Contented...

You know what I do a lot?

Rant.

There's always something I'm ready to complain about.  Or condemn.  Or dislike.

And you why?

...

Neither do I.

Maybe I hit my head too hard.  Or breathed in too many vehicle fumes.  Or maybe I've just had an epiphany.  I'm not sure.  What I do know is that life is good.

I'm 26.  I'm living in an awesome condo.  I have a solid credit score.  I have a job with a strong base pay and an awesome bonus package.  I have an amazing fiance who I'm set to marry in the fall.  I have a great group of friends I surround myself with.

I really couldn't ask for more.

So I won't.

Right now, I'll just be happy and trek on toward the marriage milestone.  Then... who knows?  Buy a house next?  Kids?  Some kind of jet propelled, monkey navigated rocket sled?  A buddy cop-style adventure with Bruce Campbell?

Doesn't matter.  Time to live in the moment... because this moment is good.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Days 14 - 17

DAYS 14 - 17: VALENTINE'S DAY

Sorry about the absence there.  I missed the last few days of posting for a few reasons.

1) The 14th was, if you're not aware, Valentine's Day.  Now, normally the lady friend and I don't actually do Valentine's Day, as we tend to lump it all in together with MegaCon and our anniversary.

This was not the case this year.  On my way home from work, I became inspired to pull off a last minute Valentine's Day.  And since I'm such a generous guy, I decided to involve Lance in this as well (I made the assumption that he didn't come up with anything for Valentine's Day and I was, off course, correct).

This set a frenzy of events into motion.  Some quick discussion determined we would hold the dinner at his place, and I set him about to the task of hunting down rose petals and finding some good mood music.

In the meantime, I set out to find the food.  And food I did find... by the time we were finished, here's what I came up with:

APPETIZERS: Proscuitto wrapped cantaloupe and 12 year-old scotch

DINNERS: Filet Mignon, Lobster Tail, Garlic whipped potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and a German Riesling

All in all, it went well.  A good Valentine's Day dinner that was shared between two couples.  And all thrown together last minute.

I rule.

2) Hotels suck.  I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the Marriot World Resort in Orlando for the company's annual meeting.  My rage was greatly stoked when I sat down Wednesday night to post and found that the Marriott, being the colossal douche-holes that they apparently are, do not offer free Wi-Fi.

Jerks

At any rate, we're back up an running and I'll be back in Orlando tomorrow for the first MegaCon I've been able to attend in several years.  So I should have some good stuff for tomorrow's post - providing I get Internet access at the hotel.

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties...back on the 16th when Internet working

A Few of My Favorite Things - Day 13

DAY 13: CLOSURE

I met with an ex today.  Not just any ex, either.  The one with whom I've had a longer lasting relationship than any other (my lovely fiance notwithstanding).

And I think, all in all, it was a good experience.

It's been about 6 years since we've been together.  And in the last 6 years, I can't say I've given her much thought.  I never really do when it comes to my exes.  Relationships end, I get rid of everything the relationship brought me, and I move on.  And when I do think of my exes, I tend to only think of the bad times.

Perhaps I should re-evaluate that habit.

Having nothing but nice things to say tonight helped create some perspective for me.

You see... she's looking great, compared to the last time I saw her.  She's healthy, happy, and had a plethora of stories to tell... most of which painted me as the bad guy.

And I probably deserve that role.  I am a colossal asshole at heart.  But realizing my status as the bad guy brought me to thinking.

We were a train wreck of a couple.  Just nightmarish.  In absolutely every imaginable way.  Nothing in common with one another at all.  Which was only reinforced tonight when she commented that my hat was stupid.

You know the hat... this one...

And that's when everything started falling into place for me.

I had my closure from the relationship that I never realized I was waiting for.

It wasn't enough that my life moved on.  It wasn't enough that I hadn't seen her in years, or hadn't kept anything from the relationship.  I needed to appreciate her.  Or... at last what I carried away from the relationship.

I carried away the maturity and awareness to know what I was looking for.

Now I'm with a woman who plays the same games as me.  Reads the same books.  Watches the same shows and movies.  Laughs at the same jokes.  Likes the same foods.

I'm with someone who matches up with me in every way.

I really, genuinely, could not be happier than I am with Bree.

And more importantly, I know she feels the same way.

Thank you for the good times, Meagan.  Thank you for helping me rule out what I wasn't looking for so I could find what I was.

And thank you, Bree, for promising to spend your life with me.  I'll try to make it worth your while.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Day 12

DAY 12: LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF

I am well acquainted with Loki, a mischievous being of pure trouble and mayhem.

No.  Not that Loki.  This one.

Yup.  That fat little bastard is my cat, Loki.  Bree and I have 2 other cats, as well... but they don't get to make the favorite things list.  But Loki does.

Because he's actually a dog.

Can't you see the resemblance?

You see, I don't much care for cats.  They're haughty, arrogant, and kind of doofy looking.  So when Bree and I rescued Loki from the shelter, I raised him like a dog - sans the walks, that is.

Something stuck with this little guy, creating the single most personable and affectionate cat I've ever met.  He has this overwhelming need to be around people, and gets incredibly excited when someone new comes into the room.  On the same vein, however, he actually gets incredibly nervous when people are in our condo... but not in the same room he is.  That practically forces him to find where the people are so he can remind everyone that he's there.

It's actually pretty damned cool.

Plus... on the sappy side... when I met Bree, she had a cat.  I'd always had dogs.  It was another "hers" versus "mine" moments... and Loki get to be another one of those "our" moments.

No matter how bad a day I'm having, that little fat-ass is always there, ready to purr his big heart (enlarged?) away for some attention.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Day 11

DAY 11: MY LITTLE DICK

I know what you're thinking.

Stop it.

That's not what I'm talking about.

This is.

That's Richard... a genuinely entertaining sociopath from Looking for Group, a webcomic put out by Blind Ferret Entertainment.

In fact, I enjoy the comic (and the other works from the good folks at Blind Ferret) that I jumped at the chance to meet the guys at MegaCon a few years back.  I even got a chance to have Richard signed.

And, with a small bribe of Red Bull and Cadbury Cream Eggs, I even got a little Dick I can keep in my pocket.

So why do this plush toy and little metal key chain deserve a place among the Favorite Things?

Well... I may be leaving the important part out of my story...

You see, MegaCon and Blind Ferret are both greatly enjoyed by more than just myself.  My lovely fiance, Bree, enjoys them just as much.  It was Bree who introduced me to MegaCon, and it was me who introduced her to Blind Ferret.  Until we got a chance to meet the creators, MegaCon was her thing that I went along to... just as Blind Ferret was my thing that she followed.

It may sound sappy and lame... but meeting the creators at MegaCon was one of the first times our interests genuinely merged together.

The plush toy and key chain are just what they look like... pointless trinkets.  But they remind me of one of my actual favorite things...

...One of those unspoken key moments when I realized that there was beginning to be less of "me" and more of "us."

It was nice, in one of those sappy ways.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Day 10

DAY 10: EVEN NUMBERS

I am not an organized person.  My organizational skills could be described as somewhere between "controlled mess" and "nuclear holocaust."

I've also always been pretty contrary, though.  Not for the sake of irony or the sake of being contrary... I just don't generally buy into things that most people buy into.

So maybe that's why, despite my lack of organizational skills, I've always been a fan of even numbers.

These are the most patriotic even numbers I've ever seen...

Think about it - even numbers are wildly consistent.

If you add an even # to an even #, you get another even #.  Add two odds, and you still get an even.

Subtract an even from an even and you get an even.  Subtract an odd from an odd, and you get another even.

Multiply two evens together, and guess what... more evens.

I think you get the idea.

Something about the consistency of evens is comforting to me, and definitely one of my favorite things.