Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

The parental units arrive on Tuesday. They last visited in 2006. Just after I bought this apartment. Well before I was engaged. 14 years since i’ve lived in DC and this is the 2nd time they’ve visited. But I’m (incredibly) not bitter. Yeah.

The boy told me to handle to dawg issues. His beagle can’t move into my apartment in the spring. And he can’t deal with the whole not there things. So, me.

I wish I wasn’t underwater on my mortgage. I like the dawg. We’ll make other arrangements so we can get the dawg back when I can move.

Thanks, housing bubble.

So there we are. Forget the wedding, how do we deal with the dawg?

Hauling a six year old around one of the most popular-with-kids museums in the Smithsonian system is tiring, to say the least. No sense of personal space, popping around wherever they can. The most amusing part was that she was rushing us through so she could get to what she truly wanted to do – go to the gift shop! She made out okay there, picking up a cherry blossom festival branded panda and some candy to take back to her sister.

It’s been a fun visit, though. Played some on the Wii with her, chatted with my brother, played tourist. Fun stuff. And after we put them on the train tomorrow, the boy has the rest of the afternoon off with me. Not a bad way to spend most of a week.

Not quite done with the uberlist for 2012. Working on it. Overall, the year was not so bad. I didn’t race, but I did get engaged. And I’m now a certified coach. So, not so bad.

Not yet November here, but it’s been snowing off and on today in DC. Interesting. Let’s hope it’s not a precursor for the rest of the winter season, especially since I drive so much more now.

Spoke with my realtor this afternoon, looking to see where the market is in comparison to my own apartment and mortgage, as at some point I’d like to live with the boy (my cult co-op doesn’t allow dogs, and the beagle is part of the package). He’s going to pull some listings, but it doesn’t sound like I can yet afford to sell. Annoying, but I’ll deal. I had originally planned on the selling being part of a ‘five year plan’ rather than more immediately, so it simply looks like it will remain on the five year plan track. Did also chat about some punch list items that will need to be done in any case, but now I have more time to get them done. Yay economic depression.

Haven’t updated in forever (duh). Been dealing with a lot of messes at work, and not felt terribly motivated to deal with most of them. It’s exhausting when you’re working your butt off, and at the same time (it feels like) the entire country is complaining about what it is you do, and your bosses (Congress and POTUS) are talking about cutting your pay & benefits, on top of already constructively cutting them by freezing your pay, but still piling on additional costs for things like health care and pensions. So, yeah, hard to feel motivated. I suspect there will be a lot more of that going around when and if they implement the plan to increase our share of our pension contributions, since that’ll mean a 5-6% (minimum) cut in take home pay. Blah.

So, yeah, frustrated at work.

Other than that, I’m gearing up for next year’s season for my newbies, and seeing how much more I need to be doing. Trying to catch up on reading (the list of materials never gets smaller!). Trying to tweak/fix my eating habits – I gained way, way too much weight over this past year, between bad eating and lack of regular, sustained training. I wish it weren’t so damned easy to eat badly in this country (and frequently so expensive to eat well, though the salad bar by weight at work has been a cheaper option than the local sandwich shop when I fill the large part of the plate with greens).

Things continue to go well with the boy. Met his family last month, made a good impression. I still spend most nights with him and his beagle up at his apartment, though not every night (do have to do laundry on occasion, after all). It’ll be interesting to see how I’m going to work this with training and my coaching stuff with the newbies. An adventure, as life should be. Made him a scarf, so he’s been deemed knit-worthy. If you want more details past that you have to check my Facebook profile.

Went to see the family this past weekend. And I do mean the whole family – it was my one surviving grandmother’s 90th birthday, and most of the cousins and all the aunts & uncles were there. Was good to see people, but getting stuck in traffic set off a lot of resentment I’ve been holding in with regard to dealing with my family. It boils down to the fact that I always go see them, they never come up here to visit. Big huge city full of free museums, great restaurants, and a successful attorney willing to buy a lot of good meals, and my parents have been up exactly once, when I made them come get me and drag me to a triathlon back in 2006. Ugh. So, yeah, I was screaming at traffic and family and generally getting a lot of that out of my system while in the car.

So of course I’m dragging the boy down to meet them this upcoming weekend. Ha. At least, I think I am. We’re making tentative plans to go down and visit the beach, since the parentals make for a convenient free place to stay down near Va Beach. And since I’d like them to meet him, and he couldn’t come down this past weekend (trial by fire, that would’ve been!) because he was up visiting his own family in another long planned trip. Final details to be planned out, but it’s been cleared with the parentals, so it’s more likely than not.

The dishwasher works well. The boy is still around. I’m running again. I’m almost done with my coaching exam. Work is boring at the moment, but that’s not a bad thing.

That’s the short version.

My newbies finished their first race this past weekend. Got out there, took a bunch of pictures, wore down the battery (discovered the power saving settings a bit late), and generally had a good time seeing them finish their first race. Sad that I’ll be missing the party this weekend for them, but family duty calls – instead I’ll be down at the parental units’ place for a family reunion. Whee. I’m sure I’ll be happy to see them all once I’m down there, but in the meantime I’m just annoyed at the timing. First world problems. But the race was a good bit of enthusiasm to finish up the coaching exam, too. Almost there, just a couple more questions. Then comes to fun part of working on a new plan for next year’s newbies.

The boy. What to say there? I’m smitten. Really, really enjoying dating him. Makes me a bit frustrated that I own my apartment in a building that doesn’t allow dogs, as there’s no way to get out of here easily, and no way to move him in (were his job able to allow him to). Yeah, that smitten that we’ve talked moving in already. And I’d do it in a heartbeat, were I able to. I had a five year plan that I was developing before I met him to fix things here (kitchen!) and give myself some more options. That’s still here, but there’s more of a sense that it’s truly a five year plan with a more definite outcome than just ‘options’. Funny how that works.

In the meantime I’m spending a lot of time up at his university home (walking the dog). We’re running together in the mornings (he asked me to help him get started on running). Cooking more up there (I missed cooking for someone else – it tends to focus me more on doing something more than just convenience foods or last minute stuff). I’ve seen more movies in a theater in the last 2 months than I have in the last 3 years (when I can look at listings and think, ‘damn, seen all those already’ you know it’s bad). I actually miss sleeping next to him when I stay down here at home (he’s spoiling me there). So, yeah, smitten.

Dragged the boy down to the not-quite-local outlet mall down in Virginia today. I think we were both exhausted by the end – it was a lot of walking – but it was worth the trip. I finally ordered a replacement for my dishwasher, and picked up some needed dress shirts and ties. Let him talk me into a couple sport coats that should be kinda fun. And we got a lot of time to chat and learn more about each other, which was very good. I think we complement each other well in the strengths we both have to bring to bear on things.

It’s been a little over three weeks since we met in person, and a little over five since he messaged me online. When he did I wasn’t sure about dating, if I wanted to go through that mess again. I’m glad I took the chance and replied to him, as I’ve really enjoyed the time I get to spend with him.

Restarted my Netflix dvd mailings this week. Having finally watched Milk, which sat on my entertainment center for several months, I’m watching Titus this evening, one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays. Saw this adaptation many years ago, and I think it still holds up well. Revenge, rape, honor, murder, revenge. One of my favorite plays, and one not often performed because of the graphic violence.

Seeing the boy later this evening after dinner plans of his. He’s been asking for things to do for me, so I’m going to set him loose on a couple of things in my apartment, starting this weekend. It’s finally time to renovate a thing or two here, and I can certainly use the help, both in choosing things, and installing the same.

The slow building back I wrote about last month is, well, slow. But that’s okay. Having the discipline to slow myself down, go for less distance at a lower heart rate, is paying off. I’m feeling better. I’m (mostly) sleeping better (more on that in a moment). And things are a bit calmer overall.

The course ended up being completely worth the time. It was a ton of information, which I’m still digesting, but again well worth it. Now I just need to finish reading the manual and fill in the quiz so I can finish that last part of the certification process. In the meantime, with the slow down in training, I’m also bailing on my first race. I’m just not ready for it, physically, so I’m aiming for the next one in June, a sprint here in downtown. I’m going to take the day after the May race off, however, as planned, so I can use that as a reading/quiz day and hopefully finish that up. It would be nice to be “Coach Moose” before the end of this year’s newbie program.

Sleep is mostly better, save when I’m sleeping over at the new boy’s place. Yup, seeing a new boy. He works for a local university as a resident director, so lives on campus, plus he has a dog, and no car (where I do have a car), so it’s just easier for me to stay over up there when we stay together. But that’s meant adjusting to a new bed, and a new person in said bed, and learning his/our sleeping patterns. I’m gradually learning it, but man those early mornings are tough. Thankfully the commute from his place in the morning is pretty smooth, so it’s been relatively easy to get up and get down here to SW to work out. When I don’t sleep in a bit, that is. Otherwise it’s going well. We’re taking thing slowly, trying not to rush into anything (though, yes, overnight stays are a part of that).

LJ (which I do still read daily) for some reason completely reset my theme today while I was at work. Found the one I was using and reapplied it, but that was annoying when I looked at my Fiends’ List this evening. Too few entries, and all the wrong colors. No thanks!