Grandfather (in-law) kisses

So this relationship hiatus thing, yeah… it makes for some unclear boundaries and expectations. I picked Michael up from the airport last night when he came in from Penticton. The first bit of weirdness occurred when he walked right past me and it took me a couple of moments to recognize him. He looked good. His hair was all blonde and curly and he had on a new black leather jacket which made him look pretty hot, and rendered him virtually unrecognizable (to me, apparently). So I say hey and comes over and then we do the awkward “should we hug, kiss or shakes hands thing”. He goes in for the kiss and I do the happyfuntime intimacy avoidance dance that I’ve become somewhat adept at over the past two years in trying to avoid my grandfather in-law’s kisses. Hey, friends of mine out there? I will hug you. I will not kiss you. Okay, maybe there’s a couple of friends that I would like to slip the tongue to. You know who you are. Jupitergirl, you old dog…. Kidding. Where was I? Right. So he says nothing about my nose being pierced for a good ten minutes while we chatted and waited for his luggage. This means that he doesn’t like it. That’s okay, because he has FUBU socks and I really don’t like them. FUBU, do they still even make that shit? We catch up a bit on the events that transpired over Christmas and New Years and then we head back to my place to exchange gifts. I must admit I was feeling a bit nervous and out of sorts in his presence: I hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. It was quite a strange juxtaposition of emotions: on the one hand I was feeling a bit awkward, somewhat like one does on a first date; on the other hand we’re opening presents from his family that are addressed to me and him and talking in an intimate way about family, friends and work. There’s six years of history there, which can’t really be denied. Though sometimes I try to suppress it with wine.
After a couple of hours he decided he was going to head out and then he goes to hug me, whereas at this point I wanted to kiss him. And then I get the grandfather type kiss from him that I seek to avoid from my actual grandfather-in-law. I’m not sure whether to blame my reaction on my many neuroses or the fact that the most intimacy I’ve encountered recently was the gentleman that fondled my left nostril, but I wanted more. I wanted to be wanted. Yes, stroke my ego! And other things! I felt a bit bereft and rejected when he left, though certainly a steamy make out session would have done little to help us determine our true feelings during this time of separation.
I guess it’s more than fair to say that I am confused. There are lots of strands in old Duder’s head, man. Ah. Such is life.
In other, late breaking news: I’m only on day two of my four consecutive work days in a row and I’m exhausted! How do people do this? I may call in sick tomorrow. Though I did see a preview of my new paycheque and I must say it feels nice to be living just above the poverty level now. No more cat food sandwiches for this kid!