Category Archives: adult-only

Published in the adult-only category

Why this marriage

Why is Noah worth so much? Why is Noah worth not dating other people? I need to remind myself of that right now.

Noah is my best friend. Noah is the best friend I have ever had. Noah pays attention to me at the expense of having almost anything else in his life because I need so much attention that he just doesn’t have a lot going spare after me.

It is partially my fault that Noah doesn’t have friends. I wear him the fuck out.

Why Noah? Because when sex with Noah is on it is the best of my life. When it isn’t ok I get very cranky and that’s maybe not fair. It isn’t always Noah’s fault. Sometimes he is being an inconsiderate bastard, yes, but as he points out it has improved a lot.

No he hasn’t gotten to perfect yet. But he’s come a long way.

He really has improved: in play, in sex, in taking care of me, in being supportive… in every area. He has not slacked off. Not on anything. Not really. He’s not perfect. He fucks up. He hurts me. But it isn’t because he doesn’t care and it isn’t because he isn’t trying.

It’s because he came into this kind of a broken mess too.

Noah was broken long before I met him. Noah came into this marriage believing he wasn’t really worthy of love too. Noah spent most of his life feeling unloved and not accepted too. Only he did it in just a few places with just a few people so he calcified differently.

Noah didn’t grow up with the eternal promise of hope in new people. I did. New people mean different things to me than to him. Noah grew up in a small xenophobic town where he was hated and reviled. He was different all his life and they knew it and hated him for it.

But I love him for it. And that has allowed him to blossom.

Noah is a much bigger (I don’t mean in size) person than he was when I met him. He’s focused and determined. He is centered and more happy.

I am too. Noah gave me a center. He gave me a home and safety and being known. No one had ever wanted to know me before Noah.

I mean, I had friends and lovers. Don’t get me wrong. People “knew” me. But when I wrote my first book and old friends read it… most of them were shocked. Which means they had known me for a very long time without knowing much about me. I’m hard to know.

Why am I stepping out? It’s complicated. Part of it has to do with trying to accommodate a role I can’t actually sustain without outside assistance. I can’t be just “on” all the time sexually in my day to day life. Cleaning my house and playing with my kids just doesn’t do that for me.

Hunting does.

But hunting is hurting Noah so very much. He’s scared. Hunting is all about enjoying NRE. (New Relationship Energy)  For all that I may burn with the energy of the sun… I can’t actually shine on many people very well.

Maybe I’m more like my mother than I’d hope. Only I can manage to take care of more than one child at a time. I’m sure I’m not being fair to my mother.

I’m not really being fair to anyone lately.

Why this marriage?

Because I think that if I manage to learn how to get my needs met and be a genuinely good partner to Noah I will be a better person than I can manage any other way. I think Noah offers me more impetus for changing than anyone else. I think that Noah is the only person who is going to spend the rest of my life gazing at me in adoration while saying, “You are awesome. Now get better.”

If you can’t look back on yourself eighteen months ago and say, “Wow I really sucked. You aren’t trying hard enough.”

That. The fact that it has been true. It has stayed true through ten years of marriage. If we look back on any given eighteen month period… we see dramatic improvement.

Do you know how amazing that is to me, Noah? That we both just… keep doing it. Because we stand near one another and ruthlessly dissect one another up one side and down the other. You are awesome. Now get better.

It’s a fuck ton of pressure. This shit is intense.

And we do it for and with each other. Pretty much every step of the way.

Why this marriage? Because being Krissy Gibbs has been the absolute happiest I have been. This identity, this relationship is what gave me wings. R doesn’t want me to feel like I owe Noah anything and I get that. I totally support her having that opinion.

I owe Noah a lot. And he owes me a lot. And we like it that way.

When you are constantly trying to get better, you need to have support in changing. Support in changing is usually not comfortable. It usually fucking sucks.

I don’t know how to motivate someone to change gently. If you have tips, I’ll listen. I’m kinda like an anvil dropping on your head. Alright biotech. This is how it needs to be.

I’m that subtle.

Time to go again.

Just come home

I woke up at about 2:30 in the morning. Noah woke up a few minutes after me. We’ve been up talking since. So four hours of talking this morning. I told y’all we’d get up to at least 200 hours of negotiating on this. At the rate of 2-8 hours/day… we are getting there.

I can see what Noah means when he says I’m killing my marriage. I don’t think it is working quite how he thinks, but I think it is happening. I have watched Noah cry more in the past few months than I think he has cried in the whole rest of his life put together.

It isn’t just me who is hurting. I am hurting Noah.

I have a list of done me wrongs. I have things that have been happening for years that hurt me very much.

I need support. It isn’t fair that I need more than Noah can provide or that my friends can easily provide.

It sounds like my choices are get the support I want and deal with Noah dating and having NRE and he gets to go be all lovey dovey with someone else while I’m pregnant, sick, and miserable…

Or I choose to not get enough support. Those are my choices.

There isn’t really an option C.

Given that part of what Noah is saying when he asks me to get pregnant again is, “Maybe we can be better to each other this time” because I have acres of bitterness over the amount of support I got during the first four pregnancies….

Choosing to shove him towards other people is going to hurt me. I’m going to end up spending my entire pregnancy cut up. Because people saying they will babysit me during Noah’s dates…

That’s not going to work. Because the idea that I would turn to someone else when I am grieving like that is so laughable it’s not worth bringing up. I will tell you to get the fuck out of my house so I can deal with my feelings. No you can’t fucking hug me are you fucking crazy?

I don’t think that I am ever going to feel safe enough depending on someone else if what I need is cutting. No one else is there enough. You can’t be. You will let me down and then I will be screwed so I’m better off not depending on you.

I started this because yes, I felt like I was going to explode. Noah says I said I felt like I was going to die. I believe I said it. I don’t know that I meant soon. I did/do feel like I’m going to explode and do things I won’t like.

My life is very carefully constrained. Yes Noah, I know yours is too. I don’t think you are starting off from a place where you are as prone to go make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision like I do. My life is differently constrained.

When I feel like I’m going to explode, what does it mean? It means I think I’m going to cheat because I can’t be good anymore. It means I can’t be good anymore and I’d rather lose control and go fuck people then lose control and be a raging bitch at home.

I’m scared of how much pain I can bear. Because my tolerances go up and down and when my tolerance is up I sign on for a lot of pain. When my tolerance goes down I’m trapped.

We tolerate group play without feeling like we need to pull away and go off by ourselves to die. We enjoy group play. It doesn’t feel existentially terrifying in the same way.

I think that even though I want to quite a bit, I shouldn’t go sleep with the Quiet One tomorrow. It would be our first time. It would be bonding. It would increase the chance that I would hurt him really badly along with hurting Noah really badly. Yeah, I’m afraid that needs to be a no.

Shit.

Because if Noah goes off and does the NRE thing…

I am not going to bear that well. I’m just not. Let’s be realistic here. And if that happens when I’m pregnant and already disordered and fragile?

Let’s think about how well that has the potential to go and think about how poorly that has the potential to go.

How fucking well am I going to handle my only safety in the entire world going off to love on someone else while I’m pregnant?

Will I or the baby live another nine months? Will I live through that long enough to dump a third kid on him before offing myself so he can raise the baby with his new partner?

I honestly can’t say. Which makes it a stupid position to put myself into.

Why do we want this baby so much? We keep talking about it. Because we do. Because we look at the two kids we have and we both feel like that is the pinnacle good experience of our lives. These are the best things we’ve ever done or made or been near. We could have more of that? Please. Yes. Please.

What does that mean about my sex life? Oh it’s complicated.

Am I going to explode still? I don’t know. Pregnancy will change the hormone balance again. To what? Fuck if I know.

What I know is I can’t go through a lot more mornings where Noah sobs on my chest and tells me that his god is telling him that he isn’t good enough and it is killing him.

I like being Noah’s religion. If you are going to be a god you need to take it seriously and behave honorably and I am not doing so.

I don’t think that lifelong monogamy is possible for me. Which doesn’t mean I’m allowed to date.

I’m not polyamorous. I’m slutty. I have a partner who can bear a certain amount of that and no more. I can’t have a serious boyfriend. That’s just a limit for my life. It’s not to say that I can’t have friends I play with.

But Noah can’t bear how much attention I’m paying to the Quiet One. It hurts him and I have to stop. I can’t treat this like a retaliation for my list of done-me-wrongs.

If I’m doing something because I have to that is different from doing things to get even.

Given how eloquently Noah has expressed the pain this is causing him…….

It hurts him as much as it hurts me when he is dating. Sometimes I get the impression that the black hole inside of him isn’t a lot smaller than the one inside of me.

I need to not destroy Noah.

I think I need to have some variety of sex in my life but I don’t need to destroy Noah in the process. Not when he has such liberal boundaries around group play.

Having group sex doesn’t cause either of us to feel like we are dying. Either one of us going off to date solo makes the other feel like we aren’t needed any more and we should make ourselves small until we don’t exist any more.

For me that involves a lot of cutting. I don’t think his coping will be so flamboyant but it won’t be better.

I want to stay married to my best friend. I don’t want to give up pieces of him because I feel like they belong to other people now. I will though if he starts another relationship and goes off and does things with them that I like. That won’t be for me any more no matter how much I like it.

There is no fair here. Nothing like fair exists. But how much unfair can I shove on him in the name of balancing my own unfair?

fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

 

Hard.

Last night was a good example of both why I want to step out and why it is a problem. I’m not going to fill you in on all the details. I work very hard to make sure this blog is not a list of done-me-wrongs.

Suffice to say that our sex life continues to be complicated.

I’m going to freak out over Noah dating. This is more predictable than weather. I don’t think I’m a good person. I think he deserves someone better. Him going out and dating is going to be setting us up so that I feel my replacement is on deck and I don’t need to be here.

I’m scared.

I have spent my whole life looking for the flimsiest of justifications for why I don’t need to stick around. I have managed to not die, but I flirt with it every year.

I am going to struggle with feeling like I have any possible value at all when he goes and dates. Does that mean I think he should feel like his value is eliminated by my fucking other people? No. Of course not.

I’m a hypocrite and I’m selfish and I’m terrible. I know.

I don’t fuck other people because they are better than Noah. They aren’t. No one is better than Noah. I do it because I am absolutely driven by sex with new people. It provides energy and turn on and responsiveness that I just can’t get with a long term partner. But I can bring it back to my long term partner, if he lets me.

It isn’t Noah’s responsibility to live his life in a way that is trying to keep me from killing myself. That’s not something he can pursue as a goal. That has to come from me.

But I don’t now what would work to make me stop wanting to die. I don’t feel like this because of Noah. I feel like this because I feel like this. I don’t want to hold Noah hostage.

But I am genuinely terrified that I will feel like he found a better-than-me replacement and I should go. Someone who isn’t such a problem. Someone who isn’t so selfish and bad.

I know I don’t deserve Noah. There is too much good there for me to ever deserve him. I know he deserves better than me and I’m just waiting till he spots it so I’m not necessary.

Which isn’t fair. Which is holding him hostage. I’m not. I’m going to let him do whatever he wants to do. That’s what I do. I don’t really tell Noah no that much. That is a piece of our problem. I just… don’t think I’m worth defending. Until I explode and I say I can’t follow rules anymore because we’ve had rules for years that are hurting me and I can’t keep doing this.

Then I’m the problem. I’m the problem. I’m the problem. Because I’m handling the problem so fucking badly.

I have been following rules. I have not done anything inappropriate near my children. I stay gone for very limited periods of time and I return when I say. I spanked before I had permission and I pushed the limits on using gloves for fingering. I asked about a possible exception to barriers and otherwise I have strictly followed the rules since then. As soon as Noah says he wants things to be special… I put it on lock down.

Do you know how hard it is for me to not ask permission to orgasm? I’ve done it during the majority of sex I’ve had since I was 20 years old. But Noah says no. So I’m figuring it out.

But I have no respect for my marriage or boundaries, right?

If I look in retrospect at my hunting pattern over the last five months…. ok now I see a lot more that seems obvious. I see how I’m looking for support and I don’t know where to get it from. I see that I want to figure out what I want because trying to use my words with Noah hasn’t gotten me there.

I like being chased. The vast majority of my hunting is done with me chasing. Which is not my preference. So most of the folks I’ve seen over the last few months have been folks where I had to do the asking and initiating and I push for what I want. In many ways I got the opposite of what I wanted. Because I’m good at that. Getting what I want and the opposite at the same time by the same route.

I have shaken the tree of my life as hard as I can. I turned up with three people who are asking for time.

I think I need to notice things like that. Other people won’t turn down time that I offer… which isn’t the same thing.

There’s a huge difference in the amount of wanting.

I really don’t like feeling like I’m pushing myself on folks who are lukewarm. It is getting closer to being a phobia.

Two of the three are pretty darn happy with group play. That’ll be most and maybe close to all of how we play going forward. Only the darn mostly-vanilla-switch won’t have group sex. But he’s satisfied with rare sex and hanging-out-with-Noah-in-the-vicinity.

Noah feels I want to take away half or more of my focus from our marriage. I don’t believe that is true long term. I believe that it has felt true for a period of time. I don’t think it is really that I’m obsessed with strange dick but that I’m trying to figure a lot of stuff out about myself as fast as possible and I’ve never been able to do that without bouncing off of new people. I’ve never been able to learn a lot about myself quickly without intensity and do you know how hard it is to talk people into intense connection without sex?! I scare the shit out of people.

But in post coital glow I have them trapped. Answer my demanding and invasive questions. Muahahaha.

Ahem.

I know I need to find a way to not feel like Noah dating is a threat to my existential right to exist. I know.

I’m not blowing things up for shits and giggles. I’m blowing things up because I can’t continue. I know that you are going to need more support going forward and I have to support you getting that.

I know that the only way you bond with people is through sex. We match. Sigh.

Ok, I don’t only bond with people through sex. I actually have a huge network of vanilla/platonic relationships. I am deeply bonded with a lot of people without having to fuck them.

You aren’t.

I have managed to piece together a support network for years. I need more support than I get from it… but I do have a support network. It is incredible and vast.

You don’t have that. I tried other paths. I did. I fucking did.

I don’t think I will long term have a strong need to have tons of outside sex. I think that sometimes I will need to learn a lesson. I won’t know what lesson until I’m done.

Part of what I learned was where to lean harder on my support network because I saw who stepped up and said, “Yes. Me.”

And my support network grew. I don’t think I’m losing anyone.

This experiment was rocky. My experiments often are. Personal growth hurts.

Breakfast is ready. I should go in.

I don’t need to be flattered.

We are at a point where Noah needs to talk about how he is feeling. He is afraid to talk to anyone we know because he will be describing me in unflattering ways and he feels he can’t do that within my support network.

I disagree.

I think Noah needs to go find some people who are his friends, my friends, or our friends and talk some shit. He needs some validation that I did shitty stuff. He’s feeling terrified of even admitting to himself how hurt he is.

He needs support and it can’t come from me because I’m the problem.

Noah totally does that man thing where 100% of his social support is supposed to come from his wife. This is not sustainable.

Noah is afraid to tell people that he thinks I’m a liar. I think that if I’m a liar we have bigger problems than people knowing that I do it.

Specifically he thinks I’ve lied a lot about the nonmonogamy stuff. I’ve said I want to not do x then done x almost immediately.

Yeah, that’s accurate.

I’m having a fucktastically hard time figuring out what I want. And that is leading to a lot of yes/no/maybe that comes out like lies. I say I won’t do something then I do it. That’s a lie. That’s not like a lie that’s a lie.

I said I wouldn’t be having sex with my submissive then I did. I said I would look for people who wanted group play… I’m not having that great of success. I said I would barely see people and instead I’d rather like to see people a lot.

Yes. These are lies.

Noah… it’s ok to be honest about the ways that I’m hurting you. It’s not only ok, it should be treated as mandatory. Or our relationship is broken.

If you are so hurt you can use the word you used earlier today… you need to talk about your feelings baby. You are important. You are a main character. Your pain does matter.

I love you. I’m not done. I’m not leaving. I want you. I do want forever.

And yes. I know that means I’m going to have to share you too.

It is a dawning realization.

Huge problem with that drug

Something I’m reflecting on about the Abilify: it made it almost impossible to exercise. I was so tired and weak I shook.  I haven’t been for a run since I started on it. I literally can’t. I don’t have the energy.

I have the vague desire to do so. But not the ability.

That strikes me as a problem.

I have been noticing that Krav has been getting more and more nightmarish with every week but having a week of vacation from class is showing me… no really exercise is just impossible on this drug. I’ve been off it for almost three days and I’m barely starting to feel more desire to move around.

But I haven’t exercised beyond moving slowly around. I’m still dizzy and exhausted. I’m not sleeping well.

But I am feeling loved. It has been a high oxytocin day. Thank you sweet child. Those hugs are a big deal. Because you give them spontaneously on your own time. You just wanted to touch me. Because you love me.

I’m sad because an awful lot of white people are ridiculously racist. And I can’t fix that. Not the whole problem. It is so big. I am not a hero and sometimes that breaks my fucking heart. I can’t save anyone and I hate myself for it.

hate seeing so clearly how powerless and fucking useless I am. Because I am.

I can’t protect people. Not really. Not anyone. Life is what it is and there are bad things in the world. I can’t protect anyone. Not myself. Not my kids. Not someone else’s kids.

It is hard sometimes coming to grips with the fact that the adults who told me I was so powerful when I was a child were lying. They were telling stories that served their purposes. In no way does it serve me to think I should be able to “do anything I actually decide to do.”

I can’t save anyone. But it isn’t because of whether I have decided to do so or not. I can’t. I can’t be there all the time. I have such fucking limited power. Even with my kids. Even with how much time I spend with them.

Bad shit is going to happen. It won’t be my fault. It won’t be because I failed. It will be because bad shit happens.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the weight of the chaos of the universe.

Because if we all collectively acted, we could change things. But we have to decide to. And that task…

Sigh.

It is much bigger than me.

I’m just an asshole who is trying to not be a complete piece of shit. What I do will never be enough to make me “good”. It’s not an option.

I am so small and so petty. My troubles are so insignificant. At least it is astonishingly clear to me.

But seeing how small and petty one is provides one with the opportunity to choose how petty to be going forward.

There’s some shit I need to work on. Which sucks. Because I’m tired of working.

Whine. Bitch. Moan. Do the work. Ok.

I’m really not the person I want to be. I’m not generous. I’m stingy and selfish. I’m grasping and greedy. I don’t want to be. I don’t need to be.

I could be a better person. If I tweaked a whole bunch of things.

Shit.

Need to stop typing. Arms on fire.

Leave in 15 minutes

Today we are going to the Exploratorium before a potluck discussion tonight. I didn’t sleep enough. Too busy keeping Noah awake with sex.

I think I have managed to convince myself that attention and oxytocin are the best ways to get through this pregnancy. I’m already at a reduced pot rate because of my Abilify period. I hope to keep the reduced tolerance and maybe even slash it some more. I have to. So the ounce I have needs to last until the cruise. I will find a way to stretch this. It’s going to mean a lot of by-choice-not-smoking days. Yuck.

Uhm, luckily I have a number of dates in the middle of the day coming up so I won’t medicate till almost bedtime?

When I was pregnant last time I used pot as an emergency “I’m about to fucking explode” helper and I didn’t love it but I didn’t feel that guilty. In the realm of drugs that doctors want me on for mental health problems… truly pot isn’t so bad. But I wasn’t using how I use now. That didn’t get going till after breastfeeding. If I was using 1/8 every few weeks I wouldn’t care at all about my usage while pregnant and breastfeeding. At this point I’ve had periods where I use 1/8 in two days and that’s not ok with me.

So I have to change it. Ok. That’s a changeable problem.

Also to work on: security/stability. I need to work on how to feel like Noah loves me as much as he does so I can handle him dating. I need to figure out how to get Noah dating to not feel like an existential threat.

That’s a lot of what I need to worry about with regards to this upcoming journey we want to do together. How can I feel safe? This is what I need to do. I need to work on this feeling of unsafe.

Ok. Everyone is ready to go.

I’m looking forward to today. It should be really awesome.

Today I feel very zen. Today I feel so happy and lucky. My life is intensely good. I may have complications and difficulty… but holy crud I’m feeling good and excited.

I feel happier than I have in a while. I’ve been off Abilify for two days. This is the third day. I’ve been off the Klonopin for a couple days longer. My mood is so much better. Hrm.

Couples therapy and bad faith

What does it mean to negotiate in bad faith? Does it mean someone knows they are saying something they can’t live up to? Does it mean negotiating and then changing your mind? Does it possibly include not knowing what you want?

Noah doesn’t want to think I’ve been doing bad things. He wants to believe I am doing something that is necessary on a primal level or I wouldn’t do it.

Today in therapy we talked a lot about how I’ve been fucking up. That wasn’t the way Noah wanted to phrase it, but that’s a lot of what it was. We are waiting to see just how far I’ll strain the enmeshment.

And then he will go date so he doesn’t feel so small and ignored. Ok.

How do we support one another through the changes that are coming? Because changes are coming. We aren’t going to do things how we have done them. We are going to be different.

And what is that going to mean?

Noah’s right that he can’t just be the boring one. He needs to be fascinating too. And people who are hard to catch are fascinating. Shit.

So many appointments coming up. Individual therapy and couples therapy and acupuncture and general practitioner and a groino. All in the next two weeks.

I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I swear.

Quick, quick…

I have pretty much convinced myself that Abilify is not helping that much and it is not compatible with pregnancy nor breastfeeding. Well. I guess that answers whether I’m staying on that med or not.

Seriously, I think oxytocin is going to be the winner. I think I am going to have to get oxytocin to carry me through.

didn’t use this much pot when I was pregnant with my youngest child. I didn’t use it until my oldest was approaching a year. I used to go through an eighth every few weeks. Now it is every few days.

I can’t use at this level during a pregnancy. I need to bring it down. There is the very real probability that I should be on some form of medication even with the impact on a child and pot is one of the least damaging ones available. But I want to be using way less. Like, maybe I need to stick to topicals. It is not nearly as effective but I need to close the gap with other things like oxytocin and slowing my life all the way the fuck down.

Being pregnant needs to be the biggest project. After that comes home schooling. Which means other people and other projects will have to happen rarely if at all. Other people can come over and help. But I won’t have much to give. I need to do that this time if I want a better experience. I need to invite people over to help more.

I was too scared and ashamed previously.

I need help. That doesn’t make me pathetic. It makes me human. I give a lot to a lot of people. It’s ok that I need help too. I know I don’t feel like I’ve paid back my childhood yet but oh well. I still will need help.

I can’t pay back the people who helped me when I was a child. I can only pay it forward and how can that be measured?

I need to go in. I should be done medicating.

Want

I don’t see a path forward that will not involve dating for both of us.

I only see the need for more support and love. We are not enough. Both of us are inadequate. We’ve been trying for adequacy for ten fucking years and here we are. Both happy but not as happy as we could be. Both of us are content knowing the other is giving all they have to give. And we want more.

Noah is being super generous and he’s going to wait a few months and let me figure out more of a pattern before he starts seriously pursuing someone. Because I want to be chased… and Noah is going to have to chase. Which takes a lot of energy. Which means I’ll lose a lot of his energy.

Shit.

Noah and I are going to need to figure out an additional all night babysitter. Preferably out of our house in the next month or so. We’ll need one more night. Anyone?

There’s a thing we need to do together and I don’t know when it can get scheduled.

I’ve been looking at the stats breakdown instead of just the page views on wordpress.com. Because of course. I get between 34-ish to 49-ish people per day. Rarely fewer even more rarely more.

And I know most of you. I also know that there are people on the internet who vow that they’ve followed me for years because they don’t know me and they hate me.

So you people who hate me, I ain’t talking to you. I’m talking to the small, fervent band of friends I have. People who wade through hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages of writing every year to know me. Holy tomato. I think there are at least three dozen people who are that loyal. There are maybe four dozen who keep up consistently if not daily.

Thank you for using enough room in your brain on me to know that I am not consistent. I appreciate it when you point it out to me. I appreciate it when you point out, “You’ve really changed how you talk about ______.” I appreciate the reminders. “You say ______.” I do. But I like hearing it in your voice. Your voice is so nice.

That’s part of why my children are so fucking bossy. I need help making an inside voice.

I am both loved and lucky.

I have twelve dates scheduled. If I manage sex twice on at least half those dates (likely) That’s at least eighteen times for sex during Mardi Gras. I have other date hours available that might get filled. Let’s say at least twenty times from other folks. So then we get into the fact that Noah and I have been having sex 25-30-ish times a month.

I might hit fifty times during Mardi Gras. I think I’ll keep track.

Time to stop thinking about fun. Breakfast is ready. There’s a full house of kids. Their ages are: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, & 4. I’m having so much fun.

Break everything

We managed to move up our joint therapy session. We go to the first one this Thursday. I’m happy about this. We need some help with what we are doing.

I need to do some art around intentions. And that breaks my head. Ewwww. I’m that fucking woo woo.

Yes, motherfucker I am. Nobody is giving it to me as an assignment so it’s ok. I’m doing it for me. To organize my thoughts.

Who do I want to be at the end of this journey. What do I want my relationship to be like? What do I want my life to be like?

We shouldn’t finish this process till the remodel is done. Oh shit. I’ll call in the morning.

I’m pre-planning Mardi Gras. Like I do. If you aren’t on my schedule and you wish you were… well… the window will soon close. For a few years more than likely. (Which isn’t forever.) I’m just not going to be able to find time for new people. So uhm, yes. I’m not going to hunt for more people to fill time with. But I’m not done booking Mardi Gras.

Here’s my passive aggressive state of affairs.

I like being chased.

If you can’t be bothered to chase even a little then you don’t want me bad enough.

I gotta be realistic about my energy.

And I’m there for sex. To be clear. I have one month to uhh, err, burn it out of my system for a while.

After that I’m going to go do that breeder thing. Which means you are going to need to want to hang out with me for my sparkling wit and sobbing countenance (I don’t feel good for most of pregnancy) if you want to spend time with me.

Cheers, motherfuckers.

I sorta feel like the remodel from hell exists in its form to give me time to think about the different email lists/calendars I want to have for how to invite people over: vanilla friends for hangout time, dates, sex parties, vanilla friends for parties.

This weekend I was told I held court at the party I was at. Oh you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Just wait.

Soon my house will be ready. Like. The kind of ready I’ve been working on for years.

I want you to see my happy place.

I am lucky; I am lucky; I am lucky.

Oh no

Noah is very opposed to thinking of this as a jubilee. That makes it sound (to him) like “Congratulations on suffering through ten years of sex with Noah. Your reward is fucking other people.” For some reason Mardi Gras (for him, near as I am able to parse) is working out to mean: “I have followed rules for ten years and I need a break from rules.” That is feeling less scary? If this is more about my impulsivity and less about needing to be rewarded for something…. I don’t know exactly.

But I’m kinda guessing. Don’t trust me.

Medicating. That’s a lot of why I write so much. I keep myself company while I medicate.

Although I should go work on the calendar.

doo dee doo

Ok, all the people who have asked have been added. All the hangout hours I have until the cruise are posted. That’s not all my babysitting time, but the kids don’t want me inviting people over during babysitting time much this summer. They told me so. I’m going to negotiate for only three days a week of no people/going anywhere in the fall. We’ll see if I win or I have to compromise.

And I had breakfast and it’s time to have a day now.

Medicate and drop thoughts.

Other than the remodeling situation I really shouldn’t complain about my life. I’m having ups and downs, yeah. But my life is so fantastically good.

I was reminded today when I dropped by a party with folks I’ve known for more than half my life. Things are good. I can’t complain. There are things we are working on, but… I can’t complain.

Do you know what my big personal problem is? When I’m an asshole to Noah sometimes there are consequences in the form of him being hurt.

Yup.

He’s not locking me down. He’s being hurt. And he’s talking to me and trying to find ways for me to hurt him less while still getting my needs met.

No complaining, wench.

I love bleeding. The second day of bleeding is blissful. I don’t feel so psycho and depressed and anxious and suicidal.

At the same time, I sat in the shower today and counted on my fingers: July, August, September, October… maybe November… hopefully not December…..

I am a fantastically lucky woman. I really am. In this year Noah is letting me have the lovers I want and the baby I want.

Holy shit my life is blessed.

I went through and revamped a calendar that existed for the household anyway. I’ve added the folks who said, “I want to know when I could theoretically drop in” so far. If you want to be added tell me.

I will… update it over the next few days. There’s only one date on it so far. I can probably figure out which days are available for the rest of the summer in just a few minutes since the kids want 5 days a week at home with no guests.

But I need to look at Google calendar and the white board and the written calendar. My life is complicated. It’ll take a few days.

Especially given who popped up and said “Oh do it!” Yes. I’ll do it. My platonic friends want permission to drop in? Yes. Yes. Yes. Noah doesn’t have the same feels about y’all. Yes. You want to come over, Oh yes.

Platonic friends are awesome friends because then I can’t be told I’m ditching all my friends for lovers.

Yessssssssssss

(I don’t want to actually ditch my friends for lovers and I really don’t want to be accused of it. I just went and spent a weekend with Sarah. P came to dinner. I AM STILL SEEING FRIENDS, DAMNIT.)

I saw lots of friends today. See. I can do it.

I saw folks I have known for almost twenty years. Way more than half my life now; we reflected how happy we are about that fact.

As always I feel gross about medicating. I feel guilty about the time spent. I feel gross for how much I smell. Oh man.

But I need to sleep hard tonight. With luck it’ll be a good night. Tomorrow is semi-restful then my Bonus Kids come over. Wheeeee. Wednesday we will head to Santa Cruz after my Bonus Kids are picked up. Tonight’s sleep matters.

Because I’m still using this space to be honest with Noah… I’m still talking to the Quiet One a lot. He hasn’t been scared off by our various drama yet. No one else is frequent. Everyone else is kinda getting scared off, I think. But I’m guessing and I shouldn’t pretend I can read minds. The Professor gets mad at me when I do.

We’ve only been talking for a month. We’ve had a few make-out dates and that is as far as it has gone.

I like him. He’s another one my shrink is going to flip out about when I come clean. My shrink is now happy that “Deity seems to have such great respect for my marriage.” Sigh. I could wish for a hair less respect. Well, not less respect. But… never mind.

Fuck. Not less respect. Just… I’m a greedy bitch. He’s hot. Noah was describing his perception of the visuals of me having sex with Deity. Apparently it is distinctive how much I enjoy it. Even to someone who is my absolute favorite person to have sex with. Even to someone who has seen me have sex with a lot of people.

I could wish Deity had more enthusiasm. But you take what you can get.

I think I understand why. But I’m… being me and filling in the blanks with what I’m guessing and that’s always fraught.

I mean… I am right sometimes.

I feel really guilty for how good it feels to be talked to this much. I’m trying to figure out the boundaries around it. There are going to be more boundaries. I can tell. But right now I’m still doing that tiptoe into someone’s personal space before I’ve hit the spiked wall… It’s… exhilarating.

His boundaries aren’t where I am used to them being. I’m wrong about every assumption. Shit. My mental model is going to grow slowly. I hope I am not too awful in the process.

I am so weary. But right this minute I feel blessed beyond all comprehension. Noah you are being generous beyond any expectation of generosity. Clearly… you love me. Or you wouldn’t be putting up with what you are putting up with.

Thank you, my love. Thank you for everything.

Seeing friends today was an interesting case study is oxytocin flooding from various sources. I hugged many old friends. Only kissed Noah, and I think barely. I did get an oxytocin boost. But it was nothing like a makeout session. Even just thinking about a makeout session is more flooding.

Kissing kissing kissing kissing.

There is a problem I’m going to have soon that I’m looking forward to. It is going to be a bit of a problem but I’ll just deal. It’ll be fine.

Ahem. *cough*

Somehow I suspect my sex life is going to be massively impacted by having guests in the next bedroom. Sigh.

This trip may be a chance for me to rest up for Mardi Gras. I keep telling Noah: Mardi Gras only lasts for a day… maybe a week depending on how you look at it. Not a month.

He wants me to do it for a month. Whatever I want. Whoever I want. Whenever I want. Uhm, following obvious prohibitions around kid boundaries. Any votes for how explicitly I document?

I now know my babysitting windows for that whole time period.

Ok I need sleep. G’night.

Chasing and being ok

I should be sleeping, but I’m awake. I’m thinking about how much I’m shoving on my friend while she’s here. So here’s the sitch. I met this woman on Twitter during my road trip. Towards the end the kids and I realized we were going to have a miserable time camping at the snowy Grand Canyon and decided to detour. I asked the universe (and Twitter) where we should go. This woman popped up and said, “Pick me! Pick Phoenix!” So I did.

We spent a few days together and it was lovely. I think she is great. I think her kids are rad and super smart and really engaged in life. I honestly don’t meet that many public school kids who are that good at asserting themselves. I was seriously impressed with these kids. They are just… there’s a lot of there there.

So I asked my friend to come visit. Thing is, the entire time I’ve known this family they’ve been on my monthly donation list because of disability issues. The mama hasn’t worked in a while and that is indefinite. So this trip is horrifyingly prohibitively expensive.

So I said, “Can I bring you to California. You and your family. You need a break from life.”

We are going all over the bay area and down to Santa Barbara with a stop in Monterey on the way home. We will spend close to a week driving into San Francisco to see the museums.

These kids showed up at my house and with glowing faces they said, “Can we homeschool every day?!” They are so excited they can barely speak. Only they talk just as much as my kids do so this is a hilarious time. Oh so much volume. But fascinating! The opinions! The independent thought going on!

One of the first questions was: “Does your little boy still wear dresses?” Answer: “That question is more complicated than you think. My kid wears dresses sometimes. But I only sometimes have a little boy. Let’s talk about the gender binary and people who do not fall on it at either end.”

It was lovely.

I sat down after dinner and started listing off the cool things to do within an hour of driving… we filled the trip days fast. We have a full itinerary.

I am 100% convinced my friend never would have asked for something like this in her life. I’m spending around $1200-$1500 for them to have this vacation. Folks I don’t know that well that I met through the internet.

Why?

I am ruled by my impulses. Because it breaks my heart that my children get to have the life they have and children this god damn smart and talented don’t get to have as much opportunity. Yes, I’d love to bring you out here for three weeks for as much information as we can pack into your little skulls. It would be an honor.

I do these things to pay back the child I was. The child who felt so bad that everyone else got to go do fun things and take classes and go to museums. I got to move again.

Part of what is helping is that I’m not having to chase this family. I offered and she accepted… but I didn’t have to chase her and keep offering.

Being able to accept a gift this big is hard. Pride is a big deal. Accepting this much love and help from someone is hard to feel ok with. People can only take so much then they need to give. Not necessarily back to the person they received from… paying things forward is more important

I am running into asking rev limiters within myself. I can ask different people and it isn’t scary. I can’t ask a small group of people for things repeatedly. That’s too much hard; I feel too much like I’m hurting people.

Unless I get asked back. I need to be asked for things in exchange. Do you know one of the reasons it is easy for me to help this family have this trip? They are kind of assertive about how things need to work for them. “I need _____. I can’t do _____.” Even if receiving a gift they are directing it to be more useful for them. That melts my butter. I feel like they seriously are trying to get what they need from this gift.

I have probably asked many hundreds if not over a thousand people to spend time with me in my life. I don’t ask everyone for sexual attention. Unless I feel an energetic push back… I feel like I am hurting people by sticking around.

If I initiate all of our, “Hey let’s hang out” it will get more and more sporadic over time. My give runs out. My ask runs out. I wish I still had it in me to ask you over lots… I don’t. I don’t think you care. I think you’d rather do something else.

I think you’d rather not put your pants on and walk three blocks to see me after I drive multiple thousands of miles. That’s what I’m worth.

That’s from someone who has been publicly calling me “family” for over a decade. Yeah. That’s what I’m worth to my family.

But not Noah. And not my kids. They would do a whole hell of a lot to see me.

Noah crisscrossed the country chasing me. It was glorious.

Even though they live with me every day. If I start getting distracted by life or people they do tricks until I stare at them again. Please look at us. We need your attention. Yes my loves. I will give you my attention too.

Yes, I like pushy. Yes, I want people who say hey I’m here and I want your attention. Yes, that is risking rejection. Welcome to my god damn life.

It occurs to me that I could create a calendar for the house hold and share that with folks who are interested. Dates when people are free to invite themselves over could be clearly marked.

I can’t keep inviting the way I have for years. I’m tired and it hurts.

Noah says I’m just ditching my friends for lovers. I don’t think that is true. I can list off lots of friends talking and visits in the past few months. It is true that I’m putting less effort into my friends.

But I think I was there anyway. I think there was just a brief surge for dating. I think that is going to… change as time moves on anyway. I’ll run out of ask there too. I don’t get the impression that most of the folks I date are going to feel ok being pushy with asking for dates. My submissive. My glorious submissive. Thank you for being so brave so far. I know I’m busy and asking me means risking me being overwhelmed and kind of a twerp on a given day. I’m grateful you ask. Thank you. I’m sorry I’m not always good company but I’m so glad I get to know you. Sometimes when I say I’m not good company it isn’t about me not liking you it is about me wanting to keep my nasty moods away from you. I know you are comfortable with getting the less than sweet parts of me, but I don’t want to take my feelings out on anyone like that. I don’t want to start using you for that kind of thing.

I love you too much.

I’ll hit you; I’ll carve my name into your flesh with a scalpel; I’ll kick you as hard as I can in the testicles. I do not want to hurt you. I want you to feel loved. I can’t be nasty to you when I’m having a bad day. That’s not cool.

I need to be nasty to you on good days when it is a positive, loving choice for both of us.

I’m going to run out of chase on dating for the same reason I always do. Most people… aren’t as into me as I want them to be. They like me ok, but they don’t really seek me out. I seek them out as much as I can… then I can’t anymore.

Usually that’s about three months.

The people who have gone longer than that… my first fiancé, my Owner, Puppy, Spot, Noah… they always act like they are drawn to me. I don’t think my first fiancé would have fallen out of love with me. I think he wanted to marry me and he was going to be ok being that person forever. I think I could have had that. But he needed me to not change very much. He needed me to calm down and not be so crazy. He needed me to be very conservative sexually. I couldn’t do that for him. I think I could still be with my Owner if I hadn’t wanted kids so much. Puppy was the only one who dumped me. He has some serious issues and that was for the best. He would have been very abusive. Spot… that one did run its course. There was no more there for that relationship. But we are still friends.

Noah came back when I shoved him away as hard as I could. He was still my friend even though it hurt because not knowing me was more painful than dealing with me rejecting him as a boyfriend. Then after a while of being my friend he noticed that I was single for five minutes and he took a chance on offering me the best deal of my whole damn life. Would I like to marry my best friend and have the babies I’ve been dreaming of? Yes. Yes I would.

I like sudden intense protestations of devotion that I end up being able to count on. That works for me.

And Noah has chased me ever since. I do not always honor his efforts as I should. But I take breaks to admire just how forking nice to me he is. He chases me. He feels like he would die without me.

It makes it kind of hard to keep chasing people who are not that enthusiastic about seeing me, who do not push for time or attention, who do not make it clear that they want to know me.

I’m spoiled as fuck.

My submissive chases me à la Pepé Le Pew. Slow and patient and just there for my entire adult life.

You know who else chases me? Sarah. That’s why she is My Sarah. Because she has chased me and pushed and offered and grabbed chances to see me for over twelve years.

Lots and lots and lots of people can ask me once or twice a year for a visit. That’s so wonderful and sweet and generous. They give me what they have to spare. They ask for how much of me they want. I’m grateful for every person who gives me a three hour visit a year because they want to know me and that’s all they have spare. That is a gift.

It is so glorious having people in my life who want more and more and more of me. The number of people who feel that way is growing and I can’t help but think that is so wonderful. One of the women I look up to most described knowing me as being like watching the birth of a planet. I’m developing my own gravity.

So this ADD book I’m reading keeps saying, “There is something special about a lot of people with ADD. You can’t put your finger on what it is. It’s just there.” I find that hilarious.

When you look at comorbidity things: ADD is highly correlated with trauma which is highly correlated with being targeted which is highly correlated to being something that attracts notice.

Being special/different/weird is threatening as fuck. Lemme tell you.

Hey, is that a self love moment there? Did I just admit that I know I’m special?

Whoa.

I am. I always have been. I do radiate energy like the sun. Either I freak people out or I draw them in. I pay attention to people. I want to know them and love them. Just looking at people as hard as I do is special. Not many people are even capable of really looking at everyone around them and paying attention the way I do. It is some trick of attention and hypervigilance and empathy.

And where in the hell did I find the well of love I seem to have for people? Despite everything. Recently someone said I didn’t break; I broke open.

I need to be needed or there isn’t a lot of point in me. I think that the majority of creatures who are ever born live and die not having a point. I think that the creature has to make their own point, their own purpose, their own meaning.

Am I doing it?

So far people in ten states and a few different countries have told me that knowing me has changed them for the better. It’s a start.

I can say with great certainty that the three people who live here, my submissive, and My Sarah will chase me just about to the ends of the earth. Jenny has flown out to rescue me when I was in danger even though she isn’t by nature a chaser.

I still call her Jenny because I’m the only damn one who can. To you, she is Jennifer. You do not have leave to address her familiar. I think the only reason I can’t mature into the grown up name is because it was a very young person who first opened her heart to me. It was a very young person with intense wounds of her own who learned how to put up with me. When I cry and think of how very much I miss my friend I am dimly aware that we are grown ups now… but I miss her from that place of being very young. Because that is where she first touched me. I met her when I was twelve. I feel like twelve was for me the absolute last gasping breaths of my childhood. That was right as I started seriously dating.

Jenny managed to catch the last bits of me that could love as a child. And I love her with all the intensity of a child for their best friend still. Thank you.

Despite how not chaste I am… I am still chased. I am deemed worthy of love. And by people I respect and love in return. People who absolutely thrill me to my toes that these people think I am worth enough of their energy to chase me. People who are impacted by my gravity pull and just have to be near me.

Oh I love you I love you I love you.

That’s at least six people who will… chase me pretty fucking far. Blacksheep has jumped enormous hurdles to be my friend. DSH has gone waaaaaaay far past her comfort zone for me even though she isn’t one to chase people like me.

I could keep going.

I am blessed and blessed and blessed. My Bonus Family. It would take a few pages to go through all they have done for me. Even though I’m god damn difficult and sometimes they need some boundaries. That’s healthy.

Most of the people who love me with great intensity have rev limiters of their own. They have lives. Part of the reason I love them so much is because they are intense people with a lot going on. They give me what they can. Even if they can’t chase me the way I like to be chased…

Really, how spoiled can someone be? I get chased. I have three people chasing me 24/7. Quit being so greedy.

And yet I’d still kinda like to set up a calendar that says when folks can invite themselves over and see what happens.

I don’t want to decide who it is and how many people. I just… want to see what happens. I assume not much. I assume a few people sometimes but not much.  The key to happiness is low expectations.

I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks. I’m nervous because this is a lot of time to be “on” with folks I don’t know that well. But I know this mama through mental/physical disability support. At least we are both very understanding of our mutual shortcomings. Ha.

I am so grateful that they accepted my invitation. This is going to be a lot of fun for me. I can’t wait to homeschool her kids. I feel like a walking encyclopedia and that is one of my favorite feelings. See how useful I can be. I am a good tool!

One of the things that makes me special is how fast I can access disparate topics in my brain and explain them in simple or complicated ways for just about anyone. I can make connections between things that seem unrelated… until I explain… faster than the vast majority of people I’ve ever met. And I’ve met a lot of people. I am not an expert in almost anything. Instead of going deep I go wide. That allows for a different kind of thinking, a different kind of intensity.

Ok, reading this book on ADD is making me question something about my long term mental health diagnosis: depression. I don’t do the torpor kind of depression. I do the head-down-keep-working-as-you-hate-yourself-and-want-to-die kind. Apparently that is a pretty standard ADD thing. Oh. Huh. That’s supposed to be one of those things they kinda look for. I hate them and their not looking.

If you loathe yourself: you are depressed. Sorta. Maybe.

I made Noah listen to this song. I can’t find it easily on the internet so you get lyrics.  The thing is… I need to be loved. And I need it from lots of people because I’m trying to push past a whole lot of not being loved.

There is some interesting research out there on preverbal trauma and early formative trauma. I feel like I still need to be filled with as much love as an infant. I was not wanted. Not from conception. I only exist because a bad thing happened. What do I have to do to make up for that? What do I have to do for the world to make up for the harm I caused by coming into being. For declaring, “I don’t care that this hurts you. I need to be here.”

It’s not like I think I really deserve to be punished for choosing to be born. It was an accident. A surprise.

To be fair, my mom told me over and over I was a surprise. She didn’t know she wanted me till she had me. Sissy is the one who told me over and over that I was an accident. My mom just admitted it was rape. My mom tries to make sense of her life given the stories she has been given. God wanted her to have that child. Me.

I have been crying for my mother for over 31, almost 32 years. My mom was 32 when I was born. I might be 35 or 36 if I have another child.

Am I a grown up yet?

When my mama was 35 years old she had four children. She locked her abusive husband out of the house and sued for divorce. On the grounds that he had been raping their children. He was still given partial custody. He refused to pay alimony or child support so my mom lost the house and we ended up living in the car. Well, he would pay it. In exchange for sex.

Sometimes I think I judge my mother far too harshly for surviving a world of horror.

Sex. Sex. Sex. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it neither? Is it both? Does it depend?

I think that if I don’t have that much pull… I should probably just be ok with that. It is probably healthier that way. Maybe. Who knows.

Yes. Yes, I want pushy.

I think people misunderstand suicide prevention. There is a lot of shaming. “Don’t do it because it is selfish. You hurt people.” I hurt people by living too. I promise. It’s always complicated. It is always about the balance of hurting people vs being hurt.

I think it should be framed as enlightened self interested selfishness. Someday I will get to the point where I am out of good days. I’m not there yet. I’m trying to construct a future so fantastic that I absolutely want to stay alive to see it.

I know we are giving up the WWOOF year I’ve always wanted because of a baby I want more. You know what? I bet I will still go to Africa with Sarah someday. I bet I will still go to Taiwan to see Pam someday. I bet I will still go to South America someday. I don’t know who will go with me or who I will see… but it’s probably going to happen.

I’m like that.

I go do things.

No more travel for a long time though. I need to save money. We don’t really travel cheap.

The kids and Noah have promised to veto all requests for travel in 2017 even if I say, “but we could…”

Ha.

I love my reminders.

My Eldest Child likes to say, “You should listen to yourself more, mom. You are a smart lady.” But I don’t listen to myself. I need to hear it from you. I need to hear it in your voice. I need to have you replace my inside voice. Do you know why? Because when I talk to me I’m so god damn mean. When you remind me of something I just said a few minutes ago… you usually sound so nice.

I know I sounded nice when I said it to you. That’s because it is easy to be nice to you. No, I can’t remind myself in that same nice way. I need you on a tape in my head. Because my tapes are all so bad. Thank you for reminding me.

I never mean that sarcastically.

Well… maybe once in a while but I’ll make it obvious with a funny voice.

Shiny change of topic. I feel like it is wise to restate a thing about voice in my blog. I talk to “you” a lot. That’s a moving target. I often consciously create sentences so I’m addressing multiple situations and multiple people at once and I phrase it as a singular. So if you feel paranoid that I’m talking to you… maybe…. inclusively…

Or maybe you’re the one. Noah gets a lot of direct address. Ok, other people do too and I hide behind the group thing. Let’s be honest. But I do the group address thing too!

I’m just tricksy.

I sat here for a while and just went through some visuals of stuff I’d like to have happen in my life. Oh let it be so.

Good and bad

Every so often I catch up on Noah’s private writing. Mostly my rule for myself is I’m not allowed to get upset about what I find when I snoop. I totally failed yesterday.

Noah calls it “going limp”. I call it going to the dark place. All I can see is how bad I am. How much I hurt Noah among many other people. I can’t see why I should be allowed to continue to live to hurt people. It’s really hard for Noah when I do this.

I lashed out at more than one person yesterday. In more than one big, dramatic way. I am so sorry.

I’m hurting Noah. And part of that is because we are both choosing to be hurt by things that are scary.

Choosing to be hurt. Oh that makes me sound like a douche. But I’m hurt by Noah’s actions too. I’m not just saying it about Noah.

We want enmeshment without jealousy. How is that even possible?

I don’t know. But yesterday when I read that Noah thinks the enmeshment is just already dead because of what I have done… I lost it. I’ve already killed our marriage?! Then what in the fuck are we going to do? Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

He has since revised his commentary and said, “I was really angry”… which isn’t something I’m in a position to judge. He has also told me that I am dumb for wanting to just end relationships over him saying that. Ok he didn’t say dumb. But unwise to the point where he sent an email to someone I’m dating saying that I’m over reacting and please don’t take it too seriously.

Shit.Noah and I both have scared feelings about the future. We both want to make big dramatic gestures to fix things now. Guess what? That doesn’t work so well. I did email the therapist and say maybe waiting a month before our first joint session is dumb. We’ll figure it out sooner, somehow.

I am at the point where I basically think that if I have to lock down to monogamy again we probably shouldn’t have another baby because my big kids don’t deserve to have the weight of depression dropped on their head the way it would happen if I had another super isolated pregnancy. I don’t do well being alone and feeling trapped. It’s a horrifying feeling for me and I get so god damn sick. I’m going to need company this time.

Thank you Rose for the offer of Krissy sitting. I’ll take you up on it. I’ll take anyone up on it this time. I have to. I’ll have to tell the kids that they get their summer of 5 days a week off from people but when I’m pregnant… I get guests as much as I want.

If I want to get through another pregnancy with as much of a good mood as I manage most of the time with my kids… I need help. I am incompetent to manage such an emotional/chemical state alone. I am not truly a loner. I am not an introvert. Too much alone time eats me like a flesh eating bacteria. It hurts.

I know it isn’t fair how quickly it feels true. I know it isn’t fair how selfish I am once I start feeling this kick in. This is existential for me. This is at a soul level. I am so afraid of being alone.

But I do like my alone time. Ahhhhhh. But not too much.

Just enough to get my thoughts together. Then, more people please. I know this is hard on Noah. Noah wants allllllllll my energy. Sorta. Only then I overwhelm the shit out of him. We are both so very jealous. He’s working hard to get me to understand that he is about as jealous as I am he is just better at managing it.

After reading his journal entries I believe it a whole lot more. That’s an angry, sad man. I am so sorry, my beloved. I am so sorry that I am hurting you so much with my behavior.

I am saying that I want to not do x and then doing x right away. It is true. That isn’t your imagination. That’s happening.

I said I wouldn’t date anyone else who wasn’t willing to do group play. Then someone fell into my lap. It feels like a direct slap in the face to Noah. Cupid was supposed to be the only person I was seeing who didn’t want group play. Sigh.

But I don’t know how to turn down someone meeting me and seeing me as a delicious challenge to help manage. I don’t know how to say no to someone who says, “She seems crazy high maintenance and I’m here for it” to Noah. Yeah. I am. I am crazy high maintenance. And if you want to help, fuck yes.

I know you are cute and all and you are offering to do it platonically. Because you think that would assuage Noah’s or my nervousness. Awww, aren’t you cute. No that’s not going to help. Because it is how much I think about you. It is about the fact that even if you feel like you are sated because you get enough sex so you can have platonic relationships with people you are attracted to…. I don’t know what sated feels like. I want more sex. Even though sometimes I physically have to stop because I’m worn out. I still wish I could be having more. I curse the delicacy of my tissues.

Ahh, speaking of the delicate tissues. I started bleeding. Which would be enough by itself to explain going nutty yesterday. My hormones hate me so much. Yesterday was a “I should cut myself to shut up so I don’t drive out to the ocean and go for a permanent swim” day. PMDD sucks. It’s a known problem. For 5-10 days before bleeding there is intense urge to self harm and/or commit suicide. I tend to go back and forth with remembering to ignore my urges or thinking “But I’m thinking this because of LIFE SITUATION and that is different! See, I am a terrible person and I should be punished.”

Crazy high maintenance. And you want to sign up for that? Other folks are backing away slowly. It feels like they are smart to do so. I am a walking time bomb. Hopefully I will mostly hurt myself. Sigh.

I feel really bad but I don’t want monogamy any more. It was too hard. It was too isolating. I know it would be different with you working from home but it is a different kind of subtle rejection all day long. You are there and I can’t talk to you or I’m a problem.

Muh. That sucks.

I have to let you work. I know that you think it is shitty that I am so jealous of your working hours but … it’s not jealousy exactly. It’s me trying to figure out how to deal with my fucked up chemistry in all the hours you aren’t available. I still have to deal with me during that time and it’s hard.

I know that dealing with me is hard.

I know that I’m going to have to learn how to accept things changing in a lot of directions. I’m not the only one who needs support.

I know.

I’m prepared for it to hurt. And I need to get a whole bunch of plans in place for how to deal with my self harm urges.

I did reach out to a fellow self harm person and talked about it instead of doing it yesterday.

Where are my cookies?

Where are my chips for days abstinent? I didn’t do it because of a higher power. I’m trying to change this coping method because frankly I’d rather have connection than need to cut myself to remember that connection isn’t for me.

I’d rather have connection.

Thank you, Noah, for sending that email. Thank you for wanting to be nice to your pet even though I am bringing more strife into your life. I am.

You have trusted me for so long because I treated “I try” like “I will kill myself to get this done.” Since I started dating other people things haven’t gone like that. “I’ll try to only date people who want group play” didn’t last a week. Yes, that has been true of thing after thing. I’m being terrible about keeping my word. I am being so impulsive it is a serious problem.

You keep telling me that obviously I need this or I will die. I’m scared it is true. I am scared I need people available to connect with me more hours of the day than you have available. I use my friends for this as much as I am able. There are still gaps.

This is about me. This is about the caverning gaping maw of need in me. I need to be loved. I have a lot of not-being-loved to make up for. Decades. I know you do too Noah. I know you weren’t much more loved than I was, heck maybe less. I have always been able to inspire it in small ways from strangers. You grew up being universally loathed. You have learned to just not need anyone but me and the kids.

I haven’t. I need.

I hunger. I ache.

want.

I want to feel worthy of being taken care of and right now I reject offers with a spiked mace. I have to change this aspect of myself. I don’t know how. But I have to figure it out anyway.

With luck I will be typing less for a while for good reasons. In just a few hours I go pick up a friend for a long visit at my house. They’ll be here 19 days and I bloody well hope I won’t be online much. But usually me going offline signals bad stuff and people get nervous and start pinging me. So, let me warn you.

Breakfast is almost ready. I didn’t completely wreck things yesterday. And today brings the promise of a new perspective to listen to. A completely different change of things to think about. I’m so happy.

I get to bring my friend to Wonderland. What a gift.

Asymmetrical my ass.

Noah is going to wait till September then start looking around for folks to see solo. Because neither of us really want him going through another period of intense depression if I stop wanting sex.

I’m really scared of this. I deal with Noah dating by hiding in a small space and crying and cutting. Because it is so existentially terrifying to me. No, this isn’t responsible or adult. But it is how I have been coping since I was a small child and it is only fairly recently I have admitted that this is the long-term pattern so I’m not open to being shamed as a “manipulator” because this is how I handle my feelings.

I’m broken. But that doesn’t mean I’m trying to manipulate people. I’m just trying to get through the best I can. I wish my best was better.

I am very grateful that at least three people have already specifically said that if Noah dates they can be Krissy-sitters. Which could help. I have not traditionally had the umph to schedule such things. I’d rather stay home, feel rejected, and hurt myself. Why ask other people to make me feel good when my expectation of life is that I will be rejected and I should be hurt because I am unworthy of being alive.

This isn’t about Noah or the people he dates. Not really. This is about me. This is about my mom. This is about intrinsic worth problems.

I’m thinking a lot about sex vs attention. I think I have mostly always treated sex as attention. The kind I could get.

I was shocked when Deity told me he would be ok with non-sex dates. Aren’t you dating me because you want to get laid? It is weird for me.

Know what I’m noticing? Mostly my folks are people who I pursue. I initiate contact. I ask for dates. I ask for time. I’m the one makes sure we have a relationship.

Someone is pursuing me. And not really for sex. Ok, sex might be nice at some point. But sex isn’t the goal here. Clearly.

You know how you aren’t supposed to compare people? I’m noticing what it feels like to have someone initiate contact with me the way I usually do with other people. oh goodness that’s nice.

I am not sure I have ever been pursued like this in my life. This is by someone who isn’t demanding/pushing for sex. I think there was one person who would have been like if I let him but he had already abandoned children in multiple countries so I told him to fuck all the way off. And he wanted to do it because of sex. He wanted to be having sex for 2-4 hours/day and I could keep up so he wanted to keep me. But no. You abandoned your kids. I don’t want you.

Noah was really distracted at the beginning of when we first dated. He pursued me hard, but he didn’t have a lot of time free. It wasn’t daily. And it was always sex focused. Then I dumped him. Then he showed up and asked me to marry him. Which is a lot of pursuing, and not all of it about sex.

Ok, I know that asexuality exists. But I don’t grok it. I know that you can have romantic but not sexual feelings… but I don’t grok it. I know that someone can theoretically get to a point where they are having “enough sex” and they still want companionship… but I don’t grok it.

Do you know when I don’t want sex? When I’m having hormone problems, my children are present, or I am too torn up to manage.

Otherwise I want sex. I don’t understand this not wanting sex.

Ok, so like I don’t want to frantically bang all the folks I’m friends with from the homeschool group. No. That’s not how it works. I do have blinders where there are non-sexualized people. But I don’t have romantic feelings for them. I have intense affection. I want their company. I think they are lovely people to model off of.

It’s romantic/companionship sans sex I don’t get.

It’s kind of funny. I see Eldest Child manage this. She has romantic feelings without any hint of sexuality. I watch what that looks like. It is….

Whoa.

At her age casual like meant I should have sex with someone let alone intense romantic feelings.

Every day I wonder who I could have been if I would have had a different life.

I’ll never know. Just keep walking.

Last night at bed time all of a sudden I got really giddy. We are going on a cruise! And I will feel beautiful! And people will be there just because they love us and want to support us because otherwise they sure as shit wouldn’t do something like that. Ha!

I know that going on this cruise doesn’t mean that these people love me more than anyone else. It means they have the disposable income and time available. It isn’t about how much other people love me. This is a big big big big big big hurdle.

You don’t have to jump this hurdle to love me. I don’t believe that even a little bit. I’m loved by a lot of people. I know that.

But I’m really excited that there are people who think that the Krissy & Noah Show is worth this much effort. We will try to make it a fun experience. My trip to Florida last year is going to seriously pay off. I know exactly where to go in the Keys. I want to take everyone. We will need to rent two minivans.

Let me show you some of the most beautiful parts of this country before it disappears. Miami just might disappear in our lifetime. At the very least it is going to be damaged worse than New Orleans at some point. Come see it now. It is beautiful.

Thank you for coming with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

No. This cruise isn’t a necessary part of proving you love me. But it’s a pretty dramatic showing from a few special people. Jenny is my oldest friend. My Bonus Family is coming. And one unexpected delightful additional family. I didn’t know you were going to be so important to me when I met you. Gosh I’m glad Noah met you at work. That was serendipity.

I look fucking hot in the bikini I bought for the trip. The kids are looking forward to wearing their Miami bikini’s.

Noah should get a full body modesty suit and he hasn’t yet. Ha.

I have uhm done clothes shopping. I do shopping for and on trips. Most of my clothing I bought for the trip to Scotland. I don’t need a lot for this trip so I’m probably done. Maybe I can find my way to Santa Cruz and find some new bloomers though. Mine died an ignoble death.

What a blow out. Sigh.

I even got some miniskirts for Noah’s sake. Eek. My preference is ankle length (or at least cover the knee). Clearly I am a giving and loving wife. Even though I’m not real big on the trophy wife thing…. heh… once in a while I’ll be generous and wear a damn miniskirt.

It’s the little things that make a marriage happy.

I don’t really like it when Noah is depressed because I’m physically incapacitated and I have nothing to give. Which kinda makes it sound like I need to get over resisting what we know combats his depression.

I don’t like reality very much. Reality is a shitty place with horrible things that burst the bubble of my feeling of safety that my glittery hoo haw will make it all come out ok.

Nope. I failed. LIke I fail at so many things. That’s life. I am inadequate. Yup. That’s true. Will I be able to find the courage to ask for help dealing with my resulting bouncing feelings this time? Every other time I have retreated alone to hurt myself.

It’s not because I am trying to manipulate anyone. It is because that is what I think I should do when I have let someone down by not being enough. I don’t know that I have enough ask in me to deal with this. That’s the problem. Because people are busy. Because I’ll suck up my courage and ask that one person and…. they can’t. So I will sit home and cry and hurt myself.

Because I am a terrible burden that no one deserves to have thrust upon them. Because I have never been anything but a terrible burden. I have really already received far more than my fair share of help in this life. Whatever help that exists should go to someone better.

I should just shut the fuck up.

I never seem to manage that part, do I?

I wish I could. I wish I could just hurt myself and shut up about it. But this is part of the record so that my kids will be able to look back some day and go “You were weird around (dates/ages) what was going on?” and I will be able to honestly tell them. But I won’t tell them now. As children all of this has to happen off screen. But someday they will want answers and I don’t want to rewrite history. It is what it is.

I want to be as honest as I can be. Besides, the more honest about it I am with myself the more I can treat it like a fungible problem. I like that word. Fungible. It means replace it with another. That’s kinda what I do with myself. I play games and I move around the goals. I try to figure out how to replace bits and pieces of the game with other bits or pieces.

Can I find a way to replace terror with security?

Fuck if I know. I got turned down for yet another PTSD study. I’ve already done too much work. I’ve tried too many therapies. I’m too motivated.

We have some couples therapy time coming up. It is a long and inconvenient drive and location. So whee. It’ll work out. There’s some stuff we need some outside help with. We can’t listen without shutting down and being defensive. We can’t be open to what the other is really saying we are locked into our fear. We need some help. I’m scared it won’t be enough but it is the next step in trying. We aren’t close to divorce or anything like that. But we aren’t being nice to each other and we want to be. I’m not hearing what the most important pieces are to him and I’m running rough shod over some of the things he cares about and pussy footing around things I don’t need to and I don’t really understand which is which. I need some help breaking this down.

I am not always the best listener. Sometimes I’m sorta a self involved asshole. A little bit.

We need to make this work. We need to find a way or make a way. There is no way out but death and I’d rather not commit suicide right as he finally let me meet the third child I’ve been longing to meet for half my life.

Breakfast time.

What do I want?

I like having lots of friends with benefits and lovers. So many that I really kinda have to be a comet. I can’t be regular or consistent. It works when it works.

I think bdsm stuff is going to go closer to back to that box. I just don’t have the drive when I’m pregnant. (Although I just had the most intense mental picture of pegging my submissive while pregnant. That was quite a thing to just jump into my head. Well hello there.)

I don’t want to break up with people, not really. But I do want to… loosen the expectations of frequency. Maybe you won’t beat me again for a few years but it’ll happen again.

There is this one friend/occasional play partner. She was the third person I ever played with and the first person I played with in the munch/party crowd I spent years in intensively. We have never played often. But we do sometimes. Not every year. Just when it works. And that’s been happening since I was 18 years old. In August I asked her if we could do a 16th anniversary scene. She said yes. I’m thrilled.

But that kind of occasional is important to me. I like the trailing end of love that comes with it. “Ok I know it’s annoying that I’m not up for play more… but when I am it’s great!”

In some of my interactions the breaks come mostly from me and in others it comes from the other side. I can cope.

My Sarah has a phrase she likes for an important person in her life: “Once and Future Sweetie” and I love it. (I also love the man she attaches it to–he’s good people.) But I feel like that with folks. I don’t actually get done done done with people that much. But I may run out of drive to force a relationship and if you don’t ensure it is ongoing it just won’t exist.

So much of my life is about me pushing relationships on folks. I’m an asker. But it takes a toll. I run out of ask sometimes. I feel too ashamed.

I feel ashamed of wanting so much more than other people. More intensity. More conversation. More sex. I feel like I’m always trying to tone it down so I don’t bother people too much. More time spent. More work done. More more more. More attention. More stimulation.

I really wanted to go to Friday Night Waltz tonight. It sounds fun. But I’m so tired and I need to spend my energy on painting. We have house guests arriving on Sunday. They stay for 19 days. I need to have the work done in the house more than I need bonus exercise at bedtime.

fuuuuuuuuuck remodeling.

I am going to ask them if they want to go to the 4th of July party we would like to go to. I have friends visiting one Wednesday. Hopefully my Bonus Kids will come over, even though it’ll be a zoo. It will be a joyful zoo. And the Bonus Mama would really like my friend. So I’m crossing my fingers.

Beyond that… I have no dates or socializing planned for the 19 days. I need to pay attention to my friend.

It hurts me very much that I have traveled all the way across the country and people who profess to love me a lot paid no attention to me whatsoever. My goal is for my friend and her two sons to leave glowing with love and attention. I need to not spread out what I have to other people. I need to keep it home. They need the infusion pretty badly. I mean, don’t we all. But this mama needs to feel love a little more than average. I want to fill her bucket.

And they are used to a very quiet retreating life with very little socializing. They don’t travel like this. This is all my initiation. Ha. Come visit me. I miss you. I want to pay attention to you.

But everyone else can wait. I’m not going to do what that dude in NYC did to me. I flew across the country to see him and he had a first date with someone else while I sat in the room and waited for him to be done beating and fucking her.

I sure know how to follow around folks who aren’t that into me. I’m over it. I’d like to be worthy of better fucking treatment.

Noah acts like I am.

Or my other friend in New York who declined to put pants on and walk three blocks to see us because that was too much trouble. You know what? I find visiting people in New York to be horrifyingly awful and I’ll never do it again. I find that visiting people in New York means I go from liking someone a lot to not liking them as much because they treat me like shit.

I’m not bringing New York habits home. Fuck. That. Shit.

I’m not sure why I’m feeling pissy about that just now.

I’m thinking about how I want to be treated. I both want someone who is comfortable saying “I would like to see you, scheduling?” and comfortable hearing “Good god not this week/month.” Which is hard.

I want someone who wants to kiss me so badly that they don’t walk past opportunities but they have excellent boundaries about keeping their hands and lips to themselves when my kids are around. Well, even keeping hands to oneself isn’t really the same. I hold hands with my friends in front of my kids. Always have. I hug my friends in front of my kids and I don’t want that to change. My kids see me climb into fully dressed piles of adults and snuggle lots of people.

I’m comfortable with that.

Because in their head there is a difference between sex (what they know I do with their dad) and snuggling/dating.

They don’t understand what the difference is yet, but they have a fuzzy perception.

I like that my kids are comfortable with physical boundaries with people. They are comfortable asking for and giving hugs when they want to and when they aren’t in the mood they are clear about that. They have no baggage around owing anyone anything. When someone tries to wheedle affection all of us are harsh. “What part of setting a boundary is hard for you to hear?”

I feel good about how this part is going.

Do you know what I did for the first six months of having a baby? I sit in a chair and nurse and play with my computer. Because I didn’t have anyone but Noah to talk to and he’s busy a lot.

It was ok once. It was hard a second time. I can’t do it a third time. I can’t. I have to be too emotionally consistent with the big kids this time. I can’t be as variable. The pressure continues to mount. Shit.

Oxytocin. That has to be the way.

Maybe when the baby comes Noah can work a little bit more on the weekend so that his ignoring-Krissy-time overlaps better with when other people are available. I don’t know. Maybe?

I bet you that if it were on a Saturday I could talk my submissive into picking up a weekly shift where he comes over and talks to me and reads with the big kids and maybe rubs whatever part of me is most achey that day. I betcha. But it would have to work around his schedule which is more demanding than Noah’s is these days.

I’d be happy to wear out the hands of as many people as I can during pregnancy and the year after. I hurt. Noah has limits. He does a lot. I’d be up for as many volunteers as I can get.

I’m an opportunist.

Do you know what I feel intensely secure about? If I can figure out how to do it so I feel ok my submissive will adapt to any and all boundaries I set even as they move up and back and sideways and forwards. He’s already been through this roller coaster once with him and I didn’t even let him in as much as I will this time. No, I won’t be the sadist of his dreams for a while. But that’ll come back too.

I don’t think I’m over wanting to carve him up. I’m not over wanting to kiss him or fuck him. I’m just… scattered and tired.

know I’m not over wanting to kick him in the nuts. That is one of the most satisfying, awesome feelings IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD. It is just a sometimes treat.

Right now the idea of doing a kicking scene makes me need a nap. I’m so tired.

Am I a user? Do I give back to the people I take from? I don’t know. I really don’t.

All I know is I have acupuncture in 3 hours and a phone call with a couples therapist in 6 hours. See, we are all proactive and shit. There’s stuff we need some help to figure out how to discuss. What do you do when you need help? You go find some fucking help.

This isn’t our first rodeo and it won’t be our last.

We’ll make sure of that.

I have so much to do.

Things I have learned about myself this year.

In no particular order:

  • I like generic penetrative sex a lot more than most folks in the bdsm community so hunting there is always going to be mixed.
  • I like topping more than I think but I still feel weird about being “dominant”. I like topping because I like taking people on journeys.
  • As was just phrased by someone wiser than me: I need to feel worshipped.
  • I cannot sustain monogamy forever.
  • I think I want a balance of casual sex and real relationships with people other than Noah because… I’m a needy mother fucker.
  • I need to be kissed a lot. If someone doesn’t spontaneously just do that whenever it could be arguably appropriate I’m going to spend a lot of time feeling anxious about the entire relationship. I need that validation/response/feedback.
  • I have learned that Gabapentin joins a long list of meds that don’t work. And Klonopin.
  • I can have solid poop on a regular basis if I eat how I have learned to eat. Mostly protein and vegetables with a fair bit of fruit. Minimal carbs but I can have them and kind doesn’t matter. HFCS is the devil.
  • I am a very different place with grief than I’ve ever been before.
  • It is a lot harder to avoid asking for permission for orgasms now than it was.
  • I learned that I am going to, like magic, be allowed to have another baby. I thought that dream was impossible.
  • We will not be going on the WWOOF year. Even after all these years of planning and hoping and longing… younger kids would make it not work. I can live with losing this dream. We will still travel, but not in the same way. It’ll be ok.
  • I’ve learned that I am a god damn genius for having a good lawyer on speed dial.
  • I have learned that I can do fantastic things on very little rest. I don’t think that was as true before. I’m hardening as I get older.
  • I’ve learned that once in a while someone will say, “Wow. You are high maintenance. I can help with that.”
  • I’ve learned a lot about my relationship with my mama. But that goes into letters you don’t get to read.
  • I’ve learned that I need to have a list of people who are genuinely ok with texts/calls at weird/unpredictable times if I want to deal with my self harming. It’s like 12-step sponsorship. I self harm because I because I believe in that moment it is not ok for me to inflict the feelings I have on anyone and I don’t have a better way of stuffing. I should write names and numbers on the blackboard wall where I medicate so I can’t pretend people don’t want to know.

 

I am too tired to think any more. That’s enough.