Bananas

As Penny and I were in the car this morning, on the way to school, she observed that even if I'm feeling better tomorrow, I might need to reschedule my monthly lunch with her, as she's got an appointment for a Banana Splits meeting. (Banana Splits is the support group at Penny's school for kids who are coping with divorce and separation.)

"That's fine," I said. "I'll come have lunch with you on Thursday, instead. How is Banana Splits going? Does it help?"

"A little, I guess. We have to fill out these worksheets like, 'Does your dad have a girlfriend?' and 'Does your mom have a boyfriend?' Really personal stuff! Why do they have to ask such personal questions?"

"Well, some kids have a lot of trouble with that. Asking those questions helps Ms. L [the guidance counselor and group leader] know how to help you guys."

"It's still really personal!"

"That's true. You don't have to answer any questions if they make you uncomfortable. ...Does it bother you that Daddy has a girlfriend?" (Matt told the kids about that a week or so ago.)

"No, it's okay."

"Well, that's good. ...Would it bother you if I had a boyfriend?"

"I don't know." She thought for a moment. "Would you be gone all the time?"

"No, I'd only go out when you guys were with Dad. I'd be home when you're with me, just like now."

"Would your boyfriend come over, then?"

"Maybe."

"Hm." She thought another moment. "I think I'd have to know who he was."

"That's perfectly fair."

And just as I was feeling grateful for her mature, reasoned response, she added, "I don't know if... I mean, I just don't see it happening, really."

...Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.

Scattered Reports

Ack, have I really not posted here at all this month?

It's been an insanely busy month, so let's see if we can sum it all up...

I took the kids to a children's play. And to the dentist. I threw an adults-only Valentisn't party (which is just like Missmas, only in February instead of January) that was a lot of fun. Both kids came down with the flu, weekend before last, so I spent all week last week working from home in an effort to keep germs isolated. It totally didn't work, though, because over this past weekend I caught a cold and am back in the office with it today. (I'm keeping my office door closed, though.)

I went down to Chesapeake to have dinner with KT and Kevin just before Valentine's Day. Then the next week I went down to VA Beach with KT to meet up with a fellow local erotica writer for coffee. That was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

I went to the theater with Elizabeth to see her dad in "Faith Healer," which was simultaneously hysterical and heartbreaking.

I went with Jenn and Brian to a bowling social for letting hopeful adoptive parents meet prospective adoptive kids. That was mildly awkward, but still fun. We had great plans for the afternoon and evening, too, but Jenn got sick before we could put them into play, so we just sat around their place and watched movies and got takeout Chinese. Which was also still good.

Long-time reader Ami told me on Facebook that she wanted to hear more about dating... Which is a little tricky, since the guys I've dated haven't really given me permission to talk about them (I'm not even sure they know about my blog). Let's see, what can I say...? Ah! I'll re-share a few observations I've made to some girlfriends:

• God, but I've missed kissing.
• I can understand why, when I was a young, it was so easy to confuse this heady exhilaration with actual love.
• Necking on the couch like teenagers is even more fun when you're not worried about your parents coming home.
• There are things that I sort of knew when I was younger, but hadn't really absorbed yet, that seem to have finally sunk in, over the years. Like: Confidence is incredibly sexy. It's okay to make mistakes and admit to ignorance. And it's okay to say no -- and equally okay to say yes.

I did stop seeing one guy, for a variety of reasons that boiled down to -- I just wasn't feeling it. There's another that I'm pretty happy with, but neither of us is quite ready to try to make it into anything official or exclusive. I'm still logging into my online dating account from time to time and seeing what looks good.

So that's the state of my dating life. I hope that's sufficient to keep your prurient interests satisfied.

I need to get back to work and throw down another dose of cold medicine so I can recover in time for my date this week...