well, shit.

just when we thought we had it all figured out, life went and threw us for a loop.

gentle reader, if you've been watching this space, it's likely that you have a passing familiarity with the plans (best laid) that the gf and i had for this autumn. we planned to move into a new 2-bedroom apartment here in Brooklyn. we intended to continue on apace with wedding plans. she was to continue on her path to world domination; i was to finally land a permanent placement at my company, after 2 years of being on the trainee merry-go-round.

not to be. or, rather, not to be according to said plans.

thanks to the Venn diagram overlap of (1) incompetent human resources staff; (2) being employed at a shaky financial institution; (3) government regulation regarding the aforementioned institution; (4) immigration law (and the lack thereof for same-sex partners), about two weeks ago i was informed that my visa in the U.S. was up, and i'd have to relocate to another country (again) for 6 months.

and so, instead of shipping off to some far-flung corner of the world, next week i'll be headed up to Toronto to live until March before coming back to New York, back to the gf, back to the life we've been writing full-time in this country since 2005.

there are a few upsides to going back to Toronto. there are family and friends who need me right now and i'll actually be able to be there for them, instead of shooting off an email every 2 weeks. planning a Canadian wedding from, you know, Canada is easier than planning it from here. i'll get to travel to New York for business fairly regularly. plus, the gf and i were wary about plunking down a massive wad of cash on a new apartment while the economy is still sorting itself out (less than a year before we plunk down a massive wad of cash for our wedding).

but the downsides? as a result of this move, i'm taking a job that i don't really want because the team is understanding enough to let me work remotely in Canada for 6 months. having to live in two cities is still going to cost way more than living in just one. nevermind the fact that 10 years later, the gf and i still have to deal with long-distance.

after the angst and clothes rending, we've come to the realization that we Just Have To Deal™ with this latest monkey wrench (in a long line of monkey wrenches), and that things will be just fine in the end. we have our health. we have our jobs. we have great support networks in our friends and family. and we have each other.

things will be just fine in the long-run. i'll be back in New York before i blink. we'll get our 2-bedroom apartment. the wedding will go off without a hitch. at some point, i'll get a job i'm more invested in. there will be sunshine and ponies and maybe unicorns (though i'm not promising anything).

until then, there are plane tickets and phone calls. and rediscovering an old city together. and learning to miss the city i've adopted as my home. and being a shoulder for people who've been my shoulder in the past.

and, of course, a shit ton of making do and waiting it out. let's see how it goes.