turned to dating history. Southern Man made a few notes and did a little recollecting and finds he's kind of unusual in that regard.

Up to a year ago Southern Man had been on exactly ten first dates, starting with high school. All but two blossomed into long-term relationships lasting a year and a half or longer (one wasn't so much a date as a movie night at a friend's apartment that turned into a one-night-stand - Southern Man's one and only entry in that category - and we stayed friends; the other - well, we just didn't click). The last year and a half is the longest he's ever gone without being in an LTR. Conclusion: Southern Man doesn't have much dating experience but neither is he accustomed to being "single" and seems to move into relationships fairly easily. And in the last year or so he's been on a mere two "meets" (he won't call them dates) with girls met by replying to ads on Craigslist (he does this every now and again) or on the few dating sites where he has profiles (mostly OKCupid; he's too cheap to pay actual money to Match or Chemistry), neither of which went anywhere. So his social life revolves around family and the church singles group and mens group, who do enough interesting things to keep him busy.

Thus the three-peat of a SS class that focuses on how to be a healthy single. As noted above Southern Man doesn't have much practice at being single and sadly still carries a bit of relationship baggage (especially from the last one) but he's dealing with it a little better every day. And he's not sure if he even wants to date right now; having time to work out at The Land and focus on his daughters and actually making time for himself is a blessing. And Lord knows life is simpler without it. But deep down everyone wants someone to love and everyone wants to be loved in return. Teen daughter teases him by saying he needs a Chinese wife. Southern Man has no idea where that came from. But every now and then he out an email out or responds to a message, just to see what happens. And always from the Southern Man email account and with a link to the blog. Hey, why not? Southern Man is always looking for new readers. And there has been an upswing in anonymous comments of late; one wonders if some are from girls who might be interested.

So if you're one of those, or just stumbled across the blog some other way (Southern Man is a frequent commenter on any number of blogs) step on inside and kick off your shoes and stay a while. It's a homey little blog about nothing in particular but you might find something that catches your eye. Constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome. And who knows? Perhaps there's a cup of coffee in our future.