M.I.A., The Bittersweet Update

The last ten days are a blur, in a lousy way...copious amounts of "RIGHT NOW" deadlines, work requirements and clients needing stuff in a hurry have a way of wearing on me in a way that I haven't quite experienced to this degree. Not before August 16th, anyway. And my other half isn't hitting NYC just yet, because she's as busy, if not moreso.

Since I have plenty of work to do over the weekend, plus the possibility of an all-day meeting on Saturday, and a few heavy-duty meetings with clients and/or city personnel next week, I know I'll be too busy to enjoy her being here. But knowing that right now we would have been ensconced somewhere in her hotel room, under the covers and giggling like kids or whispering and laughing, I find myself missing her in a way I've never missed anyone before, and it's a nice, albeit frustrating, feeling.

It's a combination of friendship, love, respect and laughter that has been heretofore unknown to me...I've had girlfriends that have had some of those things going on, and I've endured the needy, clingy, whiny, freak-out-if-I-call-ten-minutes-late variety, though thank god the latter have been few and far between. I'm thinking it's a question of self-reliance, self-respect and just understanding it all, and understanding me. Every time I find myself missing her, which is more often than not these days, I hear the Peter Gabriel song "Love to Be Loved" -- the lyric that always hits me is "I'm losing such a central part of me," and of course I'm not losing anything other than time with her; it just seems that, without her around, a part of me is absent as well. It's sort of bittersweet -- being in a relationship with someone I love, respect, admire, laugh with and genuinely like -- and without her here, I miss her. As much as I'm glad I crave her being in my life, I am looking forward to when she finally becomes a full-fledged New Yorker and I can crave her from hour to hour instead of day to day. She's just...cool. She gets it, and she lights me up and recharges me no matter what, when or how. She just is The Real Deal.

And the prospect of mid-town, private, late afternoon lunches that last until way into night :-)

Meanwhile, it's nearing zero degrees in NYC, and trying to keep warm without her here is a losing battle. But I'd gladly endure a year of this weather for a weekend with her -- here, there or anywhere.

Well, maybe not a year...but for a weekend in bed with champagne, candles and her perfume...

A year sounds good...for starters...