As I slowly approach the two-year mark with my current boyfriend, it’s tough not to think about this same point in previous relationships.

I don’t remember being unhappy or restless, and I’m not right now either. But at this exact moment with my two previous long-term boyfriends, the relationships were already on the downward slide.

I have what I like to call “the three year curse.” Near that particular anniversary, something triggers and my need to escape becomes dire. The +/- six months surrounding year number three cause immense anxiety on my part and fleeing remains the only option.

My high school boyfriend? I’d say it was at the 2.5 year mark where I called it quits, yet we stayed fairly attached for the few months that followed. However, approximately two months before that poignant anniversary, I bid him adieu and that relationship was officially over.

My college boyfriend? We met during my fall semester sophomore year and stayed together one month longer than the three-year point. He and I even moved 500 miles together to the great state of North Carolina where, less than a year later, I broke it off – though I suppose it was somewhat mutual, but that’s another story for another time or never. He swiftly returned to Pennsylvania following “the divorce” and splitting of our belongings*.

Now here I sit, exceptionally happy with this man in my life, yet completely fearful that only a few months down the road I’ll start cultivating problems in my head and trying to make my departure. And damn it, I don’t want this to end! So I’m attempting to recognize the problem – if it is one – now and ensure that he’s fully aware of “the curse” in the hopes that we can tackle and overcome it together. Because seriously, if this boy makes it to the four-year mark, I’m counting it as a miracle and forcing him to marry me**.

Am I the only one who has this issue when it comes to relationships? I mean, clearly I’ve heard of men who can’t commit for more than a few months, but three years seems like an odd point to leave it all behind. My mother once said that I “chase butterflies,” and once a relationship hits the comfortable point and the guy no longer makes me feel like I’m consistently floating on Cloud 9, I feel the need to find someone new who can. I’m not entirely sure I believe that theory, despite it’s plausibility***.

What do you think? What exactly, if anything, can break the curse I seem to have? Am I just turning a coincidence into something bigger than it truly is? Or is it actually possible my mom’s right in her speculations?

* I still wish I got the red steak knives that would perfectly match my kitchen. But meh, I got the Wii, the washer and the dryer. You win some, you lose some.
** Well, not “forcing.” I guess you can say I’m somewhat apprehensive about becoming engaged before hitting four years for fear that “the curse” will prevail. =/
*** That’s a word, right?

As I drove to Pennsylvania on Nov. 12, my yellow Cavalier simply couldn’t get me to Scranton fast enough to meet my nephew. Keeping the car at a consistent 75 mph, my typically-nine hour drive turned into almost 11 due to two car crashes I encountered. It was almost 11 p.m. when I finally arrived at my childhood home and, for the very first time, saw my brother’s son.

He was in his bouncer, happily asleep, with my brother and his girlfriend’s dog, Abby, standing guard in front. Without even attempting to unload my car of suitcases, I plopped down next to Jaidyn and watched as he soundly slept. Sophie was curious and sniffed around the baby. I feared she’d think him a toy and attempt to play, but my assumptions were wrong and she went about her business of rough-housing with Abby.

It wasn’t until an hour later that I pushed my slight nervousness aside and held my nephew*. I don’t think I went more than a couple hours at a time without holding him ’til I departed early Sunday afternoon. Having him nestled in my arms was a feeling like no other. Complete comfort, yet protection. A warmth (and not just because of a smelly diaper) and love entirely unique. Seeing his tiny hand curl around my finger or watching a slight smile come across his face brought me a joy like nothing I’ve ever felt.

And though it’ll be January (I assume) before I see that little guy again - with a face that will no doubt change a million times over the next couple months – I’m already ready to pack up my car and drive north.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend** that I just had to share with everyone. Clearly I’m a very proud Aunt Mindy.

Holding Jaidyn for the first time! (Cut me some slack on how awful I look. I did just finish an 11-hour drive.)

I liked the little bizarre faces he'd make.

Jaidyn and his Great-Grandma! (That's my grandma, my mom's mom.)

Seriously, I wouldn't put him down. (Gah, no makeup. Look away. Look away!)

He's too cute. For real.

Such a grumpy, confused face. My favorite picture!

Cutest baby ever. That's right. I said it.

* I dropped a baby once, so I tend to hesitate.
** I seriously snapped about 200 of the kids, so I just chose a handful of my favorites.

On Thursday, at midnight, I did it. I stood in line with hundreds – seven theaters worth, so that’s my assumption – of teenage girls, book-loving adults, whipped boyfriends and a few others to see New Moon.

And I loved it! Maybe it’s because I started the evening with some SoCo and Yuengling, but the book portrayal was pretty close and Taylor Lautner truly embodied the character of Jacob Black to a tee … and we remember how I feel about Jake, right?

Like many others who saw the first saga film, Twilight, my expectations for #2 were rather low. But with a new director on board – and previews that seemed a bit more promising – my anticipation got the best of me and I bought my ticket a few days in advance. And to say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome on the screen would certainly be an understatement. Though when you’re expecting subpar, I suppose it’s rather simple to go above and beyond.

Although there were some obvious flaws - including the rather-forced Volturi/Italy scenes, (though it was that way in the book as well, but moreso in the movie) and the slight differences between the book and film (I get it, time constraints, but the movie should always stay as close as possibly to the book context) - I think New Moon was summed up pretty well on the big screen.

….. My rating? 3.7/5 …..

With that said, seeing this movie at midnight (despite the liquid courage) made me more certain than ever that I loathe teenage girls. I’m clearly beyond that point in my life – thank God! – and highly annoyed by masses of them surrounding me at once. I easily could have done without the Ooooing and Ahhhing whenever anything remotely male or sexual occurred. But I knew what I was getting myself into and I’m still fairly glad I took the first opportunity possible to see the latest Twilight installment.

I’ll probably go see Eclipse at midnight, too. I’m super awesome like that. Now, how many months do we have left…? June 30, 2010 cannot come soon enough. I’m already jonesing a Jacob-fix!

P.S. I’ve always been this big of a dork. This is just more proof of that.

I love this tee-shirt!

One week ago today, at 5:08 p.m., an adorable little boy was born in Scranton, Pa. that I am more than proud to call my nephew.

First picture!

At 8 lbs., 3 oz. and 21 inches long, Jaidyn Christopher was welcomed into the world by my brother and his girlfriend. And come tomorrow, after a nine-hour drive to Scranton, I’ll finally get to meet the little guy who made me an aunt!

Expect plenty of pictures once I return (on Sunday, so early next week they’ll be posted) because I couldn’t be more excited to have this baby boy in my life. Yay, I’m an aunt! …Aunt Mindy. It has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say?

He’s only one week old and yet I have so many hopes for his life. Sure, there’s the general ones – love, happiness, strength, courage, etc. But I truly hope that 18 years from now when he embarks upon the world on his own there will be doors open to him that many of us can’t even imagine right now. My dream is that he takes advantage of every opportunity before him no matter how big or how small. That he grows up to be an amazing man some day who can do anything he wants despite any obstacles that could stand in his way. I want so much for Jaidyn and he’s barely seven days old…

I also look at my nephew and cross my fingers that these two parents he’s been blessed with are everything he deserves. Too many kids are shortchanged in life these days with one, or sadly both, parents who simply don’t care and aren’t living up to their obligations as parents. While I of course hope my brother’s girlfriend is an amazing mother, I more so want my brother to be the kind of father I genuinely wish he and I had. This little guy deserves that and I sincerely pray that my 22-year-old brother can fulfill every hope I hold for him as a dad. I believe he can. I really do. And as his one and only big sister – and Jaidyn’s aunt and godmother – I’ll make sure to keep my brother on that path toward being an outstanding father.

Less than 24 hours from now, I’ll be on the highway, headed north to meet a baby boy who won’t have any clue who I am, and that doesn’t bother me in the least bit. To have him in my arms for just one moment, one brief second, will seriously make me the happiest girl in the entire world tomorrow. I absolutely cannot wait!

The sore throat started Oct. 11. A really dry cough started developing last weekend. And by Friday, the day before Halloween, I’d been regularly hacking up a lung for nearly six days. It was time to see the doctor.

And what was my diagnosis? I HAD THE SWINE!

Not once in those three weeks had it even remotely dawned on me that I had the flu, let alone H1N1. Sure, I spent quite a few days feeling not-so-awesome, but I seemingly attributed every single symptom to something else, causing me to completely ignore the virus stewing in my system. And in that time, the bug that is receiving far too much hype in the media* did its business then went along on its merry way.

That’s right, I ignored the swine flu and it disappeared all on its own, which makes me wonder why exactly people are freaking out about this virus as if it’s going to wipe out half of all humanity. People die every year from the regular flu, yet few people stop to even consider that before talking about the new pandemic facing society. Perhaps we all just need to calm down a bit … and ignore its existence as I did!

When I had body aches, I figured it was my persistence at the gym finally paying off. The migraines? Something typical for me. And the nausea? A result of the headache, of course. The cough and horribly sore throat was just a minor cold I picked up during my Penn State visit. But the fever? Well, I was having some blood-sugar level issues lately, so I just assumed that was to blame considering I felt a bit better after eating.

Not one of the symptoms stuck out to me as something unusual for my daily life mostly because they weren’t all affecting me at the same time. The fever seemed to come and go occasionally in the three weeks. The sore throat slowly became the cough, both never occurring together. The nausea and migraine arrived hand in hand, but my headaches sometimes progress to the point of physical sickness due to the pain. I seriously never even considered something bigger was to blame for how wretched I felt, on and off, since leaving Pennsylvania in mid-October.

Although the doctor cannot definitively confirm that I had H1N1 - whatever virus I did have, that or otherwise, is seemingly gone – she was fairly certain of my diagnosis after we sifted through all the symptoms. Apparently the wretched cough that’s been plaguing me for more than a week now is a lingering side effect of the flu. (Boo hiss, for sure.) After some over-the-counter medicinal suggestions and a prescription for some heavy-dosage cough syrup – to help me sleep because the cough has been preventing me from getting more than two hours of ZzZzs at a time – the doctor told me I wasn’t contagious and could go about my daily business without worry. Sure, I most likely did have H1N1 at some point, but it dissipated over the three weeks and I wasn’t a threat to anyone else, though I can’t help but wonder ever so slightly even anyone caught my mild case of the swine**… Hm…

The news industry has been inundated with H1N1 Influenza A reports for months now. And it seems that regardless of what media outlets say, or don’t say, the public is consistently fearful of this flu, even refusing its vaccine because of supposed potential side effects. And I, for one, find this entirely ridiculous. After all, I didn’t even know I had the swine flu and my immune system bounced back, fighting it off without antibiotics. I bet I could’ve avoided it all – including this annoying cough – if I simply had the vaccine.

A school district employee said it best at last month’s school board meeting, “This is just another type of flu we’re going to have to get used to.” Such an on-point statement. Although this particular strain is new and has caused death and severe sickness among some, the seasonal flu we’ve all become accustomed to at this point has done the same year after year and yet the panic surrounding it seems little. I think it’s about damn time we all take a big step back and look at the situation and realize that many people can have mild versions of H1N1 and be perfectly fine following a few crappy days. Sure, some people are prone to having something like the seasonal flu or H1N1 wreak havoc and cause more damage to their system. Maybe it’s time we all cease the fear and go about our daily lives, just listing this particular flu as another potential demon of winter. Because really, it’s not much more than that if you ask me.

* For me to technically be part of the media and say this is quite a big deal folks.
** I know, for certain, that the boyfriend doesn’t have any version of the flu and he is, by far, the most likely candidate. Actually, he started feeling terribly ill last Wednesday and by Thursday night, he thought he had the flu. He went to the doctor Friday morning to find out what he could do about it, but they said he didn’t have the flu. He had strep throat. Upon hearing that, I assumed that was what had been bothering me for the three weeks so I made a doctor’s appointment. But I didn’t have strep – I even asked for a throat culture to ensure I did not. So we were both sick, with different things, and didn’t pass it on to the other. Bizarre, right?