meet my boyfriend

Sorry boys, I'm off the market and officially have a boyfriend. His name is John and he looks like a young Mr Clean...

shave off about 20 years along with all that hair

... which is to say he is hot.

Let's rewind the clock back to the first week of February. (And feel free to brush up on your Stages of a Relationship.)

There's no shame in my game: John and I met online. After a few email exchanges and phone calls, I learned he's a 30-year-old team leader and member of the military. We agreed to meet in person over a pint at the Great Dane.

date #1

We scheduled the first date for a Thursday evening. John was there when I arrived and he gave me a warm hug before following me to the bar. We sat side-by-side, ordered our beverages, and proceeded to conduct the usual getting-to-know-you jibber jabber.

He made me very uneasy. He seemed so sincere, so genuine. Looking into my eyes while listening attentively. Asking interesting questions. Sharing meaningful details about himself. That kind of thing. I just didn't know how to act. Fidgety, that's how.

He met Monkey, George, and my roommate Dave. That went well enough, but I definitely gave off a this-isn't-going-anywhere vibe.

Flash forward a week or two. I finally address the issue of the mystery gloves sitting on the kitchen table. Dave assured me they weren't his. He may have said something like, "I was wondering when you were gonna ask."

One text message later and I confirmed the gloves belong to John. He replied with something like, "I was wondering when you were gonna ask." He later didn't deny leaving them at my place so as to have an excuse to see me again.

date #2

We scheduled what I recall as an opportunity for me to return the gloves, or as John thinks of it, Date #2. Another evening full of pleasant conversation and a little more electricity than before. You see, he's a 6'4" tall ginger. That is quite the wingspan.

This time, he left behind his lunch container to ensure we'd have to schedule Date #3.

date #3

A couple weeks later, he agreed to accompany me to have a couple drinks with my friend Damon, who I don't get to see very often. John handled it all very well, not that it was a test. Damon laughs easily.

They both said inappropriate things, which assured me that, though John is a Nice Guy, he is also capable of mischief.

dating exclusively

I told Chuck, who is a good friend of mine...

UWO's unofficial Alumni Homecoming Royalty

...about John. Chuck has long supported the concept of me dating Nice Guys.

I also talked to my sister about this concept and she was very approving. John's sincerity and kindness were revolutionary for me, so it took a good talking-to by my older, wiser sister (who married a Nice Guy) for me to understand that I may finally be dating the right kind of person.

John and I started talking on the phone on a daily basis, often when I left work in the afternoon. We are on the same page when it comes to all the major stuff.

Thanks to my ever-supportive and appropriately curious work-friends Ben and JR, it eventually dawned on me that I didn't just like this Nice Guy -- I might actually experience heartache if it ended.


No risk, no reward, right? This is a new attitude I'm trying out. If Patti LaBelle can have success with it, then so can I.

Awesome outfit, Ms LaBelle. No, seriously.

he's my boyfriend, y'all!

I told the rest of my family about John. Recently he and I had some snacks and a glass of malbec while I recounted the animated conversation I had with my aunt during which I told her all about him. 

John said, "So now your aunt knows you have a boyfriend." 

I let it slide for a few hours and then told him it hadn't escaped me that he referred to himself as my boyfriend. He smiled sweetly and said he'd noticed. He gave me my space to let it all sink in. 

And then he was all, "You're so beautiful," and I was all, "You're so adorable," and he was like, "No, YOU are amazing," and I was like, "giggle giggle kissy face."