My life...

is no longer recognizable.

I'm not sad about that overall.

But have you ever stepped back, reviewed where you are now and wonder how you got there?

And more importantly - why you are there?

I was listening to a broadway show in the care on my way home tonight ( I'm singing a duet with a student of mine for a cabaret concert). It was released in 1991. It's a good show, not phenomenal by any means in my opinion but it does ring some powerful emotions to the surface. It's not a happy show either.

In listening to it, I am reminded that this was the year I graduated with my undergrad degrees in Music Ed and performance. We all left school with stars in our eyes and the hope of future in hearts.

Of course there are pitfalls as well as the pinacles. Between my three best friends from college and I, in the last 17 years we have experienced marriage, children, death of a parent, sever health scares, purchase of first and second homes, multiple job changes, divorce, construction, etc.

This is what makes up life in the reality as well as the abstract.

My life, is shaken up right now. I am still sorting through the pieces to be honest. I started having this conversation with Bernie the other night - and don't worry - I want to finish it with you and I hope you are around on Thursday evening......

But I digress from myself....

I have a lot of things that I am looking at differently.

I noticed that I hate my job. In ways I can't describe. But I know why. I work for someone who demeans his people and is never pleased. When you work for someone like that, you are constantly belittled and berated for doing the same good job that you did before. I have no problem with high expectations, but I do have a problem with consistantcy and trusting that the person above you has your back.

I have 3 more days. It can't come fast enough.

As for my living situation. My life is not less complicated with my best friend here. But it is better. For the most part. Yes we fight. Yes we make up. We are passionate people so the fights are always dramatic. Someone tries to leave, someone persuades them to stay. It's never the same twice.

We are finding out way here. I don't know a different way to say that. It's not new to him but it is for me. I find that he is more patient with me than even I realize here.

My life is practically unrecognizable from before - BUT - we are working on the compromise thing and it's starting to take on elements of each others lives and slowly building into one.

He said perfectly the other day. IN choosing a life together you are choosing just the good and bad times, but you are choosing to do the work that takes the everday living and blends it into the good and bad times. Its this work that is the most diffcult.

There are times I miss my life from the past year. Or aspects of it. I miss aspects of our relationship that are now different. Some better, some not, some the same.

Mostly my problems relate to change and my inability to deal wtih it.

My life is changing drastically. We'll see how this pans out.

Armchair Psychology: Transference

In my family, we have but one crown prince.

If you count ALL the kids he's literally the middle child of 5.... which is odd by any psychology standards.

But if you look closer, you will note that the two children that are born of one mother, the crown prince is the only boy AND the youngest.

I'm no longer resentful and the reason is that this transcends time. All mothers are like this with their sons. It's ridiculous but it is what it is.

I was my dad's princess so it balances out actually.

But at times for both my brother and I, it was tough to take from the other parent.

My best friend has an interesting dynamic in his family as well. His mother gave birth to 4 kids: 2girls and 2boys. My best friend is the oldest boy and his brother is the youngest child AND boy.

And he's dying as you all know.

Their mom has traditionally made his brother the favorite - he's their crown prince. She did everything for him. She went to all his performances, she took care of him in every possible way that she could.

According to my best friend, she has done substantially less for him. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between.

The past 6 weeks have been difficult for the two of us and his mom. She is not "wild" about the change of status here. He's not wild that she's turning all the love and affection onto him and I frankly don't know what the hell to do.

She sent me an email on Thursday night asking me to have him call her as she is having trouble reaching him. By the time I saw the email, he had spoken to her twice. I responded anyway politely and positively confirming that i would relay the message. I don't want this getting off on the wrong foot.

Tonight he's playing at a very Shee Shee restaurant on the North shore. She requested reservations 2 weeks ago in order to come hear him. I deliberately chose not to go to give her time and space to enjoy her oldest son's performance with minimal stress.

He just called one his break. They didn't show up.

I know he's disappointed or he would not have called.

It's interesting. On the one hand, he doesn't want the showering of love and affection and motherly concern, but on the other he feels it's his right that he get some of the benefit that his brother has gotten all these years. I knew he was expecting this to happen even at the point where he walked out the door tonight, but to hear his voice, trying to be matter of fact and still cut her break ( she has been in the city most of the week with the brother),on the phone tonight really made me sad. He is so good and so talented and a great showman. I know she is proud of him. I know she loves to hear him perform and I know that in her mind she treats her boys equally, but somehow in mine, given my experience on the subject, I know she's not.

And though he says it doesn't really bother him, now that the option is out there, even by default, it hurts him a little.

What I think is really getting to me about this is the fact that she also sent him an email about how he has been less than helpful where his brother is concerned this week. She should only know what he was like when he returned from the hospital after visiting. It was not good. He just can't do it anymore. It's slowing tearing him up to see his brother this way. And there is nothing anyone can do. The guilt card here is not a good choice.

Which brings out the mean mama bear in me. I get ridiculously defensive about the people that I love and very outspoken.

This is the post that has no end because this is just the beginning.....

The three C's: Compromise Communication and Compatability

These are the hot buzz words in my household and life of late.

Compromise:

You have all seen the toilet paper post. That was less about compromise and more about choosing your battles. I lump the two together because they are linked in a way. Fighting every battle is not the way to go. I learned this the hard way years and years ago. Fighting every battle is the path to dominate and have your own way. That is how choosing your battles is part of the compromise.

I am still working my behind off on this. The compromise is always a challenge for me, the person who has lived alone for the past 15 years. It's a challenge for him who has lived alone for the past 10. Imagine the fun we have with this and both of us have control issues.

I think that my neighbor said it best this morning. The women have a tendancy to take care of the men and that's that. IN my case that is most certainly true. And don't get me wrong, because I like to take care of him. It doesn't bother me one bit. But that does require compromise as well.

Communication:

Crap.

Meaning - I suck at this.

Not that I am incapable of communicating - I am not. Not that I never do it - I do. But do I really say what's happening in my heart of hearts? Not always.

And he does - to a point.

Certainly better than I do.

I am working on this. This and trust - not good at either. BUT I consider it a work in progress and I didn't freak out when he took my IPOD. He told me who called him today while he was asleep.

He also told me that the whore called him day before yesterday. She was very upset that he was "shacking up with me ".

Seriouslly - How crude can you get?

His reponse - perfect by the way - was...

"This stopped being your business 6 months ago".

I loved him so much in that moment. And it made me want to try harder to communicate. So that's a good thing.

I thought about why I am not good at it. I am afraid. I don't like strife and battle. I am afraid that the person will walk out on me or hate me or any of those things. It has actually happened to me so it's not without basis. However I am working really hard at this and I think it can get better.

I think back at the fact that I shared my depression with him. That was huge. Hell - my own family doesn't even know that. But he does. And he didn't judge me. Nor I him when he told me about his own.

Compatability:

This is unbelievable. Though I am writing about all the things that are weird and different, the reality is that I have never started living with someone that fit so perfectly with me as this man. I mean literally no one. Our compability is amazing.

And here's the neat thing to me. He was laying in bed this morning.... I was changing my clothes.... I caught him checking me out....

Silly - maybe. Flattering - hell yes. Surprising - kind of. We see each other at our best and worst now.... So catching that in the mirror was really amazing to me.

We are now filtering through the chores and through the moving process.

For a person who hates change, I kind of like this one even though it's not how I saw my life unfold on the one hand and on the other, it is completely what I expected.

Music brings us back together

I did something without realizing it today.

I let my best friend take my IPOD on the train to the city today.

We have the same one in the color. So I don't think I realized that he took it with him.

I have what I will affectionately call an eclectic selection of music on there.

He will undoubtedley make fun of me when it comes up in discussion. There are a lot of songs on there that are... well... I'll go with trite and he would say something that's probably a tad more colorful than I am willing to write here.

At the same time, there are a lot of great tunes on there too.... including my own recital. And his.

So it was with some surprise that upon his return, he mentioned that I had a song on there that he wanted to do with the band for weddings.

What.

Now - it's a sad state of affairs that I had a brief moment of panic that he saw what was on my ipod.

I decided that it was stupid. He was going to see it eventually. who cares.

He already knows how my taste in music is. I get the "What am I gonna do with you?" question a lot.

All of this took place in about 2 seconds.

Then we worked on 2 tunes.

My new keyboard is coming at the end of the week - YIPPEE!!!!! I cannot wait.

This new duet is really starting to take off. I am really excited.

Because MUSIC is where we started.

There is no after

Romantic love.





We all aspire to it. It's amazing and it carries us on its wings.





The thing of it is....in the romantic love story, the be all end all is marriage. The wedding.





Have you ever noticed that you rarely hear about what happens "after"? The love story ends with the big Hollywood wedding and in beatifully scrolly script you see





"The End"





But that's not the end.





The part you don't get to see is the compromise and negotiation of where to hang the bathmat. Or how many candles constitutes "too many". Or the recycling that is all over the kitchen.





The list of examples goes on - and only one of them is mine, by the way. THe list was compiled from married friends of mine.





The reason we don't know what happens after is because in those stories - there IS no after.





But in real life - not only is there an after, the after gets complicated. The love is there to be sure, and being together is wonderful. But.



There is also compromise, fighting, silences and conflict. That's the bad that goes with all the good.



the "after" takes enormous amounts of work. I mean it. This is not a task for the feint of heart. This is not something that I was unprepared for in terms of knowing about it, but the actual work? I was not sure how that was going to play out.



I shouldn't really put that in past tense. I am NOT always sure how that will play out.



I'm starting to put back the pieces of my life that I shelved temporarily to get accustomed to this new lifestyle - I will be attending church in the morning and I am going back to my exercize and eating more healthfully.



I have a lot of work to do in the house that I haven't touched. We need space and we need it soon. I have furniture to get rid of and new furniture to order. We are re-arranging electronics and technology. There are closets to look at, cables to move and re-route - items to donate.... organization to take place.

There actually is an after.... it's just different. It's a sequal to the story. Some might say a less sexy and enticing sequal.... but I'm not so sure..... I think I will like the sequal after all.

I don't think I pictured my life this way

Some people have a plan.

I don't - but some do.

I once shared a house with a guy who had made it clear on move in day that he was already behind on having his SECOND kid ( we were 26 at the time) and he didn't have a gf, wife or the first kid yet.

That's a little bit extreme. But its those kind of plans that keep people moving and searching. That well defined can, and his case did, lead to acute disappointment and depression.

In my case, I had no set plans. I will tell you that I always believed that the cart would be before the horses. Since I was 17 years old in fact. I figured that, in a n extreme example - an its only an example - that the man of my dreams ( or whoever it was that moment) would outright propose marriage, in some cases, before the first or second date even happened.

Again - ONLY AN EXAMPLE.... but it's a clear picture of the cart before the horse.

But I didn't always beleive that. Oh yes. Once upon a time.... I was a dreamer.

I could wile away hours day dreaming about the man I would marry, the kids we would have ( don't laugh - I was young and didn't realize that with my lack of patience I would normally EAT my young not raise them....), the house we would live in , the pets - etc.

I realy don't know the exact moment when I realized that MY Life doesn't work like that. All my friends, we went to college, we met our significant other along the way somewhere, we got married, we bought homes, some of us reproduced, others ( mercifully) didn't ( like me).

But that didn't happen to me. I went college, I dated infrequently after that. I had long term relationships that usually started through my job as that was the only thing I did from 20- 30 years of age. Which is also what made the relatioships last that long even after we grew out of them, we worked together and it was convenient.

I can tell you, for a fact, that I've never fallen in love before this. I stepped in it once or twice.......

( quick - what movie is that from??? answer provided later)

But the minute that romantic love became day to day reality, I literally panicked. I didn't know what to do, who to talk to, how to explain what I was going through. I love him to be sure. No doubt in my mind.

But we were going through a rough patch. Ironically a rough patch that living together would prove to correct and virtually eliminate. But neither of us saw that at the time.

I said yes to the suggested change. Then I didn't know what to do. I freaked out. Largely in silence, though I got support from some wonderful trusted friends.

Then I calmed down, and things turned back upward. I was just starting to fly high, then

BAM!!!!

I went to a rehearsal in the bloody snowstorm, for which the director owes me HUGELY for.... When I got home, I was startled to find that he was ready to pick a fight.

I actually walked out of my own home with the intent of going to a diner or a bar for an hour. Just to let him cool off.

He apologized a lot, we talked a lot - til 7AM which is why I am freaking EXHAUSTED right now.

The short version is, he picked the fight because he was mad at himself for not lifting a finger all week to clear out his old place, he was angry at me for taking such exquisite care of him and not caring for myself, and lastly because I was out and it was late.

all of this was easy to forgive - some of the methods of saying it, not as easy.

My freakout about this change was small and sublte though I did tell him about it. Once it was over. His took on a full combative performance. And it took me by surprise.

Additionally - peter pan came back for the revival of this combative performance. That is still causing me some grief. But it's manageable. I'm now being patient.

It's not as hard as it seems.

But I know that I didn't picture my life this way. I had a far more pristine and somewhat clinical picture in my mind.

But I'm not sorry - this is going to be a hell of ride and It's my adventure1!!!

A request for prayers

I don't often ask.

For help, or prayers or anything in that vein...

However.

My best friend has FINALLY decided to go to the Emergency room on Monday. The lump gets larger and larger and is causing unbelievable pain in him so that he wimpers all night and holds his neck. He has been taking aleve or bayer aspirin as a way of combatting the pain. And vodka when it's really bad. He also has been coughing up blood.

I'm scared. He's scared.

I'm happy he's going but I need all the prayers I can for him. I am so afraid it will be career ending for him, or worse yet, life ending. It's gone on too long but I can't make him do anything about it - he has to do it on his timetable.

so I'm glad he's finally going.

Please pray to whatever supreme deity you support that this is treatable and not life or career threatening. For me. and more importanly, for him.

My advance heartfelt thanks!

The Art of Compromise

I have been on my own since I was 21. Sole owner of the remote control. Food that I choose, whether I eat out or not, cleaning up on my schedule - hell anything on my schedule.

When you share your living space with someone else, I don't care how easy going you both are, there are bound to be conflicts.

I am working on the art of compromise. I am looking at the things that matter to me and are actually important to me, and letting the rest roll.

For example.

Toilet paper.

I know its a small detail. But in some ways its a large detail. I once lived with a man, many years ago, who insisted on Charmin double ply and also kept baby wipes. Please do not ask me why.

I grew up on scott tissue. 1000 sheets a roll. Single ply. Largely because of the type of septic system that we had living on the ocean.

But hey, I'm flexible.

The other night - at 1AM, my best friend called to say he was on his way home. After we hung up, I went back to what I was doing, which was changing out the toilet paper roll.

Oh hell.

I GROSSLY underestimated how much TP we still had in the linen closet ( As previously stated, I buy scott tissue but the 24 roll package).

I ran to the phone and called him back. I asked him to please stop and pick up more.

"Sure - no problem and by the way, from now on we will be getting 2-ply - OK?"

I stared at the phone.

I didn't expect the first round of compromise to be over toilet paper.

"Um. Sure - no problem - Thank you!!!! See you in a bit" I hung up.

He walked in 15 minutes later. TP in hand.

It's not bad. I feel like we go through a roll so much quicker but it's a small thing.

Our first major compromise.

Getting What I want

I don't know what is wrong with me.

The things I want most in the world, the things I work hard for and want.... so badly....

I get them and don't know what to do with them.

Take music.

I cannot for the life of me understand why it is that a group of people dislike me. I don't. I am nice person. I am really great to work with because I don't criticize or make directors look bad in front of the group. If I feel strongly about something I take it offline, privately, and address it there.

So It came as a neat little surprise today to realize - again - that my dad's group, while he was alive, is restructuring their board to make sure I never get on it.

Now I have to ask what the hell is this about? I didn't need or want that info, but not being the person who shoots the messenger, I just swallowed it and walked away.

The bottom line there is I will be section leader, I will sing, I will get and do the solos. But that's it. This is the dumbest group of supposed adults I have ever seen in my life.

Still on the music topic. I have the opp to sing with my best friend. Something I have wanted to do for 10 years. I have been eagerly learning and listeninng to the high parts on the catalog entries he's given me ( Yes Bernie a lot of the ones we were having fun with the other night). We have a lot to practice together as I have been working on them several times a day every day.

But I'm unsure of myself with him. I don't doubt my ability, or my training or anything like that. I just doubt myself with him because I am afraid that I won't do a good job. He thinks I am crazy and how will we know if we don't practice. He's right. Of course he's right.

I told him he has to stop throwing his exwife around on this. she was his music partner as much as she was his wife. He hasn't sung with anyone else since and the thing that I keep hearing is that she was incredibly intuitive and heard parts that most people miss and that kind of thing.

Very unnerving - especially since, until this commentary came about, I don't have a first wife complex.

I don't think that I do now - I would have this problem whether he was married to her or not. More about me and my insecurity.

I think I am going to see about doing something over the weekend during the day. I have to bite the bullet to know whether I Can really do the job.

I do believe I can. I have a great sense for the harmonies, I have perfect pitch - this should be a no brainer other than the fact that he's a perfectionist.

Sometimes getting what you want requires more work to hold onto it than in getting it.

MOthers and sons

Parents generally like me.


Not to blow my own horn or anything but whats not to like?


So you can imagine my surprise to find out that my best friend's mother doesn't really like me all that much.


I was at first really hurt, because I thought she and I had a really good relationship. We have affection for one another, I have done really nice things for her kids... her youngest specifically as he's the one who's dying.


The first time he brought it up was 2 weeks ago. I was so stunned I didn't know how to react.


So it was brought up again Monday night. I decided to go for further clarification.

I don't think I mentioned that she is a Psychologist. Her only complaint to him - "Be careful there, she's crazy about you"

It's a mother - son thing. We have this in my family and I can't tell you how many times I run into this.....

No woman is good enough.


But other than that - she likes me.


He stood up for me thouh. He told her that he and I know who we are, and what we want. He said some harsh things to her regarding this as well. I asked him to go lighter on her, she's losing a son to a horrible illness - the perceived favorite no less - and he's going to be all she has left on the other side.

However, he doesn't want the attention from her as the only choice available and certainly doesn't want it at all anymore. He also told me that it was predetermined by the family when his brother got sick that he would be the caretaker - without consulting him first. How lucky they are that he is the person he is and did it with little to no complaint until July. That's 5 years of his life he can't get back and more importantly, now we are re-building both him and our life.

It gave me an insight to her that I didn't have before. Basically she really liked me until she realized how close and how important he and I have become to one another. Then it wasn't OK.

I should also admit that, my dad said that while he loved my best friend as if he were a son, He didn't like my best friend as a son-in-law. The difference is, he said that ( or so I have heard that he did) 7 years ago and my best friend was just out of a divorce at the time. My dad is now deceased as well so it's not like he can recant. You know what, recently, I have had a one way conversation with my dad in which I told him the same thing my best friend said to his mom. This is my choice, I know who I am now, and I know who he is. If you love me, you will support it.

I don't think I know a single person who hasn't encountered some form of this with the new family on some level.

Families are wonderful. They are also troubling and funny all at once. We are still getting to know the other one's respective familes.

It's a work in progress.

Blog silent

I know I have been "blog silent" for awhile and I keep drafting posts up now and again but never finishing them to actually post them.

Largely because I don't know how to finish them.

Being a fairly decisive person, I usually make and stick by my decisions. They don't come easily but once I decide, after research of course and m y trusty pros and cons list, I plow forth.

I have made some "snap" decisions in this past month that are very uncharacteristic of me. I am not upset with them. I am not unhappy with them, I am just still undergoing the normal process that I go through while making them, even though I already know the outcome...

Yes - I admit that's weird. And the topics are not topics I can readily discuss on my blog as they are, while good fundamentally, too serious in nature, for me to post at this time.

I will acknowlede that the job change hasn't taken place yet. Though I am DYING for this to happen and sooner rather than later.

I reconnected with my dear friend Elle. I have missed her horribly so this is a good thing. And she needs me too, which is nice, as she is now going through a divorce. I have missed her kid too so equally good for me.....

I have sung my swan song with the Merrick Chorale. They are using me and not paying me so as much as I love the folks that sing there, I will not be singing the major works with them in the future. If my coach is directing, I will happily sing, but that's it. I will be using the line "I'm so sorry - I'm not available on those days" and moving on. Of course if they decide to offer it to me and pay me - different story altogether.

I honestly have no issues other than my living environment and I am working through that.

I do want to comment on my post the other day "good is not the absence of bad".

Mrs. Jackson posted a great reference on that post - please take a look - especially if you know her. She is completely right. With one exception that I did not include in my post:

Psychological abuse. It's as evil if not more so than the physical. Because it's harder to undo. though neither is acceptable or good in any way. It's subtle in nature and usually you don't even realize it's happening until it's too late. YOu just feel wretched and don't understand why.

But generally speaking - A good relationship is whatever you define goodness as. For me, goodness includes but is not limitied to: Love, laughter, conversation, attraction, intelligence, commitment, compromise.

That's for my purposes.

But as for being blog silent I promise to try and be more proactive.

Good is NOT the absence of bad

I read a meditation the other day that said "Goodness is not and should not be the absence of bad".

The example they used was a woman who said that her husband didn't cheat on her, didn't beat her, didn't beat their children so therefore she must have a good marriage.

But she wasn't "happy".

I couldn't fathom that. I don't actually get it, to be honest.


I have friends who have been married for 28 years. They are getting divorced. Very heartbreaking and very sad. They worked reaally hard and the only thing the wife could say was, we just stopped trying. We just stopped working.

I am finding the road to relationships really fabulous but also scary and hard. It's definitely got it's own reward but the pitfalls along the way are frightening. And I admit it, I'm scared.

Witless.

I spoke to my college room -mate today. She knows me in so many ways that surprise me even to this day. She made an observation that I don't really talk about my feelings for another person. And she's right. I don't. I have always played those cards close to the vest.

So I told her that things here in domestic land have changed fairly dramatically. My living situation will be more different than it already has been in the past 3 weeks.

I had reservations because this happened sooner than I expected it. But I think maybe not. I think on some level I must have known because I had ordered all these storage and organization componants. A month ago.

I spent my night clearing out closets and putting away the last remnants of Christmas. Yes. Christmas. And shut up.

I had a lot on my mind which is why I chose the manual labor. YOu see. I met the whore last night. For the first time,

Funny bit. She was sitting at the bar. He and I were standing behind her to the left. The bartender, knowing all of us, looked at him standing between us and said "uh oh".

I almost died laughing. But I was angry. Not because she showed up - unannounced by the way - but because I knew he was going to cave and talk to her.

We packed his gear up. We got paid, and I offered to leave when he said he had to at least be a little bit social. I figured since I was already not happy, why stay and deal with it?

When he got home at 2AM he walked in, woke me up and we had the fight. Basically I didn't handle it well, he understood why, but I didn't put myself in his shoes. So I did. Right there.

I felt bad for him. He had no way to prevent it from happening. I wasn't mad at him and he wasn't mad at me, but we had the discussion because it needed to be said. I was right toom, he caved on h er because she played his heartstrings. What I personally dislike about her, is she uses him to get what she can't get from the other guy. Honey - you can't have it both ways.

He's had so much anger towards her and it dissapated the minutes she sat down. He said she doesn't want him as an enemy (good choice that always goes badly with him). He basically told her he was moving but given the way the night went, he opted not to tell her where - for my sake actually. Could you imagine? First phone call, my head would explode !

I don't consider her a problem for ME. I do consider her a problem for him and I wish that he would cut her off once and for all - even for a few months - just to give him time to heal.

I can't make him and I won't try.

In the light of day and the fact that I had the house to myself for the better part of the late afternoon and all of the evening and night, I re-evaluated some things here.

1. This arrangement is a good step for us both.
2. My feelings for him haven't changed with the new reality that we are in
3. The componants are all there and this appears to be the adhesive we need to glue it all together

I'm a lot more comfortable than I was a day or two ago. I did my pros and cons. The pros outweighed the cons by a landslide.

The absence of bad does not make something good. My relationship has bad but it also has good.

The good outweighs the bad. Each and every time. Why? Because we talk, we discuss and it's done with love and respect. Even if we don't agree.

He's not perfect and neither am I. But together we are a smashing team.