Good things come to those who wait

Wow, how the fuck is it December 21st already?

Now that there's been over two months of inactivity on this blog, it's probably time for an explanation. It's right there in the blog's tag at the top of the page (if you aren't reading this through a feed reader): "Random nonsense from a thoroughly bored geek / nerd / skeptic." In an unexpected twist, that thoroughly bored person no longer exists; thus no more random nonsense.

Avid followers of this blog may recall a blog post from early this year where I had an online dating mental breakdown and took myself off the market. At that time I wasn't really ready to start dating other people and was only trying to because I thought I had to, to prove that I could. I ultimately made the correct decision at the time to get the fuck out. To help resolve my issues, I spent many hours this summer and fall reading Reddit's relationship_advice and relationships subreddits. Many threads were entertaining, educational, and therapeutic. One recurring theme for those seeking love through online dating was to avoid all other dating sites in favour of the completely free OkCupid. So, in late August, while drunk and lonely, I decided it was time for a second attempt at meeting that special someone, but this time on OkCupid and only OkCupid. My timing could not have been more fortuitous.

My OkCupid profile was pretty bad. Rather than use my standard, over-written profile, I wrote this one from the heart... on the spot... while drunk. It shouldn't have worked. But within a couple of days, I had received my first email.

There wasn't much to that email, and the grammar and spelling were atrocious, but I responded eagerly. Her profile, at least, was interesting, and we seemed to have a lot in common. After a couple of emails, we made arrangements to chat on MSN. I was excited to be back out there, and having much more success this time. But I never chatted with that girl. I was pretty busy at this time, dealing with Christina moving in, and it just never ended up happening.

On September 6th, only a couple of days after getting the first email, I received a second email. Two emails out of the blue within a week of joining an online dating site was pretty unheard of in my experience, so I was a little floored by my luck this time. This second girl was moving to Regina from Halifax in a couple of weeks and had rather obviously sent out a form message to more than just me. Her profile was well written, but I thought she might be a little too pretentiously artsy to enjoy spending time with me. For those and other reasons, I waited a week before responding to her with an uncharacteristically short email. I have to admit that I was surprised when she responded quickly with a second email, but I again, for various reasons that I can't even recall, waited a few days before emailing her back.

I'm pretty lucky that my initially lackadaisical approach with this girl did not sabotage things, because shortly afterwards we were emailing back and forth daily and I warmed up to her in a big way. After a week or so of steady emails, we met in person for dinner and a movie. And then a couple of days later we took in an art opening. And a week later, another movie. And then we played Rock Band and sang karaoke and there was no turning back for me.

Her name is Erin. I am in love with her. I am happier now than I have been in a long time.

Also: way, way busier. Blogging is not high on my list of priorities.

I mentioned earlier that the timing of my OkCupid profile could not have been more fortuitous. That is definitely true. However, there are other matters where the timing of all of this has not been quite so great. And by other matters I primarily mean one other matter. And by that I mean Christina.

Christina moving in with me was supposed to be this great thing to get me out of my rut. And it pretty much worked. For a month and a half, we had a good thing going. But then Erin came into my life and Christina was suddenly unnecessary. (Sorry, Christina, that probably sounds harsh, but I'm sure you know what I mean.) And after a while, when things between Erin and I became serious, Christina's presence became an obstacle in ways I had never anticipated. Obviously, if I had known I would meet someone special in September, I would never have invited Christina to move in with me when she did.

Christina is now investigating her options for moving out well in advance of our original plans. But don't feel too bad for her. If all of this hadn't gone down the way it has gone down, she would have been sitting on her hands in my house for the next nine months. Because of the circumstances, I have escalated the process of paying her out of the terms of our separation agreement. Now she can take her half of my house's equity early and invest in her business and career. She'll be better off for it.

So, what now? I'm not saying that this blog is done. The Week/Month in Review stuff is over, for sure. But I definitely have some more Brewblog posts in me. And I might stop in every once in a while for an update on my life. There will be a lot happening in the coming year.