Starting my poly life

It's been over a year so I'm overdue for an update. A lot to talk about though...

First, I guess I'll talk about my relationship status. In my last post I was dating Seamus, Dragon and Fox. A few months after that post, Dragon and I ended up breaking up. There were some communication issues and we decided to end it. So now we're metas, and we still get along quite well. My other two relationships are still romantic, and going quite well.

Seamus had health issues that started shortly after my last post, and are still ongoing. He has diabetes and has been fighting toe/foot infections for over a year now. He has has multiple surgeries, including a couple amputations. His vision has degraded as well and he had a minor heart attack early this year. As a result of all this, his best friend (Fritz) moved in with us in March. Since then, Fritz has been cooking for us every day as well as taking care of the dogs and cleaning up the place, and this has been invaluable for our mood and for Seamus's health. His sugars and blood pressure are all under control, and we have an appointment soon to get him custom shoes which will hopefully help with the foot infections. Sadly, because he had them back to back for so long there was no time to get him shoes, as the doctors felt his feet would keep changing (they were swollen, more toes may be removed, etc). But we seem to be catching a break right now, so hopefully he'll have new shoes soon.

One down side to this all is that we have reached our max out of pocket two years in a row, which I guess is fine right now because we won't have additional expenses for the rest of the year, but we have debt for both this year and last year that we're not done paying back, and Seamus has had to miss work a lot so our income is down. And Fritz moved from Seattle and hasn't found a job in Oregon yet, so we have one more mouth to feed without the extra income. Things are a bit tight for us financially. Fritz has been invaluable in raising our morale and our quality of life so his presence is definitely worth it but we're all hoping he finds something soon to give us some more breathing room.

After the breakup with Dragon, things were a bit awkward at first since I was (and am) still dating his husband Fox, but they got less and less awkward and we are now close again. He feels like family and so does his family, and I'm very happy to have a metamour I get along with so well.

Fox and I are doing well as well. He moved to part-time at his work so he could work on freelance projects more, which has stressed him up a bit because he's the breadwinner in their household, but I think it's good for him to work on his personal projects. It makes him happier and I think he can feel less "stuck" that way.
We bought matching rings about a month ago, and I've been really happy that I am now wearing one ring for each of my partners.

Now for our living situation. Once we had been in our condo for about a year, our landlord decided to put it for sale. We tried to buy it so that we could join it with Fox/Dragon's and make it a giant condo we all lived in, but it turns out it wasn't FDA approved so we couldn't get a loan for it for the amount of down payment we had available. As a result, Seamus and I had to find a new place to stay. Because of his health and his amputations, we looked for places closer to his work, and found a place in walking distance that was ground level, so he doesn't have to climb stairs or to drive.
This is ideal for him, but it is also in another town from Fox and Dragon, and while I now have my driving permit, I still don't have a licence. Due to ridiculous public transit in our respective areas, I basically have to take a bus that goes away from where he lives before I can catch a train that gets to his place, a trip that takes close to 2 hours instead of the 20 minute drive. This is a huge change from the "drop by whenever we feel like, just to say hi or even grab something from the fridge" living arrangement we used to have.
This is actually why we got rings, because I worried about the distance hurting our relationship, and I knew that having a physical symbol to look out and remember how much we love each other would help me. It does help me but I miss him a lot, and my life feels more split now: time I spend with one of my partners is spent away from the other, much more than before.
For instance, when we were neighbors, I could visit Fox and even spend the night even while Seamus might need my help, as he could call me and I would be at his side within a couple minutes (and from the many nights spent at the hospital I will add, faster than any nurse did). Now something like this is impossible, and I find the split challenging.

Hopefully I will learn to drive soon and it will make things easier. 20 minutes (more in traffic) is still very different from two minutes and no need to park, but it is much more manageable than having to rely on public transit (which doesn't run at night and only runs once per hour during the day).

The last piece of news is that I have been taking psychology classes in community college. Right now I am thinking of studying to become an addiction counselor, but nothing is set in stone. I still work as a translator, but much less than before due to the time I spend studying. I've just started so it's a long way before I get my associate's (especially since I am taking classes based on when I can afford them) but I am enjoying everything I am learning (although much of it is pretty challenging).

Phew, I think that's it for the summary of all big changes since last year... I'm open to questions if someone has them. Let's see if I can update a little sooner next time :p
 
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