Lockdown Love

Okay, time to spill the beans. And these are no ordinary beans. These are good beans. Deliciously seasoned, lovingly prepared beans to be served with rice and vegetables as a humble but tasty meal. I have something that it's high time I share. This is important, exciting, and definitely a thing that merits a blog post.

But first, now that I have your attention, I want to commend all of you for whatever you've been doing in the quarantine. This is one of the most insane times in all of human history and you're still here. Anything you do can be celebrated. I know this time has put a lot of strain on people's friendships, family ties, marriages, and romantic relationships.

And speaking of romantic relationships (see that painfully obvious transition?), the quarantine has actually improved my previously nonexistant love life. I'm dating someone! And you know what that means, you nosey, nosey people. Story time!

It all started at Katsucon. Yes, I met my current boyfriend at con. You may all have heart attacks and die of not surprised. I was bouncing around like a marble in a dryer, as I do. As often happens, we absorbed people into the group and hung out together.  One of those people was Alex, whom we dubbed "the lost puppy." He was at con in need of a group to drag him around and we were only too happy to oblige. And for anyone wondering, I was dressed as Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus. Hey, a cosplay of an adult woman, it could have been so much weirder.

Truly an icon of feminine beauty

As we talked, the group found him charming and intelligent and a person we would like to be around. This, we exchanged contact info. We continued running around together throughout con, enjoying the panels, vendors, and other attendees.

Then, a few weeks later, came *dun dun dunnnnn* the lockdown. Alex contacted me and asked if I would like to be in a game of Mage (a fantasy RPG, think Dungeons and Dtagons). I love fantasy RPGs, so I agreed to join. As we created my character and he told me about the world he was building, we talked about a little bit of everything and a connection started to form.

Anyone who has been around me for very long knows that I am AWFUL at knowing whether I'm being flirted with or not. And even worse at knowing whether I like someone or not. But we finally got around to the "do you think you might like me because I think I might like you" conversation and concluded that we did and would like to try a date.

On April 22 (I had to ask him what the exact day was because days blend together in quarantine), we had a phone date, and it went really, really well. To an outside observer, it may not have sounded particularly romantic, but it was exactly the kind of romance I like. We connected on a cerebral level in a way I never have with anyone I've ever gone out with. Of course I was having a lot of "don't do it, he lives in Virginia, this is impossible" but......screw it. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I wouldn't be the first one to start a relationship over distance, and I definitely won't be the last.

Our second date was over video, and this was the first time he saw me (outside of my pictures) in my natural state, with my real hair, daily makeup, and usual fashion. We were both liking what we see 😉 our next date was also over video, and as the three-date rule declares, we were committed. Boyfriend and girlfriend, aiming for the long haul, here we go.

He's been working remotely since the pandemic, so dates have been easy to schedule. He had some time off that needed to be used, so he's visiting me in August. Long-distance is not an ideal scenario,  but we're making it work pretty well. And it's not going to be forever, we are wanting this to go somewhere. For now, we enjoy learning new things about each other and having fun in any ways we can. We both love exploring and learning new things and having unique experiences. Okay, I could gush a lot more, but this blog post is already getting long. So, are you ready to meet him?

There he is. Alex Bosert. 6 foot 1, 24 years old, birthday Sept 15. Isn't he cute? Side note: I asked him for a picture to put in the blog and this was his first idea. This is what he was wearing when we met. Yeah, we're pretty adorable.

Alex will no doubt be appearing in future blog posts. I can't wait for my friends to meet him. He's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

So there you go, the story of my now changed relationship status. Well what do you know, something good did come out of 2020. I can't wait to see where this is headed.