exciting news

Well, I know I promised a post on Wednesday. That didn't happen but here it is. Quite a few things have happened in the last month. All of them are good but I'm saving the best one to write about till last.
As many of my faithful readers know, I have been attending St. Marks Episcopal Church and have been loving it. It has rekindled my interest and desire in God and my spirituality in general. Well, two Sunday's ago I joined the church. Sometime in the next couple months I will be starting confirmation classes.
Student teaching is almost over with. I'm am so ready to graduate. While teaching has been fun, I'm ready to stop having the two jobs of teaching and being a student. I will be sending out graduation announcements soon. I'll be walking across the stage on December 16th. But my last day of student teaching is December 9th. And the week between the two I'll be taking my certification exams.
Last weekend I took a Motorcycle Safety Course where I learned how to ride a motorcycle. Kathy and I took the class together. It is a class offered through the extending education office at SWT. I was so excited when I signed up in August, and of course excitement waned a little since the class was so far away. But I had a blast last weekend. On Wednesday I went to the DPS and now I'm a licensed motorcyclist. Now I just need to buy a motorcycle. I already have one picked out and in January when I start working again I'm hoping to buy one. Here are pictures of the bike I want and the helmet I want. The bike is a Suzuki GZ250 and it's the same bike that I learned on. It's a great bike and I want something small and inexpensive to get around town on. When I get really comfortable with that, I might move up to a little larger cruiser. The instructors of the course were surprised that I had never even sat on a motorcycle before last weekend. I only had one scary moment when the bike almost came out from under me, but it just reminded me that the clutch is your friend. But seriously, the instructors said that I was doing a great job and it came fairly naturally to me.
And now, the best news. I have found someone that I love, that I adore, that I'm crazy about. Several of ya'll know or know of Steven. We used to work together when I drove for SWT. So we've know each other for a couple years and have hung out on more of a regular basis over the last year or 6 months. After Dan moved back to New York, Steven and I started hanging out quite a bit. I knew that he liked me but I didn't want a relationship and had given myself at least a year to be single and work out some of my stuff. Mom had met him while she was here for my birthday. She tells me now that she had a feeling that there was attraction between us but she didn't want to say anything because she knew I was working on myself. Before Daniel moved to Canada he was even asking me if there was something going on between Steven and I. A little over a month ago, on October 17, Steven and I went dancing at Winston's. That night and the next day I realized that I really liked him. So of course that weekend I freaked out, started crying, and told Steven that I couldn't be in a relationship, that I would mess it up, That I still needed time to myself. He felt horrible because I was crying and because he thought I was basically telling him to fuck off. But we kept on talking almost 2 hours a night and hanging out. I admitted to him that I liked him. We went to Wurstfest a couple of weekends ago and he held my hand. I felt so silly, almost like a middle schooler. I was so excited at having someone hold my hand. He went to church with me on Sunday and stood up with me when I joined St. Marks. The next night he was helping me make beanbags for a game I was taking to school and I said something that indicated that I was thinking about a future with him. We are now officially 'together', 'boyfriend and girlfriend','novio y novia', whatever you want to call it, but definitely looking at a future together. I trust him, I can tell him anything, I can tell him my crazy thoughts as they are happening, I can tell him that I don't like something he's said or done, and he can tell me the same things. It's amazing to be in a relationship with actual communication. After grandmother died, mamma and I were looking at pictures of her and granddaddy. They looked so happy and you could tell that they were absolutely crazy about each other. Momma said that she hoped that I would wait until I found that. I of course wanted to cry because I didn't think that it was possible for me to have that kind of relationship. But I have. I have found someone who treats me like a princess and I adore him. We are crazy about each other. I don't know that I've ever had this kind of balance in my life. I'm pretty much ok with myself, I'm seeking a relationship with God, I'm not ignoring my friends, and he can be who he is. It seems like it should be surreal, but if feels more like I've finally come home. Steven, I know you are reading this, and I just wanted to say that I love you so much, and thanks for being waiting around for me.