It's a Blogiversary!

It was 6 years (and a few days) ago that I wrote my first blog post in my little corner of the interwebs. It was appropriately titled, Virgin Blogging.

I know ... I know ... I was just as insightful then as I am now ...

A lot has happened in these 6 years:

• Cam successfully navigated public middle school, 18 months at a theraputic day school, and is now smack dab in the middle of his senior year of high school. He also went from looking like this

To looking like this ...

• I went from being in a beautiful .5-million dollar home and a terribly unhappy (and abusive) marriage, to walking away from it all for a 2-bedroom apartment in a very run-down complex and furnished with FreeCycle and the few things I was allowed to take.
• After 40+ years of learning just how unlovable I am, I met Mike who has shown me that I was lovable all along.
• I lost a prestigious job in my degree field and began working in accounting again. This was a job that I hoped would be a 2-year, temporary gig while Cam's educational needs were addressed, but has turned into a hell-hole that I find myself trapped in for at least another year or so (I'll be "celebrating" 6 years at this job in January).
• I got nekkid quite a few times, then became disillusioned when that tight knit community started to change
• I gained 117 lbs, and have lost 98 lbs (so far) after having bariatric surgery.
• Friends have come and gone. I did a volunteer stint with Band Back Together, then was somewhat ostracized by that community after writing about my experiences volunteering with them. I keep in touch with 3 of the 5 people who commented on my very first blog post via Facebook, and one of those people (Meg, from This Big Happy) is still blogging! The other two? Well, they are both still around, or so I hear, but neither of them want anything to do with me any longer.
• Where blogging used to be my primary outlet - and twitter soon followed - I now spend more time on tumblr and Facebook than I do on blogging and twitter
• I've had a bonafide (and reported) cyberbully and several trolls. I've also met some people who will likely be life-long friends, including Jayman, who was one of my very first REAL commenters (not a commenter from the Yahoo Group who originally dared me to start up a blog) and Matt-Man, whose friendship with me has been a bit ... shall we say ... rocky at times? Yeah, we'll go with that. 

It's pretty amazing when you think about it. My little corner of the interwebs populated with the stuff that life is made of. Overall? I'd say it's been a good run.

I often wonder what to do with this space - whether I'll continue to blog or just archive this all somewhere and move on. 

Right now? I plan on staying. I probably won't be earning any frequent-flyer miles for posting every day, but I've grown to love this place. As frustrating as life can be, going back and reading a history of what you've done in the last 6 years kind of puts it all in perspective and helps you realize that the big things aren't so big a year later.

Do any of you have a post of mine that you remember well, either because it made you happy, or because it pissed you off?

I Do ... Well, I Don't Do But They Do!

This evening, Cam and I will be guests at step-son's wedding. Step-son and his fiance have been dating for 8 years - not sure why the want to ruin that with a wedding, but that's an entirely different post.

What? Me cynical?

Pfftttt! You would be too if you were me!

Anyway ...

Other than my own ceremony 7 years ago, I haven't been to a wedding in 13 (?) years. It seems things have changed quite a bit on the wedding front.

First, I was sent a wedding POSTCARD. Sure, it was in an envelope (hand addressed in all lower case printing - WTF?), but it was most definitely a postcard. It had the very basics of information - time, date, and location of the wedding, then referred me to a website for additional details,

A wedding website ...

Hosted by TheKnot.com

That's right! I can click on a tab and learn all about his proposal to her (in the penguin encounter at the aquarium), I can find out where the reception is, I can learn about their wedding party (she has a MAN of honor and a MAID of honor), and I can RSVP for the wedding, even selecting my meal choice!

Just seems a little odd ... maybe because all sense of tradition has been tossed out the window.

On the "our registries" page (Why does no one use uppercase letters? Is this supposed to be cute??) I can link to their two registries (Target and Macy's), and learn that they "would also appreciate gift cards to Ikea and World Market. =)."

Not only that, but I also learned, "We're protecting the environment and prefer gifts without gift wrap or box."

Wait just a minute ...

Isn't half the fun of getting gifts unwrapping them? Now you just want me to put that set of towels out on the gift table NAKED??

We'll see how the evening goes. "Husband" will be there, but will be sitting with his other ex (Tyler's mom) ... THANK GOODNESS!

Cam is coming along as my date - seems Step-son didn't consider +1-ing my invitation.

*shrugs*

Mike did offer to come crash the wedding.

I seriously considered encouraging him to do just that!

3 Rules For Courteous Borrowers

The Borrowers

It's unusual that I have something that someone wants to borrow, which is fine by me as I've often found that lending is really a synonym for giving away, and I don't have much extra stuff to just give away.

But yesterday, my co-worker Norm approached me asking for a BIG FAVOR. Norm and I don't have any relationship outside of work, and not much of a relationship inside of work ... unless you consider me making fun of him behind his back a relationship ... so I was a bit surprised when he asked me if he could borrow ...

Wait for it ...

My car!

Norm and his wife carpool to work. His wife drops him off here, then goes on her merry way.

Well, it seems Norm forgot his script at home yesterday (Did I mention he's in community theater?) and last night's rehearsal was for Act 2, Scene 2, and he wasn't "off book" yet so OH MY GOODNESS I NEED TO BORROW YOUR CAR AT LUNCH SO THAT I CAN GET MY SCRIPT AND MEMORIZE MY LINES BEFORE REHEARSAL!!!

I had a difficult decision: allow Norm to borrow my car, or listen to him piss and moan about not being "off book" all day long. The former seemed the much less painful option.

Knowing Norm like I know Norm, I had no expectations of anything more than a "Thank you" once he returned my keys, even though it is 30+ miles round trip between work and his house. Unfortunately, I was spot on with that assumption.

Had I borrowed someone's car? I'd have returned it with more gas than it had in it before I borrowed it, and would have likely sprung for a car wash too. At the very least, I'd hand over $10 to cover costs.

Not Norm.

I think I'll provide him a copy of my 3 Rules For Courteous Borrowers next time:

1. If you can't replace it, think twice about borrowing it - I wasn't too worried about this aspect. I have insurance on my car,  Norm has insurance on his cars, and I know where he lives/works. But this is still a good rule.
2. Don't put people on the spot - Although Norm prefaced his request to borrow with, "If you say no I'll understand," asking really bordered on inappropriate. The world was not going to end if he didn't get to practice his community theater parts prior to rehearsal tonight. No one's life was on the line. And yes, I realize that I could just as easily have declined to loan him my car, but the ownness for courtesy is on the borrower, not the lender.
3. Return borrowed items promptly in the same or better condition than when borrowed - Whenever you are borrowing anything, someone else is doing you a favor. For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, return the item in at least the same condition as when you borrowed it. Gas in Illinois is $3.69/gallon. My 6-cylinder car gets 25MPG. Put $5 of gas in the damn thing before returning it!

Do you lend things to friends/family/co-workers? Do you borrow from those same people? What are your expectations?