From Hot Mess Express to Happily Ever After

Valentine’s Day is upon us, and I’m not the biggest fan of the corporate nature it has become. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t take a moment to appreciate the woman who has made my heart skip a beat.

After my divorce, I vowed to never get married again. I was in a vulnerable and lonely state of mind and the last thing I wanted was to open myself up to that level of vulnerability again. I did dabble in the dating world, but I made some rookie mistakes.

Firstly, I started dating too soon. I wasn’t over my divorce, and instead of finding meaningful relationships, I ended up just bleeding all over the people I tried to date. Not cool, Adam, not cool. Secondly, I had this idea in my head that I was unworthy of love, so I dated people who were not a good fit for me. Let’s just say it wasn’t a successful strategy.

But, then came “her.” I wasn’t expecting her at all. I was ready to swear off not only marriage, but dating altogether. Then, out of nowhere, she caught my attention. We had known each other for years, but during a late-night chat session, I found myself saying words before my filter could kick in and stop it. Thankfully, my filter failed because having her in my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

When we first started dating, I had nothing to my name but a cute puppy dog, nine boxes of books, two garbage bags of clothes, and a mattress on the floor. I was literally a hot mess. But, she chose me, and that’s all that mattered. She saw something in me, and despite having no money, no home, and no place that was mine, she chose me.

She has been by my side through everything. We have gone on adventures to many places, and she has stood by me through unemployment, family hardships, and the death of a friend. She’s even supported me through my bizarre career changes and strange ideas. And, when I didn’t deserve it, she forgave me and reminded me of my self-worth time and time again.

She is my person, my safe place, and the one who makes me believe that love is worth fighting for. Together or not at all, it’s us vs. the world from this day and forever.

So, on this Valentine’s Day, I want to give a shout-out to my lovely lady. Thank you for being mine and for choosing me even when I was a hot mess express. I promise to keep being the weird, quirky, and slightly chaotic partner you fell in love with. Here’s to many more adventures, laughs, and bad jokes together.

The Christmas Tree and the New House

So the week before Thanksgiving Terra and I moved into a house. We are really excited about it because we went from an apartment that was 925 sq. ft. to a house that is 1875 sq. ft. with a yard and two car garage.

Living in a house is much better then an apartment, but Terra and I are still deciding where everything goes and in what order we want things to be. This means that we have piles of pictures, boxes, and other assorted things all over the house.

However its Christmas and even though we dont yet know where everything is going to hang, go, or be placed we brought home a Christmas Tree today and are going to be put it up. So far the experiance has been going not as excpected. The tree we bought is too big for our stand. So Terra ran off to go get a new stand.

OK Terra went to Taget and got another kind of stand and we are literally up but not running. We dont run until Tuesday. (For those of you not aware of how that was a joke Terra and I run with a running group on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

The problem now is we got the garlands up, and the lights are sort of on the tree….(sort of defined as only one strand of lights and only half way done). Terra requested we do the rest Monday. This is Terra with her “I dont want to do anymore tonight face”

But we are slowly making order out of chaos. Sort of?!

137. Orphans Thanksgiving

I know this may come as a surprise to some of you, but yesterday was Thanksgiving. I know, I know it came as a shock to me to, but we carry on through these difficult times.

Anyways we, and by we I mean several friends of mine, decided that since many of us had no family whatsoever here in Washington we were going to hold our own Orphans Thanksgiving, and be our own family. Dale and Leanne offered their home for use, and plans started to be formed.

Finally the day came, and I decided to SLEEP IN!!! Technically I should have gotten up and gone running with my wife in the turkey trot 4 miler (She came in second in her age group…go Terra!), but there was snow on the ground, it was REALLY cold, and I had had a REALLY bad day at work the day before and wanted to escape to dream land!

When she got back we packed up the food and headed over. The food was wonderful! Leanne cooked the most tender turkey I have ever tasted, Trish had some really good twice baked potatoes, Leanne also cooked banana bread, and of course all the stuffing, side dishes, and drinks we could handle.

Over dinner I read The Geeks Thanksgiving Day prayer, and then followed the prayer with an intense conversation that ranged in topics from Aliens, String Theory, Government Conspiracies, Zombies, M Theory, and many many more complex topics. Devin has a tendency to do that to us in conversation, and for some reason we all love it!

After dinner I participated in the LONGEST game of Magic I have ever played in my life, and then we headed home to enjoy a nice movie and fire in the fire place.

Overall I would say despite all the crap and concern going on in my life right now, that my first Orphans Thanksgiving was a GREAT one!

Thanks to all my friends!

131. Halloween

Just in case any of you have been living under a rock for the last few years, last night was Halloween. My favorite holiday of the year. I know you are stunned, but its true. The plan was to meet at our friend house and game, scare small children, play halo, scare small children, eat good food, and scare small children. Scaring unaware children and adults alike has been a fun tradition of mine for many many years. Usually I don my cloak, and phantom mask and set myself somewhere near the door, sidewalk or driveway. I then wait for a child or adult to get a little to close and then I jump out and surprise them. This year however I must confess I have been outdone. My friend Malachi came down the stairs in the most spectacular skull and suite outfit I have ever seen! The jaw of the skull even moved! I was amazed, and have decided that I want this costume! It made my cloak and phantom mask look like amateur play. I will post pictures soon, but for now take my word for it. It was awesome!

After awhile we popped in a little Rock Band 2, and discovered that I can sing and drum at the same time. Especially to Bon Jovi songs. Halo was soon to follow, and I am sad to announce that after almost an hour of Halo Team Invictus did not win a single match. It was a sad day, but not a sad Halloween. It was a great weekend, and am excited for next year. I am hopeful that next year we can celebrate the holiday in our own house.

130. Zombie Prom

Zombie Prom was a HUGE success! The night started with most of us gathering at my place for makeup. Corinne was doing mine, and I must say I have a new respect for women. The amount of work you all go into putting that stuff on, plus the added horror of having sharp pointy things next you your eyes is not fun. It took us longer then expected, but after everyones hair and makeup was applied, teased, sprayed, and otherwise done we headed out.

We ate dinner at The Oyster House and I felt bad for about 10 seconds that our friends Devin and Trich had to sit there and wait for us. They were the only people in the place in costume. We were only 30 minutes late and got a lot of head turns as we walked in. A group of 10 people all in costume will get peoples attention. Dinner was great! I had Halibut and Chips.

Then we drive over to The Loft and Zombie Prom began. There we were joined by our friend Stephanie, and we tried to dance to the music. The DJ was inexperienced and had a bad selection of music. However we struggled through and we had a good time dancing. I even got to teach Leanne and Denna some “white boy” dancing. Including but not limited to The Shopping Cart, The Lawn Mower, The Window Washer, and my brothers world famous ABC Dance. We only stayed for a couple of house, and then the music could just not be tolerated anymore. We did have group pictures taken and I will post those as soon as I get them.

For our after party we went back to Dales house and watched ZombieLand. All in all I think Zombie Prom turned out well.

Tonight we are going over to Eve and Mal’s house. I will be scaring children, playing Halo, and eating candy!

Devin as Sweeny Todd and I as a Mad Hatter

Devin as Sweeny Todd and I as a Mad Hatter
Hannah as the Queen from Sleeping Beauty and Denna as a Zombie Prom Queen
Kai as well something, Corinne looking cute and Leanne as a Zombie
I think Terra looks good as a sexy Mad Hatter
Devin and Trish as Sweeny Todd couple
All the girls got black corsages

29. Happy Mothers Day

So in my need to express how much love and gratitude I feel towards my mother, I found my ability to express it in words lacking. Until I heard this song (Those of you who know me will know this is going to be good!)

Happy Mothers Day