Reminders

Today is Kat's 14th birthday.  Officially, she became 14 years old at 2:20 this morning, or, really, 11:20 Pacific, since we're in California now and she was born in Virginia.  I asked Kat if she will go to see her father, Mark, this Christmas, since she had not seen him this summer, and I don't think she went last Christmas, either, so it will have been over a year since she's been to the East Coast for visitation.

I asked because, during the course of speaking with Peter, who is currently in London, the topic of potential travel during the latter half of December (and possibly into the beginning of January) came up, with Peter asking if I had plans for this coming Christmastime.  We agreed that it would only really be possible for us to travel together, out of the country, if Kat goes to her father, because then she'll have her trip, and we will have ours.  At any rate, she has not been to see her father in quite some months, and she's supposed to see him twice per year. according to our visitation settlement.

I've been to England with Peter once before, earlier this year, when he attended a conference in Barcelona.  I accompanied him to Barcelona (which is a beautifully laid-out city) for one week, then we traveled to England, where I met two of his brothers (the third lives and works in Asia), his sister, their partners, and Peter's mum, who lives outside of Newcastle.

The idea of seeing his family again (as well as a couple friends, whom I'd met last summer) is exciting.  However, there needs to be much planned if we are to make the trip, for Peter needs to finalize his travel itinerary for the remainder of this year since he'll be returning to London at least once (in October) and then traveling to China (I think Beijing) for a week or two (also work-related).

Since Peter spends so much time traveling, I find myself, not quite pining, but certainly missing his company when he's away.  His work takes him to London, on average, one week every month, and he travels to other locations as well to meet with their customers.  Living on the West Coast of the United States actually ends up working pretty well, for he is very near one of their major customers here in San Diego, and he can easily make day trips up to the Bay area, or spend a few days in Seattle, where some other large customers have their headquarters.

Thankfully, modern technology allows us to keep in fairly close touch when he's away:  we talk on the telephone and occasionally use FaceTime (Apple's equivalent of Skype).  Even with these methods of communication, I miss his corporeal, intellectual, and emotional presence.

I suppose something that has persisted, perhaps because we don't often get to spend large blocks of time together, is the "honeymoon period" of our relationship.  But honestly, I don't think the honeymoon will end, at least not for a long, long time (at least while he's still working and traveling as much as he does).  We've found in each other someone who, while not agreeing on all issues, at least understands our positions and respects them, which apparently, from what I've been told and observed, is not often the case, at least not in generations past  Perhaps that makes us a product of our generation, that we're not "settling" anymore.  I can honestly say that my life has been all but perfect. Those things that are not perfect appear, at least to me, to be circumstantial, and are therefore not an inherent fault in the relationship itself.

I find myself as happy a person as I've ever been.  I've been in love before:  twice, in my twenties (once at twenty-one, once at twenty-nine).  Both times, I'd been very idealistic and dreamy, as I suppose most young adults are.  Most of my happiness then was from future prospects.  Now that I am older (though I suspect not too much wiser, if at all), I've become more appreciative of the present.  After all, nobody can predict the future.  This is not to say that we ought not prepare ourselves for foreseeable future events.  For instance, I am, in the small way I am capable, preparing for Kat to graduate high school and eventually leave home - leave me.  Although I got a relatively late start in preparing for her to attend college or whatever further education she pursues, I'm doing something, and that makes me feel better.