I have been away for quite a while. Here's a summary of what is happening in my life:

She has made some changes to her plan. She got a job at none other than Cirque du Soleil! No, not as a performer, but starting as a customer service rep. The opportunities are endless once you are in there, too, I am told. The president has a "fou du roi", like a court jester. The cafeteria is huge and actually has good food. The people are friendly. She may actually get to make some friends at this place. Everyone is a little weird; she'll fit right in. Everything is going well there.

In fact things are going so well there that she has decided to postpone finishing her degree to pursue this path. Maybe she'll get into PR for the company. Maybe she'll start travelling. I don't know.

We had a nice talk last week. Her and I (I'll have to give her a name, won't I? We'll go with Rose, she likes that name) talked about what we are to each other and how we will act going forward. I officially do not have a girlfriend; she is also single. Officially. However, we are obviously more than just friends, and we aren't just friends with benefits, either. We really love each other, but for many reasons which I am too tired to get into here for the most part, we choose to not be exclusive with each other.

I sometimes refer to her as my girlfriend, but only to people that don't know me, or her. She's something else, our relationship seems to transcend most normal tags. I'll just call her Rose here, and her name (her all-too-common name, ostie!) outside of here.

Rose has decided that she wants me in her life forever. I can live with that. I want her around, too. I love her, after all, and our story has been evolving far longer than my story with Catherine. But love evolves, changes, and comes in so many forms. We will remain very good friends if nothing else. We are free to do as we wish. This could be the beginning of a beautiful, polyamorous friendship. That reminds me, Julia gets into town for good today...

Catherine (who I had lunch with last Monday, first time I had seen her since this day), was little more than a bit of a transient in Rose's eyes. Someone she can have her fun with for a few months, or maybe a couple of years, and then, a fadeaway. Rose seemed to know this when they met last May, and that was part of why she felt a little cold towards her.

By the way, I want to punch out Rose's ex. Not the most recent one, but the father of her daughter. I want to just punch him out, but he'd just ignore the blows. Not because he is so tough, or disciplined. But because that's what he does; he ignores that which he does not want to deal. If he didn't want to accept the loss of his hand, for example, he'd just convince himself that that hand wasn't worth using, that it wasn't "up to the job", or that he simply needed a change.

For more than three years, Rose had custody of their daughter. He wanted it. He had a new girlfriend who became a wife, and they wanted the girl to live with them. Rose saw no reason to give up custody until her life fell apart last May. She made a hard parenting decision and gave up custody to him.

When Rose had custody, not only did he get every other weekend with her, but he got every other Wednesday as well and long weekends, as a show of good faith, to show that she had no ill will towards him. Now he has a good paying job, a wife, house and car. He's living "the life". And her daughter is in good hands. But do you think he would extend the same courtesy to her? Not a fucking chance.

Rose isn't even allowed to have a phone number; she just has a pager number. To get a phone number, they'd probably have to go to court. She isn't allowed to meet his wife, this woman who is living with and teaching her daughter things. On Friday she found out why. This woman hates Rose with a passion. Why? Rose's unwillingness to just give up custody when they wanted her to "caused strains in their relationship". She was "causing trouble for years". Yeah, sure. It wasn't Rose's fault that he was spending all his money on lawyers and losing (there was no compelling reason to change custody). That woman gets a kick in the fucking box. Lying bitch. Grow the fuck up.

He is a condescending asshole, too. He thinks he's better than Rose. Yes, she has had a rough time of things, and now lives in a one-room apartment (although a really nice one in the best neighbourhood in the city), but two years ago he didn't even hacve a place to live, nor did he have a phone number. These people are unbelievable.

Well, I think she is in much better hands now. Her own hands. She is doing it on her own now. And I'll be there when she needs me.