Hiya!

So Jenn and I have moved. We ran a truck load of boxes each of the last 2 Sundays, then this Monday we had help with the furniture and getting boxes up into the apartment and in the garage (a 2 car garage!!). We are over half way unpacked already. There's new furniture (book cases, tv stand, coffee table, etc) we need to buy but we have already spent $800 on new curtains, couch covers, a deep freezer, and food at Costco. With me out of a job, from this point forward, spending is limited.

We are so in love with this new place. It's 2b/2ba, has 2 patios (1 is about 8x8, the other is about 8x20) - the smaller of the 2 is in the front facing the street. The kitchen is nice and has new appliances (less than 5 years old), the tan carpet is relatively new, the ceilings are vaulted, there is a separate dining area (though we are setting it up as a reading nook), central air! lol

This is the nicest apartment we have lived in; and with the curtains we purchased, it feels like a home. Jenn has never had curtains, and I havent had them since I was 15. They make the place a lot more homey.

Things are going smoothly with the unpacking, but my only source of entertanment is our DVD collection. The cable company is having issues getting things connected, so it'll be at least another week until we have cable, internet, and phone service. So if anything important happens, send me an email - I'll get it on my phone. ;-)

When I have the rest of the boxes unpacked, I will post a pic or two of the place.

Have a good Thanksgiving tomorrow!

~Sent via email on my Samsung Blackjack~

Postcard Project

President-elect Barack Obama has made a lot of promises to the LGBTQ community. We have to make sure he follows through. What better way to do it than to send him a friendly little reminder? Here's what you do...

BUY A POSTCARD - It would be great if it had the name of your city or state on it, but feel free to get creative. Make your own, use one that you have around the house, or grab a free one at your local restaurant. Heck, why not get a bunch of different ones? The more, the better.

ADDRESS IT - A handwritten card is always best, but feel free to print out labels if you're going to send multiple cards. Here's the address...

President-elect Barack Obama
Presidential Transition Office
Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn St., 38th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

WRITE A MESSAGE - A unified message would be ideal. Let's keep it focused. I recommend something like this...

Dear President-elect Obama,

Please ask Congress to repeal D.O.M.A.! All Americans should have the right to marry. Thank you in advance for advocating for the civil rights of your LGBT citizens.

SIGN YOUR NAME - There is nothing more powerful than that.

BUY POSTAGE AND DROP YOUR POSTCARD(S) IN THE MAIL - Wasn't that easy? Repeat frequently.

The image I posted of a gay ally postcard is an idea, but any postcard will do, it is the message and wording that is key.

Go to Civil Rights Front for more info on Project Postcard.




source: Queers United

Twilight!!

I am pulling it out one more time before the movie comes out Friday. I think this will be the 4th time reading it since I discovered it earlier this year.

I normally shy away from new "trends" in movies and books and did stay away from Twilight for months after he hype started, but I saw someone's YouTube video reading the first chapter aloud and i was intrigued...6 or 8 months later, i have read all 4 books in the series at least twice. Yes, I am a little obsessed. LOL

OK...time to get some reading done hehe

~Sent via email on my Samsung Blackjack~

**Edited to add** Check out how battered my copy is!! Jenn and I have read this book somewhere between 7 and 10 times. LOL.

I'm sleepy.

I woke up at 4am with really bad stomach cramps. It was just below my solar plexus (breast bone) and kind of traveled along the right side of my ribcage. The cramping was so bad that I had to sit almost upright, with one leg bent so I was kind of in a fetal position. The cramping continued all the way up until about 7am. I slept in spurts because the cramping would come and go. I did get up and have some Rolaids and drank a little bit of water, but it didn't help. I couldn't really sleep too much while sitting up and being on my back. I tried sleeping on my side, curled in a fetal position, with my hand pressing into my belly, trying to get rid of the cramping. Unfortunately that made the cramping worse.

I have no idea what caused this. I thought maybe it was gas in my abdomen, but I have no idea. I slept very poorly because of the damn cramping. I'm so tired now. I'm definitely going to bed early tonight.

(Incidently, I had some BBQ chicken and rice for dinner, nothing unusual, so I'm not sure that that's what caused my tummy ache.)

We're in the home stretch

We finally have a move date!! The old managers at Jenn's new property turned in their keys yesterday. They are finally out! This week the apartment will be cleaned, then we get to move in next Sunday and Monday. I'm so excited. Jenn finally saw the apartment today. It's 2b/2ba. That's so exciting. I will be so happy to have a second bathroom. This means no more fighting over who gets to take baths first (or in some cases at all) - we both love night time baths. There are somewhat new appliances in the kitchen (they're probably less than 5 years old, I'm guessing). There's a patio off the 2nd bedroom and a small patio off the kitchen/dining room. I cannot wait to see it.

So this week is also my last week of work. I'm off today, then have 3 days of work making Friday my last day. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. My dad gave me a heads up on a job in Walnut Creek - a new car dealership is opening soon (for the Smart Car) and is looking for all positions - office positions, sales, parts, service, etc. I qualify for office and parts, so it wouldn't hurt to put in my resume. The only hard part is that I'd have to use Jenn's car until I was able to buy one myself. This would leave her without a car. But my dad did also say that it's near the Walnut Creek BART station, so Jenn could just drop me off at the Pittsburg/Bay Point station in the mornings and pick me up at night. But that'll get worked out if I get the job. It would be a great job for me to get right now since I need to have medical insurance and the full time pay (I'm sure I'll make a minimum of $12 in any position, but more likely it'll be closer to $14 or $15).

Anyway, today I'm cleaning house and getting the last of our stuff packed up. I hate packing, but this is crunch time! Of course it doesn't help that we're having a heatwave and it feels like it's 80 degrees in the house.


In baby news - no news yet, actually. Yesterday I had a pretty bad migraine. It's been a while since I had one bad enough to completely incapacitate me, but I had to leave work early and spent the rest of the day in bed with a towel over my eyes (and a baggie of ice wrapped in it to keep my head cool). I completely expected to wake up to my period today because headaches/migraines are symptoms of my period coming the next day. I am a little crampy, but that's actually lasted a couple days.

I'm not even going to consider either side of this thing until this weekend. Today is only day 27 in my cycle - that's the earliest my period has ever come - so my period still may not even show up until as late as Tuesday (day 34 of my cycle - the longest my cycle has ever been). I think I will take an HPT on Saturday, though, if my period still hasn't shown up. But now that I've talked about it, my period will show up later this afternoon. LOL. That's just how life is for me.

Well, I've got to get back to cleaning, so think good baby thoughts for me!!

mmm...cake

and here's how they did it...

Day Care

At no great offense to anyone who puts their child in preschool, I just don't get the fascination with it.

To me, it does seem like it's glorified day care. I can understand sending a child a couple days a week for a half day so they can have interactions with kids other than their own siblings. I guess I don't understand because I was just in daycare from the time I was 6 weeks old until I went to kindergarten. And once I went to kindergarten, I did before school and after school care at the same place - that babysitter took care of anywhere between 5 and 10 kids at various age ranges (I went from an infant to a 2nd grader with this lady), so there was always social interaction whenever I was there. Plus, when we weren't outside playing (on the most awesome swing set ever!!), we were inside playing games or watching PBS (Mr Rogers, Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock).

My parents were both working, so they had to send me somewhere, but they didn't seem overly concerned with getting me this huge "head start" with preschool where I'd learn to paint and write my name. They did that with me at home in the evenings, or I did it at the babysitter's house.

Now, I really do understand the SAHMs who want that bit of time to themselves, so they send the 3 and 4 year olds off to preschool 2 or 3 times a week for a half-day, but it's still just glorified daycare.

I'm not trying to say preschool is bad or unnecessary. Perhaps I'm just ignorant on the subject as I don't even have kids yet. So, can one of you (or all of you) explain why you do or don't send your kids to preschool? I'm honestly interested, I'm not trying to be an ass. I'm just curious if it really is beneficial or not.

Festive

I changed my background to reflect the upcoming holiday. I was afraid to change it before because I was worried I'd lose my links and such, but turns out my fears were unwarranted.

On Black Friday, instead of shopping like most other insane people, I will be changing my background to reflect something Christmassy. It'll be like my house - changing the decor for each holiday. ;o)

Repeal Prop 8

I just signed a pledge to repeal Prop 8 and I thought you might be interested in joining me and over 100,000 Courage Campaign members across California.

We have to come together right now to say that we refuse to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution.

Please sign the "Repeal Prop 8" pledge now and forward this to your friends as soon as possible:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8

Thanks!

Another repost from Queers United

Keith Olbermann's eloquent plea to the American Public regarding Proposition 8.

Hospital Visitation Rights Petition

This is a repost from queersunited.blogspot.com.


Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond were ready to depart on a family cruise with their children when tragedy struck. Lisa collapsed and was rushed to a Miami hospital. At the hospital, Janice was told she was in an antigay state and kept from seeing her partner of 20 years. Lisa lay dying alone with her family just feet away in the next room.

We're suing the hospital on Janice's behalf. We're also calling on the next President of the United States to create a health care plan that ensures fair treatment for LGBT people and people with HIV in hospitals and health care settings.

Help Lambda Legal get 10,000 signatures on the petition!

Sign the petition for all the Janice's and Lisa's in the world!

When the moon is in the 7th house...

So today was another day off for me. I spent it watching musicals. LOL.

I started with Hairspray, then watched Rent. Currently is my favorite musical of all time - Hair.

The cats are looking at me all crazy-like because I'm singing my ass off. I can't carry a tune, so I'm sure they don't appreciate my singing. LOL.

But I'm having a good day and that's what's important.

Musicals are a great distraction for life and I need distraction now. There are aspects of my life that I just can't deal with right now...we did the insem for round 4 this week. That's all I need to be concentrating on, so I'm just relaxing and trying to make a baby. I'll deal with other things later.

Anyway...my movie is waiting for me.

Don't have full rights? Don't pay taxes!

I love Melissa Etheridge for this. Why should I be expected to pay full taxes and such when I'm not given full rights and privileges as the straight world?


You Can Forget My Taxes
by Melissa Etheridge

An Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-
marriage ban in California - and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am
a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean,
roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help
me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and
I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any
other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay
my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would
just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same
rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation
thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I
can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping
instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am
sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that
she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a
few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash
this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a
little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check
here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the
waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such,
they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the
revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to
find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

...Really?

When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision
someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then
clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening
commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we
learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that
awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone
who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I
believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that
their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they
will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and
working side by side with all the citizens of California?

I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask
you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will
never legislate that away.

I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke.
Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back
then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the
immigrants. "Them." Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the
*thems* made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This
crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great
country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is
no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you
do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are
truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.

Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and
dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will
get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are
not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or
Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this
is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families.
We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen.
It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the
American way.

Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-
winning singer-songwriter.

Once

I just watched Once. It arrived via Netflix a few days ago and I finally got to watching it.

I highly recommend it!! It's absolutely beautiful. If you haven't seen it, go rent it!

Now I need to get the soundtrack on iTunes.

At a loss...

I want to make a post about the passing of Prop 8, but I have no words.

I tried being positive this morning, thinking of how far we have come over the last 8 years in trying to gain equality in California. However, I can't deny the fact that there are so many ignorant and bigoted people not just in this state, but in the world.

I am incredibly sad. Sad for myself. Sad for my friends. Sad for my community. Sad for humanity.

It's truly a bitter-sweet time for me. I am so happy and hopeful for this country because Barack Obama is our president elect. I know that he has the right ideas to begin getting this country back on track. To getting America back to a place where we were admired by other countries. Back to where we were the standard of democracy and freedom. Back to where it wasn't emberassing to be an American when you left the country.

But now I'm emberassed to be a Californian.

There are already lawsuits in place to appeal the decision and people are ready to go to the Supreme Court to fight this ridiculous amendment.

I am not a second class citizen.

This battle might have been lost, but the war is far from over.




Hmm...I guess I did have words.

I believed!

He IS my president!

Had to share...

An anonymous commenter left a somewhat thought provoking comment on my "I hear you, but..." post (2 posts down) and I thought I'd share my response to his/her comment.

I'm not out to change anyone's mind about anything I might write, but I do hope to make people take pause and think about their stance on things.


Anonymous,

I am making this world a better place by trying to teach people that Hate is not a family value. I am showing people by my actions and my words that everyone deserves to be heard, that everyone is an equal person. No one is better than anyone else.

A vote No on 8 is a vote telling your fellow Americans that you are better than they are. That you are a more valued person because you have rights that I don't have and are trying to prevent me from having the same rights as you.

I fight discrimination all the time. Discrimination is NEVER right. Prop 8 is discriminatory and wrong.

I have several blogs on the internet so that I can spread the word that the LGBT community is no different than anyone else. We all bleed the same blood. We all cry the same tears.

The ability to get married is a fundamental right that EVERYONE deserves. People who vote Yes on 8 are frightened and are hiding behind their religion or other personal beliefs because we are different than they are. We are all different from each other - that's how we learn. But how is my marrying a woman different than if I were straight and wanting to marry a black man? It's not the "norm", but it's different than most of the rest of this country. Does that mean that I shouldn't have the right to marry a black man if I wanted? No. Two consenting adults should have the right to marry whomever they want.

As far as immigration - yes, there are ways to do it legally, but how many Mexicans have the $11,000 it takes to get here legally? Most Mexicans are dirt poor and want a better life for their families. That's why they want to come here. But why should it take $11,000 to do some simple paperwork? It's ridiculous, to be quite honest.

I appreciate your honest opinions. Thank you.

Vote, dammit!

I Believe. Do you Believe? Vote for Change.

i hear you, but...

I value peoples opinions and beliefs. Everyone has different opinions and beliefs on everything. It makes things interesting. I respect that and I respect people for forming their own opinions and beliefs...if they're well informed, or if they're using ALL their information on something to form their opinion, instead of picking and choosing what they want to believe.


Last night, some friends and I got into a conversation about politics. It was a wide range of topics, but one thing stuck out that bothers me greatly - the immigration issue that this country has.

I realize that illegal immigrants put a strain on our medical resources. But have you ever asked why that is? It's because they are uninsured. And why are they uninsured? Because they're undocumented. Why are they undocumented? Because they came here illegally. Why did they come here illegally? Because it's too difficult for them to get into this country. Why is it so difficult? Because white bread American leaders don't want them here.

One thing that I am sick and tired of hearing Americans say is that these illegal Mexicans are doing is stealing jobs from them. But who's saying that? Politicians and upper-class (and upper-middle-class) citizens of America. I've looked, and I don't see illegal Mexicans running Fortune 500 companies. I don't see them running for elected office. I don't see them anywhere in white collar America. So where are all these illegal Mexicans working? They're your table bussers and dishwashers. They're your maids. They're your house painters. They're your grape pickers (for that wine you love so much). They're your apple and orange pickers. They're your cooks at McDonald's, Burger King, Fuddruckers. They sell you popcicles in the summer time out of those little pushcarts with the bells on them. They do all the menial jobs that Americans don't want. Americans would rather collect Welfare or other Government Assistance than take any of those jobs. Americans are too good for those jobs, so we give them to the Mexicans who will happily work 2 and 3 jobs to send money back to Mexico so their families can afford food and clothing and put roofs over their heads.

I mean, seriously, who gave Americans the right to create our own private club and the materials to build a giant wall and a sign that says "No Mexicans Allowed"? Why not build a wall around the entire border of the USA? Let's keep Canadians out, too, while we're at it? Oh no! That's just crazy talk, right there. Canadians are cool. They say things like "aboot" and have Mounties. We'll just keep the Mexicans out because they're dirty and don't speak English.


I am just so sick of Americans thinking that they (we) are so superior. We all bleed the same blood. We all evolved from the same species of monkey (or we were all made from Adam's rib...whatever you prefer). This country was founded on the basis that people could immigrate here here and build a better life, to seek solace from the tyranny they experienced in their own home countries.


I am such a mixture of all things minority that I feel beat up on a constant basis. I'm gay. I'm Mexican (well, half). I'm a woman. I'm fat. Everyday, I read, hear, or see something that discriminates some part of me. Some of those things bother me more than others, but they all bother me in some way.

I can't wait until Wednesday and all this voting non-sense is over. This heated debate over Prop 8 in California has me exhausted. I just can't take all this hatred anymore.