Carolyn and I were married in August of 1999.  We received many lovely gifts from people.

Coincidentally, we received two complete sets of pots and pans for the kitchen.  Being the practical people we are, we opened one set and kept the second set as a “backup” for when the first set would eventually wear out.  This seemed a bit silly since the set we were using was stainless steel.

When Carolyn moved out I found myself without a set of pots and pans.  So - I found the other box of pots and pans last night, and took them out of their plastic wrappers for the first time.

It feels very, very wrong to find a use for a wedding gift only after your separation.

Robert Johnson’s “Hellhound On My Trail” played on iTunes a few minutes ago, and the lyrics struck me as being entirely relevant.  The last verse hit me like a ton of bricks:

I can tell the wind is risin’, the leaves tremblin’ on the tree
Tremblin’ on the tree
I can tell the wind is risin’, leaves tremblin’ on the tree
All I need is my little sweet woman
And to keep my company, hey, hey, hey, hey, my company

I wonder how my little sweet woman is doing today?

• Went to the gym on Saturday and did about two hours of climbing.  I was still pretty sore from climbing on Thursday and Friday so I stuck to the “easy” walls and the bouldering cave.  I also bought a book on climbing so I can start to figure out the “right” way to do this.
• Decided to paint the house myself.  I was going to hire a friend of mine to paint that inside, but she has a full plate with school and work and won’t be able to do it.  So fuck it - I’ll just go to Lowe’s myself and buy all the shit I need.  I’ll put the money I save towards one of those new sexy iMacs.
• Carolyn came by the house and picked up the last bits of her stuff.  It’s funny how we managed to divide up thousands of dollars of furniture in a matter of minutes, but we poured over DVD’s and CD’s for well over an hour.  But - it went well, and I even made her some food while she was “visiting” (is it visiting when you come to a house that you own but don’t live in anymore?)
• Carolyn brought Muskoka with her, and it was *great* to see him.  He was very happy to see his daddy, and we spent some time play fighting and wrestling.
• I gave Sydney a lot of attention this weekend, and maybe gave her one or two too many “bickies” for being a good girl.  She’s been a real trooper throughout this separation, and she’s given me a lot of reasons to keep my chin up and my head high.
• I decided that what I really need is a Volkswagen Eurovan camper.  I want to circumnavigate North America next spring - and wouldn’t it be way cool for me and Sydney to do that in a Volkswagen camper?  I just need to drum up the $20,000 that these things go for used.