Where does time go? Apparently the last time I posted on here was more than 3 years ago. I still come to GA pretty much on a daily basis, but I am not as active in the forum or in chat as I once was. Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to recap what's been happening over the past year and have a look at the one ahead.

Most of late 2013 and early 2014 was dedicated to making Jian_Sierra's move to France possible. It has been a long time in the making. There were multiple difficulties to overcome, which we lifted one by one. Maybe he will tell you one day how it looked from his perspective (if he lets go of his PS Vita long enough ). Anyway, he arrived in France in August, just as I had left Paris to get a job in a smaller city. Just in case you wondered, living together beats living 3,000 miles away from each other! Our long-distance relationship could not have lasted 3 years without the Internet, Skype, smartphones, etc., and I am so very thankful for this technology. And now I can say that it was worth the wait

It feels comfortable to live as a couple. I had decided early on that once we lived together, I would not be hiding our relationship, so this has meant a lot of coming outs in the past few months. A few weeks ago, we went together to a wedding in my family. Therefore I am now out to all of my extended family. We didn't receive any bad reactions, which is a very good thing. We hardly raised any eyebrows, even though most people know that I was previously in a relationship with a woman for 12 years. I am told that society's view on gay/bi people has evolved and that it's now no big deal when someone comes out as gay. So anyway, 2015 starts with a lot less coming outs to organise than 2014: I probably still have to tell a few close colleagues at work (it's a small city, so they're bound to discover it at some point), a few other friends or previous colleagues from Paris... It will be fine.

The new job I started in September is going well. I am managing a small team, and they don't seem to hate me yet. Plus, I am getting familiar with all the issues that we have to deal with. Anyway, not going to bore you with the details.

Among my New Year resolutions is to set up a proper running schedule. I have selected 2 marathons for this year. We'll see if training goes well: last year I trained fine but got sick just before the scheduled marathon, which was very disappointing.

In other news, I discovered recently that my PhD thesis was used by several Les Miserables fanfiction writers for background information. Some of those stories have male/male relationships. Hehe, I never envisioned that, as I was poring over 19th century archives to try to make sense of them.

I will also be hitting 40 in a few days. I am not overly stressed about it, despite Jian's teasing that I am soooooo old . I guess that it's one of those meaningful moments in life that one is supposed to celebrate. My family and friends requested a party, so I might organise something in the Spring. Outside parties are not a great idea in the middle of winter.

All in all, 2015 looks like it's going to be a good year. I am starting to plan our summer vacations (but shushhh, don't tell Jian). We might be able to make it to the UK at some point this year, but probably won't make it to the US for a visit to GA and non-GA friends before 2016...