Mr. Nick is going to meet my dad tonight. My dad and I don't have a great relationship. A lot of my actions are based on a feeling of obligation.

Anyway, I rarely see my dad and he had suggested taking me out for dinner for my birthday. [Oh, one thing I've always disliked is that my dad will always ask where I want to eat, but he will never like my suggestion. Then we end up going to where he would normally go. I always tell him to choose, but he will insist I do it. Our conversations seem wasteful sometimes.]

There was a restaurant I wanted to go to, but he said he it wasn't that great. Instead, we're going to this dive near my place. Okay, it's probably not that bad, but I would have really liked to have gone to where I took my mom for our birthdays.

So...I returned my dad's call last night. I guess he had called the night before and left a voice mail for me at home. I haven't been home in a couple of days, so I didn't get his message. Actually, I am only assuming he left a voice mail. He left one on my cell phone last night. [Is there something about people in my parents' generation where they leave the lamest voice mails? "It's Dad. Call me." @#$!] When I called back, it was, "why didn't you call me back sooner?!"

Then we spent some time arguing about who was supposed to call whom. I *hate* how he focuses on really trivial things. Like who the hell cares who was supposed to call? Weren't we currently talking?!

And then he was like, "this friend you're bringing to dinner...is he...is he..." What he was trying to ask was if this person was majorly significant in my life. Every time I've made a big deal about a guy, my dad has always brushed him off, "oh, you can just call him a friend. He's nobody important."

I guess with my dad's generation and his old-school ways of thinking...he is ashamed that our family is not intact anymore. He suggested my mom be at the dinner too, so it didn't look so bad. Mr. Nick already knows about my family. For my modern mind, I thought his idea was ridiculous, but I didn't tell him that. I just told him it wasn't necessary and Mr. Nick and my mom can meet some other time.

First off, it isn't necessary for the whole family to be at dinner. Second of all, my mom wants nothing to do with my dad. She would find it absolutely torturous to be in his presence for even a couple of hours. 

I seriously hope my dad doesn't say anything to embarrass me. He asked me on the phone if Mr. Nick and I were going to get married. #$%@! I wanted to yell at him, but I didn't. All of a sudden, my dad wants me to have a family. After all these years of drilling the idea into me that guys are only after me to get in my pants. And then he forbid me from dating until I finished university (not that his rules stopped me).

This is the most formal way I've ever introduced a guy to my dad. When I was living at home, it was easy to have the guy pick me up, make an introduction, and then leave. But I don't live with my dad anymore. Or I just didn't introduce the guys to my dad -- just my mom. 

I am really not looking forward to Mr. Nick meeting my dad although I want my dad to meet Mr. Nick. I know dads can be embarrassing, but mine is especially. I will be really mad if he grills Mr. Nick on anything about the future or if he says any stupid shit.