Oh, Snap! And Some Thursday Things

I had a bit of a validating moment last week served up with a side of BOOYAH. Out of the blue, I got a text from Greg...I'm sure it was a single-at-Christmas loneliness thing. He asked how I was doing and we wished each other a merry Christmas. He said that his daughter has been living f/t with her mom since school started.  He said he "wanted to say hi to a person that seemed to care so much for me. I miss everything we shared together. I'm doing ok but I think I've made a few bad choices this year."

I said it was okay, we all do, it's part of the learning and growing process. It's difficult to find your feet after a divorce.

He said, "thanks for being an understanding and caring person. Maybe chat with you again soon?"

Wait for it...

"Oh, that's not necessary - I'm seeing an awesome guy who loves me for who I am and makes me feel great about myself. That was the lesson I needed to learn from you - love builds you up, not tears you down. You and I cared about each other but all you could see were my flaws and it made me feel so sad. It's crazy fun to be with someone who enjoys me for all my good qualities! I had my plastic surgery and am living on top of the world right now. You'll get there, too, because next time you'll try to love and accept people for who they are, if you care about them enough. I hope for and want that for you. Be well, Greg! I keep an eye out for you on the streets, will say hi if I see you. :) Give M. a hug for me, I have missed her."

Booyah. It felt good to say, for sure. And hearing from him has caused me to reflect on how much nicer it feels to be with someone who just likes me for me. With Greg, I didn't realize how much I pussy-footed around him, keeping my smart-assy comments to myself because I knew he didn't get my humor, etc. (I am not entirely sure Mr. W gets my humor, either, but at least he's game to try, haha. More and more, I think I am either getting weirder with age...or giving less of a isht what people think.

Anyway, that was nice closure. I'll admit - I miss him sometimes. We had fun. I liked to climb him like a tree, and he was the best.kisser.ever. Not worth the many trade-offs, though.

Kim and I have joked that my caliber of men continues to improve every time I go to the well. Mr. Wonderful, is, well, wonderful. We had a great time together over Christmas. He is incredibly thoughtful: he bought me a fancy new bike helmet (he texted later, "Designed to return you home safe after every ride, to keep your head cool on a long summer ride with extra ventilation and...to match your bike." Hahaha. He also bought me a stuff bag for my bike, and he put gingerbread and pumpkin pie Clif bars in it.

For the family, he had left a gift under the tree early, and the kids were excited to open it. This one was actually pretty funny...it's a hummingbird feeder. Which *I* am so excited about! I had noticed his tree in the front yard had several hummingbirds, and I said that I thought they went away in summer. Nope, he said, there are species that stick around all year, if you feed them. I said that our next door neighbors have feeders and the birds are so familiar they have named them.

Um, the boys were much less excited than I was about the hummingbird feeder. Alli rallied a bit better but the look on the boys' faces when they opened was priceless, hahaha. A little bit of horror, a little bit of disappointment and a little bit of polite brave face. Welcome to the world of children, Mr. W.

He had said I was easy to shop for, because when it comes to biking, I need *everything.* Ha! True dat. Still, he totally spoiled me. And he's lent me a bunch of stuff - waterproof pants and gloves, arm warmers, a balaclava (I struggle so hard with this word, haha, always wanting to say baklava. And then eat some.). He has one of everything, and c'mon, we haven't been seeing each other very long...I didn't know what the heck to get him! Besides biking, you know, we're still getting to know each other. And I think this year he said he biked 3500+ miles...so you know, that's a whole lot of biking. I ended up getting him a screaming yellow helmet rain cover...he said one day he had bought black but should have bought yellow for visibility. Well, there you go! Now he has one. :)

I'm enjoying him very much. :)

In other news, I did go on my second post-op bike ride last night...our standard Wednesday night ride that's a little hilly and a little long. O.M.G. I thought I was gonna die. It's amazing how quickly you get out of shape. Wow. On one hill I seriously wanted to get off my bike and rest. The rain was blowing sideways, it was dark and super windy. I had a blast. :) But wow, I've got some ground to regain when it comes to my fitness.

I wanted to stay home and watch Top Chef Seattle.

But I knew I'd feel better if I went out riding. :)

On Sunday, I ran a couple miles with my daughter. Well, we ran one, walked one. That also felt good, but was tiring. Baby steps. I'll get there again!