082005I learned the news this morning: A week before I turned 22, a band friend of mine from high school had a child, a little girl named Mackenzie. He�s married with a baby. I�m getting drunk on Thursday nights and flirting with tall guys named Tyrone who tell me, �Damn, girl, you�re fine!� Am I too immature or has he stepped up to the responsibility plate a few years too early? Maybe we�re both not acting our age. It seems like three weeks ago, I was standing in my parents� backyard with my letter jacket on holding the gold reflector for my good friend�s senior pictures. I blink and I�m drinking in my apartment at UV, giggling shamelessly at Liz as Nick takes pictures of us sticking out our tongues. I blink once more and I�m in my cube on a Friday afternoon, staring at the DTI screen unable to come up with a lead for a story about pickles. When did fun and games turn into dirty diapers, working late and mortgages? The older we get, the faster time flies. Once we graduate from high school, we take different paths at different speeds, only to end up at the bottom of the hill in a big hog pile. If we all reach the same place eventually, I�m going to savor my time on the uphill climb while I�ve got it. Sure, I�d love to find a man that makes me go weak at the knees and have a baby who�s a product of our devotion. But as I sit in a dingy LSU t-shirt and boxers, looking at mounds of birthday cards and forms for a new apartment, I know that path is not for me, not right now. Someday, yes, someday� Playtime is not over. 081505Is there such a thing as the perfect man? Like most girls, I spent a good portion of my youth dreaming of Prince Charming. He was rich, owned a convertible, had hair like Zack Morris and muscles like A.C. Slater. As I grew up and became exposed to different things, that image changed. I began dating. I began getting dumped. Through the complex world of social interactions, I gradually learned what I did and did not want in a mate. Fast forward to the present. I�ve grown and matured since my last relationship that ended almost a year ago. My Prince Charming has a whole new set of rules: 1. 6�1� or taller
The list goes on and on. When I sit back and admire my work, I wonder if it�s impossible to find someone with all of those characteristics. But then again, Prince Charming is more of an idea than the materialization of a list written on scrap paper. So when I compare my current boyfriend to the chicken scratch, I�m not all that surprised to find a handful of traits he doesn�t have. Nobody�s perfect, right? Right? Despite having reached the age where you�re not dating wildly inappropriate men anymore, should you give up your quest for Mr. Right when Mr. Good-Enough-For-Right-Now is waiting at the corner bar? While I�m spending time with the man of the hour, someone who�s all that and a bag of chips could be walking two steps ahead of me. And I could miss that. However unrealistic Prince Charming may be, is it worth it to stay in something you know won�t last?
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