MCC and I traveled to the homestead and emerged unfathomably unscathed. There was genuine merriment for the entire trip had by parents, MCC and I, and I couldn't have asked for it to go better. My parents absolutely adore him. It's the first time they've really liked someone I've dated. Were I a petulant 17 year old, I'd break up with him immediately.

You know, I didn't really realize how important it was that he and my family get along until after we got down there and he and my mom were trading inappropriate (oh how they were inappropriate!) jokes in the kitchen. My mom, true to form, tried to feed us until we burst. (MCC almost did, but my mother just shoved another croissant in his mouth.) It really was wonderful -- we spent the entire weekend just sitting around and talking. They got a chance to really get to know him, and he was open and warm and if he was nervous -- he didn't show it one bit. He is unequivocally amazing and he makes my heart go pitter patter. The fact that my parents see just how great he is just makes me all the more happy. I don't suggest that you should base your choices on parental approval, but it's important to me that he understand and appreciate where I came from. After all, these are the people (for better or for worse) who made me who I am.

An amusing aside -- one that sort of terrifies me -- he and I have the same sort of dynamic that my parents do. Even MCC mentioned that is was remarkably similar. He and my dad are both easygoing jokesters -- both sensitive to a fault, but strong and resilient. My mother and I, well we're what you could affectionately call "feisty." Sometimes quick-tempered, but always interested to achieve fairness. I think my mom has me beat in the "flare up" department. MCC often has to poke at me to get me to talk about what I'm thinking or feeling if he senses I'm upset. It's not that I'm trying to be coy, quite the opposite -- I'm trying to be rational and to determine whether what I'm upset or angry about is justifiable. I've never been an easy one for emotions, but I've gotten better at acknowledging and discussing them. MCC has had a lot to do with it.

I have sort of been taking stock of the past year (we just celebrated our one year anniversary) and I'm really proud of the progress I've made. There are still some issues I have (we'll get to that in another post), but I think I've overcome significant hurdles. Before this, as is evident in my archives, I normally bail when things get too close or I choose *exactly* the wrong guy. Hell, MCC was supposed to be the wrong guy too, you know. I expected him to be rebounding -- to not be looking for anything serious -- to be someone I could easily dismiss as such. Instead, what I got was someone intelligent, courageous, loving, silly, ambitious, and tons of other adjectives that will just make y'all wretch by the time I'm done.