The Perks of Being a Swinging Single Gal

When I did a call out for questions back in April (and yes, I will get to them all soon!) Nicole asked me how old I was, and if I was always a "swinging single gal." Recently Coco asked me if I had any kids. I thought I would answer all of these questions at the same time and also give you one of my favorite things...a list! Stay tuned! 

I was born in 1978; in this year Jimmy Carter was the president of the US, homebrewing became legal in the US, sparking the craft beer movement, the movie Grease was released, the first baby was born using in vitro fertilization and the Jonestown Massacre happened. 

I have not always been a swinging single gal! I have had a series of wonderful men in my life, including everyone's favorite, Mr. Lovely, who was with me during my last Round The World trip! However, nobody has stuck, much to Moogie's disappointment (that is my Mom), as she would have loved to have grandkids. So Coco, I guess that answers your question too. No kids, that I know of. Also my brother has no kids, and there are only the two of us. Sorry Mom. 

However, just like I mentioned in my post about traveling solo, there are some perks to living solo too! Here are a few of my favorites. 

* I can eat yogurt, cottage cheese and ice cream straight from the container. Who needs to wash another a bowl? Not me. This is something that I would not do if there were other people around. First of all, I would be dipping my spoon into a shared item, which I don't think is kosher. Secondly, I would kind of feel like a piggy, eating ice cream right out of the container. Third, and Elisabeth would hate this because she hates crumbs, I often eat yogurt with granola and I just dump it in and go for it and I MAY leave a crumb or two in there, which is also not nice when you are sharing. Side note, I did eat ice cream out of the container in front of Phil and Lisa, which is probably because Phil was doing it too and we each had our own container. I can get on board with that! Sorry Lisa! 

Mine, all mine!! (insert evil laugh here)

* Easy dinner planning. If I want to have a bowl of corn and a bowl of ice cream for dinner, I do. There is absolutely zero stress in my life about what to make for dinner, or any meals for that matter. I am happy to have chicken and rice all week and don't have to worry about someone being unhappy. 

Dinner: ham and cheese roll ups

* Things are exactly where I left them. You may think this means that I want to leave stuff everywhere without being judged, but it is actually the opposite. I want to tidy up and come back to the same tidiness. I want to have a place for the scissors and find them there when I open the drawer. I do not want to waste time searching for things that were misplaced. 

* I am nobody's mother. I once had a partner who would leave empty beer bottles in the living room, even though he had to go into the kitchen right past the recycling bin in order to get another beer. I know I should have just let him do his thing but I couldn't wrap my mind around it, and it often annoyed the crap out of me. I mean, they would pile up, and then he would go to bed. Any time I asked him, he would say that he was going to get to it "later", but later never came. 

Our OG local brewery.
They've been around since before craft beer was cool!

* I don't have to deal with family drama. I have enough of my own thanks. Having to figure out where to go for Thanksgiving every year gets to be old. I mean, it's the same day every year; can't we just made a plan now for the next 40 years and save having to discuss it over and over and over again, and people still getting their feelings hurt when its not at their family's house? 

Hello dinner!

Also, one guy I dated was such a Mama's boy. He used to get drunk and then he would either talk endlessly about his mother and how great she was or he would call her so that she could stroke his ego and he could complain about all the ways the world was doing him wrong. I love my mother, but a certain amount of independence is warranted. 

* Planning. If I see a cheap flight to Timbuktu and I want to go there, I do it. This is not about being selfish, but if I ask a person in a couple to come with me, they inevitably have to ask the partner, then they may have to negotiate with the partner, or maybe the partner doesn't want to come, or maybe they do, and either one can be a pain, and by the time they decide the cheap flight is gone. I remember one time K and I were going to go to Honduras, but all of a sudden her boyfriend decided that it was "too dangerous" (based on whatever he had seen in the news) and he did not want her to go there. We had to rejigger our plans, and (funny enough) ended up going to Panama, which apparently in his mind was okay. 

Panama Canal

* Mornings. I love my quiet mornings, and when they are over, I like hanging out with the world. I once dated a guy who would get up with me, before work, at 3 am, so he could talk to me while I got ready. This did not work for me, as he would literally follow me around, and I was missing out on my morning routine. I need it. I finally talked to him, but it was stressing me out to choose between no morning time and having to have a conversation about it and/or hurting his feelings. 

My favorite time of day.

As a bonus, here are three things that are not always great about being solo. 

* Paying twice as much for everything. It is definitely more economical to share costs for certain things. Did you know that if you want to take a cruise for example, you still have to pay for the whole room, basically two times as much per person! 

* Lacking a second opinion. This can go both ways, but sometimes it is nice to have someone to suggest things to do so you don't have to plan everything. 

* Games. I love playing games and it is nice to have a buddy to play with. Thank goodness for the Rummikub app! Want to play? If so, drop me a line!

Okay people, your turn! Whether you are single or partnered, tell me what your favorite and least favorite parts about your current status are. Have you ever dated a Mama's boy (or Daddy's girl) and if so, how did you (or how do you still) handle it? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here.