Awkward Tension

I have ran into Keith 3 times this past month out with his boyfriend and company. Both times have been EXTREMELY awkward.

The first time was about a month ago the night after Thanksgiving I think, Black Friday, when I was meeting my lesbian coworkers at a gay bar. I walked in, took a seat at the bar, and voila, Keith was there in company with his new boyfriend, some young twinkie Arabic guy who was al over him. The guy was humping Keith, getting up on his back as he was sitting at the bar, and then the 2 of them were making out. My coworkers walk in and Keith looks over. He gave me several stares like I was not supposed to be there. I just nodded and chatted away with my coworkers before we decided to go on a walk instead around the hotels downtown looking at Christmas lights.

The second time I ran into him was at Target or somewhere similar- I can't remember. I was shopping and scrolling through my phone looking at my Christmas shopping list- who I needed to buy for- as he walked through the aisle. He said, "Hi Mike," in a stern voice and walked past me. I looked up and said "hi" as he turned to go down a different aisle.

The third time was Christmas night. I met my cousin in downtown to go Christmas light hunting and go through the hotels decorated for Christmas. She told me to meet on bar row, so I agreed, and was in the middle of giving her a call when I am walking and I see Keith and his boyfriend who was walking behind him with his arms around him. I am standing at the crosswalk and I see in the distance it is him. The light turns green, I walk across the street, and near where he is. He turns around, acts like nothing is going on, and says, "Hi Mike." I nodded and walked past him, past 3 bars to the one I was meeting my cousin. As I walked up to it I could feel his eyes on me staring. He then yelled "bye Mike." I was nearly in the bar by then and I didn't wave.

I get a text from him a few hours later that just said "awkward." I haven't replied.

Birthday Thoughts

My birthday is coming up, and I'm super excited. I have the day off work, it is on a weekend, and I will be getting to spend time with good friends/family. It is so nice!!!

Little could be better than last year's birthday that was so nice...

Unlike last year, I know what I want to do. I would like a little bit of surprise mixed in...

One thing I would like to do would be to:
- Do dinner with my good friends like Darla, Gonzo, The Guy, his boyfriend, JO Buddy, and his boyfriend - and no qualms this year because Mike has met all of them with the exception of Darla and Gonzo --- this will probably happen the weekend after my birthday

- I do know the boyfriend gets an invite with my family whatever restaurant I decide. Right now I'm deciding between Spanish and Italian.

Regardless, I'm anxious and looking forward to a day of surprises and spending time with those I love.

I have a thing for Lisa Marie

Maybe it's that she was Elvis' daughter? Maybe it is that she is so mysterious? Maybe it is she is sexy?

Because I was a kid of the 90s...

I had to think about what the top toys of the 90s were prior to reading this story. 5-6 came to mind and here's my list:

1. Tomagotchi's/Nano's
2. Furbies - 1998
3. Pogs -1st grade for me
4. Tickle Me Elmos- 1996
5. Beanie Babies
6. Nintendo 64, Sega, Playstation
7. Gameboys

... And here's what the "researchers" said... I got several correct, but no Furby? No Tickle Me Elmo?

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas!!!

I wanted to share my family's Christmas tradition with you to see if anyone does the same thing as this dominated much of my bf's and my conversations this week:

CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24

1. We bake tons of Christmas cookies.

2. We have a big nice dinner on Christmas Eve that my dad preps. Usually it is steaks or a rib eye roast.

3. After my dad cooks dinner we clean up, then get ready to open gifts.

4. My mom is usually insistent we sing a Christmas carol or two before opening up gifts. I mouth them. That's not something I enjoy. Put the holiday station on in the back and I'm good.
MY BF thought this was the weirdest thing and none of the people he talked to had ever heard of such a thing. He questioned everyone we met if they did that, and the response was overwhelmingly no, what planet are you from>

5. We open up gifts on CHRISTMAS EVE. It is something we have always done- my mom has done it - her mom talked about the tradition starting back in the 1930s when her husband proposed to her on Christmas Eve. My dad's side of the family does it too- a Roman Catholic family. My best friend does it too as it is a German tradition.
Does anyone else do this?! I can think of probably 10 people I know who open all of their gifts Christmas Eve and then get stockings/pajamas etc. the next day on Christmas Day. Some people I know get a small gift on Christmas Eve, then they open up everything the next day, which my BF thinks is normal. These are all of the family gifts after all that we have bought for each other, so it seems appropriate, then the "Santa gifts" are for Christmas Day. My question is when things are wrapped and under the tree prior to Christmas, how are they from Santa?

6. We get stockings every year and it is full of gift certificates, candies, Life Savers, even though Santa is not real, my parents fill them.

7. We only have stockings and maybe 1 leftover present for Christmas day since of course Santa is not real.

8. My dad makes a nice breakfast or we snack on candy and cookies before going to the relatives.

Met his parents

SUNDAY

Arrive at 7pm at Mike's. We exchange gifts. We filled each other's stockings and bought each other gifts. I got him a brand name watch, which was funny since he bought me the same watch, but the cheaper brand of it. I found a great price for his on amazon. I also got dinnerware for him that he has been eyeing. He bought me a sweater that I wore on Friday that was brown and orange and perfect for NJ as he termed. He also got me a purple BN sweater, which I had been wanting. We got lots of candy for each other in our stockings. I don't think he'd planned to spend that much, but went out and bought stuff after he found I was serious about the gifts and a stocking. We wait around to leave until the town Santa comes through, but they were too far away and weren't going to get to us. We head out the opposite directions and I drive us to the hotel. While driving Mike wants to hear all about my family's holiday traditions, and then of course makes fun of me and tells me how weird that was. Every subsequent person we met throughout the week heard just how weird my family is. We get to the hotel, check in, then get Perrier water at the convenience store down the street, then back to the hotel to sleep. We go to bed about 11.



Monday
Get a text bright and early from Linda at 5am. We take the hotel shuttle to the airport in OC. We are in economy on our flight to NY. We arrive in NJ, get a rental car, go to Mike's parent's to surprise them - he told them we'd arrive Tuesday. When we arrived it was just like, "oh, you're here, you're early, that's nice," which was so different than the reaction I'd have had in my family, but it was cool to see the contrasts in our families. We get in to NJ about 3pm. We go to the hotel after for drinks and do some shopping in 2 outlets around his house.



Tuesday
We get up at 10:30, we slept in. We go to his mom and dad's house where we take her mom and her friend to their nail appointment. We go to Hallmark and Starbucks in the meantime. Then we go to the Jersey shore to Seafood Shanty for lunch. We had seafood. Then we drive around the area and suddenly end up at the Jersey SHore house. Of course i had to get out and take photos/get pictures of me in front so that I can show my kids at work. Afterward, we go to the mall, drop his mom and friend off, then we are off to babysit a friend of his twins', afterward we stop at Princeton Uni, and then to a few stores before going back to the hotel for drinks. Bed about 1.



WEDNESDAY
We get up about 10, then go to a Jersey snadwich place for a Jersey breakfast, which was pork, eggs, and cheese on a hard roll. It was pretty good. We go to his mom's afterwards and hang out with his dad who was home for a few hours from work. He wants to go pick up his tile for their kitchen, so we go there, then when his mom gets back we go to Sams, WalMart, and the outlet mall. I fell more in love with him as we went through Sam's and his mom was so cute as she asked, "want any wine?," and he said no, but it was so cute, I could never/rarely see my mom doing that, and how explicitly she asked was hilarious. I push her around Sams. We end up at the outlet mall later after we drop his mom off. We also go to an expensive $20+ per plate Chinese place that was really tasty- it should have been for that price! We visit the local mall where we get his niece and mom gifts, and I get my sister a few thingys too. They don't really exchange gifts, and he talks about how he doesn't have to shop for gifts, yet he bought stuff for his mom, dad, and little niece. Cute- that sounds like him. We go back to the hotel since bottles of wine were buy 1 get 1 free and split that between the 2 of us.



THURSDAY


We were up early to go to Jersey, but of course had to play around. We stopped by Mike's mom's, then we called his friend LaRa whom I'd met before. We picked her up before going into the city. We drove into the city and found the hotel, walked to the Chelsea Market, a large indoor mall, then to a pizza place called Artichoke Pizza. We went back to the hotel and changed for going to see the Rockettes. We walk down to RadYo City and watch the show. It was really good- the Santa parts were slow, but the Rockettes were fantastic- so in sync! We walk down to RockefFFFeller Center after to see the tree and take pictures in front of it. We admire many of the store fronts and stop in stores like Uniqlo. We go uptown to meet Mike's friend Kaytee who was a veterinarian. She was coming from work and we met her at a bar, the MickGee's Bar shown in the TV show 2 1/2 Men that is right below her apartment. We then go to a restaurant in Hell'z Kitchen called Nook that I highly recommend as it is BYOB and very reasonable- great salmon- and Mike and his friend brought the booze back. It was cute. Everyone made comments about who was the drunk- Mike. It was pretty fun. We go back to Rockefeller and down to Time's Square. We eat at a TGI Fridays and have dessert- vanilla bean cheesecake. We get back to the hotel at 1am- we take the train back and walk a little bit.



FRIDAY
We get up at 9:30, shower, and go outside of the hotel to find flowers for Mike's mother. We get the car and head out of Jersey to a diner shown on Guy Fieri's Diner's, Drive Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. I had an omelette and it was ok. Mike dropped me off at the airport about 3 and we kiss/hug. I get in about 8pm. It was so hard to say goodbye and I would have loved to stay with him throughout Christmas.

Press Your Luck/Whammy

Does anyone remember this 80s game show? I just found out you can play it online and it is so addicting!!!

A new Montgomery Gentry song!

Weeks ago I was wondering when they'd have a new album, and alas there is a new song. It took a while to grow on me, pero it meets my approval.

My Christmas Must Hears

And it has to be these versions!

I actually didn't blog something!

There was one thing, one side of my life, that I was so hesitant to blog about that I really wanted to over the past few months. I was struggling at work with classroom management. It ate at me for weeks and I spent a lot of time working hard to improve upon it. I had great classroom management where I came from, but it seemed that I wasn't fully prepared for what I experienced. I have been working hard and have improved greatly. It was something I didn't want to admit because the administration was looking down on me at the time and the thought loomed in the back of my head about the possibility of not being rehired, and I was scared. I am glad to say I'm doing much better. I didn't want to say much because I felt a tremendous loss of pride. I feared the comments like why did I become a teacher? Why am I failing the kids? Irrational, I know, but hey, I'm learning, and I'm improving with the kinds of kids I have. I was feeling so worn down and stressed, and Mike's constant critical eye had me hesitant to say anything. I was at the point I didn't care. But now I'm doing better... woo!

Dinner parties

THURSDAY

I head over to my boyfriend's about 1p.m after doing lunch with Gonzo and running errands like returning the hideous snow boots my mom bought me in the morning. So great to meet up with Gonzo.

When I arrive Mike is busy cleaning the kitchen and I help by dusting and vacuuming the entire house. We spend about 2 hours cleaning. It wasn't messy, but we were just thorough and detailed in the cleaning. Wt head out shortly after to get groceries. We were having a dinner party with The Guy and his boyfriend. We go to the grocery store with pasta in mind, but then decide to use up the potatoes we have, and so we got some fish. F&S was out of fish, so we went to Stayters.

We cleaned a little more, then started putting the appetizers together. We debated over the prepping of the fish. We settled on some lemon juice, salt, and pepper. He puts the appetizers in the oven, some brie bites, and everything is ready when they arrive. I greet them at the door, hug, and let them in. They were so complimentary about what a beautiful house Mike has. We all came in the kitchen and made small talk as we waited for the appetizers. Then we went in the formal living room to eat and chat. We talked about our vacation, me getting to meet the parents, what Mike does for a living, my sister, Linda, and a whole bunch of other random stuff. Mike and I took turns going back and forth to the kitchen to check on the food, then we ate about 9:15. We chatted for a while at dinner about cars, it turns out The Guy and his boyfriend just purchased a car together - a $40,000 Audi. They had it for 2 weeks before it needed a new engine. I am floored he got a new car - wow. Mike wanted to show off his pride, his Audi, and so we head out to the garage. They both loved it. The Guy also liked Mike's other car, but was disappointed to hear Mike wasn't completely sold on it. We head inside, hug, and exchange Christmas gifts. Mike, I know, was thrilled to finally get to entertain; and it meant a lot to me that he came out and didn't flake.

We cleaned up, then headed to bed. We were tickling each other, but were too tired and fell asleep about 12:30a.m.


FRIDAY

We are tired, but up at 7. I was super tired. I make us bagels. I told him I needed allergy shots and he decided to go with me. I drove. He told me I was a nervous nelly while driving. There was a big accident on the freeway, so we took surface streets. We got there late only because of the accident and they said to come back at 1:30 for a shot. We went to Kole's where Mike bought hand towels and other random stuff. We went to an old El Torito after before going back to get my shots. We had time to kill, so we go to Target. We head back to his city after. We go the long way around since he told me to- and stop at Kirkland's, Petco, and a few other stops. We were both tired, but I head out, as I wanted to get a haircut since I didn't think of having my mom's friend do it like usual, so I had to pay for my first haircut ever... lol. I ran to the dry cleaner for my shirts down the street and ran into the lesbian math teacher and her partner. Talked to them for a while. They were so friendly. I get back to Mike's and fall asleep. He tells me after I woke up that I was gone for so long, but I explained who I ran into. He woke me up I swear- he tapped me or something- I was in a deep sleep. He made spaghetti for dinner and rolls. We watch RHOA, but I fall asleep and thus am missing key elements to knowing what happens next week. We went to bed about 12:30 and we were both horny that I cuddled up into him, he kissed and jacked me off, then I flipped around and fucked him.


SATURDAY

We were up about 7:30. I watched the news to hear the latest on the 60 closure. We go in the living room for bagels, to finish our little sun catchers we were making, and then bake them. I had never done those as a kid- my mom dismissed them as messy and that they didn't work well. I was so amused when they did. We play on the computers, then get showered and dressed, we head to Lowe's, and Subway. Yummy meatball marinara. We stop at Big Lots and then Stayters again. We were going to do steak for this next dinner party, but Mike convinced me to do a roast for his rotisserie. We also get some salmon.

We go home and assemble the table for the party, Mike works on the appetizers, and voila, we are ready. I do the potatoes and prep the meat/put it on the rotisserie. A few texts to make us think my parents were going to be about 5 minutes late, but instead were 5 minutes early. Mike lets them in, I invite them in from the kitchen, and finish working on my potatoes. My sister was along. She was having her own crisis - she was getting like 100 emails on her phone. OH NO! That was a conversation piece for a while, then we sat down, and enjoyed the first 2 sets of appetizers- brie and pizza rolls. Mike gets up a couple times to put things in the oven. One of those trips as we were finishing up he dropped some lemon juice accidentally on the door of the oven and it shattered. He was not amused and was thinking it is an excuse for new appliances. While sitting my sister talked about her job offer, wanting to move, Chicago, her travels. My mom questioned Mike about his travels, his Christmas tree, and a few other things. When everything was done we went into the dining room to eat. At dinner we talked about my mom's school, my school, Mike's town, what we are doing in NY when we go back, and a little more about himself. We served cheesecake bites and then dinner was done. My parents left about 7:50. As they left Mike poked me and told me they were cute, but some alcohol would have helped everything. Yay for parent visit #2. And he met the sister and didn't think she was that bad. He's the devil's advocate, however. We were cleaned up by 8:15, and Mike and I watched TV for 15 minutes while he looked at replacing the oven door online.

At 8:30, we hugged, kissed, and then I headed out. I came home and packed my bags. Ready to go...

Recap of last week for my sake

FRIDAY
- I was so over work - we went to Home Goods and other random stores, ate dinner at the fish house, walked around the mall, got icicle lights for the tree outside, Target

SATURDAY
- Up early for home visits, went to Mike's after, went shopping to the city to the east and looked for more icicle lights/walked around the shopping center, Hallmark, Petco, dinner in the evening at Claim Jumper, Target, etc.

SUNDAY
- Up and off to Kohls, breakfast, Target
- Head home about 12:30 to meet Linda, her husband, and do Christmas with them, set up Christmas tree, go looking at houses with her, back to ours for dinner

MONDAY
- Up and off to work... long day
- Dentist after school
- Off to Mike's after where he makes some chicken strips, yummy potatoes, and some bread for dinner
- Go grocery shopping after and to Target

TUESDAY
- Over to Mike's about 3 to hang out until the awkward work Christmas party where no spouses/significant others were allowed to attend. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a great party. It was ok. Stayed for a few hours to chat people up and then headed back to Mike's where i told him about the party, laid, and tickled him

WEDNESDAY
- Up and off to work... I did it! Woo!
- Got to his place about 2:30 and we chat, talk, tell him about my day, the homework I had to do, chat with my dad, and head home for his help

THURSDAY
- Excited for tomorrow and the weekend......!!!

Music Wednesday - Christmas edition

I really do care for my kids

I was up bright and early Saturday morning for home visits with my colleagues. We visited several students houses.

One student, KD, is one of my most difficult students in my most difficult classes. He has hates me, I'm mean, I don't know what I'm talking about, and he refuses to work in my class, and listen to me. I got written up in my evaluation because someone wouldn't stop talking- it was him.

I have called his house many times- at least 4- and spoken to his great grandmother about it. She has always said she is doing everything within her power, but at her age, 93, it was hard. I didn't deny that. She said she praises me for everything I've done with him and to continue being hard on her great grandson. I told her I plan to.

I tried to get to visit his house because he is one of my most difficult students and I felt I could make a connection during that home visit. I saw he was chosen for a home visit, but I wasn't able to go to his house since I was on a different team.

When I got back to the school after the visit, I stood around and talked to several teachers. When it was time to get my food, as we had a luncheon for all whose homes we visited, the lesbian math teacher, came up to me and told me that KD's great grandma was there and had something for me. I was a little nervous at that moment because I had nothing to worry about, but I have called expressing such frustration to this old woman I thought she'd be tired of me. Hardly. She made me 3 homemade tamales and told me how much she appreciated me. She made a special trip to the school to see me- how sweet is that? KD is always telling her how I am so hard on him and sound like her, as I always say the same things his great grandma does. I chuckled. She told me all about this student's home life, how his mom never cared for him, his grandma died, and she was the only one left. She is raising 4 kids ranging from 7-17 and 2 are real handfuls. She told me how this kid is not as outgoing as he seems- he has purple hair one day and is the class clown. He spends lots of time at home reading and drawing. She told me how someone broke into their house a few months back in October and stole his iPod touch that he prized so much, and how he cried for days. They also stole a bunch of photos from his childhood. That crushed me. I wanted to cry. She told me about the softer side of the kid, which I rarely see. It was good to hear that because it explained a lot of why he could have been acting up in my class. I guess his g-grandma has had a long talk with him and has said how I'm such a great guy - I was much younger than she expected because I sound so mature on the phone. KD has brought his grade up 14% over the past 2 weeks and is actually working in my class.

There's a lot more to his story - my team members think that the student doesn't like me because he is obviously very flamboyant and probably isn't around a lot of gay guys, and has pegged me as one, and its scary to him since so many people say being gay is bad, so he rebels and treats me badly. In all classes where this kid has a male teacher he has a much lower grade. Also, just imagine what the kid is going through being raised by his great grandma...

This was just such a nice gesture by this great grandmother to care so much for me, and even after I've been so tough on her great grandson, she sees that I really do care for him, and it just means so much to me. I was on the verge of tears most of the time she was praising me.

I am hoping that talking to grandma has helped with this student as I know a lot of new things about him, I see how he is already trying harder, and I know a lot more about his interests where I can tailor lessons to incorporate things like art/music to be able to make that connection. I learned his favorite singer is Lady Gaga, and have an awesome idea about the college assignment we are doing in the next few days to have him research Lady Gaga's college she attended- that would be NYU's art school - we'll forget about the part she didn't graduate from it.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of parents, I heard from a couple teachers about 2 parents that "hate my guts" and "hate my ass." Ok... lol.

Mannfriend

FRIDAY

Spent with my mann friend, we went to Chilis if memory serves me correctly, or somewhere over near there... Olive Garden... I had what we thought was a $25 gift card, but we soon realized there was only $4 left on it since we'd used it before, so he paid for dinner. After we went to Sams Club for a tequila rifle for a gift I needed to buy. Mike joked I was going to get his dessert there and pay for it. We found none - except stuff in bulk. We went to the pet store where I fell in love with a persian kitty that I was so tempted in allowing Mike to get. It was precious and was blind in an eye.

SATURDAY

We ventured to Kohls in the middle of the day, as well as the pet stores. We went back to his place where we watched some TV and then headed out to dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant that was just so-so-ehhh. We blew down (because it was super windy and cold- like 30 degrees) to see the Muppet Movie at the mall. We go back to his house.

SUNDAY

We don't move too far until the late afternoon. We go to Chilis; Target where there were tons of people, an insane line; Cost Plus, and DSW. We also go to Marshalls and Joann. I didn't make it home - mi madre had been calling me several times.

We also went to the mall in the afternoon. We went to the one near school and 2 students in my homeroom saw me. I didn't hear until Tuesday. I would have thought they would have come up to me, but no. We went to all the stores including Bath and Body Works. Not sure what store they saw me in... anyway, on Tuesday one kid stood up after we were done testing to announce she saw me at the mall. I said, "Yeah, you probably did." Another said, "yeah, he was with his mannfriend." I laughed. She said "it's ok Mr., your secret is safe with me." I chuckled and said there's nothing wrong with man friends, he could be a neighbor friend too," but she knows I'm sure, and well, whatever. It was amusing and Mike got a great laugh out of my newfound ally.

My man friend and I changed positions in bed, and that was interesting... it had been a long time since I'd done that.

MONDAY

Spent the evening and night with him. He made some chicken strips and rice. It was pretty good. We watched lots of TV like 2 1/2 Men. Dumb show. Awful to watch.

TUESDAY

Dinner con mi familia- mis padres en particular y we went to Carrows. The food was horrid. I had a dirt salad- or at least that's what it tasted like.

Discovered my new favorite song in the car driving to dinner.


WEDNESDAY

Back at Mike's. He was working on expenses for work and whipped up some pasta after a while, as well as bread. It was delicious. He made me some for work today- love him! We both fell asleep on the couch and made it into the bedroom around 12:15

THURSDAY

Went to Mike's after school and he was watching TV on the couch. Told him all about my day- the meetings, the parents, etc. etc. Long day. Told him about the lesbians at work. He looked up the menu for Chevee's and we went for some quesadillas. Convo was all about work at Chevee's, which was fun, as he gave me pointers, suggestions, told me to kiss up to the principal, assistant, etc. etc. He was cute. We had a margarita and quesadilla, then walked around the mall. Joked about if anyone would see me at this other mall 2 cities away with my mannfriend. I found some zapatos en Nordstrom Rack y un regalo de polish for mi mom en Nordstrom. We stopped for bread at the market after. Driving back to his place i realize I didn't have the supplies I needed for this weekend for work, so I came home to do that. Visited with the family y my dad was excited to see me again.

I'm still here

I'm in the final stretch at work, busy grading as the quarter comes to an end. I am trying to coordinate 2-3 events in addition.

I am enjoying most other waking moments with my man friend as he is termed by several students who spotted us at the mall together on Sunday.

Wednesday's 70s Female Songs

Yes, Vickie Lawrence was the first to cover this song. That always is a random bit of trivia I love to throw around. And did you know what a Kangaroo court was?

Met my cousin

THURSDAY

I had a "you can't make this shit up" start to Thanksgiving, but then the drama mellowed out thankfully, and got to enjoy all of my extended family

FRIDAY

Lots of Black Friday shopping by myself and with my mother

SATURDAY

Finally got to see my bf after texting him all week. He had a great time at home, b His flight got in after midnight Friday night. We met about 9:30 or 10. My mom had intended to spend the day with me when she figured out I was going to SD, but I had other plans. I made up a white lie and was off to see my bf.

I get to his place about 10:30 and he is watching TV. We watch King of Queens or Mike and Molly, and he books a hotel and I pick out a restaurant to meet my cousin at. I offer to pay for the hotel, but he says my AAA card would suffice.

We drive to SD, but stop in Temec for honey since his friend back home swore that was what I needed for my allergies, then we stopped at a Chilis for a margarita and lonché. We get to SD, find the super awesome hotel and then we go up to the room and fall asleep in each others arms for a few hours. I call the restaurant and make reservations, and seal everything up with my cousin.

We meet my cousin at 6 at an Italian restaurant. Our hotel was close enough to walk thanks to someone's great thinking. I see my cousin standing outside and the man she was with looked nothing like what I told Mike I had imagined him to be. He was a little surprised as we were walking up and told me so. We hug, shake hands, and introduce ourselves. I never told my cousin I was gay in text. I just told her I had a special someone I wanted to introduce her to. She hugs, meets him, and I check into the restaurant. She goes to the restroom to freshen up, text me, and tell me how cute my bf is, as well as his great smile. It makes me melt, let me tell you.

We see the campy humor of my cousin's boyfriend, my cousin asks me all about the family and I divulge. Mike ordered a bottle of wine, which he said later made everything much more bearable. He thought my cousin was super overly excited and asked if she was always like that- I said yes - and he thought the meet was interesting - my cousin wants to meet him again.

We texted afterward and I told her about not being out to her mom, and she agreed it was best not to be. She told me she can't wait to meet again and I told her what a great guy she found.

Mike and I go back to the hotel, watch some kids movie on TV, and fall asleep cuddled up to each other, which was so nice.


SUNDAY

Up, shower, and go to a brunch restaurant in NW SD. We talk about what a strange place it was, then we go to the outlets and don't find a lot. We head home. He makes a pizza for lunch, look at the ads, and I create lesson plans. For dinner he makes chicken marsala- vegetarian style of course. We go to bed about 10:30 and fool around, and I suck him off for a sec.

MONDAY

Up and off to work again... I figure I could do this. Rowdy kids. Grrr. Home at 4. Tell him all about my day and coworkers. About 4:30 he starts dinner and he mentions how we need to vacuum. I offer and get it out of the cupboard and start. I do that for about 30 minutes - and by the time I'm done, I'm warm, and we relax until his shepherd's pie is done. It was quite good. I'd only had it once or twice before. We watch some RHOBH and WWHL. He gets ready to pack for work to go to ATL about 8:30 and I watch TV. We fall asleep about 10:30 and he introduces me to some new 90s show I'd never heard of- I can't remember the name.

TUESDAY

My bf has to get up at 4:30 to catch his flight. He kisses me, tells me he loves me, and then is off once he is dressed. I fall back asleep and am in a deep sleep when I'm awaken at 6:30.

Wednesday Spanish Music

Love the sexy sound of Aventura


I wanna go see him so badly Friday night.

Horny

I've been off a week and not had the stress of work. I've been hornier and have only taken 1 anxiety pill... hmmm

Sexuality Survey

1. How old were you when you knew you were gay?
Probably as early as 5-6, and I knew it was a fact in high school, but was too scared to act on it until I was 20.

2. Have you ever had sex with the opposite sex?
Nope, never

3. Who was the first person you came out to?
Gonzo

4. Are you out to your family?
Yes- immediate.

5. Do you want children?
No

6. Do you have more gay friends or straight friends?
I think I have more straight friends.

7. Were you out in school?
No... can't even imagine being for how some of the kids were made fun of in my high school

8. Is your best friend the same sex as you?
Yes

9. If your best friend is the same sex, have you ever had sex with them?
Nope.

10. Have you ever done crystal meth?
Nope

11. Have you ever been in a sling?
No, but willing to try

12. Have you ever done a 3-way?
Yes... it's been a while!

13. Have you ever dressed in drag?
Nope

14. Would you date a drag queen?
Not a chance

15. Are you ‘fixed in your ways’ as it were?
Yes and no

16. Cher or Bette?
Cher

17. Have you dated someone of a different ethnicity?
No

18. Been to Fire Island? Saugatuck? Key West? Ft. Lauderdale? Palm Springs?
Palm Springs

19. How many Madonna CDs do you own?
0 - I do have Material Girl on my iPod

20. Name of your first love?
The Guy

21. Do you still talk to them?
Yes

22. Does size matter?
To a certain extent, yes... it is also how you use what you have

23. Biggest turn on?
Face

24. Biggest turn off?
Arrogance

25. Ever been harassed due to your orientation?
A little

26. Worst gay stereotype that applies to you?
My voice

27. Ever been to a pride rally?
Yes

28. Would you marry if you could?
Whoa... that may be moving a bit too fast, though I do love him

29. Would you rather be rich and smart or young and beautiful?
Rich and smart

30. Do you sculpt your eyebrows?
Yes

31. Do you trim your body hair?
Yes

32. Ever had sex with more than one person in a day?
Yes

33. Ever been to an orgy?
4 guys

34. Which character in “The Women” best reflects you?
?

35. Favorite gay expression ?
Puhlease

36. How may ‘ex’ do you have?
Male and Female - 2

37. Do you believe in fairies?
No.

38. Do you have any tattoos?
No, and have no want for one; they're permanent

39. Do you have any piercings?
No... nipples or ears... one day

40. Would you date a smoker?
As long as they smoked in moderation/weren't a chainer

41. If you are male, do you know many lesbians?
Yes, as of late, I do

42. Do you know anyone who has died from HIV?
No

43. Are you part of a gay organization?
Nope

44. Is your gym cruisy?
No

45. Grindr or Scruff?
Grindr

46. Are your best years behind or in front of you?
Ahead

47. Got Porn?
Many pics and vids

48. Make out music?
I have a whole playlist devoted to sexy songs that are perfect for this. Unfortunately when I'm making out there is never music playing, but if there were it would probably be one of these songs. One song that comes to my head is "It's Your Love" by Tim and Faith... that's like song sex. Lady A's "Need You Now," Garth's "The Dance," "Someone Like You" by Adele, "Always Be My Baby," by Mariah Carey, or Benny Mardones' "Into The Night"



49. Ever been in love with a straight guy?
I have had a few crushes, but never love

50. Did you ever have sex with him?
No.

51. Have you ever been to a nude beach?

No... one day

52. Have you ever been to a bath house?
No... can't say I haven't been tempted to go

53. Ever had sex in public?
In a car

54. What gay gene did you miss out?
The ability to match clothing

Things I am thankful for

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!!! Hope you are out spending the day with family, friends, and loved ones.

Here's a list of things I am thankful for this year:
- My dream job
- My fun new colleagues
- A mostly gay friendly environment at work
- My sexy boyfriend who is cute, easygoing, and we don't always agree, yet are respectful/never have major arguments
- A caring boyfriend, at that, one who listens to me complain about work and likes to give a different perspective to everything... lol
- A loving family
- Getting to introduce my boyfriend to the family
- My mom helping me to be prepared for this school year
- All of the travel I have been able to do this year like Mississippi for my friend's wedding, my first visit to Mexico, my 2nd visit to see the Mayan pyramids, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Sequoia, San Diego, and more...
- Getting to see my cousin from Oklahoma more this year than in the past 5-10 years
- Good health
- Mostly good students
- Getting 2nd row concert tickets to Adele

- Great friends like The Guy, Gonzo, my bestie in MS, Jack Off Buddy, Darla, and several others

The great bloggers I have met and loyal readers who provide support/feedback, as well as bloggers whom I enjoy reading:
Dan in OKC
Mind of Mine
Closet Professor who constantly educates us about gay history
Vic de Vixx
Joey at Who's Life
New Day, New Life
Marvin at Mostly Unfabulous
Aek at The Masks We Wear
Kelly at Rambling Along
Dean at Exploding Doughnut (and that he knows how to spell doughnut instead of donut is hot ;-)
B at All Mixed Up in Ca

Wednesday 70s and 80s music

One of my favorites...

Sharing our significant others

My cousin who frequently visits Cali has officially moved out here and wants to do dinner Saturday night. She is moved in with her boyfriend and wants me to meet him. She made a proposition for dinner Saturday night after texting back and forth over the past week or so, and she wants to meet. She wants to introduce me to her man, and I want to introduce her to mine. The problem? I'm not really out to her. I think I've sort of hinted.

I haven't replied to her proposal for dinner, but I want to say something along the lines of, "are we bringing our significant others? I'd like to bring mine, but you should know that he is a guy, and that I am gay." Awkward much?

Or maybe my reply should be like "I would love for you to meet my boyfriend."

Maybe I should call her because coming out over text is so impersonal?

Our weekend adventure

THURSDAY

My weekend adventure started Thursday night. I knew Mike was getting home from his flight about 5pm and I was planning on being at work extra late. I popped out in time to stop by the store to find something to cook. I debated about attempting a vegetarian version with fake meat of my family's stroganoff, which sounded delicious. I then decided on some tomato basil tortellini from Taste of Home. I text him, find out when he is off the plane, and start cooking. I'm finishing up as he walks in the door. I think he is surprised, gives me a kiss, pours me a glass of wine, and we catch up. I hear about work and his plane ride. We fall asleep on the couch in the evening and make our way to the bedroom about 12.

FRIDAY

I had an all night field trip to chaperone to an amusement park, so I had a crazy day. I had an evaluation at work, had crazy kids due to the excitement from the field trip, and had lots of grading to do. I left work at 3:15 to sneak to Mike's where he had made peppers stuffed with cream cheese. I have a few of those, then head back to work at 4:35 when Lipstick Lesbian calls asking where I was. The all night field trip was pretty chaotic because the lady who organized it was not the most organized and a few people bailed on chaperoning, but I was in for it. OMG. So much fun. The organizer and I had a blast riding the rides. I enjoyed going on the scary rides with my kids and bumper cars. I get in at nearly 5am and sneak next to Mike in bed.

SATURDAY

Up at 9:30am since I couldn't sleep any longer. Mike makes me an egg/toast while I tell him about the field trip in detail. I shower and then we take off. We go over to the OC to Nordstrom Rack, Kohls, and stop at TGI Fridays for an appetizer. We also stall killing time at Rite Aid and Trader Joes before heading to J and B's house. We chat, they talk about their house projects, school, and work. They give us the options for the evening. We head to Downtown Orange to a brewery for a drink and bad service, then across the way to a small restaurant for a pork chop. We then head to another brewery for beer tasting. We sample each other's beers. Mike uses the excuse he has to drive to pour alcohol in me. We were both very touchy in J and B's back seat as we drove to Fresh & Easy for pie, then to their house. We ate pie and talked more about random stuff. We head home about 11 and get to his place about 12. We both fall asleep after we brush our teeth, exhausted.

SUNDAY

Up at 9:30, breakfast at Mickey D's, then to Banananana Republic, JCPenney, and a few other stores. We get back to his place about 1p.m He makes us veggie burgers and I try my first- it wasn't bad- it was pretty tasty. It could possibly satisfy a burger craving- maybe. I enjoyed a coke with breakfast btw, which was yummy; Mike didn't think coke for breakfast was good and suggested alternates. We watch Bravo all afternoon, clean the kitchen, and he uses my tortellini from the other day as a base for his tomato basil pasta he serves with dinner. He added pasta and olives. It was yummy. It poured rain all afternoon and it was romantic as we laid watching the X-mas tree/TV. About 8pm the AMA's came on and we watched TV. We bet on each category as they came on as to who would win. About 9:30-10, he gets ready to pack to go home for Thanksgiving.

Best AMA performances were Kelly Clarkson's Mr. Know It All and Katy Perry's acoustic version of her song The One Who Got Away. Kelly was best dressed in my opinion. Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera were worst.




We head to bed about 11:30, cuddle, make out, and then have sex.

MONDAY

Up at 7, he showers, and I lay in bed. I like that reversal from the usual. I bragged about how nice it was as I played with the kitty. He made his final preps packing and I got my clothing ready to take home to wash.

Met my dad at 9 to set up my retirement plan at the bank. Took my car for service after at a mechanic nearby. Being a commuter I should take much more care of my car and so I don't have to dump tons of money into it at once. The car was really sick as it is still in the repair shop healing. I am out about $1,100. Hopefully I get CarCar back tomorrow.

TUESDAY

Went to LA con mi papa and there was a lot of silence during the trip, then this evening we sat in my room and watched TV.

Dad's depression

My dad has severe PTSD resulting from Vietnam. I hate to mention it because it has been something that is apart of the reason we have never been close. It has been scary at times living with him as a kid. There are several situations I can think of from the past that could go to demonstrate that.

My dad's PTSD has gotten worse in recent months, and one of the reasons is me. I found a letter where my dad wrote down notes that was rather depression and scathing that he wrote for his doctor's appointment that showed how upset he is with me that I'm never home and I don't pay attention to him. He wrote how he believed that he is the one who caused it because of the way he treated me in the past and I'm using my 20s to retaliate against him.

I overheard a phone call when my mom accidentally redialed my phone number a few months back. She was talking to someone and she said how I was telling her that I'd never be hard, and she understood that I was older, but it was taking a toll on my dad and he is in a depression over it. I held on and she just said how much it is paining her.

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch with my mom talking about Christmas gifts that I would like and she said that I would be lucky to get my dad out of the house. I asked why, and she said he is so depressed over me never being home that he hardly leaves the house. He has to be convinced by my sister to go to the grocery store on weekends. He has stopped calling me each day to ask if I'm going to be home for dinner because he can't stand the rejection. He only goes out when asked several times. Today when my mom and I went out shopping he didn't want to go and she said it was because he doesn't think I'm being genuine about wanting to be around him.

I don't know what to think about this, but I hate to think that this is the case...

I know it is probably a response to many things and he is probably displaying his frustration in the wrong way, but he has to understand I'm growing up... maybe we'll just have to schedule time for each other.

Best NYC Restaurants

Hey guys,

I'm looking for suggestions. Do you have any favorite NYC restaurants with a great happy hour, cheap appetizers, or great food for under $30 a person?

Thanks, as always!

To go or not to go to OKC

To go or not to go to OKC during Thanksgiving Break is the question. 25,000 rewards miles. I have 26,000. It would be fun to see my little cousins.

Tickets are about $500... had I purchased earlier...

Wednesday's music finds

This may be my favorite Rihanna song

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Well, I do have my "you," so I'm quite content and happy, but what do I get him is the question?

I am about to start my holiday shopping as all the stores have their holiday decorations out and I want to get in the mood.

Some thoughts include a watch, some nice speakers for the bedroom for iPods, concert tickets, and a few other things.

What is a good gift? I'm thinking $250 and under...

I am also thinking 1 big gift and a couple small ones like when we are in NY together to make things special.

He is the one who has to work during the weekend...

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

I had every intention of going home after work, but Mike was back home and said he would see me shortly. We went to Chilis for a margarita and a sangria swirl that was pretty intense. We go to Sams Club for a few bath and beauty products. After dinner we head to his place for some Top Chef and other shows. We both fall asleep on the couch and I text my parents I won't make it home. Mike did find me some clothes in his closet i could borrow for Thursday. We wake up at 2:30am and make our way to bed.

THURSDAY

Up early and off to work. Got off work and headed out ASAP along with my partner teachers. I call Mike and leave a message, then head to meet my mom, Linda, and several other teachers I used to work with for dinner. Done with dinner about 6:30pm and head home to get clothes at home. Get clothes and back to Mike's about 8:30. Traffic was a mess. We both fall asleep on the couch and head to bed about 11.

FRIDAY

My bf was up at 7, but he encouraged me to sleep in. He showered, drew the curtains on the room for me, and closed the door while he handled a business call. I got up at 9 and showered. At 9:30 he sent me a text saying that he wanted to go to Panera, but my phone was in the bedroom and I missed it. I ate a slice of toast, but agreed we would go to breakfast when he came out. We spend about 2 1/2 hours at Panera. Lunch crowd comes and it is BUSY. We stop at Petsmart and drive to the one in the next city over looking for animals for adoption day, then go to the house and he continues to work away. About 5 we head to the steakhouse we enjoy for dinner. I had some gurdwenheiser or some other German wine, along with Pino Grigio, and we chit chat about NY, my sister, and my coworkers. We go to Sears Grand after, then Ralphs for wine and ingredients for taquitos, then home.

SATURDAY

My bf gets up at 8, and at 8 I am in a deep sleep. I wake up at 8:30 or so and the covers are over my head, which he makes fun of me for. He had made coffee and then made us eggs and toast. He encourages me to try his coffee, which he made in a French press. I make it "like hot chocolate" and it tastes pretty good (I put lots of sugar). Then he goes to shower. He mentioned cleaning up the house, so I took out the vacuum during this time and vacuumed/cleaned around the edges of each room/vacuumed the furniture. I was in the kitchen when he was done with his shower and he let me continue. He mopped the floor and did some laundry, as well as took out the Christmas tree because I joked it was too early. I shower. We go to Petsmart to look at more animals. We decide to go to Ikea for wine racks and I mention the Lyme Food Truck was at a church in a city we would be passing through, so we stop at this church, which I had also seen a concert at a few years ago, and tell him about this big fundamentalist place. LOL. The Lyme Truck's prices were ridiculous. We had a tuna nachos for $10.50. It wasn't that great... we expected something big and great for that price. We head to Ikea and walk around there, find the wine racks, and a table for the Christmas tree. We stop at Cari's italian, which was nasty. While there I learn a kid I went to elementary-high school with died in a car accident Friday night. I got a text from my sister. I tell him about the kid- I hadn't spoken to the kid since probably 7th grade. We head home and finish putting up the Christmas tree, I make vegetarian taquitos, which turned out pretty good. Good guac helped. We sit in the dark with the Christmas tree light and eat. It was romantic. We go to WalMart after dinner to look and get a few odds and ends like a strainer for the sink. I drove. We head home and watch the Jason Bateman switching places movie, The Change Up, which was pretty predictable, but Jason and Ryan totally did it for me. It is about 10:30 when it is done, King of Queens comes on, it is a repeat, then we go to bed about 11. We brush our teeth, then Mike takes me in his arms as we are laying in bed, we jack each other off, then I fuck him, and we clean up. We both fall asleep.


SUNDAY

We are up at 7- and I'm tired. I move about 7:40 when he is done showering. I shower after and then we go to Panera. He forgot his charger to do some work there, so we ended up back here at his place rather quickly. Going pretty well, though.

A followup to students are beginning to think I'm gay

I know I didn't say much in this post, and I was scared to, but it seems all is ok right now.

Here's what happened-

It was a Thursday morning about 2 weeks ago and we just had a staff meeting. I'm walking to the restroom when lesbian math teacher comes chasing me down- literally- and went way out of her way to do so. She stops me in the staff room and tells me that she had been doing classroom observations a few weeks back and overheard a group of girls chitchatting. The girls said that they are sure I am gay. I am such a nice guy, though, there is no way that I could be gay. The teacher told me how refreshing this was to hear that the students were so accepting and that they were convinced gay guys couldn't be as nice as me. I was just taken aback by this whole thing and told her that was great.

I walked into the bathroom nervously afterward and then started texting all my friends for support...

The majority of the staff is supportive. There are close to 10 gay/lesbian staff members/many allies, so it would be ok. I just hate to make waves like that in my first year teaching.

More Music Wednesday

Snow Day!

Friday
Go out to dinner at an Italian restaurant we always see, but never tried in Rancho. Met a former coworker, Mrs. M, from my old school while Mike and I are sitting at the bar. We chit chat and have some funky bruschetta and calamari. The restaurant was forgettable. We go to Marshalls at the mall after and I make fun of him for forgetting to make certain turns.

Saturday
Icky training at work from 8-1. I was up at 7 to get there on time. Get back at 1:15 to Mike's and he is watching TV. He spent the morning doing that. We look online for a while for somewhere to go and just decide to watch TV, then grab lunch at Olive Garden- or try to. Olive Garden was packed in the bar. We go next door to Red Lobster only to find a lack of waiters and waitresses, and tons of open tables. We go next door to the next restaurant, Chevy's Mexican, where we have unos amigos serve us some buenas margaritas y quesadillas. Muy delicious- one of the best quesadillas we've had. We go across the street to Sams Club and activate our new memberships. Then we walk through the store and I buy a cushy bath rug for when we get out of the shower. We go across the street again to the mall to see "Ides of March," which had good acting, but was a horrible script- it lacked suspense and the ending left you hanging. We fall asleep on the couch and make our way to bed about 12:30 where he holds me and jacks me off, then I jack him off and get off a 2nd time... fun times... love it!

Sunday
Mike was up early and planning a trip. We thought 6 Flags, bought our annual passes, but there was rain. He said we could grab Mickey D's, then decide where to go. We look at the weather maps while there and decide to get a rental car and go elsewhere. Mike was insistent to get a 4WD rental because he had a free rental. We wait for a rental like that to come up, a Jeep Wrangler. We get in and drive toward LA. We circle Fairplex thinking we would go to the pet show, but change our mind. I say we should go to the mountains since it was probably snowing and we had lots of jackets in the car.

We are suddenly heading to the snow. I'd only driven through snow or experienced the little flurries here in my city every few years. Mike puts it in 4WD and we head up the mountain. We stop so I could get out and he could snap photos of me standing in the snow. We make our way to Big Behr Lake and stop in the village for a late lunch of so-so salad and clam chowder. We also have a strange bruschetta with bread and lumps of cheese in the middle of the plate that we had to cut and put on the bruschetta. It was messy. We go to Starbucks and admire the snow. Mike complains about the coldness. WE stop a few more times and take more photos. We head to Layk Airowhead where we shop in the village.



We head back home and stop to get groceries. My ears wouldn't pop going down the mountain, which was incredibly painful. I could barely hear in the grocery store. We grab dinner supplies and head to the house. He opens some wine while I lesson plan and he cooks some pasta. It was good. We watch some Real Housewives and Desperate Housewives. We both fall asleep on the couch and head to bed about 11.

MONDAY NIGHT
I get to his place about 3:30 and he is out mowing. He complains about the yard, the grass, etc. Then we go in and he handles a few things from work. We go to dinner at our Mexican restaurant we like. The service was lackluster and we deem it a Friday thing, but we did enjoy $1.99 margaritas. We go to Target after. We go back to his place for some NeNe and Shiray on RHOA. I start falling asleep at 8:20 on the couch and he is not far behind me. I wake up once about 9, then we both sleep until 12:30a.m. It was crazy. I was shocked. I thought we both may be there all night.

Tuesday
He was up at 6 for work to head off on business. I got up at 6:30 and used the spare shower. We kissed and said goodbye.

Will you take a message?

Carla called the other night. I was in the mood to lead her on, so this is how the conversation went:

Me: Hello
Carla: Hi, is Pamela there?
Me: No.
Carla: Well, is she in the room with you?
Me: I define here as the entire house.
Carla: Don't get an attitude with me. I'm done raising kids.
Me: Should I give you a gold star?
Carla: Well, is she washing clothes?
Me: And she wouldn't be "here" why?
Carla: Well, will she be inside soon?
Me: No.
Carla: How late is too late to call?
Me: Anytime you call.
Carla: How late is too late to call?
Me: Anytime you call.
Carla: Your mom isn't home then.
Me: I know, and that's why it is perfect, bitch.
Carla: Well, I don't need anymore of this. Can you take a message? I'm going to tell your mom about your mouth.
Me: You think she can control my mouth?
Carla: I want you to tell her the AVON order is going in tonight and you should write it down. You should also write down about your sinful mouth.
Me: Dumbass. Dumbass. Dumbass.

I hung up the receiver and felt a sense of accomplishment.

Students are beginning to think I'm gay

Just what I needed...

Caller 104

This song helped me win $200 this week from a radio station contest. I feel like I'm walking in fields of gold...

Music Wednesday

I just recently learned the song's title after how many hundred years of being out... and now that I found the title out I was able to put it on my iPod.

Constant Craving

And I'm back... and similarities

WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Went over to Mike's because I needed to be at work super early since I had a sub Wednesday and had to get my room back in order. I went back to chaos- a bad last period of the day and so much needing to get done for Thursday

THURSDAY
Got to Mike's about 9:00pm after a long day at work. Brought him some dessert a 15x15 bar that a teacher had made, but he didn't like it. He said in his text to bring something sweet. I brought something sweet. It was delis, but he wanted chocolate chip cookies. He missed out. I ate the treats myself. We both went to bed about 10:30.

FRIDAY
I was at work until 4 and could have stayed until 5 or 6, but it was a Friday. Go to dinner at our favorite steakhouse. While there we talk about everything from work to family to meeting his parents to his ex. While in the middle of dinner, our 2nd appetizer the power goes out in the restaurant. It was very busy. No one really screamed - some pulled out their cell phones and ate by cell phone light. We had a good time. I was rubbing his leg and moving closer. It stayed out for maybe 5 minutes. We left the restaurant about 8. We go home and both crash on the couch watching Tivo.

SATURDAY
Up early and he does some cleaning. We go to breakfast at Panera. I drive and I forgot my iPad. I take my computer from work to lesson plan only to realize I forgot the power cord at school. I caught up on Facebook on my phone instead.

We go back to his house and get our bag ready for a night out with his ex. Stopped at the outlets in the desert where we enjoy Banananana Republick. He's good friends with his exes parents and really helped him as he moved to California. We get to the hotel they are at and we check in for the night, I work on something for school, then we meet up with them. They were so welcoming of me and there was really no connection between Mike and his ex. They were cold toward each other. I was not ok meeting them at first, but sucked it up and did it. We chit chat on the patio and the learn about me and think I'm wonderful for Mike. They gave their seal of approval. Then we go with his ex, his ex's best friend, and his ex's sister to dinner. Told them about NY for Xmas and they thought Mike needed to take me to all the touristy stuff. As we were sitting at dinner at some bad bbq place in Palm Springs named after a pig I realize how much his ex seems like me. Look was somewhat alike, both are ambitious, both of us have indecisive patterns. Dinner was weird as he gets along so much better with the family than his ex. We go back to the hotel and drop them off. We then take a bus to the main hotel to get our drink on at the main hotel. Amaretto and coke, thanks.

We go back to the hotel room where Mike gives me a hard time about wanting to get a bath, but how can you refuse when you have a 2 person jacuzzi tub? We poured some wine, kissed, and sat holding each other in the tub, then made out, jacked each other off, and well, it was hot. I had a fun time. Mike felt dirty afterward and had to shower. He did. We went to bed on our small double bed. Mike first had to call and argue about the TV not working with the hotel staff- they swore it did and that people only watch DVDs on it... wtf?

SUNDAY
Up at 8 and relax in the room. We shower and head to a French cafe with french people and have crepes. Good stuff. Good service. We go to the Bananana Republick in PDesert and enjoy even more cheap stuff. We both spent about $400 at BR this weekend. We stop at the grocery store on the way back for wine and frozen pizza. I didn't mention that on Saturday we bought about $200 worth of wine at Ralphs. Eat pizza back at his house, doze, and watch Top Chef shows etc. For dinner we head out to Joann Fabrics first because he was looking at draperies. We then decide on Chilly's where we have some great service and great strong drinks. We ate lots! Back to his place where we both fell asleep about 10:30

MONDAY - HALLOWEEN
Work was alright. Head to Mike's about 3:15. Talk and catch up, he's laying on the couch. He does some work off and on in his office. I do the dishes and clean the stove while he does that. He makes spaghetti squash and chicken for dinner. The spaghetti squash was interesting. I fell asleep on the couch for about 10 minutes before we head to bed about 10.

TUESDAY
Up at 6:30 and off to work... long day at work... reconvened with the family.

Music Wednesday

Inside joke...

Approval

FRIDAY
Got to Mike's about 3:30 and we headed to get his car at the repair shop. After the repair shop we go to Chilis where we have great service- bartender remembers us from a few weeks back and was awesome. We have the nachos and chips/salsa. We go back to his place afterward and watch the TV we missed from the week like Top Chef Desserts. We both fall asleep on the couch.

SATURDAY
We got up at 7 or so. Mike had to rearrange his flights for work and so he does that while I watch the news and play with the kitties. He comes in when he is done and we take turns showering. He spends the morning cleaning and doing clothes- I had offered to help, but he refused. We go to IHOP for breakfast since I had a gift certificate. The food was mediocre at best. I had the Nutella crepe.

We drive around town after looking at the councilman's house and exploring random neighborhoods. We go back to his place and watch TV. We head out a little later to get groceries for The Guy's party. We get mushrooms, hummus, spinach and artichoke dip, celery, and carrots- a few other basics. I pay for all that stuff. We decide to do stuffed mushrooms with spinach and artichoke dip and hummus with carrots and celery. We go back to his house and have a glass of wine while we arrange the food.

We head to The Guy's about 4pm and get there at 4:30. It was pretty fun. We walk in and there is a lot going on- everyone is in the kitchen. We set our food out and the party is on. The Guy explains the rules- it was a themed night. There was picture taking, judging, then you got to pick your pumpkin, and then you carved your pumpkin. The pumpkins were judged, and those with low scores had to sing for their life. Mike and I stayed pretty reserved mainly sitting and chatting on the couch. We made comments and jokes about random stuff like The Guy's decorating, his walls, and the queeny people at the party. We take our photos together for the judging part of the competition and I had a pretty awesome photo- I got to pick the 3rd pumpkin. Mike had an advanced design he was carving and it didn't turn out so well- his pumpkin caved in- but he was the one ahead of everyone telling them how to carve their pumpkin. He was awesome! The judging started at 8 and our pumpkins were ready to be judged. The Guy was the judge and he shouldn't have picked the ones he did to win. The winner was Zach, his best friend, whose pumpkin was late for the judging. He just did a generic happy face. The gal who did the intricate wolf in moon design should have won. I should have been 2nd, but I was 3rd. Zach won an iPod nano. Runners up got a $25 iTunes gift card and those who had to sashay away got $15 iTunes gift cards and candy. The event was pretty fun, although Mike was mad I didn't win and The Guy picked his best friend. Before we left, The Guy, said how nice Mike was and how happy he was for us.



We chat all the way home about the people there and The Guy's decorating. We both fall asleep on the couch.

SUNDAY

Up about 7 to go to Kohls and go to breakfast. WE head to McDonalds. We chat about random stuff like my cousin moving out here from Oklahoma. Mike buys several pairs of socks on clearance at Kohls. We head back toward his place and again do some exploring on the other side of the tracks. We watch some random Bravo show he Tivo'd while I lesson plan for the week. I am feeling hungry, so we head to a sandwich shop that he heard good things about. We wonder why... it wasn't that good. We watch some more TV and relax. I finish reading "The God Box" by Alex Sanchez, which was a pretty good story. I went on gay erotica downloading binge after. I have lots of new readS. Mike asks me if I want to go to New York to visit him for the holidays with his family. Yes. OMG. A New York Christmas!!! CAN IT GET ANY BETTER? I AM SO EXCITED TO MEET HIS FAMILY AND POSSIBLY SEE SOME SNOW... LOL.

We go to Loosill's BBQ for dinner and shop around the mall afterward. We went there since my bf wanted a veggie burger. We had a good time just walking around the mall. He bought a sport coat and polo at Banana Republic on sale.

We go back to his place and he packs for his business trip. We head to bed about 10:30 watching Old Christine.

MONDAY

He is up at 6 to shower and head off on his trip. I wake up at 6:30 and rush to get to work. I got out of the house about 5 minutes than earlier since the shower water was already hot, which was nice since I needed every minute at work today. Crazy day at work. Good day, but crazy.

Home now...

Break me

I feel I am at a breaking point. I am only teaching one subject, but I have 3 groups that are at 3 different levels/spots. 2 are my advanced classes, 1 is my mostly 6th and 7th English learners, and the other are my 8th graders who are a day behind the 2 advanced classes, but are at a different point.

Within these classes, admin wants me teaching something different, so technically it is like teaching 2-3 different preps. Just tonight I have had to modify and change my lesson for different classes. The 2 slower classes need a more intensive reading based class, so I am having to delve into the language arts textbook and basically make my class a language arts class. I am having to write 2 different sets of plans and create 2 different sets of activities. The fact that the students are at 3 different levels my mind is spinning. I

guess it'll just have to be...

More Music Wednesday

Favorite songs of the week - no particular era or genre-




I want to win the MYFM Halloween Contest to get to see Daughtry. I'm trying. I want to see him in concert badly.

Not a fan, but someone was listening to him all weekend...

Toasted

I forgot to mention, but The Guy and I hung out last Monday. I had himwork on my computer. I had a minor faux pas that I was hoping he could correct, but it left him perplexed. A trip to the Apple Store is in order. Mike and I are going to his party this weekend.

FRIDAY

Mike and I were texting during my lunch break and he asked if I wanted to go to Yoooosemite. Sure, why not? We'd talked about going. I told my coworkers who were in the room at the time, Lipstick Lesbian, and Hangs on Every Word. They were jealous. I just said it is a perk of a great guy- a guy who takes me where I want to go.

After work I head to his house. I tried to get out by 3:30, but it didn't happen. It was a tough day and I had several battle scars... lol. I am the biggest klutz. Once I am done head to his place. We take off a few minutes later to the airport for a car. We think about a Ford Edge for a moment, but decide on a Volvo XC60 despite his dislike for other Volvos, but we figured if we were going to be outdoorsy, we should go all the way with that AWD vehicle. We go in to change his reservation a bit, then we are off.

We drive to a basque restaurant we went to last time where we both dine on fried shrimp and other fun stuff. WE had about a 30 minute wait in a bar. One guy at the bar, a hick cowboy type, asks me if I was the one hit by a car outside of the restaurant earlier because of my battle scar from work earlier. All Mike could do was laugh. We eat, then as we are leaving, we both use the bathroom. I am walking out and one of the cowboy guys puts his hand on my dick as I walk by him- like he feels my package through my jeans- he has a beer in his hand, and I am walking out to where Mike is. I tell Mike and he just laughs. He tells me I was toasted because I had several glasses of wine. He gets some pleasure that I feel violated. Don't grab my dick unless you are my boyfriend, thanks.



We make it to Frezno where we stay at a hotel for the night. We both fall asleep shortly after we arrive. We are up at 7 on Saturday. We take some time getting ready, then leave about 9:15 to Panera. We go to Fresh & EZee for wood, plasticware, salads, breakfast, and cookies. We also stop at Rite Aid. We are then off to Yoosemite.

It is about a 2 hour drive, but it is fun. We talk and pass time pretty easily. We get to the park and start out exploring at the top looking at the Half Dome and other points of interest. We drive down to the bottom after a couple of hours where we find our campsite and set up for the night. We unload the car and then catch the bus, get off the bus, and make our way to a hotel for a bar. We have awful chips and salsa that we douse in salt and pepper. Then we go across the way for some so-so French onion soup and Caesar salad. I am toasted yet again- or so Mike thought- so we head back to the campsite.



We set up our fire where Mike pours wine, and I am again toasted. We go through 1 1/2 bottles of cheap wine from Fresh & EZee. We talk about my boy scout years as we sit at the fire, his camping experiences, family, and a few other topics. Fun stuff. We are watching fellow campers go to bed 1 by 1. We make it to bed about 10:15, but we play around and cuddle for a while. It was fun to play and know that there was a couple with a kid on the other side of the wall. We were quiet. We both fell asleep until nearly morning. I think I had my hand surrounding him the entire night. We woke up and I was again horny and insisted that we play. He was too, thankfully. We are by now wet and need to shower. We head to the shower. He passés me the soap and other items as we take our showers. Fun times.



We clean up at our campsite and talk about how "eco-friendly" we were in comparison to other campers- never mind the 4 bundles of firewood. We drive around and check out the big Awahnee Hotel.

We leave about 12 and head to the outlets in Tularee. We stop at Basss so that Mike could get a few shirts since he liked the ones we got a few weeks back. We decide to do a late lunch at Bravo Farms, the cheese place at the outlets. IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOD, and the guy who served us was so friendly. Indee-in tacos are my new favorite thing.

We get back home about 8 and I stay at his place since I still have clothes around. We watch Desperate Housewives and Real Housewives before bed.

MONDAY

I'm up early for work and shower. I have a pretty good, yet busy day at work. I leave work earlier than usual to pick Mike up after taking his convertible to the repair shop. We head home and watch lots of Ellen on Tivo and have some more wine- I don't get toasted this time. He makes his proscuitto bake again. Delish! Lunch for the week for me! Woo! We both fall asleep to Desperate Housewives about 9:30. We go in and brush our teeth, and I fall asleep quickly after.

TUESDAY

I get up and have a fashion emergency. I picked up the wrong pants last week and these pants are 3'' too wide around my waist. I borrow a belt of his and then decided to wear my shirt tail out to fix that. It was no bueno. I felt so dumb.

After work I head home for shots and to visit con la familia. We dine and get flu shots.

So now I'm home and working on lesson plans for school..................... woo.

Thanks for waking me up at 3:37

Good morning! I thought I'd blog since I am now awake and have nothing to do. My sister couldn't sleep and thought she would make it a point to let everyone know. She sleeps with her bedroom door open and pushed it shut loudly to wake everyone up to show her displeasure that she was still up I guess, then walked in to tell my mom that my dad was snoring in the living room where he fell asleep on the couch.

So now that I'm up, here's to hoping for a good Friday!

I hope I didn't make him mad

I think my BF was expecting me to be at his house tonight when he got home from his business trip. He asked me when he was on his layover if I was at his house, and I told him no. He texted me when I got home and asked where I was. His texts seemed short after. Ugh. I want to bring it up to let him know I'm sorry- thinking of texting him in the morning, and just saying something like "wish I were there waking up next to you," or something like that to show I wish I were there, or "wish I could wake up every morning next to you." Or should I come straight out and say, "I am sorry about not coming over last night and meeting you when you got home from your trip. I hope you weren't mad," and wish him a good day. Ugh. I hate being the overanalyzer.

Luke Bryan made my day

Got caught up on Tivo with my bf the other night and I couldn't help but notice how Ellen is like a giant promotion for groupon and Tide. That is all she seems to talk about- like "As the Tide Turns?" Giant ad for Tide cleverly disguised.



But the good thing about this one was I saw Luke Bryan's chest, and well, it was hot!

And I love the sound in this new song

Favorite positions

I feel at a loss - my boyfriend and I tend to not talk about sex and other things - and so I guess this is why I'm blogging about it.

His favorite position is to be held/squeezed as he is fucked, so I lay on my side and we spoon, which is totally hot. I play with his chest as I do that and his dick, but his nipples aren't really an erogenous zone. We've tried missionary once and that wasn't that great. I felt like I was all arms...

Suddenly I feel at a loss of new ways to please him...

I do want to have him ride me one night...

Bringing up the taboo

How do you bring up taboos in random everyday conversation with the one you love, such as, oh, I don't know... road head... or sexual positions... or... lol.

Kitty psych

It was a fun weekend...

THURSDAY

Thursday afternoon I planned to head to Mike's, but some family drama made it so I had to rush home to handle that since my mom couldn't be reached. It was nearly 8pm before I was done

FRIDAY

Friday at work was pretty good. I learned and got some clarification on some policies, which was nice.

Friday afternoon I headed over to my love's house. He was starved and was cleaning when I arrived. He was running the vacuum. He put that away and we headed to Chilis for a margarita, chips, nachos, and spinach & artichoke dip. I told him about the issues with my dad on Thursday, the conference for work, and about my favorite lesbians. We went to Ontario Mills after to shop. He didn't say where we were going, but I am glad we did. We went to Marshalls, then I told him I wanted to go to Nordstrom Rack despite it being halfway around the mall and him having to walk. He tried to give me the keys so I could get the car for him.

We go back to his place where we both fall asleep on the couch. He hadn't been feeling too well this week. We go to bed about 11 or 12. We kiss and he holds me as he leans over on me as we fall asleep, which was so romantic.

SATURDAY

I had to get up and go to work on a Saturday. I signed up to do home visits for several of my students with 3 other teachers from my department. There were about 15 of us teachers in total. I was up at 7 while someone who didn't have to work on Saturday laid in bed. I showered and headed to work. My favorite teachers were there, so we had a good time. It was really eye opening to see the kids and where they live- a 2 bedroom apartment with 10 people, a relatively nice house, a new house that looked to be falling apart, a house with a ton of dogs in front and windows shot out. It would have been great to see more of my kids. Went back to school when we were done and had lunch with our students/parents.

Head back to Mike's and tell him about my day. He was a little scared for me going on those home visits. We watch "Big Bang Theory," and I text my coworker, Blondie, my lesbian coworker, about going to dinner with her girlfriend. She and her girlfriend had a fight, which put that in jeopardy, but they reconciled, and we went about 5:00pm. We also watched some pet psychologist or cat doctor or something weird like that on Animal Planet who was giving all of these suggestions about cats socializing, so Mike heeds their advice and blocks all of his anti-social cat's hiding places and closes off all of the rooms in the house. She was nervous it seemed, but she was out and about.

Mike and I got to PF Changs at 5:30 and we were to meet at 6. We grabbed a margarita and green bean fries at the bar while waiting for the table. They arrive at 6 and we sit down at the table. A good 2 hours or so of laughs, making fun of each other, and lovers quarrels. We were getting very touchy, had our cute little lovers quarrels, talked about cruises, drag queens, and vacations.

We leave about 8:15, hug, kiss, and then head back to Mike's where he packs for his business trip. He showers. We fall asleep about 10pm snuggled up to each other, which I loved. The alarm goes off bright and early at 4am and he snoozes for 15 minutes. I hug him, see him off, and tell him that I love him while I continue to sleep.

I wake up and do some lesson planning. Woo. I've just been hanging out at his house this morning. The cat seems a little out of place, but so far is out more than usual.

Suction

FRIDAY

WHAT A WEEK... OMG... I HAD AN AWFUL WEEK. I was out 3 days due to jury duty and a conference. I was not happy. I came back and my kids were off the wall. I had to get out of school ASAP, but knew that I needed to do lots of planning during the weekend. I left at 3:30 and went straight to Mike's. He was working on his expense reports for work, so he did that until nearly 5:30 and I created 2 Powerpoints and my lesson plans for the week. It was productive and in an environment I was much less frustrated in. We spent some time chatting about our days, Adam Levine, and how we both assume he is gay despite him dating girls. Sure, part of the reason was to move like Jagger, but Mike is convinced after seeing him on Ellen the other day that it is not the case.



After, we head to the French restaurant we went on one of our first dates to. We had to spend at least $100 to use our restaurant.com gift certificate, so that meant imbibing on a nice $40 bottle of wine, a steak with shrimp, and he had a vegetarian deal. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at dinner- sit down, wine, dine, good stuff. Lots of talk about frustrations at work.

After dinner we head home and relax on the couch watching Ellen. We both fall asleep on the couch.

SATURDAY

We both wake up about 7:30 or 8. We shower and eat breakfast about 10 or so. We go to the dry cleaners to drop off our clothes, then go to Kohls to price vacuum cleaners. We also go to Target to look for clearance and don't find much. We went grocery shopping at Fresh & Easy, got a lot of squash, a cake for me to make. I went back to his place and made the cake- it didn't turn out well. We didn't have a cake for dessert as the center wouldn't cook even after an hour +. We had some leftover spaghetti that he made for dinner. We both fell asleep on the couch- we watch the Bravo Top Chef Desserts, Food Truck Race, and more.

SUNDAY

We woke up, showered, watched Anderson on Tivo, then ended up cuddling on the couch. He made an egg and bread for breakfast, but then we went back to cuddling. I laid up against him and on his lap for a while until we decided to move. We went to Kohls and Home Depot. We bought an LG vacuum at Home Depot since they price matched Sears saving him $75.

We went to Lake Arrowhead after. We walked around the village and ended up in a Mexican joint where we ate tortilla chips, tacos, and enchiladas. There wasn't much to see and I was disappointed not many of the trees were changing for fall. We went to a few more mountain communities while we were up there just to drive around and see what was there.

Back down in the city at his house we try out the vacuum and discover how disappointing it was since it doesn't suction well. We decide it has to go back. We have leftover spaghetti from the other night for dinner, then spend some time lesson planning.

MONDAY

Up at 6:15 since he had an early day. I had another awful day at work- a headache compounded with an observation, compounded by stress from testing, plus a few wacko kiddos.

At 3:30 I head home to get clothing and visit with my dad for about 30 minutes before turning around to get back at Mike's at 5:15. I come in, put my clothes in the closet, and he is showering. I go in the living room and text a coworker, Blondie, who was under the weather. Mike comes out dressed and we go to return the vacuum. We look at 2 Kohls for the new vacuum he wanted, but they didn't have it, and refused to match Walmart's price, so we give up. We go to Olive Garden for the never-ending pasta bowl for dinner. We enjoy chatting with the guy at the bar who encouraged me to get some pasta to go for lunch- that was nice. While at the bar he buys a vacuum online for less than what he would have paid in a department store.

We go back to his place and watch Desperate Housewives and Pan Am, and sort of doze on the couch.

We go to bed about 11. We brush our teeth and kiss each other good night. He's getting into the habit of saying "I love you" when we go to bed and he was so tired he didn't realize he didn't say it and 2-3 minutes after we went to bed he poked me and rolled over to kiss me so he could say it. Too sweet. I was the one that started saying it as we went to bed... lol.

TUESDAY

Back at work and more chaos...