The other Rob

...not to be confused with C's date... but I too went on a date recently with a Rob.

We had initially chatted on Tinder, but I would often see him on all of the other dating sites too. Right off the bat, he asked if I wanted kids. He doesn't, so wanted to put that out there right away. I appreciated him being upfront. I explained that yes, I thought it was a dealbreaker and he completely understood and we unmatched each other. But then I thought about it some more and didn't want to have any regrets. What's the harm in going on a date? Sure, I always saw myself having kids, but what's more important to me is to find a great life partner. Someone who is a good match for me.

I joined match.com not too long ago (side note: my ex popped up as one of my matches recently... I was shocked that he forked over money to join!), and sure enough, Rob popped up as one of my matches. I decided to contact him and explain that I had given it some thought and asked if he would like to meet up (he did!). I should also explain that I knew Rob and I had a mutual Facebook friend (thank you Tinder!). Granted she was more of an acquaintance to me, but I have several friends who work with her. Turns out, he is besties with her hubby. My friend Laura texted said mutual friend to get the scoop on Rob before we met up. All that she revealed was that he is a super nice guy who tends to date "a lot" (what does that even mean, really?), but she thinks it's because he's looking for THE ONE. We were supposed to meet up before I left on my trip to Hawaii, but it just didn't work out. He told me to add him to facebook so that he could check out my vacation pics, so I did. And then C contacted me! Turns out, she knows who Rob is as well as some of his friends (I think she dated one of them). She referred to Rob as her 'nemesis' which scared the crap out of me, but not for anything bad that he had done (long story).

We met up at a pub near me on a Sunday night for drinks. I felt much more comfortable going into the date knowing that a friend of a friend knows him well. Rob is 7 years older than me, originally from Newfoundland, around the same height, bit of a dad bod but athletic, smart and fairly successful (Director in the gov't). He rents a place downtown but he bought the house his parents live in back home. I discovered that his sister passed away recently and he has two teenage nieces who he is very close with back home. His mom has Alzheimer's. I was impressed to hear that he tackled learning how to speak French fluently by spending several years living in Quebec City before moving to Ottawa. Like me, Rob is a very social guy - he seems to have lots of good friends and is always checking out cool events. After some great conversation, he paid for our drinks and held my umbrella as I walked home in the rain.

We have since gone on a few other dates! He's a really sweet, attentive guy and there seems to be physical chemistry which is nice.