who the fuck is Jim?

 Interesting conversation this weekend regarding contacts in our phone.

Do you keep all your contacts or do you delete them when you no longer associate with that person?

I have never cleaned out my contacts, meaning, everyone i've had as a contact since getting my cell phone back in.....the way back......not once.

Some may think thats "leaving a door open"......others, like me, thinks it's plain laziness.  

So as i was sitting by the pool with my girl Sarah this weekend, i asked her how she manages her contacts and she had the same respone i did.  We hadn't thought about "managing" it.  Contacts go in, and stay in for no real reason.

Then she mentioned that being single and on and off the dating sites, sometimes a man you had talked to previously, (and not remembered) will pop up again......if he's already in your phone contacts then you know.  

I liken this to keeping a book read list.......so i don't read half the book thinking "gee this is familiar" only to find out i have already read it. 

So we experimented.  She picked a name "Jim" and i looked up Jim in my contacts.  Six.  I know who all of them are except one, simply labeled "jim"......no nickname, no contact info aside from phone number.  

Who the fuck is Jim?

Couldn't tell you.  

How many contacts do i have that i couldn't tell you who they are?  Probably a LOT.  

When i began talking to Mr. Tattoo a couple of years ago, I realized i already had him  in my contacts when he gave me his phone number.  We had talked a few years before and i had blown him off.  It was a joke between us in the begining. So i had our texting history and i could see he wasn't an asshole, i was.  I was not ready for this man at that time, and i moved on.  Not taking him out of my contacts, but forgetting who he is......until we met again.

My reasoning to keep everyone is..........why not?  But now i'm asking myself, why?  If i'm simplifying my whole life, why wouldn't i simplify my contact list also?

Now i'm thinking i'd like to make this a project, a paper, just for the fun of it. And if my friends find it entertaining maybe send it to a magazine and see if i can publish.

This blog is very much a dumping ground for thoughts, not structured or even grammatically correct in many ways......however, what if i took all these blogs and did something.  What if i could write and publish?

Other people do it with less.

Let's see how this project moves forward.

Not for me to say

Lots going on in my head regarding a situation that is not my business to talk about.  Let's say this morning will determine next steps.

Some moments i'm finally comfortable with the fact that we are together and then, as is the norm with us, something will happen that makes me feel so totally out of control that i begin to question what the hell i'm doing.

I need to be able to control myself, my own life and maybe that's why i've been single for so long with nothing every turning into an actual relationship that lasts.  I only felt that want with Mr. Tattoo, where i could picture relaxing my guard, and trusting a man to do as he says, and be who he represents himself to be.  Not perfect, but honest.  Real.

Good bad and dark side.

I knew with other men immediately when it wasn't going to work no matter how much i tried to close my eyes to what i was seeing or hearing, or feeling.  I'm not good at pretending.  I was cutthroat, never dragging the process of letting them go on.  Short sweet, done.  No further contact.  

And maybe thats why this situation with Mr. Cigar has been so highly charged and emotionally taxing...i haven't had control of myself for as long as i've known him, with or without him.  He is engraved into my brain, and i hear his voice when i haven't spoken to him in weeks.  And i keep going back.

I'm where i want to be with him at this moment.  I will not be pushed faster than i can move.....and that is the only thing i am positive about.  Too much is at stake and my level of trust needs to be refueled and solidified before i make any big moves.

And he has business to finish with his ex.  She still lives in his headspace.  I'm glad he talks to me about what is happening, and how he is feeling, but at the same time i wonder why everything has to be so fuckin hard.

Also, will he ever look at me and not think about when we met and all this shit that isn't "ours" IS part of our lives together?  More so, will I?

One day at a time and sometimes one moment at a time.  My trust in his words and how his actions match, or don't.......that is where my interest currently resides. 

Such a nice night together last night, and then the rollercoaster ride of what he still has to contend with for knowing her.

lets be clear

 Last night i went to Mr. Cigars after I had dinner and spent some quality time with Koda.  I felt bad leaving him home alone after i had been at work all day, but it's not fair to make Mr. Cigar leave his dogs every night either.

So one thing i'm seeing is that our dogs have to get to know each other.  It's not going to work for long if they can't be together.  I'm not willing to leave Koda alone all the time and he isn't willing to leave his pups either. (as it should be)  Given that his dogs are Corso's and i forget what River is, but she isn't a year old yet.  I have less anxiety about her than i do the Cane and Able. They might be all puppied out because River is a LOT.  

Last night he referred to me as his girlfriend.  He also asked me what my "endgame" is with him.  So we talked about it. About a lot of things. Then we went upstairs (I want nothing to do with that couch in his living room) and watched TV until he started snoring.  I passed out for a few hours and then went home.

It felt comfortable. normal. good.

While we were talking this morning I told him i realized i had never had a "status" for as long as i have known him.  I've never been titled as anything. He asked me if i title is important to me and i said yes it is, but the feelings behind it are more important.  I said i didn't want to walk around calling myself single and i didn't want him to either.

So. We are not single.  We are a couple.

We are a new relationship.  We had the official talk of understanding what we want, and came out with the same version.  Hallelujah.  

However, i am wary.  I was able to go through the reasons why with him.  Our start was not good, and our relationship has been tumultous.  We need to communicate better than we do because "the stressful times" have not come to a final end yet.  It might resolve itself on Thursday when he goes to court.  Or it might not.

Either way, he has to come to the very real truth that you don't just "get over" someone in a few days or by replacing them with someone else.  

It has felt different this time.  I know in my heart that his story with her is not over.  This is part of his life, good bad and/or ugly.  He has a messy ex.  I have a choice to walk away or stay.

There is also the fact that my friends are not fond on him due to how he has treated me in the past.  They want the best for me. They don't like how he has hurt me. (hell neither do i) 

My kids know next to nothing about him.  They know very little about me at all lately.  That is going to have to change.  I'm done being respectful of their privacy.  I want to know what the hell is going on in their lives and why i'm not part of it anymore.

Back to Mr. Cigar.  I'm not blind, or stupid but i do know i keep going back to him.  There is a reason for it.  I'm timid to say i love him because it feels like so much more.  He feels like home to me.  Even when he's being a dick, i identify with his ........dark side.  I understand his chaos because i have my own.  I know his damages.  I don't care for how he protects himself, but i understand it.

I was very blunt with him about the biggest problem we have is how he handles his anger and my triggers.  They are in direct conflict.  He withdraws suddenly and completely and that triggers my abandonment issues.  As old as we are, i don't know how we are going to get past that.

He's going to get mad again, i'm going to get triggered again.......we have to figure out how we can avoid killing or leaving each other during those moments.

The road ahead, is one day at a time.  My friends are going to have to understand this is my choice and what i want.  Mr. Cigar is going to have to understand that they have seen me hurt by him, and they are protective because they love me.  Time will tell.  I am not going to keep him a secret. I will not be kept secret.

In all relationships I take a chance of being hurt. I have had walls up around me since D an I broke up 10 years ago.  I'm not the girl that begs for love anymore.  I'm the woman that runs when it looks like I might start caring too much about someone who isn't showing me they care about me.  Both extremes are not doing me any service.

I need to be able to accept love as it's given, and use my words to express my needs if they aren't being met.  Not with sarcasm, not with accusations or assumptions.  Just plain and simple.  And i need to be able to trust.

He is going to have to keep his end up and now that we both know where we are coming from without dancing around the bush, or another person, we can begin to figure out what tomorrow looks like.

what can i say

 I am very tired.  Last night i went out to the movies with my bestie and got home at 9:45pm.  My night was just starting.

Mr. Cigar was waiting for me in the parking lot. He had asked if he could come, had said he was coming and yet, i didnt fully believe it until i pulled in and saw him.

Twice in one day?  This late at night?

We fell asleep together until he left at 2:30am to go home to the dogs.  

But first, we layed around talking and laughing and being stupid and very serious.  It isn't something i've experienced in a long long time.......this laying around together, perfectly at ease - and he said what i was thinking, like it was coming home.

He is still him.  However, he is in counseling, and being very transparent about his thoughts.  And he wanted me off the dating sites.

So i'm off.

His kiss is coming home.  I know i might eat my words, i might have regrets down the road, i might kick myself in the ass but time will tell.  And if i waste a few more days, or weeks - even months......at least i will be happy during that time.  And if we break up again we agreed not to do it during a fight. 

This is important to me because we always part ways during an argument.  We come from the same type of upbringing, we have the same kind of scars, and we both cut and run rather than get run away from. 

He has a lot of shit to deal with and work through.  He is far from perfect, just like me.  

No thinking about the future.  We have a history of flash in the pan reunions.  And breakups.  But we want to be together even when we don't.

I'm not going to feel bad about seeing him, and i'm not going to hide it.  I know there will be friends with opinions and if we are going to share our thoughts they better be ready to hear mine about their choices as well.

Thats all i'm going to say about that.  I'm listening to my heart, using my brain, and keeping my eyes open.  And i'm feeling better than i have in months. 

Maybe i'm a fool

 Mr. Cigar just left.  He came over this afternoon because i unblocked him and sent him a text this morning, which he answered instantly with a flurry of texts.

I can't tell you what i felt aside from the feeling of watching myself and saying "do you know what you are doing?  You are inviting more of the same." And i diid it anyway.

Last night as i was driving home after a relaxing day at the beach with Cathy and Kevin (Sarah joined us with her friend Pam for a while) I couldn't stop thinking about him.  I almost went to his house, unannounced to see how i would be received, if at all.   I didn't because i didn't want to know if someone was there.

This morning i woke up to a text from L and from the guy i went out with over the weekend.  I told both of them i wasn't interested, basically.  I felt relief.  L responded with he understood that he wasn't spending enough time with me and how his life is right now.....He's off the hook.  Thomas responded "k" and removed me from his dating profile. heartbroken, obviously.  

Later in the morning i unblocked Bill, and i sent that text.

Which ended up with him coming over here.

Which ended up with him talking about his counseling and so on and so forth.

Again i feel like an observer.

This could be, probably will be, another round of Maribeth needs to learn her lesson.

Or, this could be what i need to be happy.  If thats a thing.  I don't want to date other men.  I want to be with him.  

Sometimes i want him to shut up and go away.  But i always want to be his.

Maybe i am crazy.  Lot's of people are.  Maybe my friends will judge me because they don't think he treats me well.  And he didn't. But there is something there that makes me return over and over and that goes both ways.  

So now i continue living my life, and putting him in his place if needed.  And loving him.  With or without him.

werewolves or coyotes?

 Last night one of my gf's came over to hang out and talk. Koda lost his mind.  He would not calm down.  Jumping and licking and basically driving us mad.  I ended up gating him in the kitchen and that lasted for a little while, then had to put him in his crate.

He would NOT settle.  I've never seen him like this.  This week with him has been a trial, like going back to the begining again, only this time he's 15 pounds of determination and will.  

I did change his food to Blue, which is much better than what i was giving him.  I fed him what he had been fed, so as not to upset his tummy during the transition.  But this week i bought Blue for puppies and mixed it in with his old food.......he LOVES it.  Gobbles it.  

And i'm wondering if the food has anything to do with this most recent uptick in energy and freshness.  

He woke me at 2:30am, with consistent crying and whining from his crate.  This is unusual for him now because he usually holds it until 4:30am -5ish.  So outside we went with very little flourish.  No songs of Potty time, no dance of hurry lets get to the door.  When we DID get to the door we both stopped and looked at each other.

WTF?

I carefully opened the door and the two of us stood there in the threshold listening to the sounds of....wolfs? Coyotes? Dogs?  A LOT of them.  In the distance but loud.  A pack of canines, lets call it that.  Howling, barking, yipping............at 2 in the morning.

So we looked at each other, shrugged and went down the front steps to take care of his business. Then ran back into the house and locked the door.

It was so loud we could hear it from inside when listening for it.

Strange.  I think that's what must have made him wake up at such a strange hour for him.  

What the hell was that?

Be careful brushing your teeth

 Be careful brushing your teeth if you also keep your dogs toothpaste on the bathroom counter.

That is all I'm going to say.  In my defense, it was 4:30am and technically i was not fully coherent yet.

Thats how the day started, i sure hope it doesn't continue like that.

Today i get my picture retaken and i get my work badge changed to reflect where i really work.  It's fair, because it's in the system.  I feel like the red headed step child who gets kicked out only no one bothered to actually tell me and someone else took me without telling me either.

I'm still doing the same projects I was doing.  But for someone else. Apparently.

I'm also doing work for someone else and learning more........still not as busy as i'd like to be and resigned to just doing what i'm told to do.  I have only a short many years before i retire, and i need to lay low until that time.  If they can't use me appropriately, no one needs to know.  I sang it from the rooftops.....and got nothing from it that i can see, so.  My job is done.

Carry on.  

I can't complain when I work with leadership at the top of the food chain here.  I'm just gonna do what i'm told.  And smile.  Big.  I can do it.

Make no mistake, i like the people i work with, i have what is considered a cush job and i know it.  The issue i have is that for a couple of years i felt ownership of what i did, and still do.  Now i realize it's just a cog in the wheel and "they" will make changes without asking or even bother to tell me.  So i should be grateful not to answer to the SOM anymore.  I'm a full on Hospital now.  

And that's not a bad thing.

Right?

Who can complain about working remotely twice a week and being in the office 3 days?  Living 5 miles away from work? Living in an affluent town even if i'm not?  I have nothing to complain about.