Mr. Quiet #15

Can you tell I’m done? It’s been almost a week since my date with #15 and I still haven’t posted about it! Since I have another one coming up tomorrow, I thought I’d better write about this one. I know I didn’t even tell you this one was coming, but it was kind of a cheat date. You see, I am in the relief society presidency in my single’s ward. The bishopric came to me a few months ago with the suggestion that we begin a ward date night. Considering our ward and its lack of daters, I thought that the idea certainly wouldn’t hurt. The Elder’s Quorum agreed and we set right out to plan the whole fiasco. It wasn’t just a one-time thing however. It is a tradition we mean to continue bi-monthly throughout the rest of the year. This not only gives those in our ward the opportunity to fine tune their social skills on a regular basis, but it also ups my numbers in this project. Wahoo!!


So how does it work you ask? Well, we plan a date that is mostly free or that the ward pays for, and then we let members of the Relief Society (Women’s organization) and the Elder’s Quorum (Men’s group) sign up if they choose to participate. We then secretly put the male names in one bowl, and the female names in another and pull them out one at a time to make matches. Once the matches are made, we put them into small groups as this is a group dating event. Believe me, this is the best thing for these less experienced daters. So then we give the men their date’s information and hope that they call. Later, we check up on the men to make sure they have actually called.

Now that we have the logistics basically thrown out there, let me tell you about my date. It was fun pulling names out of a bowl by the way. I ended up with a pretty nice guy though. He is quite a bit younger than me, but that was to be expected since I am the oldest one there. Anyway, he didn’t call me until the morning of the planned date. I was a little frustrated by that but not too worried because even though I am supportive of the event, you know my feelings about dating right now. I’d rather not.

Anyway, he picked me up a little later than I would have liked but at least he showed up and came to the door like a gentleman. We set off to the first house we were assigned for our progressive dinner. Though I had been there previously, I still got a little lost and we enjoyed a nice tour of the neighborhood on the way. We still ended up arriving just as the rest of our group did however. Lucky us, we got dessert first! We entered the house and I was immediately worried as the girls and guys had separated to sit down. Finally someone had the bright idea to sit near our dates though…whew! I mean really, we had to go back to the basics here. We finally got the conversation rolling and it seemed to flow fairly well. I felt slightly responsible to keep it moving and to involve all parties but others seemed pretty well versed in their communication skills as well and it turned out pretty well.

So, as I couldn’t wait to mention above, our first stop was dessert. Mmm, we had a chocolate fountain with every dip-able treat imaginable! It was heavenly and well worth the week of no sugar in preparation as well as the whole part about me being on a date. We ate, we talked, and then we moved on. My date was a little better in the group than alone. When he first picked me up, it seemed a little awkward. As we both interacted with the group however, our conversation became easier on the next drive. Our next stop was salad and bread. We arrived early and the previous group was still there. It was fun to see them though, and to view how the evening was going so far for them. They cleared out, we moved in, and we sat down to some delicious salad and bread rolls. The conversation continued without anything too memorable to share. We did play a couple of rounds of “Cranium” before leaving the house and my date and I made a good showing. Games are always fun and good ice breakers.

On to the main course...finally! It was fun to end here, although we were a little full on chocolate fountain deliciousness (hmm, maybe that’s why we don’t eat dessert first on a regular basis!). We had some good BBQ chicken and rice and veggies. We ended up talking about all kinds of things and I mentioned to everyone that my goal in life is…to know EVERYTHING. We laughed and they thought I was joking but secretly, I really do want to! Haha!! Knowledge is my latest obsession and I’ve been reading like crazy!! They couple who’s house we were then invading are one of the smartest people in my current acquaintance and we enjoyed great conversation. My date didn’t add a whole lot but oh well.

Finally, it was time to go home. My date took me home and walked me to a door like the gentleman he had been all night. He opened my doors for me and all of that. I hate the “end of the night” scene though. Don’t you?? It can be SOOO awkward! He kept kinda saying goodbye and sort of throwing his arms up so I finally just gave him a hug and got outta there! AWK-WARD!! But that is his personality anyway. He is really nice, but a little awkward. We didn’t have a whole lot in common, other than our interest in guns…but his is much more deep than mine! Either way, I learned some things, had another date, and ate some good food so, I guess we call that success, right?