The People You Know....

(beware -- parts of this posting were taking from an email which I just sent)

Or do you??? So I was walking thru the airport the other day (actually, it was about two weeks ago now, as my laptop keeps crashing when I go to write this).... anyways... there was this dude on my flight whose t-shirt says "Grouch" on the back of it. Was it? Could it be? Nah. I was just a little to shy to go up and ask. Besides.. how would I ask? "Um... are you? Do you go by...? Could you be considered... Mishtah Groucthy-panths?" Hahaha.... Instead, I relaxed and tried not to feel bad that just 5 hours previous, I was in sunny California -- first vacation I've taken in 6 years. Ho hum.

Well all is going mainly fabu here in the land of tornadoes and ruby-red slippers. I'm entering the final days of dividing my posessions from my spouse's and.... once I file for divorce, it only takes 10 days since we have no children. Ten days is all it takes to dissolve 10 years of marriage. Somehow, I think that's too short a time. Not that I want it to take extra long... but damn... that's like... just 10 days. There is, however, a caveat: if I co-habitate with a man, or get married in the next 6 months (shuh! yeah! riiiight....) it's considered bigamy!

In life, we never know what is going to happen, when. At the tendre age of 20, I thought I was mature enough to realize the love of my life... that marriage would not be my ruin. Actually it wasn't that bad a choice. How was I to know that I would continue to change and evolve, and that he would not further his emotional evolvement past the third grade? Thing is, I broke up with another dude to go out with my husband. I needed to break up with that dude and be alone for a while. Instead, I waited until I found someone new. "Hello Joelle, grow some cajones and be alone for a change. It ain't gonna kill ya!" And I mis-took the firework-y roller-coaster ride for true love.

Well let me tell ya... in spending time with a guy friend in California, I realize that my marital relationship was seriously messed up. Non-communicative, non-responsive, asexual. On vacation I went out with my friend and it was just totally relaxed and as normal as one could want it to be. I felt as good as... or even better than... hanging out a) alone at Starbux or b) with a girlfriend. I discussed my feelings with my counselor... who said that's dating at its best -- not intending anything more than hanging and getting to know someone. Who.. wha? Me? Dating? Well How-de-do! So I guess *I'm kinda sorta dating..

*But I still need space. Just as there was no graceful way of ending my marriage... there is certainly no graceful way of entering back into the realm of dating again.

So that's my life in a nutshell... tell me what's new in yours?