To love and be loved

So, we didn't get the house. Again. Damn it. Just like last time, the entire auction experience was painful and sucked my soul dry for a while there, but there's no changing the result so I'm just letting that one go...

(Still, it's a bit annoying.)

Perhaps far more significant, in blog world at least, is the departure of our beloved Greer 2.0. She's shacked up with a new dude and a new job and she's waving farewell to the blog that I know so many of you have come to enjoy with your morning coffee. I just want to take a wee moment to give Greer 2.0 a virtual high-five from The Girls' Guide because she deserves it.

So Greer, from me to you, thanks for being my blog buddy and thanks for not rubbing it in my face that you have heaps more readers than I do. Goodbye, go well, and much respect - you are an inspiration.

I was planning on doing my annual Valentine's Day spiel, you know the one - is it commercial BS or a great opportunity to bestow love on someone special? - but Greer already stole my thunder on that one (did I say goodbye? I meant good riddance... oh come on, I'm joking, Greer has a healthy sense of humour - she won't mind).

So instead of opening up the Valentine's Day debate once again, I'm going to fly in the face of the recent angst that has been bubbling away in The Girls' Guide lately and use today's entry as an opportunity for us to tell the world what we love about our significant others.

I know, it's disgusting and schmaltzy, but this is The Girls' Guide so allow me to get girly on it for a moment, okay?

My significant other, as you know, is Joel. He is going to be annoyed at me for, once again, writing about him on the blog without asking him first - but then he will forgive me because he is too nice to stay angry at me for long. You see, Joel is one of those nice guys that hasn't finished last (unless you consider ending up with me to be finishing last). He's sweet and lovely and caring, but also very handy with a hammer and such. A good combo methinks.

So what do I love about Joel, aside from the being sweet and lovely and caring and handy with a hammer? Joel is very creative and talented and I am in awe of his skills. He's funny and handsome and he dresses well (which perhaps shouldn't matter - but it certainly doesn't do any harm). He likes to do things to make me happy and while that should be a given, it isn't nearly as common in relationships as it should be.

Basically, Joel has lots of great qualities, but what I really love about him is the connection we have. It's not something that is easy to explain, but I guess it's just that we click into each other's life, and I love that. We laugh a lot and I can totally be myself with him. I can't emphasise enough how important those two things are in a relationship. Love love love love. Vomit. Love.

I know some of you are rolling your eyes and getting very grouchy at all this love-speak, but please bear with me. I don't tell Joel how ace he is nearly enough and, while he will be totally humiliated that I have written all this on the internet, I hope he will see that I'm just trying to give him the props he deserves. Also, I needed a Valentine's blog theme.

So now that I've spewed forth my feelings about my special someone, it's your turn. If you don't have a significant other, perhaps you would like to share memories about a long lost love, or even the kind of love you hope to have one day?

Happy Valentine's Day for Sunday.

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