The Prodigal son returns

I chose this title for this entry because I do feel a bit like the Prodigal son who 'left' his blog-home for an indefinite period, returning to it later. The truth of the matter is that I just needed a break.

Now that Joe is living in DE and I am still here in VA, we talk on the phone every night. Sometimes its for 15 or 20 minutes, but other times its 1 or 2 hours, depending on how much we have to share or discuss. All that time on the phone is time not spent adding to this blog.

Another thing that takes up more time now is keeping the house tidy. We want the house to always be in a suitable condition to be shown without notice, so that means making sure the bed is made every single day, that there are no dishes in the sink, that the counters are wiped off, that the floors are swept, that there are no clothes or mail or other person stuff left out. Its like preparing your house for an 'Open House' every day.

Without a conscious decision to do so, I wound up taking a break from blogging. But I've missed it and I've missed my blogger-friends' blogs too. So now I'm going to try to catch up on the highlights of the last month and get back into the swing of things.

The house
We decided that we don't want to continue living apart until sometime next spring, nor do we want to leave this house unoccupied until then, so we asked our VA realtor about the possibility of renting it out. She told us there is a fairly decent demand for family-sized homes for rent in our area due to the CIA, State Dept, DHS, and various military officers who come to DC with their families for a year or two and need a nice place to live. We found out we could rent our house out for more than our mortgage payment and the monthly management fee combined. Renting the house out would make it so Joe & I could live together in DE, our VA house would not be unoccupied, and someone else would be covering the mortgage and paying the utilities while the house continues to appreciate. So two weeks ago today the rent sign went up, the lockbox went on the door, and the listing went into the MLS.

Us
This is week # 7 that Joe & I have been living separately during the week. We email each other during the day, talk on the phone every night, and alternate spending weekends in DE & VA. At first it was harder for Joe and not so hard for me. Then about the 3rd or 4th week it got harder for me and he began to get used to it somewhat. Now I think we're both okay with it, knowing it will be temporary, and that by 'getting through this' now we are keeping from making any financial real estate mistakes. When he comes back to VA we really try to make the most of our weekends. He leaves early on Fri and gets here between 6:00-6:30, so we make plans and meet friends for dinner at 7:00 on Fri. Sat we usually see his mom or his sister during the day and have dinner with other friends Sat night. Sun mornings we have breakfast with Kerry & Hugh, then see either his mother or sister around noon. So we're keeping up with our friends and families pretty well so far.

Jobs
Joe really likes his office, team, and work. He's not quite up-to-speed on the actual work just yet since his boss is giving him assignments little by little. This leaves him with a fair amount of time during the day with nothing particular to do, which makes the days pass slower. But each week gets better and soon he'll be fully functional. He's happy with the pace of life and can really picture this new chapter in our lives living in DE. I can hardly wait to join him! Basically I am just waiting for our house to rent so I can pack and arrange to have our stuff moved out and up to DE. Then I'll begin working from home.

People in public office coming out
The entire Mark Foley sexual harassment of a page/coming out/I was abused debacle just sickens me. As if gay folks don't have enough crap to deal with, now we have a 'famous' person get caught for doing something illegal who has to come out. McGreevey is another one. Why can't these people just come out and be normal, well-adjusted gay people in public office? Why do they have to hide in the closet until they've done something wrong or illegal and THEN have to come out? Makes me really appreciate others with public lives like Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Ethridge, KD Lang, and the guys on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy who are authentic, whole, gay people.

Indian summer and Fall
Here in the DC area we had a wonderful Indian summer. Being the convertible enthusiast that I am, Indian summer is really important to me. I absolutely love the October days when its 70 or so degrees during the day and I have the top down, and then 40 or so at night and you need a heavier blanket on the bed. In recent years it has seemed like we went directly from summer weather in Sept to fall weather in October, but not this year. And now that its November we're getting fewer days when the temperature gets close to 70 (although today it was 68 at 4:30pm) and the leaves turning colors allows nobody to make the mistake of thinking its still Indian summer. Those flaming reds, oranges, golds, and yellows seem to be silently screaming that fall is definitely here. That and daylight savings time.

Film Festival
I can hardly believe that in just one week from tomorrow I will be at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival! I look forward to it all year long. As before, I purchased a membership to the RB Film Society, with the chief benefit being the ability to purchase all my film tickets for the entire festival on the first day, an hour before the box office opens to the general public. This year's film line up looks great! Even Joe looked through the film catalog and saw several films he wants to see, so unlike last year, we'll be going to see several films together. He'll be off a 1/2 day on Thurs and all day Fri for Veterans Day, which falls during the film festival. I'm simply taking vacation days to attend. Look here for film summaries and highlights after I return from the festival.

Guess that's enough from the Prodigal son for tonight...

Drag Queen name of the day: May Flowers