I think my car radio is trying to tell me something

My now ex-girlfriend calls me today to tell me that she is going to be in town next weekend, but that I won't see her. She's only passing through on her way to L.A. to visit relatives.

You can't meet me for a drink and discuss this mess? I mean, technically, we still live together, right?

She continues. She will be back between the 18th and the 22nd of January to pack up her stuff and move it back to Colorado...her father will be driving down in a truck to help.

Ouch.

I guess there's no time to talk things through. It appears she doesn't even want to try. She's also upped her move to New York, it's now the first week of February.

I ask her, "What are you doing for money?"

She says, "Nothing."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to just come back to Las Vegas and work for a month or so, saving a few bucks, before moving across the country?" Her old job would definitely take her back, even if only temporarily.

Besides, from my end, everything was still fine. The last time I saw her we still held hands, and kissed, and said "I love you". There was no fizzling out period. There were no arguments, no screaming matches. Nothing at all. She had simply changed her mind and didn't tell me...until the end. I never got to say "goodbye" to this relationship. Selfishly, I wanted her to come back home and we could let things progress naturally. It would make this a lot easier on me. We could do some of the things we used to enjoy doing together, even if it was only for a month or so.

This was just an end with no meaning.

She says she doesn't want to come back to Vegas...ever. She's decided what she wants to do and she wants it to start as soon as possible. She hates it here and wants to leave everything behind.

Wait a minute, I'm here...and so is everything we ever did together.

Feeling hurt, I say "Gee, thanks." At which point she gets all huffy and starts to yell into the phone.

So I hang up on her.

Not the most mature move, granted, but I don't feel like being mature right now. Besides, I've felt like hanging up on her for weeks.

I.

Am.

Done.

I stand up and start to pack up all my holiday decorations and several other boxes. I take down all her calendars, candles, vases, pillows and bath products and pile them on the dining room floor. I simply don't want to look at them anymore. It appears there is no way around it. I will be moving somewhere in the next 3 months...and like she had said, I would rather start RIGHT NOW.

I pack up my car and head off to my storage unit.

The radio clicks on. It's the All-American Rejects song "Move Along". How fitting I think.

Next song? OMC's "How Bizarre". The only song in the history of the world to have my ex-girlfriends name in it. "Zina" isn't exactly a common name. Yes, truly bizarre.

I get to my storage unit and re-organize some boxes, making room for all the crap that's going to go in there over the next few months.

Back in the car, heading home, the radio clicks on again. To the exact second, it's the very first note of Sheryl Crow's "Leaving Las Vegas".

Hmmm...

I think my car radio is trying to tell me something.

You've got to be joking, 2007 isn't over yet?

In the first week of 2007, my girlfriend broke up with me. It set the year off on a sour note that has been playing ever since. We managed to patch things up within about a month and have been dating steadily ever since. We even moved in together.

Now in the last week of 2007, history is repeating itself.

A little back story...

She was cast in a show back in her hometown, and we drove her car up at Halloween. I flew back home, but came out to visit her again for Thanksgiving, and to see the opening night of her production.

Starting around the 2nd week of December, after I'd only been home a few weeks, I started noticing changes in her behavior. There was no more "Hi honey" or "miss you" or "love you" in our phone conversations. She seemed very withdrawn, talking mostly about the weather and such. I kept asking her about it, but all she would say is that her life was very "heavy" right now and she didn't want to talk about it. This has been going on for weeks.

Today, as I was looking at a friends' MySpace page, I saw a comment from my girlfriend saying "hi" and that she was probably moving to New York City at the end of February.

Huh?

News to me.

So I call her. No answer. But she returns my call about an hour later. She said she didn't want to burden me at Christmas (like December 27th is any better), so she hadn't brought it up. She said she felt more at peace with herself, that she had grown alot, and didn't want to come back to Vegas and pick up where she left off. She was staying back home, at least for now, and planned on moving to New York before spring to pursue her career. In essence, she said she had "outgrown" me, and that she considered us no longer together.

Exactly 3 months ago today, we moved into a new apartment together. There's still 3 more months left on the lease.

So here is sit, in an apartment half-full of her stuff, staring at the Christmas presents I wrapped for her underneath the tree. I had gone all out this year, buying probably the best, and most thought out, assortment of presents I've ever bought for any girlfriend.

She mailed me a Starbuck's gift card for Christmas.

I don't know when I'll ever see her again. She was supposed to come home in one week. I had planned on decorating the apartment with "Welcome Home" banners and balloons, and looked forward to celebrating a late Christmas with her.

We had been together almost 2 years.

2008 can only go uphill from here, I hope.

Only 16 days to go...

I hate 2007.

Seriously.

What's the deal?

I have posted about this twice before, Welcome to 2007, now kiss my ass and Hey 2007, can you go away now???. Well, here's one more thing to add before this bitch of a year finally comes to an end (Thank God).
__________________________

In an effort to do something better for myself, and get into better shape, I decide to take a class at my gym. Well, it seems they just resurfaced the workout room floor. Halfway through class, I slip and fall twisting my left ankle.

It feels O.K. for the rest of the day, but when I wake up this morning I can barely walk to the bathroom. I decide I can't possibly work today (my job entails a LOT of walking), so I have to call in sick, losing a much needed days' pay at Christmas time. So much for doing something good for yourself.

I go to CVS to pick up a heating pad and bring it home, but it's all wrong. Too small, too thick. I can't get it around my ankle. So I decide the best thing is to exchange it for a different one. I'm also out of fresh water, and I'd like to pick up a DVD to watch since I can't really go anywhere. There's a rental machine right next to the water dispensers. So I grab the water jug and head out to fill it up.

When I get there, none of the dispensers are working.

O.K., I'll just rent the movie I want to see.

Sold out.

Not only that, but as I stand there with my empty jug of water, I realize I've left the heating pad I was going to return on the counter by the front door.

So I head back home, pick up the pad and head over to CVS. I return the item and get a different one. As I'm at the counter, a man comes running into the store yelling, "Someone just backed into a silver Hyundai in the parking lot and took off!".

"It's mine."

Little Soldier

I'm not a person who usually posts on his feelings about the current "war" in the Middle East, but:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Well, this one is worth a million.

Enough said.

The Way I See It #17

Wait, what was the name of that town back there?