Year in Review, 2002.

[judecorp]

Has it been twelve months already? Sheesh, where did the time go? Last year at this time, I was begging and pleading for 2002 to be a better year than 2001, and to be able to forget all about the last year. It worked. I'm almost scared for 2002 to end, because it was so wonderful.

So the tail end of 2001 was pretty neat. My father had survived a massive heart attack and big bypass surgery. I went to NYC and spent a night with rizzo41. And on the 28th of December, kieron came to pick me up at Jodie's to take us to Delaware. And now the rest is history.

In the first wee minutes of 2002, Jennifer was very intoxicated and upset, and told me she loved me. Then she passed out while I removed her shoes and socks and covered her up with blankets. In the morning, the real sunshiney morning, she said it again. I said it back. This began a whirlwind of activity. I stopped dating other people. I called off the affair with the married coworker. I began a long-distance monogamous relationship - and I'm not terribly good at /any/ of those words.

In February, I started meeting people from columbus, including laughingsal, pattisimmons, sixelachuck, badadam, and whod81. Then I met mayna and Bill, 356dreamer, the artist formerly known as crena, joviansun and a bunch of others. We started gathering regularly. And then, of course, on 28 February, Ryan and I began our Top Seekrit Boyfriend/Girlfriend Status. I stayed close with people from my Big Gay Job.

In March, we had the beginnings of Date Night, except that it was during the day, for lunch. I would come to meet sacharine and some other friends of Ryan's. Jennifer and I kept up the long-distance thing, and I bought a lot of airline tickets to New Jersey. Coworker Velma and I drove across the country to Boston, and then Jennifer and I spent several amazing days in Provincetown. Those are days I will never forget - Portuguese dinners, seascapes, discovering each other. Big learning experiences. Velma and I drove home and I prattled on for about 700 miles. She said I was glowing.

In April, I was winding down on a lot of things. I was trying to wrap up school, my internship, my Big Gay Job, and my marriage. Jennifer and I were talking about relocating to Boston. I met prettyvacantone. I learned that girls will drive you crazy. kungfoogirl and I became close again. I went out a lot.

Tension built in May and Jennifer and I were at each other's throats. We had too much going on and weren't coping well. My internship ended and my days of child therapy were gone. My brother turned 30. Summer began to arrive. Jennifer was supposed to visit for two weeks, and decided at the last minute not to come. We broke up. For the first time ever, I felt rage. I threw a bowl across the kitchen in my apartment. That scared the crap out of me. She left on good terms with me, though we thought it was for the best that we stay split up. I met wasted_breath.

In June, I graduated. My divorce went through. I went to Atlanta for graduation to hang out with kungfoogirl and awl, and I introduced them to geocaching. I came home to find that A. had moved out in my absence, taking a whole crapload of mutual stuff. Like all the pots and pans. I moved to my new place. I went to Pride. I started hanging out a lot with doulamel. I saw Elvis Costello, the B52s, the Indigo Girls. Great times. Jennifer went to camp and I wrote and sent packages regularly. I turned down a really great girl because I was still hung up.

In July, I went to visit my family in Rhode Island. It was like a new world. My mom finally got the nerve to ask me about Jennifer, only to find that we had broken up. I was still upset about it. I missed her. I still wrote and sent packages. I was unemployed, frantically sending resumes. I went out CONSTANTLY. I went geocaching in the daytime and learned a lot about Columbus. I explored my neighborhood. I went out. Everyone took me out to lunch and dinner. I was spoiled. Jennifer and I talked about her moving to Columbus. I said no. Then I said yes. Then she said no. We were still saying, "I love you." We called each other from respective beaches. I sipped Sangria in the early evening on the Narragansett coast with kyoki_tenchi. I saw siercia, scirocco, and lorac. And prunesnprisms and her Matty Jean.

In August, I was still unemployed. I went on job interviews. I saw vorpalbla at one of them. Whee! I continued to go out a lot. I spent boatloads of my savings. And then I got a job! I started working at Faith Mission on 21 August. I stopped going out so much. Jennifer got ready to return from camp. I told her, "You'll be home for thirty minutes and you'll be sick of it." Ryan and I celebrated six months (they said it wouldn't last) and he made me a mix CD.

In September, I had my first paid holiday - Labor Day! As predicted, Jen was miserable at home. She said she needed to talk to me in person, so she drove out on Labor Day and we talked at great length about her wanting to move to Columbus. She stayed for two weeks. We decided it was a good idea, but that we weren't going to be dating. Jen left, and rizzo41 came to visit me! She made me dinner and bought me flowers. And then I went to Missouri to visit my smurfbrother and his girlfriend Gretchen. We went to scary Kansas and went to a Renn Faire. Jen came back and started looking for apartments and jobs. Good times.

In October, I began to really like my job and my coworkers. I flew to New Jersey (after getting drunk with crushinator, chutup, and tandex) and drove back to Columbus with Jennifer, her Jeep, and the rental truck - Operation Second Date. We (me, Jen, Patti, and Missy) moved things in. Jen got a kitten, and then later got a job. We went out for our birthday on the 17th and I asked her out again, formally. We went to see The Laramie Project at CATCO. Fall never came - we went from summer to winter.

In November, the weather got c-c-cold! I liked my job, Jen liked her job, and things were pretty good. I started talking to my mother more. I went to the doctor and had an internal exam for the first time in 4 years. Jennifer and I spent Thanksgiving in her apartment, eating food that we'd made and watching Queer as Folk with the kitten. My brother and Gretchen came to visit and we all had a great time. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets came out, and I bumped into A and his new girlfriend at the Lennox.

In December, Jennifer totaled her Jeep and scared the crap out of both of us. We had some pretty intense moments, and hung through. My mother came to visit, met a lot of my friends, and had a wonderful time. We really bonded, and she got to meet my best girl. Jennifer got a new car, that is just like my car (creepystalker!). We parted ways to go see our parents for the holidays. We met up again in Northampton with lorac and her William. We got stranded in the big Christmas storm. We celebrated our first anniversary on the 28th, even if we did fudge out some of the time this summer. I'm smiling right now thinking about her wearing my earrings. They suit her. And so do I.

So that's about it. Good friends, a great girl, and the best boyfriend imaginable. A great job opportunity. New friends. Old friends. Quality sibling time. Life is beautiful. Come and get me, 2003!