01301: Making a Home For Three

Two more work shifts to go! This week can't end soon enough. Not that it has been bad in any particular way - it has just been rather busy. And these times end up feeling like the best times to look forward to the weekend and celebrate your free time with people you love.

It's nice to see how Prince has gotten a lot more comfortable here at the Sietch. He doesn't exactly live here 100% of the time just yet - he still juggles his time between here and his place in Makati. But he does spend a lot more time here than before, especially now that Tobie also works in Makati and thus many times they end up traveling home together. 

And I have to admit - it's really, really nice. We really feel like a family all together, albeit a rather different family structure. And this is not a jab against my actual biological family, mind you - I love them dearly and still do my best to spend time with them. At the same time, this probably will be the closest that I'll ever get to feeling like I'm starting a new family of my own outside of adoption. It's one thing to share a life with your partner, in this case Tobie, and that's a great and special experience in itself. But adding another person to the mix changes things somehow. 

And not just in the obvious ways that some of you may be thinking, you dirty, dirty children. LOL

So yeah, we're one happy alternative family - not that my use of the term "alternative" means that we feel that what we're doing feels "wrong" or "inappropriate" in any way. There's enough room in this world for practically everything and anything - well, provided you don't cross the line and hurt other people of course.

We'd made progress in creating spaces for Prince's stuff here at the Sietch. As much as Tobie and I had emptied out some closet space for him last week, it was only today that Prince was able to sort through his stuff and allot his things to the various drawers and the like. There's an odd sense of finality to that sort of thing - when you finally move stuff into a new place to really make it more of a home. And we're not just talking about a handful of random shirts and emergency provisions. He has a rather decent collection of clothes here so he can operate based out of the Sietch more and more. And that really feels nice.

We're developing new routines for the three of us, most definitely.  All three of us take turns cooking meals for the others. We now brew coffee for three, obviously. Sleeping arrangements are definitely different, but not at all in a bad way. Turns at the bathroom are feeling more and more comfortable, if that's the word for that. We also take turns waking the others up whether in-person or via remote phone calls. And there's now a lot more competition regarding who will wash the dishes, as crazy at sounds!

So yeah, the Sietch life just keeps getting better and better and I love our dynamic as partners. I still get to use the term "partners" right? Even if there are three of us? Gah, I really need to spend some time to figure out a term to describe this relationship that all three of us are comfortable. It's not mandatory I know, but it would go a long way to make it easier to at the very least introduce other people to what we now share.

Oh, and Duck now has his first fashion accessory thanks to Prince. In this case, Christmas has come early and now he has an adorable little Santa hat. But considering the history of his misadventures together with Tiger and the other ducks at the Sietch, I fear what this mean lead to in the future.

On the house hunting front, we're on the brink of making a final decision on the units being offered to us. I've run the numbers over and over again and it looks like we can manage things (although with very little wiggle room). Tobie will try and see if we can borrow some money before we proceed forward officially, but even if we don't we can theoretically still manage things. It just means a lot of fiscal discipline as we put things together.

There are little cost savings to be had here and there for sure and items that we can adjust in order to ensure that we cover all our deliverables and yet still manage to enjoy a happy life together. 

The biggest concern at this point, beyond the funds that we need to generate of course, is how we're going to manage approval for the housing loan. Between me and Tobie, I'm the one who still "exists" in the system in terms of tax declarations and such. Tobie is employed of course, but his primary employment is related to a family business and you know how creative the numbers can be there. And it's not quite tax season right now, so all of our new tax returns won't be available until April - you know, the ones that best reflect our current income. Hay.

If this happens, then it happens. That's the kind of thinking we hold to in these circumstances. I really want it to happen - I'm sure we all do to some extent. But at the same time, it's hard to force things if they won't budge. But damn I really want to make this happen for us.

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