Later on today I....

I have to work tomorrow. That's not usual for me. My normal schedule is Tuesdays through Fridays 11:30a-9:30p, but there are some "issues" going on with a particular co-worker and they had to switch some things around to cover while the "issue" is on a three day suspension. It's all hush-hush, so it's weird there now. I would really like to have my old schedule of Mondays-Fridays 1:30p-9:30p back, but I have no idea when that will happen. Then again, there is the possibility that I will be meeting "a new friend" and may need the extra evening off. "A new friend" is translated to "well, there's this guy." My friend "Big Sis" (big sister I never had) is on a mission to find me someone. Of course, she tells both him and me that it's just for friends, someone to do things with, and if we should find a "love connection" out of it, it's none of her business. Huh! Whatever, I love her anyway!

I think it would be nice if I could just stay in my scrap cave all day instead of going to work. I went in last night around 7 or so and didn't come out til 11:30. I slept like the dead. I pretty much do that all the time, but it just seemed deader last night.

My friend "Amos" came over today. We're making invitations to her parents' surprise 40th anniversary party. We went to a stamp and paper show here in February and saw the coolest cards made with pictures printed on acetate and put in a window in the card. We're using a picture that she swiped out of their album. They're going to be really cool. I post a copy when we're done.

Sitting here, I realize I probably won't have to worry about a 40th anniversary party. That's okay. I just got out of an almost 3 year relationship in February, the last seven months of which, he moved here from out east and lived with me. I honestly can say I'm not sure that I could ever see myself living with someone that long, or for decades longer, again. I moved away from home at 21. I have lived alone all that time. No college roommates, no roommates in my five year stent in two different apartments, and no housemate other than the four-legged furry kind.

That was until last July. We had been dating over two years and it was time to s--- or get off the pot as some say. It was easier for him to move here, and so he did. There are some that say maybe things would have been better if he had found work (he was with a union, but things were just too slow here), or this or that. I think my neighbor's mom said it best: You don't know someone til you live with them. There were a lot of little things that just don't show up until you live with someone. I'm VERY social, he tags along for the ride, and is one that you can tell he wants to like being there, but really just doesn't.

I learned a lot about myself during that time as well, though, so it's not all bad. Things ended peacefully, and he moved back from whence he came. In fact, as far as break ups go, you couldn't ask for better. Open communication, no blame, no guilt, no regrets, no screaming, no crying (well, a little later, but he never saw it!), no sleepless nights (at least on my part anyway). I learned that while I'm not the white glove sort of housekeeper, I am anal about some things. How the towels are folded (my way, they just stack and fit better in the closet, DUH), how I hang my scrubs, all sorts of little things that I never really noticed until I noticed someone else doing them different. It's okay now, because I'm alone again, and I can do whatever I want.

I've always been outspoken and one to live by my own free will. I have lots of friends, diverse interests, and I have a lot of social groups. In fact, once my ex-boyfriend and I went to dinner with some friends he hadn't met yet. While I was away from the table, one told him it was nice to finally meet him. His reply was, "Yeah, I've heard a lot about you, too. She has a lot of friends." Frank corrected him by saying, "No, she has lots of GROUPS of FRIENDS." For that, I am truly thankful. I have no worries of growing old alone when that is the case. Just goes to show that even the sad times can show you the positive things you have in your life.

Speaking of living free willed, I also have the food in the house as someone who does, and that's basicially NOTHING. So, even though it's almost 9pm on a Sunday, I need to go pick up a few things to sustain me til heading south for the family reunion this weekend. Nighty-night!