Y3 D352

BIG day yesterday with all sorts of things going on. Sorry got interrupted while typing this. Let's try again. I waited in the morning for my client to give me feedback on some stuff. They had a release happening in one of the other groups which indirectly impacted the stuff I am working on (aka it broke my data) so I had to sit tight while that grouped spent the day fixing their shit. I decided to use the time productively and make a semi-large change in my working situation. Which later in the day turned out to be a validated decision by my new therapist. What I did was separate my 'home life' from my 'work life'. I moved the laptop over to the desk in the dining room and now have to physically get off the couch to work. Although I use the same laptop for both work and personal stuff, it forces me to disconnect from on here which is a good thing. I can start feeling like I am 'home' when I am not sitting in front of this thing. I started thinking back to past setups and it's only since I have been single and living here that I have been doing this blend of home and work space. When I was married in one house we had a separate room and in the other house we had a dedicated area for computers. I can't think of a time when we had our laptops out during 'personal' time. Of course with the way things are interconnected these days it's more common to have your laptop open and out all the time, but I have to force myself to this kind of separation for my own well being. It means I won't be online 24/7 for people but tough. They can adjust just as easily.

Around 12:30 I headed out to my doctor's appointment. She didn't see me until 1:40 which put me on edge walking into her office, but part of that was that Kaiser wanted me there 1/2 hour early to do paperwork which of course took 10 minutes. I spent about an hour with her and at the end of the session she assured me that I am not half as messed up in the head as I think or even close to some of the people she counsels. We decided there are three avenues of treatment for me. One is private sessions where we talk about the different issues. Unfortunately for this avenue I would have to pay the majority of the costs out of pocket. Two would be a group session for 8 weeks centered around moods and depression and how to avoid traps that cause people to slip into negative thinking patterns. This would be 90% covered by insurance and cost me only $15 per class. Lastly there is a group session to help people who are transitioning in their life, be it divorce, empty nest, house changes, pregnancy, etc. This too would be covered under insurance. After discussing my needs and the types of things covered in each of the two groups, we decided the depression one would be the best fit for me now. We both agreed that the transition one would probably just frustrate me more as I am not really going through transition any more and am just working towards changing my thinking. This is also when I told her about my rearranging things in the house. She affirmed this was a good decision and a smart step to helping me disconnect from some of my work issues.

Goddamn it's taking me forever to write this and there is SO much more...

Okay. On Wednesday I got an email from OKC saying someone was checking out my profile. I checked them out and we were a 94% match. The highest I have ever had on there. She was cute in her pics so I said fuck it and sent out a message. I didn't hear anything until yesterday morning. She said yeah, she was checking me out but didn't think she was attractive enough for me. An odd comment, but I forged ahead with a reply that said if I didn't think you were attractive, I wouldn't have written. We ended up exchanging about 10 emails. On the last one I decided to throw caution to the wind and asked if she would want to meet for drinks. She agreed. Woot. We met up at a local place around 7 and I told her I usually don't move that quick, but since I am going out of town I decided what the heck. She appreciated that. I then asked her about the attractive comment. It's the kid's fault. One of my pics has me and the kid in it but there's no caption. She thought it was an ex-gf. She said you were with this hot chick in one of your pics. I started laughing and told her that was my kid. She started cracking up and said well your kid is hot. Nice. Odd for a dad to hear, but nice.

We have a lot in common like D&D, comic books, authors, attitude about reading, educational background, etc. She has no kids and doesn't want any. She was married for 12 years and has been divorced a short time, but had a similar situation to me where they were roommates at the end. All in all a good time was being had.

We stayed at the bar until about 9 when I decided to be bold again. My friend and her husband were helping to open a new club about 15 miles away and had given me free passes. She told me if the date sucks come by yourself but if the date is good...

The date agreed to go check out the club with me and we were there hanging out and talking until midnight. We ended the night with some kissing and the decision to see each other again when I get back in town.

Not a bad fucking day at all. I am paying for it this morning because I was out of pocket a lot yesterday so I am playing catch up right now. But totally fucking worth it.