Bullet Points
Oh, look, there is still an LJ and every so often I even remember to update it. I think sometimes I just do it as though I am saying hi to a ghost. Or something.
Let's dive into this one bullet point style...
- Friday (9/1) will be a 17 months with Allison. It never ceases to amaze me how fast these months go by and how incredibly effortless our relationship is. Earlier this month she traveled with me down to California and met my entire immediate family (brother, sister, sis-in-law) and got more of a chance to meet my mother, who she had met briefly last winter. It was a good visit and it felt important to me to at least try to convey to my family that Allison is a very big part of my life and will (I hope) be in my life for a very long time.
It always seems a little hard to explain to married people -- especially older married people and/or those who have never gone through divorce -- why we don't see marriage or living together in our near or even medium-to-distant future. My family asked me a few questions about that but nothing too pressuring.
I love her more than I have loved anyone. Maybe that's why I want to spare her the experience of living with me or being married to me. ;)
- For those keeping score at home, Gavin starts his Senior year next week and Bailey is starting his 3rd year of college. The end of Gavin's high school education in the spring is giving me the window to move out of suburbia and I recently signed my last lease for my current apartment. May 2018 will bring some big changes, high among them moving closer to both Allison and work.
- My ex wife is still a bit of a mess but we actually get along pretty well these days. The older the kids get the easier it gets. I think we both see Gavin's next birthday (18) not so much as the end of the road (in terms of co-parenting) but a big turning point.
- My next big storytelling opportunity is tentatively set for late October: A Moth Grandslam. It'll by 2nd time getting to do such an event, which is really not that different from a normal "slam", at least in terms of format and time allowed (5-6 minutes). But the crowd size is way bigger -- between 500 and 600 -- and the level of consistency and competition among the storytellers is elevated. There is a healthy level of competition among those of us who do this regularly in Portland but also a tremendous sense of community. We all want to be the best but we root hard for each other to be the best, too. I feel really lucky to have met a lot of wonderful people since I began doing this sort of thing 5 years ago (!).
Gotta run.
Post accomplished.
J
Let's dive into this one bullet point style...
- Friday (9/1) will be a 17 months with Allison. It never ceases to amaze me how fast these months go by and how incredibly effortless our relationship is. Earlier this month she traveled with me down to California and met my entire immediate family (brother, sister, sis-in-law) and got more of a chance to meet my mother, who she had met briefly last winter. It was a good visit and it felt important to me to at least try to convey to my family that Allison is a very big part of my life and will (I hope) be in my life for a very long time.
It always seems a little hard to explain to married people -- especially older married people and/or those who have never gone through divorce -- why we don't see marriage or living together in our near or even medium-to-distant future. My family asked me a few questions about that but nothing too pressuring.
I love her more than I have loved anyone. Maybe that's why I want to spare her the experience of living with me or being married to me. ;)
- For those keeping score at home, Gavin starts his Senior year next week and Bailey is starting his 3rd year of college. The end of Gavin's high school education in the spring is giving me the window to move out of suburbia and I recently signed my last lease for my current apartment. May 2018 will bring some big changes, high among them moving closer to both Allison and work.
- My ex wife is still a bit of a mess but we actually get along pretty well these days. The older the kids get the easier it gets. I think we both see Gavin's next birthday (18) not so much as the end of the road (in terms of co-parenting) but a big turning point.
- My next big storytelling opportunity is tentatively set for late October: A Moth Grandslam. It'll by 2nd time getting to do such an event, which is really not that different from a normal "slam", at least in terms of format and time allowed (5-6 minutes). But the crowd size is way bigger -- between 500 and 600 -- and the level of consistency and competition among the storytellers is elevated. There is a healthy level of competition among those of us who do this regularly in Portland but also a tremendous sense of community. We all want to be the best but we root hard for each other to be the best, too. I feel really lucky to have met a lot of wonderful people since I began doing this sort of thing 5 years ago (!).
Gotta run.
Post accomplished.
J