In The Time Before Rex

I'm checking in from our family vacation in Duck, North Carolina, and feeling a bit pensive around my birthday, thankful for what I have, the love and good health of my family. While I've now been with Rex for more than lucky 13 years, there was a long period of time that I spent in solitude, wondering when I would find Mr. Right. Since the time in question was really pre-Internet, 1991 through most of 1995, I didn't have any modern technological inventions for finding Mr. Right. In fact, though I was a marketing/radio and TV and film undergrad and an investment banking MBA, I had a solid grounding in statistics and felt that the odds were against me the entire way. I had some crazy calculus that said there were only 7 men in the entire world that were the right match for me, and thought I would never meet one of them. I looked at the guys across the room in all of my favorite Jersey Shore bars, but there was never that "one enchanted evening" when everything clicked.

Eventually, I met Rex at work. We worked together for almost a year before he even noticed that I was anything more than the best investment banking associate in the Firm...and then, against all odds -- he was older, he was married -- it happened. And we've lived happily ever after, with two beautiful daughters to show for it.

I spend a serious amount of time out and about in the blogosphere, and some of the most interesting blogs are written by single guys or gals (like Cubby Waist and Dreaming in the Dark, who I read regularly through BlogExplosion) looking for their match. Unlike Roxy in the '90s, if you haven't found your Prince Charming or Princess yet, technology is now in your favor. You can search for free on True.com. Thousands of others have already begun their own online happily ever after, and signup is free... so what are you waiting for?

It's a story for another time, but I remember my days of going on blind dates (when my date never ever offered me dinner, even if I was willing to pick up the tab), mostly to be able to share the humorous anecdote with my friends. I'd love to hear your dating stories... whether you meet online, or through more traditional channels like working together, hooking up in a bar, or being set up by mutual friends...anyone out there have a story to share?