#250 or.. so who am I? (Third time's the charm?)

I must admit that knowing this is the 250th post is kind of daunting.  Of course, if I'd been writing daily since I started, I would have blown past this milestone a ways back.  But I do feel like there should be something momentous written on my 250th post.

And lately, I've been contemplating what might become a series of posts about "Who am I?"  Early on in the blog, I posited a random list of things about myself that I might have expounded upon in full posts at a later time.  I was single, grieving a relationship or two, living in a small town in the mid-West and trying to find an audience for my voice.  On my 25th post, I decided to go to Twitter, and see if I could get The Bloggess to look at my blog.

I was a, um, cynic of Twitter.  I kept my presence on Twitter quiet from those around me.  Surely there is nothing of value on Twitter, but maybe I might be able to find a few folks to come over and read my blog.  Maybe I might find an audience.

I had no idea.  There is no way that woman writing that blog and trickling on to Twitter in February 2012 - not really that long ago - would have had any idea what the future held for her.  Fifteen short months later, and here I am living in another country and married to the most wonderful woman I could never have imagined.

In December, when our relationship and our intentions had solidified enough to be willing to share in public, I had modified one of the items on my "list" - which was to cross off that I was single.  Now to look at the list, there are so many other items to cross off that are not presently true about myself.  For example, I can't watch too much Hulu now because Hulu won't stream in Canada.  :(  I clearly no longer live alone - I am living during my temporary visitor visa period with my wife, and of course, I hope and intend to make it a permanent thing.  This is the first year in four that I won't be coaching soccer, and while I will miss it, soccer was not my passion.  And I most definitely do not live in a small town anymore.

But the core of who I am is still the same.  It's just that some of my circumstances have changed.  I am a person who chooses not to take life too seriously, who loves genuinely and strongly, who gives people the benefit of the doubt and believes in the good of people.  Writing this description of myself feels more like trying to write an online dating profile, and it is impossible to capture who a person is in just a few sentences.  Frankly, I prefer medium length walks on the beach, not long ones.

And in the beginning, I felt detailing who I was didn't really make sense.  Because frankly, I hoped my stories would strike you as familiar.  I'd remind you of that person you know who lives down the street, or who you grew up with, or perhaps even remind you of yourself.  I think finding the commonality between people helps bring us together.  And so I planned to assimilate you.  Borg-style.

Because resistance is futile...