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| Happy Olivia. At Omar's Vegan Paradise. I almost stole the book... Ji gifted me the earrings. He's going to be a ladyslayer. He already is... |
Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted. Last year was a difficult year, maybe one of my worst. But the nice thing about going through the desert is that the oasis is that much sweeter when you reach it. (Thanks, Madeline L'Engle.)
So some of you may have noticed that Mr. O hasn't been around for a bit, and that he tended to appear and disappear rather unexpectedly on the whole. It was difficult on all of us. Since Mr. O and I last parted ways, I decided maybe I needed to be a solo act until I figured some things out and felt like a real grown-up. (Although now I find out from Aunt Sh that not even having children can make you feel matured, it's a rather elusive state, it seems.)
Anyway, this post is about introducing a new cast member. It's only appropriate that P comes after O. I thought that O was the perfect fit for Olivia, both being Os. but it was not to be. I've morned probably longer than was needful. But I must say that Mr. P is very promising (no alliteration intended). I hope that he will stick around and become a permanent staring role. It may be a little premature to decide that, though.
He does come with recommendations. His sister performed the introductions. (There seems to be a pattern of sisters wanting me to meet their brothers. Not that I am complaining.) His history also recommends him--he's been very steady and long-suffering. And he is a man, not a boy. He's been around the block and has the scars to prove it. (I have to admit I'm a little sad to give up on the idea of being one of those self-assured and alluring women who ends up marrying a man 10 years her junior. Not the predatory cougar type, of course.)
Mr. P is divorced. I never actually married Mr. O, but we came very close, and it feels to me to be similar to what I imagine being divorced feels like in a slightly smaller magnitude. Although Mr. P would have preferred to work things out and stay married, the fact that he has been hurt in a similar way to how I have helps us to understand each other better. Even if we don't end up as permanent characters in each other's stories, I think getting to know each other and sharing the stories of our wounds will help us both to heal a little more. Mr. P has given me hope that I will not have to settle, that I can be as much in love as I once was with someone else.
We have been flirting with being mutually exclusive. We've been flirting, period. Which is strange to me, since I have always been bad at flirting or being sexy by trying. (Although I have a great sexy voice, naturally, Grandpa Art was the first but not the last to point this out.) Our late night/early morning talks range from being funny to being silly to very serious to challenging each other's knowledge and opinions of philosophy and science and religion and how different we are on the surface but how some of our roots run together. Invariable one or both of our exes comes up. Mr. P apologized last night for dwelling so much on his past relationship. I assured him that this was natural and should be expected, and as an afterthought I texted him to say that although we mostly had spoken about the difficult traits that his ex displayed, that I trusted that she had many wonderful qualities that lead him to want to marry her. The same goes for Mr. O.
Yesterday morning when I was driving to work I heard a Vance Joy song that I don't think I'd heard before that seemed to sum up our discussion perfectly: "Mess is Mine."
Do you like walking in the rain?
When you think of love, do you think of pain?
You can tell me what you see
I will choose what I believe...
Well hold on, my darling
This mess was yours,
Now your mess is mine
Your mess is mine
When I went to look up the song and buy the album, I discovered that Vance Joy also sings one of my other recent favorite radio finds:
Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat because
You're gonna sing the words wrong
Read more: Vance Joy - Riptide Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Pretty much the whole album Dream Your Life Away make an excellent sound track to our relationship:
Don't walk too proud, don't talk too loud
And make it up as you go
And take whatever you are given
And leave what you think you know
At the door
As she said
You could be my kind of man
And will you do the best you can
And I could use a little time
I need to straighten out my mind
Also, the music video feature a taxi-driving polar bear in a country where the steering wheel is on the left. Mr. P would make a decent polar bear, although he leans more towards the mongoose or aptly named marten, which is not quite a weasel but close. I will revel his pet name for me at a later date. Prepared to be scandalized. ;)
