Merry Christmas from Essex Junction

Where the hell is Essex Junction? Admittedly I didn't know until recently but its a small town near a slighly larger yet still small town called Burlington here in VT. Its great to be here. And by great I mean disconcerting. And by disconcerting I mean absolutely strange.

Don't get me wrong - I've been waiting for months to get to VT. Only now that I'm here I feel strangely disconnected. I don't know anybody. I can't remember how to get to the grocery store. There is snow on the ground but its 50 degrees out. Just a strange turn of events from the girl who until last week was a high-tech employee in CA.

I've been here 5 days and have watched an unforgiveable amount of TV. Course in addition to being jobless and friendless, I'm actually carless. Presumably prefering the more temperate climate my car has decided to stay in CA. Well not exactly true but it has yet to be picked up by the shipping company so my only mode of transportation is feet.

And yes, the REAL reason I'm here is of course my beloved fiance Frenchie. He is a doll and is doing his best to entertain. But I think I still need a little time to adjust through the strange feeling of not belonging here...

damnit

I was all prepared to leave my job at the end of January. Till my boss offered the chance to work remotely, "indefinitely." All of a sudden, Frenchie and I were a dual income household, one that could afford things like new garage door openers and drapes. Mentally my contuned and unexpected income was already spent.

Until today when he called to let me know that he had mispoke.

Ugh.

Such Strange Circumstances

So many strange things have happened in the past few weeks I'm at a loss as to where to begin.

Good Strange
My friends threw me a surprise wedding shower 2 weeks ago! I suppose this may not strike some as qualifying as particularly bizarre, but I had never imagined myself as the girl with the phallic deeliepoppers drinking Champaign while my friends extolled the virtues of a particular brand of lubricant. The party started with the obligated shower activities like pin the whazzits on the thatzit but quickly degenerated into the most solidly enjoyable drunken allnighter that I've enjoyed in years.

Around 6:00 am we had the bright idea to make some herbal tea trusting that a cup or two of Chinese flowers would be more than adequate to make up for the past 8 hours of excess. Sadly this wasn't the case but in hindsight, you have to applaud the logic.

Bad Strange
The Ex of my Ex who I have never met sent me an email this week. They started dating soon after the end of our long and mutually excruciating breakup. Unfortunately she was the rebound girl who wanted to be the girlfriend. I don't know the specifics but apparently their 2 year on/off relationship was defined by hopeful enthusiasm on her part matched by neglectful apathy on his. Needless to say this has left her feeling a bit down about the whole experience.

Her letter however, was to apologize for the fact that she now believes my Ex and I were still together at the time they started dating. However I'm fairly sure this is not the case. What's worse is that I'm fairly certain that the reason she believes this is that in actuality, he and I flirted with getting back together while THEY were dating. We didn't. We were both too bruised by the angst and heartache of the breakup. But given her email, I'm fairly certain she would be less than delighted to know that he and I were still circling about each other while they were dating.

Also,if he HAD cheated (which I can't entirely rule out), it would have been over 2 years ago yet for some reason she now felt the need to unburden and make amends. Why now? Maybe it is genuine guilt. Although I suspect, as they broke up 6 months ago and apparently she is still mourning the loss, it has more to do with her desire to still feel connected to him. And that perhaps being connected to me would help on that front. Who knows.

I haven't written back yet but I will. When I figure out what to say.