I wasn't looking for SLNRLBF and now I have him. And on Thursday afternoon I will have him in person! We were friends, we hung out, we explored Second Life and then it became more.

My other really serious long term relationships developed that way in real life. I've never been in a traditional dating situation.

I need some findit~ma a lot of it. Last Monday I got a night guard for my TMJ. Yesterday I put it on the bathroom counter and I haven't seen it since then. I don't know if one of the cats took it someplace to play with but I have a sinking feeling that maybe it got knocked in the toilet and I didn't see and I flushed it. But that may just be wild fears. Anyway, I need to find it so I don't have to actually spend the money on a new one.

Oh and I'm currently freaked out becuase my apartment isn't cleaned. In fact it's at my normal stage of omigod I need to clean. And I'm torn between making it all nice and neat for him and just saying screw it! This is how I live, you'll have to deal.

But, I won't, I'll do a mad cleaning binge.

If I ever am ensconsed with a non-roommate Somebody Else I think I'll take the valuable lesson of "hire someone to do the scrubbing once a month" with me into the relationship.

Kristin and I have maids that come in every other week. This is a great thing.

I know I have a pretty good deal ($20 an hour) but three hours a month with tip only comes to $23 each. That is some well-priced peace on earth.

Yep. Right now there are no fewer than three pairs of shoes in front of the couch from where they were kicked off as soon as I got home. the table is covered with 2-3 weeks of mail and deitritus that just got put down when I walked in the door. And, there is a pan in the sink that's been "soaking" since last week. If I lived with someone else, that would not be the case.

Add 5 guitars in the living room -- 3 just piled in front of the tv.

I cleaned the tables this weekend only because I knew I would be stuck in the house due to the heat.

usually the dishes are only 2-3 days , but that's because the kitchen is really tiny. ( but the pot in the sink was sitting in the fridge for awhile)

And you forgot about the laundry that has taken over the dinning room chairs.( because I needed the table)

And I'm torn between making it all nice and neat for him and just saying screw it! This is how I live, you'll have to deal.

right. because he's coming to see the apartment... not anything else... :P. Don't stress Askye.

I'm sure there are things you could do askye. Just not everything

clean the bathroom, do the dishes, change the sheets. ( and don't forget the cat box) the rest is choice.

Huh. That sounds just like a line from the pilot of the new Cupid. It may have been in the original too.

Huh. I wonder if they've read the book. To be honest, I haven't. I found the quote in a collection of 'wedding words.'

As for singing to animals. I completely approve. I sang my "You are my poochness, my pooch and smoochness" (sung to You are My Sunshine) song to Bartleby the whole way home from the hospital last week. It was the only 30 minutes that day that he did not cry.

He's doing great today though! Maybe that's down to the song.

I fear, however, that I am becoming increasingly eccentric and possibly unable to live with someone else.

Fear not, single people! You can have this in the context of a long-term relationship, too. Because really, can you picture Pete or I being able to live with anyone else?

Of course you should sing to animals. Both of us sing to the cats, and I sing to Clovis. (Admittedly, the song of choice to sing to Clovis is "Astro Zombies", but it's the thought that counts, right?)

I can attest to having a more fun romantic fantasy life than real world romantic life. And not because my standards are too high.

For a variety of reasons, I just haven't attracted the 'right', meaning totally compatible, partner. In fact, the ones who came were the right ones because I learned so much from the experiences.

I'm of the mind that I've been meant to learn more from rather than I was meant to enjoy my guys. I used to be sad about that...and I have indulged in the expectation that I was meant to be the divorced spinster that my Great Aunt Mary was.

But now, I have so much peace and satisfaction in my life...with a healthy sprinkling of joy...that I can't think this arrangement is a bad thing.