and the reason is...(not me)

We've set a record -- other than the time where Rick was in between apts and needed a place to crash -- he's been at my place for over a week straight.

He came over last weekend (since I usually am the one to pack the bags and stay at his place). Which worked out perfectly since we were having people over for the Oscars party. I expected that he would head back to his apt last Sunday after the party since he likes to be at his own place to get ready for work, etc. To my surprise, he stayed over. It helped that I had brought over some of his laundry and he had clean clothes for work over here.

And then after a late night at the office on Monday, he came back over to my place. And then on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...

Wow! This is a new thing for us. Going on nine days in a row and he hasn't freaked out at all. Maybe he is testing the waters to see if he might be ready to consolidate households some time this year?

We had talked about moving in together (in general) a few months ago, and just a few days later he was telling his landlord he may want to break his lease early (his lease is up in September). I figured we still had lots of time to plan for the "big move in," but next thing we know his landlord is scouting for new renters for February. That freaked Rick out a bit, and so I coaxed him off the ledge and told him there was no hurry. He had all the time in the world and that he didn't need to stress about such a big decision.

So with this new trend in our relationship of staying over for consecutive days on end, I naturally began to wonder if he was starting to contemplate the next steps in our relationship -- cohabitation.

And so as we were getting ready to head out yesterday, I walked over and gave him a big hug. Over my shoulder, the European PGA tournament was on tv. And then I had the epiphany....

His devotion to being with my 24x7 had nothing to do with me (well, maybe a little bit), it had everything to do with the fact Rick's discovered I have the Golf Channel at my place. And as it happens to be, there are a ton of tournaments on right now.

I have to laugh. All the time I'm thinking one thing, only to realize the underlying truth. But I'll take it. Golf Channel and all.