Category: The Pup

Mundane

I’ve gotten more than a few requests lately about how well the personal life is going. I’ve also gotten a couple alarmed messages asking if I had quit blogging. And I got one very sweet email from a long time friend. (Brian, I’m getting to your email I promise!)

On the home front, things are good. Actually, things are awesome. My life is on a good streak right now! Things with Shawn and I are excellent. Of course, life is pretty simple most days. We work, we come home, play video games, eat, sleep, repeat. It’s mundane bliss. hehehe. In other news, Shawn recently went permanent with his job and got a fat raise with stock options. He is very happy to finally have the weight of being a contract employee off his mind. And they’ve let him know recently how much they appreciate him as well. He has begun to settle into the company and be a part of it vs just going to work at a job.

As I mentioned previously, I’m finally debt free. I’m working to keep it that way too. I caught up on 6 years worth of back taxes and I’m getting money back. The checks have started to roll in. Apparently, they send you a check for every year instead of one check. I owed California for a couple years and sure enough, I got 3 checks and a bill. hehehe But the stress and worry over that is gone. Yay!

Cooper is still sassy as ever. His daily worries revolve around food, treats, and how often he can sneak up on the coach. His ever present skin issue has him back on antibiotics for awhile. Beyond that, Daddy is trying to stay on top of keeping his nose, ears, and tail clean and stink-free.

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No, I haven’t quit blogging. I’ve just been super busy this last month. I’m still here. I don’t always blather about insignificant topics like I used to as they usually end up on social media. I save the blog for lengthy rants. My long time friend Brian recently sent me a very heart-warming email about his experience w/my blog over the years. Almost made me cry. I’m glad that people enjoy coming here for my nonsense. Lawd knows I’ve come a loooooong way in the last 11 years of doing this. As always, I write first for me but I also write knowing others read what I share. This has never been a popularity contest and hopefully never will be. I seem to be one of only a few left from the old blog crew though. I miss some of the other blogs.

So there you have it. A down and dirty update. More to come.

NY

One has to only look at the pic to know

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Me and the Pup

what the focus of my new year has been. March will be the 2 year mark that Shawn and I have been together and I couldn’t be happier. Things are still awesome and I’m still grinning ear to ear.

2014 has been a good year for me. Shawn and I are still doing awesome. I’m sloooooowly converting him to life in SF and as much as he hates to admit it, he is adjusting. hehehe Cooper is still strong and healthy. Overall, I’m healthy [1]even though I feel all squishy from missing the gym too much and doing well. Beyond that, life is just simple right now. In many ways it is totally boring but we are boring together and that’s what counts.

This year saw me threw 2 separate eye surgeries, both of which I came out of just fine. The eye is still a bit of an issue but it seems things are getting better. It will be months before I know if an additional surgery is required. I’m optimistic my busted eye will fall in line and I won’t have to have the extra surgery. *Crossed fingers*

I need to get my squishy ass back into the gym more. Now that the surgeries are over, I’m trying to get back into it. All my pants are getting tight. lol

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Looking forward, I’m eager for the next year with Shawn. I’m so happy sometimes I think i worry too much something will happen to ruin it. Old habits die hard and old demons die harder but I’m settling into the contentment that is my life right now. ​

I hope you that you and yours are doing well. I wish you all a very happy, loved, and prosperous new year!

References

References
↑1 even though I feel all squishy from missing the gym too much

Year

I guess I haven’t been gushing enough about the STBH [1]soon to be hubby lately. There have been ‘inquries’. lol Well, prepare for the gushing….

Things are awesome! I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have found such a great life partner. And he is just that, my partner in life. I don’t for a second doubt I’ll spend the rest of my life with him. I even love the things that annoy me about him. How’s that for gushing? haha

We are ever so slowly settling into our life together. I still can’t wait to see him every day. Even when that being together often means being piled up on the couch watching tv or playing video games. It’s funny because there are times when I feel like I’m neglecting him and not knowing what I’m thinking he’ll check to make sure he isn’t neglecting me. Then another time, it will happen in reverse from him to me. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is?

If you follow him on FB, you’ll know he finally got the new job he’s been after. I’m happy for him as he has been wanting to make a change for awhile now. It is no secret, he does NOT handle change well. That said, he is adjusting to the new gig, and given more time I think he will appreciate it. From my perspective, it is leaps ahead of his old job, in every way possible. /tangent

It is an odd feeling (in a good way) to realize that the person next to you just doesn’t care how imperfect you are. They love you imperfections and all.

*le sigh* ​

References

References
↑1 soon to be hubby

Still

I guess my delay in blogging as of late has led some to think I have quit all together. No, still at it just distracted by life. It happens.

The CT scan went fine. I won’t know any results until I meet with the doc again, probably next week.  Hopefully, I’ll have a better answer and treatment for my lovely eyeball. I’ve been noticing ever so slight changes to my vision and not for the better. What I used to only randomly notice is now causing slight changes in the way I see things. I’m still far from my every day vision being affected but still concerning. The doc’s office is supposed to call this next week for the follow up appointment. I can clearly see the difference in the alignment in my eyes now as well.

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Continuing in random updates, things are still awesome at home. The Pup (Shawn) and I are doing wonderful. Contentment is a very good thing. I never thought I’d be this content in life. I simply cannot imagine life without him.

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Cooper is still sassy as ever. He has successfully worked his magic on Shawn and won him over. I don’t think Shawn was 100% sold at first but he is now. heehee He routinely points out one of Cooper‘s many adorable faces. Anyway, other than his ongoing skin issues, Cooper Pooper is doing exceedingly well.

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I am STILL trying to get my fat ass back into a consistent gym schedule. Afore mentioned contendedness has affected my motivation to go to the gym in a big way. lol There are worser things I guess. So I’m adding the dreaded cardio into my routine and trying to get back down to where I like to be weight wise. The motivation has been coming back, albeit slowly.

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I still have things go blog about. Almost daily I’m like, “I should blog about that” but I get distracted and move on to other things. lol I guess it is good that life is busy and keeps me focused.

Rest

After three weeks of long drawn out teaching 5 – 6 days, sometimes 10 hour sessions, here I sit on the first day of my vacation. I spent the whole day sitting on the sofa watching TV, playing video games,and napping with the man of my dreams. I can’t think of a better way to start my vacation. My voice is a bit hoarse and I’m just flat out tired but I couldn’t be happier. Total contentment.

Sometimes when you aren’t looking, life sneaks up and gives you that one thing you thought you’d never have.

Engage

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Moby and The Pup's Engagement rings

I’ve been MIA here as of late due to my work schedule. If you’re here via the web, you’ll notice the new template. This is the one I will most likely keep for awhile. But in other news and if you haven’t heard by now, I got engaged!

For the first time in my life I’m engaged to marry. The historical importance is not lost on me but that is a rant for another day. Today is about how happy I am to be eagerly awaiting such a big event. This is truly a life event for me and I couldn’t be more excited. Being with The Pup has taught me what it is like to be so in love and completely compatible with someone. He is my best friend and my lover and I have no hesitation tying the not with him.

Everyone keeps asking how I did it? The Pup and I are both gamers. I rent games thru GameFly, which is like Netflix for video games. The envelopes come pretty much the same as they do for regular dvds. On a tangent, we’d already decided a while back that we wanted to do two sets of rings. One set for the engagement and then a complimenting set for the actual event. Anyway, knowing he would kill me if I did anything big or hugely public, I settled on a more subtle surprise. If you’ve ever rented thru Netflix you know how the game sleeves work. I managed to get the cardboard cover and game out of the envelope without actually tearing it open. The disc comes inside with it’s own protective fiber sleeve that also has the game name and info. Well, I decided to apply my own sticker and made it look like the game sticker as a close as possible. Except where the name and description were I had my proposal instead. And instead of a game disc, there was the ring. With some effort I got it back into the envelope and put it back in the post box.

I contrived a small chain of events that led to The Pup opening the game and examining it. Of course, he saw the proposal and to my delight said yes. It was a very personal and shared moment for us. I don’t think anyone around knew what had just happened. I honestly thought it was perfect. I wanted to surprise him and still not embarrass him. And he really liked the way I went about it. He had no idea it was coming either. hehehe 

We don’t have a date for the big event yet. It will most likely be another 3-4 months before we set a date. Both of us are content with where we are and don’t feel the need to rush it. And while I will invite friends to be present, it will not be an overly dramatic event. lol Neither of us are into the whole big-wedding sort of thing. Something simple and local will be more than sufficient to officialize what we already know and feel.

It’s an exhilarating feeling to be honest. Knowing that this will be my last LTR makes it seem even more right that this is the first time I wanted to and could legally marry my partner. If you’d told me a year ago I’d be proposing to someone, I’d have probably laughed or shrugged it off. It’s funny how you can meet someone and they totally change your world.

As I always say, ‘hope springs eternal..’

Awesome

I get a lot of questions about how The Pup and I are doing. In a word, we are doing ‘awesome.’  I’ve alluded to things being well in various posts as of late but yeah, we’re good. We’re better than good actually.

It is hard to put into words how great it has been. Having a best friend in a partner is certainly a new experience for me. I say that because I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time with a partner before. It is odd in some ways because I am usually very self-contained and tend to like my ‘me’ time. It was a character trait that took me an unexplainable amount of time to figure out but once I did, I learned to appreciate it. I’ve yet to feel the loss of any me-too so far. The Pup and I spend a lot of our free time together, almost all of it. If anything, the day is just a distraction until I can get home to him. [1]yeah, I got it bad.   I’m sure that will wane a bit over time but I’m not complaining one bit.

I guess having never felt like previous partners were my best friend too it makes sense.  In the past, I usually planned my schedules and routines building in time just for me. In retrospect, I wonder if I built too much me time. I’m actually changing schedules at work soon so he and I can spend more time together vs apart. Don’t think that change was lost on me either. I wanted to and that is the important part. I didn’t feel like I had to or like it was some sort of obligation. The time we spend together is mutually agreeable to both of us. And, I know if either of us ever need some time alone, the other is perfectly OK with it. And I wonder if even knowing the latter makes it more bearable. I mean wanting something you can’t have sometimes makes it more desirable. Would the reverse not also be true? The more I think on it the more I believe that is at the heart of how different I am this time around. I know he won’t be upset, hurt, or feel left out if I needed time to myself. And I honestly believe he knows the same with me. So knowing it is readily available makes it less of a need.

I tell him everything and he is the first person I think of when I want to do anything. I honestly can’t think of a better way to be in a relationship.

References

References
↑1 yeah, I got it bad.

2014

I don’t have any big resolutions this year. As always, I strive to be better than I am, to learn and grow from my mistakes. I will continue that approach in 2014. But that is more of a philosophy than a resolution. Tied into that is to spend less time on social media and more time on the things that matter. And by less time, I don’t mean avoiding as much as using it as the tool it was meant to be.

Having The Pup in my life has given me a somewhat new outlook on things. My love for him continues to grow. We are still in the fresh-new love, as I call it, phase. The kind where you can’t wait to spend every moment together. Your whole day is just a distraction till you get home to him. That sort of love. hehehe I’m confident we’ll reach the long-abiding love phase but I am really enjoying the now. I hope to hold onto it even as our love matures. I continue to look forward to our future together.

There will be some changes in my life in the coming year. As I finish up the project at work in <strike> late March </strike> early May, I’ll be moving back to normal operations. I’ve decided to stay on a day-shift. I had to give up my full weekend slot though. Seniority on day-shift is still high and getting a weekend slot on what we refer to as ‘straight days’ is not an easy task. Even as I move into 13 years on the job, getting a premium day slot is difficult. I do have a partial weekend so it’s fine and I’m switching so I can spend more time with The Pup.

The finances will continue to be a big focus. I want to cut my debt load in half this year, at the very least. It may mean forgoing some frivilous fun stuff but hey, that’s life right? Seriously though, I hate forking over so much money for debt every month. I know I’ve said in the past I’d never go into debt again and this wasn’t really shopping or wasteful spending, but it is a total pain. I’ve canceled two of my three cards. [1]I say canceled, one was in default. lol I will not be applying for a new one. Frankly, I just don’t need that much credit. I try to live within my means and having too much credit discourages that. Thankfully, I had it when I needed it but I hope to never be in such a situation again.

Having a partner and a roomie who pay rent is certainly helping on the finance front. hehehe The roomie will be with us for most of this year. Things are a little comfy but overall still easy and no strain to manage. Even with overlapping schedules it has worked out pretty decent so far. Home life is calm and happy, just how I like it. Whether we are bouncing to the Eagle for beer-bust, lounging on the sofa, or just hanging at Starbucks, the comfort is addicting.

My goals for the coming year are to get back into a solid gym routine. Having a new partner certainly distracts one from such things. lol But it is time to get serious again and start pushing myself. I still have that 210 goal to reach. Beyond that, there isn’t much I can ask for. Life is treating me good and I hope it lasts. I’m not greedy and many of the things I’ve always want in life I now have. I am truly grateful for that.

Of course, I’ll keep blathering away here. I’m always tinkering with the code and blog.

References

References
↑1 I say canceled, one was in default. lol

2013

Well, 2013 turned out to be an amazing here for me. It was a time for personal reflection on past mistakes. It was a time of emotional and financial recovery. It was also a time of joy and happiness.

The year started rather ho-hum. Nothing bad or good, just rather uneventful. I switched shifts at work for a software project. This put me on day shift, which I lamented repeatedly. Ironically, the timing of my assignment was instrumental, even if I didn’t recognize it at the time.

As time went by the year just got better and better.

There is, of course, my beloved Cooper. He always brings me joy. His unconditional love is a constant light in my life. I will never understand how anyone could abandon such a wonderful animal. Being a special needs dog only makes me love him that much more.

Of course, unless you never read my madness, there was my meeting The Pup. Knowing each other online for years, this was our first year to meet in person. I believe that life brought him to me. The coincidences and alignment of occurrences were all too obvious to ignore. My time on the project gave me a lot of flexibility to visit back and forth while he was still living in Phoenix. I truly believe I was meant to be with him. He has taught me the meaning of true love and what it feels like to be loved unconditionally. I eagerly anticipate our future together. I simply cannot imagine my life without him.

My finances came together and are well under control again. I’m still carrying a debt load but knowing I’m on top it takes a huge stress off of me. It will take a couple years to get it down to what I want but getting a consolidation loan most definitely helped. The interest was slightly higher than what I wanted but I can apply for a refinance in a year so I’m pleased.

As always, I struggle to be better than I am. It is not a NY resolution as much as an approach to life in general. The struggle continues. This past year didn’t test me as much as reaffirm my growth in this area.

I won’t miss 2013 as much as look back on it fondly. I am excited to greet 2014.

Moved

In case you missed all my jubilations on Google and FB, The Pup is here! I couldn’t be happier. I have a permanent grin on my face and I ain’t even about to pretend otherwise. hehehe The support from our respective group of friends has been awesome as well.

The move itself went off w/very little complication. In fact, it was one of the easiest moves I’ve ever done. The Pup had most of the heavy work done before I arrived in Phoenix. The only thing left was to finish the packing, pick up the truck and drive away. And it flowed just like that. No issues, no drama, no unexpected problems. He is also very fortunate to have two very good friends who dropped everything to help him in every way possible. The debt of gratitude is immense. He is truly fortunate to have such good friends.

The drive was an arduous 13-hour ordeal. Beyond that unavoidable aspect, it went off without a hitch. We left late morning, drove straight thru with stops for food and gas, and arrived at 12:30am in SF. [1]That strip of I-5 to Hwy 152 is extremely dull and boring. It it easy to forget that outside most of the big cities California is mostly farm land. Driving from LA to SF will remind you of that very quickly!

Anyway, so many little but important things gave way to this happening. My gut tells me this was meant to be and I can’t find a good reason to doubt it. hehehe  Like our relationship, everything just sort of tumbled into place. My being on a work project gave me a lot of scheduling flexibility I would not have otherwise had. His job transfer came out of the blue at a time when we really didn’t expect to find it. The move going so incredibly smooth and uneventful was just a finishing touch.

This week he is adjusting to his life here and his new job. He got a transfer so is already working. Sadly, he isn’t overly impressed with his new location. On the flip side, he has wanted to move into other things so we only need to get him thru the holidays and he can start looking for other opportunities. Just having employment will take so much stress off of us both though. (No, he does not want to enter my field of work.)

I’m so excited about our future together I can barely contain myself. I find I am eagerly excited to get home every day now just to see him. I know, I’m being all mushy but whatevs. I luvs him and ain’t afraid to show it.

He has said several times, “It doesn’t feel real yet.” In some ways, it doesn’t feel real for me either. The idea of having pretty much everything I’ve ever asked for is quite new to me. It feels a little surreal. I think a few weeks of settling into a schedule and a nice rhythm together will help it sink in for both of us.

References

References
↑1 That strip of I-5 to Hwy 152 is extremely dull and boring.