These are the characters in the story of my life:

Nimajneb aka frenetik -- husband and soulfriend.
Hannah aka shioneh -- spirit-twin and soulfriend.
Meliae aka earthy_goddess -- deep friend
Kate aka clown_frog -- deep friend
Firekat aka kmiotutsie -- deep friend
'Kenzy aka sunshinepill -- deep friend
lil sis -- younger sister.
Paula & Spencer -- mentors
Gabe -- spiritual brother
SabR aka sabr -- close friend
Kazi aka malignlibra -- close friend
elya -- sister-in-law, friend
Rebecca -- sister-in-law, friend
Nimajneb's family -- my family-in-law
biofamily -- my biological family

( photos, descriptions, and history )

heh, been working on this for DAYS. You should all do it! it's oddly cleansing. ;-) and I'm curious about the people in your lives; I believe you can understand a person much more when you know of the people who live in her/his heart ♥

Life has been stressssss-FUL lately. Mainly financial stuff... Ben and I were counting on him being promoted into management now, and it didn't happen. Two less-qualified people were promoted over him, a black man and a white woman, and he feels sure it was because of political reasons (race/sex quotas). (He knows the two people: their history, temperament, and qualifications) He spoke with his manager and his manager gave the impression that he agreed. Ben was pretty irritated about it... but I feel that sometimes injustice is the only way to make up for injustice. I would probably be more upset if it was ME who got left behind, because I'd feel hurt that my managers didn't make it happen for me, but as it is, I'm okay with it. I am definitely feeling the pinch of this, and it's not right -- but I feel it is necessary. This one time, those two people may have been favored, but usually, they will have to deal with a hell of a lot more oppression and discrimination than Ben (and myself, as his dependent) will. It shouldn't have happened, especially not to Ben because he was absolutely the best person for the position, but if it tips the scales a little bit more toward equality, I think it's a necessary wrong. Dunno how long my stance on that would hold if it happened over and over though, heh.

I am upset over not having money though. I have a veryvery late birthday present for 'Kenzie that has been sitting here and I haven't had the money to send it off, and then Hannah, Kate, Meliae's birthdays went by and I couldn't get anything :-( And then there is the stress of bills hanging over our heads, and the car desperately needs repair... and I need to spend time with Hannah, not want, NEED. I'm not willing to go back to Wal-Mart, and with sharing one car that we can't drive any more than absolutely necessary, getting a job elsewhere is not realistic. We're hoping that Ben gets this other position that just opened up, but he hasn't been interviewed yet so that is up in the air. He said he'd enjoy that one a lot more than the other so we're reeeeeeeeeeally hoping... otherwise we have to scrape by until April when the next management opening comes up. So please pray or send positive energy his way about that, it would make our lives so incredibly much better.

The financial stuff has the effect of leaving me housebound, which is a rather depressing thing for me, especially since I REALLY want to spend time with SabR and Kazi... but I've had positivity come into my life in the form of my friends. Last week my monitor turned very greenish (thank you Murphy), and I told Kazi about it, who told Brian, who drove allllll the way over to give me his extra monitor AND look at my car. I was so happy that he went out of his way for me like that. AND I got my birthday present from Kate!!! I will save describing it for when I have photos but lemme tell you, I am just THRILLED!!!

( ashley/lily stuff )

I've been in a constant whirl of emotion for the past few weeks... I feel a little insane, sometimes a lot insane. I feel like I am living on fast-forward, everything intense, complex, compact, exponentialized. SO. MUCH. is new! Three brand-new face-to-face friendships with people I feel a deep connection with, plus two more people who are connected to them, new places, new languages (in the sense that every person communicates differently), rapidly deepening relationships with long-distance friends, just... wow. everything! And I've been having intense flashes of insecurity, because I care so much about these new friendships and I am afraid that I will make a mistake and lose my chance, and they may not have the strength/desire to give me a second chance. And because I have never attempted to befriend an already-formed group -- it's a daunting task, so many eyes watching. I feel like if I lose one, I lose them all (which may not be completely true but I think it is partially true).

You know when you fall in love, and it's SO thrilling but so scary, and the slightest negative thing sends you spiraling into a depression thinking that all the wonderfulness was just a dream? (am I the only one that was like that? hmm...) Well that's very much like what I'm living, except it's platonic and it's more than one person! It's scary and painful, but in a growing way, and I welcome it.

ALSO. good news! my mom FINALLY moved down with my lil sis and now they live a mere hour and a half away. Which is great because my lil sis is safer and I get to see her more, but not great because they're living with Aunt Mary. I've lived with her and all I'm gonna say is I KNOW that that is like, and I am not happy that my lil sis is having to deal with that. But she's a strong spirit, and I know she can handle it, and it is much better than being around her dad.

And Sunday! Miss K, Ben's mom, had a lunch 'party' for me, with cheese-stuffed tomato-sauced pasta shells (she asked what I wanted and I said 'anything with cheese and tomato!'), and my mom and lil sis came over. I'm a little weirded out by my mom because I don't know her anymore, and I was VERY VERY WEIRDED OUT by the fact that my ten-years-younger sister is considerably taller than me! so freaking strange! I felt intimidated! I meant to get photos but forgot, next time perhaps. She showed me her drawings and I was impressed, partly because there is so much feeling to them, and partly because she is so free -- when I used to draw I wouldn't even attempt an angle if I didn't think I could get it right, and she just goes for it. (I hope she's learning as much from me as I am from her, heh) She's finally mature enough that I can see similarities between us. We have no physical similarities -- she's tall, golden-skinned, blonde, looks like her dad (we do have the same biological father, but I don't consider him my dad), and I'm short, pale, dark-haired, look most like one of my mom's sisters -- but we have the same indomitable streak, and we have a similar... warmth, is the closest word I can find. We give off a similar frequency.

I haven't been able to get in contact with Hannah lately, I'm worried :-( I hate hate hate that there is a whole fucking ocean keeping us apart -- it's so very wrong, I need to be there for her. She is constantly on my mind. ♥ I miss you I miss you I miss you... Don't ever think that anyone could take your place, don't ever think that I could forget you even for a second. You're as essential to me as water and air... and I love you from every tiny corner of my heart.

...Did I Imagine You? by Dot Allison...
Where in the world are you tonight?
I'm waiting for you // Just take my hand
I'll carry you through

I had the most beautiful evening last Saturday. ♥ Ben and I went to have dinner with Kazi (malignlibra), SabR (sabr), Brian (zodiacbw), Brad (racedriver95), and John (no LJ!) -- Brian made (delicious) lasagna for us at his house.

I don't know if I can do justice to the feeling I had among them. I felt home, in a way I have never felt before. I loved the Wynnes with all my heart, but I was extremely insecure when I lived with them and could not fully believe in their love or acceptance, and even though they never treated me as such, technically I was their servant -- I wasn't around purely for the pleasure of my company. The Wynnes gave me my first taste of family, but I experienced a full banquet of it Saturday night. Even on walking in, I felt comfortable (in a brand new environment with people I'd only seen a few times and two new people also), and as the night went on I felt it more and more. I felt safe, connected.

I'm still reflecting on why I felt so at ease and accepted among - strangers! Perhaps it's because none of the group loves lightly, there is no wishy-washy maybeness. If they choose to trust, they do so in a deep way. I could be wrong since they're still new to me (the guys anyway), but I don't think I am.

I felt an instant connection when I met Brian -- my spirit recognized his, and I loved him immediately. ♥ My spirit said he was one of the most open people I have ever met, which made no sense to my mind because outwardly he seems very reserved and private -- but my spirit would brook no argument. (I'm still trying to figure out what that means) We didn't talk at all, that I can remember (except that I complimented his cooking and he thanked me), but I felt such a connection. Loving someone so strongly, so quickly, is kinda scary, kinda thrilling, very confusing. At one point we thought Kazi was upset and SabR darted to the room she was, I started to follow and then hesitated and said, 'should I go?' and then looked at Brian for an answer. He looked in my eyes a moment and then kinda half-smiled and jerked his head toward the room and said, "c'mon," and we went to the room (it turned out that Kazi wasn't actually upset). In that small action I felt like he had looked into my soul to see if I really cared about Kazi and wanted to comfort her, saw that I did, and chose to include me. I felt like he understood me, believed in me, and trusted me -- just like that. Later I was talking with SabR and he was listening so intently (it made me feel so valued) -- I haven't actually had the guts to talk to him about all this because I'm afraid that it's all one sided *eek* but I really want to know if he was interested because he knows Kazi and SabR love me, or because he felt the same connection. ((I sent this post to him before posting to see if he was okay with me posting it, he said he was (but I scared him a bit, *eek*)))

Later we all watched Playing By Heart -- I thought it was just going to be myself and SabR and Kazi, but the guys were all interested! I sat between SabR and Kazi on the couch, with Brad and John on the floor in front of them, and I invited Brian to sit in front of me (I knew Ben would rather stretch his eons-long legs out on the recliner). He leaned his head against my leg as we watched the movie, which made me feel completely included. I was so incredibly happy, watching my favorite movie of all time while cuddling with such a close-knit group of people that I felt truly safe with.

ALSO! My birthday is in two days! and I get to spend the night with SabR and Kazi and then meet SabR's magical horse, Scarlette!