2011...weird

So it is January 28th and this year is already chalked up to weird.  Let's start on the health side. I've had 6 ear infections in 5 weeks, okay 4 of them were in 2011 and 2 in 2010, but emphasis for dramatics needed.  I have had the flu, tubes put in my ears, antibiotic overload, yoga underload, and an overall pissed off attitude directed completely at my body, bones to skin, fingers to toes.  I received a new washing machine for Christmas and in 2011 had to replace it already.  I got a new cell phone, only to put a request in for a new one 6 days later because the one they sent me was well, a lemon.  I have had the electricity on the back half of my house removed, only to get the electricity company who was to fix it to not call me back. I use a flashlight to go to the bathroom downstairs and an extension cord to do laundry from the utility room to the kitchen.  My car has died on me and I had to buy a new battery. The 25 year old secret rendezvous'er I was having a very flirty relationship with and an occasional secret rendezvous has started to disappear via text, which makes it awkward when I see him daily 25 feet from where I work. 

Now, on to the other weird...My past has made an appearance in 2011. I can now wear shoes I couldn't wear comfortably 6 years ago with ease.  An old colleague of mine reappeared right after the first of the year and we met for drinks. I had neither seen nor heard from him in 5 years.  Reference the Unconditional Journey blog post.  After a wedding two weeks ago, as I was leaving the "after the reception" party at a hotel at 2 AM, I looked up and saw a fling I had when I went to Brazil who at the time lived in Dubai, had since moved to Malaysia and was originally from Scotland, standing in the middle of the lobby at a hotel in Houston. We hadn't spoken since Brazil, two and a half years ago.  Last Monday my phone in my office rang and on the other end was a guy I met on spring break in 1999 in Destin, Florida from Macon, Georgia and at the time I was living in Austin, Texas.  He found me 2 years later in 2001, we lost touch somewhere around 2003.  He found me again nearly 8 years later.  This past monday I signed on to Facebook having no idea I was logged on to "facebook chat", and the Italian stallion himself, Alessandro, popped up and invited me to come to Italy to visit him again to "finish what we started". Oh god!  If that's not strange enough, I woke up this morning to find an email from a man I haven't spoken to in nearly 6 years, who happened to be first guy I ever loved and my most significant relationship.  WHAT???  Is my past haunting me for a reason? Do I keep getting all of these illnesses because I have unfinished business from 1999, 2002, 2008 and 2010?  Who will pop up next?  I'm getting haunted by my overzealous past and amazed at this odd turn of events, well, backwards turn of events.

My 2011 so far, literally, will not let me move forward because I cannot seem to get well and it won't let me move on because my past is shamelessly reappearing.  I have been watching a lot of Sex and the City reruns lately and am wondering if this is why it is all happening. Are the stars aligning with the fact that I can now relate more than ever to their "30-something" references and I now have to repent for the stupidity of my 20s? No...I shall not regret what kept me free spirited, I will only use those experiences, not mistakes, to make for juicier ones in my 30s.  

Like I always say, I do not regret the things I have done, but those I have yet to do.  

However, with that said, to my past, if you choose to rear your head in 2011, do it with good stories to share with friends and strangers. Don't make me bury you with the denim vest and orange patent leather platforms of my wardrobe mistakes past. It is dark and cold in that vault and only a few are aloud to walk the streets with those memories. Sincerely, Me in 2011.

Unconditional Journey

Happy new year!!  I have started this new year off with quite a bang!  2 ear infections, sinusitis, a blown fuse box and 1 meltdown. But through it all I've kept a relatively positive and upbeat attitude about everything, despite the urge to scream once or twice.  So with that said, I've been at a loss for a blog update, I have had no great stories to retell of bad dates or embarrassing nights out. To each of you readers, I apologize in my boring behavior and promise I will do my best to take it up a notch soon. 

In the mean time, last night I had dinner with an old friend whom I haven't seen in nearly 5 years.  We caught up on life as it is now, mutual friends, the old workplace and the such.  He told me about what I can only describe as an amazing relationship with his wife. He's in love with her and it was so refreshing to hear a man talk that way about his wife. He used the phrase when discussing their life together as an "unconditional journey". He said he didn't come into this marriage with conditions or clauses, it was an unconditional journey they are taking together. I thought, what an amazing way to look at life.  So I am going to apply that to my own life. Now I may not have a relationship in the biblical sense right now to have an unconditional journey with, however, I do with my family, my friends and myself.  So I make no more apologies to my friends and family for the stupid things I say, the moronic acts I make and the self loathing scenarios I find myself more often than not. Why do I not apologize? Because we came into this relationship without clauses or conditions, we too are on an unconditional journey together.  My friends and family's journeys may include families, spouses, children, mortgages and responsible behavior, but they didn't ask that of me when they invited me into their lives.  I will unconditionally love them and their screaming children and their nagging spouses and their loving, yet usually unsolicited advise. In the mean time I will continue to muck up the dating scene with these men written for books which should be called "Unsuspecting poorly written men for the suspecting poorly esteemed woman".  I will not apologize for the behavior that ensues when I drink too much wine when I divulge these stories, and I will expect you (unless you are in fact expecting) to drink just as much alongside me. 

For this journey, friends, family and strangers, are on with me, I unconditionally invite you to explore the next chapter with me. 2011, may it bring laughter, tears, drama and a look into the single life reality and may you have the seat right next to me on the roller coaster through it. Cheers!