Age

A few weeks back I started going out with a guy in my ward. In part this is why my blog has fallen into a bit of a rut, or at least that's what I like to believe, so that I don't have to admit to myself that I'm just not as interesting as I thought I was.

Anyhow, I realized pretty quickly that this guy is not my age, and in fact is quite a bit younger. I also reached the conclusion before we even went out on a date that he had no idea how big of an age gap we're looking at here. I got his mission years, so I knew it was a 6-7 year difference, but I couldn't figure out a way to tell him that I'm turning 30 next month, without it sounding shocking, and I dread the inevitable awkwardness that follows shocking revelations, where the recipient of said information is trying their best to hide their surprise. This started to become a source of heightened concern, so I discussed it with one of my roommates, who had no advice, but it turns out, had also underestimated my age by several years, which was not reassuring. Of course the roommate was quite amused to further find out that he's only here for the summer, on break from school in Utah, living with his parents, and working for his dad. Aside from working for my dad I was doing the same thing at 23, so it's not a knock on him, but sort of amusing in comparison to the demographic I've become accustomed to dating in recent years.

So with all that in mind I continued trying to figure out how I could approach the age topic. I made the mistake of discussing it with my dad. My dad has been desperate in my behalf for sometime now, so I really should have known better. He offered no useful advice, but according to Jared he got off the phone with me, and announced to the entire family that I am now involved in a serious relationship. I still can't even begin to fathom what I said to him that led to such a conclusion. Talk about taking wild leaps... I do distinctly remember telling him that I remain unsure as to whether or not this is going anywhere, and explaining that we have only been out a few times, and I'm still kind of feeling it out. While I remain unprepared to even go so far as to say that I am "in a relationship" it would seem that my dad is prepping for a wedding. I'm not kidding when I say the man is feeling desperate for me. It's like the sisters say, "At this point, Dad is ready to love anyone you bring home."

I finally had a conversation with the guy about the age gap. As predicted he had me pegged at 25 or 26, so I'm pretty sure that 29-30 was a bit unexpected. He seemed surprised, but he did a masterful job of making a quick recovery.

And it would seem that I'm not the only one with parents who embarrass their children. Last week we were out kind of late when his mother called to make sure he was okay, because he hadn't come home yet. I am allowed to laugh about this only because my mother has done the exact same thing to me. I have to admit that I'm glad I'm not 23 anymore.