Remember that whole "no kids" thing?

I've told many people (including my mother, where it's more for sport than anything) I don't plan on getting married. In truth, it's not that I'm planning on not getting married so much as I'm not planning on marriage.

Talk to lots of people my age (both male and female), and they'll tell you that after college, they plan on getting married and starting a family. Me? Marriage just isn't a given in my future. If I find the right guy for me, cool. Otherwise, I'm not going to go out and marry someone I have lukewarm feelings for (or, even more bleck, that I'm "fond of") for the simple sake of being married. Maybe I've watched too many confounded romantic comedies and chick flicks, or perhaps I'm just taking that Cinderella thing a bit farther than healthy, but I wouldn't mind some drop-dead romantic crap happening to me. Beyond that, eh.

Anyway, it's just like my dating philosophy. In high school, most dating looked like the couples were together just for the hell of it--they wanted to be with someone, and it didn't even matter who. I never want to be in a relationship (or a marriage, which is just a big, full-time relationship) "just because." If I'm going to spend all that time caring for someone, I want it to be someone I can truly care for, not an exercise in toleration.

I don't know that I'll ever find that right person (or, right people, depending on how much dating I ever get around to, like, ever), but I'm not going to spend much time searching for him. I have better things to do with my time, and--if it's the right person--they'll find me.

So, allow me to wallow in my singleness this weekend. I may even dress up for the occassion.