Ah, sweet.

Two of the bestest things in my life. I'm not counting the beer.
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Yesterday was the five year anniversary of meeting the man. I remember calling Sar to confess that I was meeting an Internet Stranger, & that she was to call the cops if Anything Strange Happened. I think it's too late to call them, now. Ha ha ha.
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It does seem a little strange*, being married, and having a daughter, & being happy. I think it's the consistent happiness - maybe joyful contentment is a better word? - anyways, the goodness is what seems a little strange*. When I look at back at how life was before**, I remember an overwhelming feeling of struggling. Part of it was getting my feet under me for a work & financial standpoint, part of it was the incredibly awful men*** I dated, and I think part of it was just looking for my niche, searching for a way to fit into the life I wanted. Deciding what kind of life I wanted.
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I never really could figure out what kind of a vision I had for my overall life - but I realized that I wanted a partner, someone who would love me, & that I could be proud of, & laugh with. Someone that my friends & parents liked, that liked them too. I wanted someone kind & gentle & brave. Maybe it's be nice if they were taller than me & devastating manly, but whatevs, I was flexible on that.
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So it's still surreal that the Internet Godfairy delivered up to me the man! Amply qualified in the above conditions, plus many other features (likes to cook, gardens, adores me, etc.). We went back to Kensington, where we first met, this time with child in tow. We had a lovely supper. We had a nice toddle down the street. All the bums (well, both the bums) said sweet things about our staggering girl. Then we came home & I put Am down & the man hilled the potatoes & blow-torched the weeds****, & I spun some yarn, sitting in my rocker, watching TLC, and I just felt great about life.

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It does look like Am is thinking about it, though.

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In the continuing feeling great about life bit, the babysitter called this morning on her way over. "We're just at Second Cup, do you want anything?" Yes. And I adore you & your stepmom who drops you off on her way. Totally fantastico!
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Oh. Wait. The whole reason I have a babysitter this morning is so that I can get some Eng Office stuff done. Right. Um. I gotta go.
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*-In a nice way - like an awesome new pair of shoes you know you're going to love & they're not going to give you blisters, but your feet still don't know them yet. That kind of strange. Not ...strange... (see *** below)
**-I would abbreviate Before the Man as BM, but, well. Some of you work in health care & I KNOW what a BM is.
***-Okay, maybe some weren't truly wretched, but still. A couple were truly outstanding. And now, three whole exboyfriends all live in Small Town X! All my exes live in Small Town X... Luckily, none of them really like yarn or ice cream or know the T_______'s, which are the only reasons I go to Small Town X. And no, only one of them was there while I was dating them. They just moved there. Makes me wonder if there's some kind of weird gravitational force there.
****-Really. That's another whole post though. It'll need photos.