The dogs and I have been on our own since Thursday when my ex left for his dad’s wedding in Hawaii. We’re getting used to doing our own thing. For one reason or another, he hasn’t been here on weekends since we decided to restructure. This ten-day separation is a trial run for being on my own and the longest we’ve  been apart for years.

Friday I made an offer on a new house. It’s like a miniature version of my current house on a much smaller lot in a lovely neighborhood I didn’t even know existed. It needs a good pressure-washing on the outside and has nasty carpet and walls in dire need of paint on the inside. Later this week, my designer is taking measurements for new flooring and the home inspector will check the place out.

My main priority–keeping the current house ready to show at a moment’s notice–has been a bit easier. One less person coming and going makes a difference. I tend to pick up after myself as I go, but if I don’t, my own clutter doesn’t bother me. His clutter pisses me off, which is really all about me because he’s not a messy person.

As far as exercise goes, I give myself a solid B. Buying a house, swapping my Android for an iPhone, and rainy weather prevented me from running this weekend. It’s the first weekend I’ve missed for months. The gym cancelled my Sunday Zumba class, too, because they needed the room for instructor training. I had a great session with my trainer Thursday, and devoted 90-minutes Sunday to my best work-out ever.

In terms of nutrition, I’d give myself a C. The low grade isn’t for what I’m eating so much as for what I’m not eating. If you know me, this is somewhat of a change. Normally when I’m on my own, I go on a carb-loading, fast-food scarfing frenzy. Not this week. I’ve even cooked a couple of times. Well, twice, not counting grilled turkey burgers.

For progress on the writing front, I give myself another B. I’m three-quarters of the way through a start-to-finish revision of After Christmas Eve. Now the protagonist doesn’t get over-shadowed by strong-willed supporting characters. There’s a new and rather unexpected romance angle, too. By the time I finish revising what I’ve written so far, I’m hoping the ending will come together. Meanwhile, I got three drafts of the cover for Until Thanksgiving from the publisher. The final version should be ready very soon. I can’t wait for you to see it!

After reading my post, my ex told me that online dating is out. It’s all app-based now–unless you have an LG Ally and can’t access any apps because MySpace and a dozen others I don’t want or use eat up all the memory. Now that I have the iPhone, I’ve downloaded two that prohibit the kind of pictures that dominated the online site I was using. Coming soon: blog posts about switching to the iPhone and my experience with the dating apps.

To clarify, I like having a partner and hope to fall in love again. But I have no intention of jumping into another relationship. Never mind that guys my age tend to remarry in the following year or that me saying “I have no intention” means it won’t happen. I know me as well as you do. But a date now and then would be nice, and one can never have too many friends.

I’m not sure what grade the dogs would give me. The A+++ that Toodles would give me (she loves me EXACTLY the way I am) would be offset by the C from Tico. I’m trying to make throwing his ball more of a priority, but he’s never satisfied. They could both use more walks, too, but rarely complain about too much lap time here in…

My Glass House