What a bloody rollercoaster this week has been! I got into the first serious fight with my girl, was officially kicked out of my house, made up with Renee, and had a quiet, civil dinner with my parents, sister, and Renee and her mum--something I thought was a bit of an oxymoron before tonight. I'm telling you, this emotional investment business, it's not for sissies. I'm thoroughly exhausted.

Fighting with Renee was about the worst thing in the world. I simply love her, and I had no idea I could get so angry with someone I love so much--except, of course, that I got that and probably more angry with my mum. Anyway, I said some immature things. I walked out--something I swore I'd never do; a long story, but what it boils down to is that my sister's husband was killed when he stormed off, and they never got to reconcile. I'm a crazy fool. But then...so is she. It must be love. Love is the only thing that could make you hate someone so much and still love them a thousandfold more than that hate. It's the only thing that could make you hate yourself for something someone else did.

Anyway, I went home, yelled at my mum because I was so frustrated (yeah, a bit more immaturity). She already had all my things packed. All she had to do was throw them out the door...which she did (see? I get my immaturity from somewhere, eh?). Marcus and the mates were amazing and came by and helped me get it over to their place.

I stayed with them until Sunday, when I got a call from my mum. She asked me to come over, and she said I could bring my stuff. But...I'll let you in on a bit of a secret: I'm extremely proud, a trait which is only matched by my extreme stubbornness. So I told her no. I'd stay with Marcus, but I would come over. Which is when I found out what a devoted girlfriend I have. That crazy girl braved my mum, who is, in my opinion, the scariest, most headstrong woman in the world. Aparently, Renee is more headstrong. And she wonders why my mum's threatened by her. Anyway, so my mum said that Renee had, bless her, taken it on herself to settle their dispute and that, even though she wasn't particularly fond of the girl who has "taken me away from her", she--and this is a direct...well, adapted for the present tense quote--hoped I wasn't fool enough to let this one go.

I cannot believe the balls of that girl. She's simply astounding. She took down the gorgon. She did the impossible. Even if she's not showing it, my mum respects her. Which means there's hope afterall.

So I ran--literally-- to Renee's and took her for a walk. It was a nice time for a walk, and...we didn't feel the need to talk. It was just...understood that everything was right. It had changed, but...it was right. I just love her. No words needed. Just...everything's fixed.

And then my mother astounded me even further than I already was: she invited Renee and Lara and Paul over for dinner. What's more, Renee was actually excited to go. Mum made her amazing shepherd's pie, and Dad bought good wine. We all sat and ate like a family: Me and Renee, Mum and Dad, Jess and her current beau and her 1-year-old, Lara and Paul. It was...great, honestly.

Hello again, Mindsay.

How are you? What's new with you? Oh, who am I kidding? I'm running a dialogue with a network. I suppose it doesn't get any more pathetic than that.

As for me, well...I've been better, honestly. I need to find a way to fix this problem that only seems to be growing worse by the moment. My parents have officially gone off reservation, particularly my mum. She put the flowers Renee and her mum, Lara, sent on Renee's doorstep...cut up into confetti. When we got home from the country, Renee lost it. She got all quiet and said that she knew my mum hated her and then she bolted to her room and cried for ages. I called home and yelled at Mum for a good half hour, who said that if I was going to take "that little harlot's side" over hers then she wasn't going to talk to me. She put Dad on, who said that I should just end it before things get any worse. And Renee was still crying. I tried to comfort her, but nothing worked. I'm not letting this stand. Mum and Dad need to apologize to Renee, and they need to respect that I'm living my own life whether they like it or not. In the meantime, I've moved in with Benny and Victor, two of the most amazing mates I could ever ask for. But it's just not right. I hate that my parents are doing this. Justine says that most of the time when I get brought up, Dad gets all stern, and Mum's eyes glaze over. What the blazes am I going to do? This isn't fair to me, and this sure as hell isn't fair to Renee. I'm worried about her. I love her to death, but I'm scared that this war with my parents is going to drive her away from me. What should I do?

Meanwhile, in other news, I'm rapidly approaching the end of the school year. Thank the Lord. School is important to me, but I just don't have the patience for it right now. My marks are fine, but I'm not putting as much effort in as I probably should. Frankly, I'm beyond caring at this point.

Well, how's that for an action-packed Blog #2, eh?

I'm...Liam Adams. The Infamous Liam Adams. I live in London. Quite honestly, I'm not much of a writer/thinker/whatever you need to be to blog well. My girlfriend is. So...don't hold out too much hope for me. Renee is, at the moment, the most important thing to me in the world. She thinks my parents are mad at me because she's distracting me from my studies, but...really, they're mad at me because she's distracting me from them. Sort of. I'm home for family things and stuff. Or I was until recently. And they're trying to make me decide between them and her, and I won't do that. It's not fair of them to ask me to do that. Yes, I realize that my girlfriend is probably going to read this, and that's largely why I'm posting this...largely revealing first post, so she knows that it's not her, really, when you get right down to it, it's my parents' ridiculous notion that because this might be...semi-serious--given the length of the relationship, I rather understand; my longest relationship before this was a month, and now I'm at 4 months with no intention to end it--I'm just going to drop them like yesterday's garbage. So lately I haven't been going home a lot. Renee's mum lets me stay on the couch whenever I need, and I have mates who let me crash with them. My sister lets me in in the middle of the night sometimes so that I don't have to face my parents.

Oh, look at me. I've been yammering on like I would to my psychiatrist...if I went to one. Which I don't. I'm not crazy.

Alright. I realize that this is largely for my girlfriend's benefit, but...forgive me.  She needs to know I'm not going anywhere and this isn't her fault...And thanks for sending my mum flowers. I'm sure she'll love them...

And your mum better not bop Paul if I don't get to bop you. It's not fair. If she gets some, we all get some.

Oh yeah. Hi there, Mindsay.