Happy Birthday to Me!

I had one of the best birthdays ever. It was such a great celebration and I just hope it portends of the upcoming year.

Saturday night I went to Joe's after the gym. He lives in a self-contained apartment attached to a main house. It was the birthday of one of the guys who lives in the main house. So we went and had a drink and talked to his landlord, also named Joe. Landlord Joe is a fascinating man and the hour went by too quickly. I'd love to have dinner with him sometime and listen to more of his stories.

Then we headed off to Apollo's to meet some friends for karaoke. We never got to sing but it was great to be surrounded by so many awesome people. There were rugby people, straight friends, gay friends. I want to give a shout out to Coach Phill and John for making the trek down from Cave Creek. And to Buddy and Richard for stopping in after being in Tucson all day. It really made me feel special that they went out of their way to wish me happy birthday.

The only problem was, there were a lot of people there. I think at one point there were probably 20 or 30 friends. I always feel bad because I get to talk to someone for 5 or 10 minutes and then it's time to move on to someone else. It's a balancing act. I want everyone to know that I appreciate them being there. So hopefully they did.

Wanna see some pictures? Here's a link to some pix I took.

Sunday was just an incredible day. Joe and I slept in until 9:30. Then we got up and drank coffee and watched the Sunday morning news shows. Then he made french toast that was SUPER DELICIOUS and then baked a yummy cake. (I've already eaten half the cake.) We just laid on the floor all day and read the paper and watched TV. It was a luxury we don't normally have because I usually have to write my freelance column. But I was able to get all the research done on Friday and Saturday, so I got to stay at Joe's til 5pm.

Joe went out of his way to make Sunday a special day. He cooked, he baked, he brought me coffee, he let me watch horror films on the TV, he let me rip off his clothes... multiple times. He's a great guy! And not only is he a great cook and baker, he's more comfortable than a Sealy Posturepedic (I fell asleep lying on top of him).

The past twelve months two wonderful things happened to me.

Last June I had to go to a dinner for Echo. It was to accept an award from the Phoenix Storm RFC. They welcomed me with open arms and invited me to practice with them. They have since brought me into their family and I'm a better man because of it.

I've also fallen in love for the third time in my life. Not only am I in love, but it's with someone with which I'm really compatible. That's not easy to find. I know I've only known Joe for 6 months, but at this point in my two previous relationships, serious red flags had already been waving. Those haven't happened yet. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Joe is brutally honest. I'm that way with important stuff. So we talk about everything and anything without fear of hurt feelings. I like this arrangement. I see it lasting, hopefully for the rest of our lives.

I mean it's got to. Buddy called us Lesbian Life Partners. That cracked me up. But it's also kinda cool. I hope he's right (the life partners part).