Oh hey, look — I’m 40. Weird, it doesn’t feel any different from 39.
In family news, my niece is off the ventilator and out of intensive care. She’s still having problems breathing, but the doctors said that is normal when someone is on the ventilator for a long time. I guess she has to cough up all the crap that built up while she couldn’t cough. They finally got a PICC line in, and that way they don’t have to stick her with so many needles. Things look good, except that she’s been running a fever, and doesn’t have much of an immune system at the moment, so they’re watching that very closely. The only visitors she’s allowed to have are her parents & sisters.
In wedding preparation news, my sewing machine decided to go on the fritz last night when I was halfway done making the first bridesmaid dress. I’ve had the damned thing for TEN YEARS and it’s never given me problems. NEVER. So, of course, this gets blamed on Murphy’s Law. I’m going to fiddle with it a bit more, and if that doesn’t help, it’ll be time to locate a repair shop that won’t charge me more than the blasted machine is worth.
Lyse keeps telling me to relax, that I’m on vacation. I’m not, really. I don’t have to go to work, but it’s not exactly a vacation — or, at the most, it’s a working vacation. I’m not even going to think about all the stuff we have yet to finish for the wedding preparations. Gah.
Geoffrey found out more today about being in the Navy’s Delayed Entry Program, and we discovered his basic training starts on April 10th (not in June) of next year. Because I’ve been married before, we have to get a certified copy of the divorce decree (first husband) and death certificate (second husband) so the military can have proof that I’m not a bigamist. (They don’t need to know about my other boyfriend. *grin*)
Poor Geoffrey, he’s not even allowed to talk to females during the 8-week boot camp, unless they’re instructors who have spoken to him in the course of training. That will be rough for him, considering that he’s never been all that impressed by the company of his own gender. Between now & then, he’ll be attending weekly training & PT sessions. They already gave him his first official Navy shirt — it says “United States Navy Health Care Team.” Oh crap, we’re both officially in the health care business now. (All we need is to get Lyse a job with the VA Hospital, and we’ll have a trifecta!)
Totally unrelated, I looked my name up on Google (for the first time ever…scary!), and found something I had completely forgotten about from 15 years ago: I got published in the Dear Abby column. I wasn’t asking for advice, mind you, I was giving it. (I’m sure that will shock and amaze those who know me.) If I’d looked a bit harder, I’m sure I could have found the Letters to the Editor that I wrote to various newspapers that also were published in the early 90′s. Not like I was opinionated or anything. *smirk*
I’m continuing to be woefully unprepared for the wedding; reserving the park and making/mailing the invitations are the only things we’ve accomplished thus far. We don’t have a ceremony hammered out. We haven’t ordered the cake, or figured out what other refreshments we’ll have. I don’t even know for certain what I’m wearing yet — or if I’m going to buy it or make it. Good thing I have several days of vacation immediately prior, so I can frantically catch up on everything and turn into a total stress puppy. Hey, I do work well under pressure.
Hell, the only thing keeping me from completely freaking the high holy fuck out is the thought that on June 22nd, I can collapse in whimpers. Also visualizing a certain book cover helps.
It’s been a month since I’ve blogged?! Oh crap. Hey, I’ve been busy.
For about 3 months prior to my grandmother’s 80th birthday (the first weekend of May), I’ve been cross-stitching a gift for her. And not cross-stitching from a pattern, mind you, but an original design I put together myself. (NEVER do that! The math alone — and I say this as a person who likes math — was aggravating to the nth degree. Ohmigawd, what a huge pain.) I finished it a whopping 15 hours before the start of her birthday party, only to discover that the frame I’d purchased for it was broken upon removing it from the packaging. Since it was 11-freaking-pm, I had no choice but to dash back to the store as soon as it opened the morning of the party and exchange the frame. Then I remembered why I hadn’t done cross-stitch in years (about 10 years, actually…) — framing that stuff is a stone bitch. (This was, most unfortunately, before I discovered a nifty product called “peel & stick mounting board,” which I will use for my next needlepoint project.)
Anyway, here’s the finished product, which is approximately 11″x13″ (forgive the lousy pic, it was taken in a hurry under less-than-ideal conditions):
All I can say is 18-count Aida fabric can BITE ME. That’s 18 itty-bitty cross-stitches per inch of fabric! Only certifiably crazy people use anything smaller than 14-count. (Thank the gods I didn’t try 22-count. I tremble in fear just thinking about it.)
In other craft-related news, there are 6 (SIX, gah!) projects that I have partly finished, and 2 more in the works that I really need to get started on as soon as possible (which means “after the wedding”). The partly-finished include an afghan for Anxiety, an open-work tunic-style sweater for Angst, a cap-sleeved summer pullover for myself, an artsy wall decoration that I keep forgetting to finish up, and some other stuff I’m keeping under wraps for the time being.
Gee, sometimes even the liberal media mentions (sort of) how the current economic disaster was years in the making, and began with the choices and deregulations of the Democrat-controlled government of the 1990′s.
This would be an awesome pet…now I just need a time machine…
The more I hear about shipping container housing, the more I think this may be the best choice in building a custom-designed, low-cost (!!!) home for Geoffrey, me, and Lyse. We’re certain to come up with much niftier designs than the ones I’ve seen online so far (not like that’s difficult), and the sheer creative potential makes me drool a little. (No, I will not be crocheting any house cozies. I am not that crazy.)
Have you noticed how all the “global warming” talk is now referred to as “climate change”? Interesting, very interesting.
Sunday night, Geoffrey and I watched 60 Minutes so we could see just how much of a bias CBS would throw onto a story about the increase in gun sales since the Presidential election. It was a LOT of bias. I wonder how many of those guns were sold to women? Why don’t stories about how guns save lives ever make the “mainstream” news? As an employee of a university, I’d feel a lot safer at work if I knew that my employer honored the concealed carry permits of its employees, rather than denying their employees the right to self-defense in an effort to make people “feel” safer.
One of my coworkers sent me this link (it increased my opinion of her tremendously, I might add). Some of the best lines:
Australia has more terror per capita than Elm Street, so if something looks like a nightmarish monster, odds are it’s probably a household pet in the land down under.
Australia: Even though nature vomited monsters all over this barren isle of Lovecraftian horror, we fucking live here anyway, because we just don’t give a shit.
See, Geoffrey having an Aussie girlfriend totally makes sense to me now.
I agree with it all, but nodded most vigorously at this:
I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.
My mother visited yesterday (it was her birthday), and we talked a bit about my & Geoffrey’s plans to get married. At one point in the conversation, she said, “So this is going to change your ‘other’ relationships?” (She’s known for over a decade that I’m polyamorous.)
I laughed. And explained to her that Geoffrey and I have no intention of ever becoming monogamous. In fact, if we have our way, we’ll eventually be adding to our relationship rather than closing it off! (Ideally we’d like to have Geoffrey’s girlfriend Tam become part of our family and household, should the opportunity arise. We already have firm plans to combine households with Lyse in a few years, and while she’s not romantically involved with either of us, it will still be a lifetime family commitment.)
If I was fertile (which I’m not) and we wanted to have a child (which we don’t), there might be some merit to at least temporary monogamy for Geoffrey and me. But I can’t think of any other reason why it would be beneficial to our relationship to close it off. Sure, we had some serious conflicts involving polyamory during our first few years together, but we got those worked out and our relationship has only become better and stronger for it. The current stability of our relationship has lasted years longer than our prior conflicts and difficulties over ‘other’ relationships — and we both earned our current stability through serious effort, putting our commitment as a top priority, and developing more than a little personal growth.
Most importantly, I have a profoundly deep faith and belief that Geoffrey and I will be together forever, and that nothing (and nobody!) can come between us. So we won’t be including vows of emotional or sexual fidelity in our wedding. “Forsaking all others” does NOT sound like a loving sentiment to us!
Non-monogamy isn’t for everyone, not by far! But monogamy isn’t for everyone, either, and certainly not for us.
No need to check the date; it’s not an April Fools joke. Even though I’ve been pretty negative about marriage for… well, a while, anyway. Not necessarily the institution of marriage, mind you — just the way most people who take part in it screw it up, and the way I believe the government shouldn’t be involved in regulating a holy sacrament (to most, anyway — excepting those few atheists who, one must assume, see it as nothing more than a economic & legal contract). If it’s a religious matter, the government should butt out. If it’s a civil matter, religions should butt out. But having it both ways is just plain stupid.
Geoffrey and I started dating nearly ten years ago, after being pals for a couple years before that. We’ve been living together for nine years. We got handfasted eight years ago (a valid marriage in our religion, which just doesn’t happen to be recognized by the state), and registered with our county as domestic partners nearly seven years ago. I’ve been completely secure for a reaaaally long time that we’ll be together forever, and no piece of paper will make a difference one way or another. So why get married now?
Actually, the better question is why NOT get married? Being legally single isn’t gaining us anything, and it’s literally costing us more than we can afford (in state & federal taxes, and monthly medical insurance premiums). If it weren’t for the money, would we still consider getting married? Sure.
As I approach my 40th birthday, I realize that if something happened to me in the foreseeable future and I wound up in the hospital on life support, the person with the legal right to decide whether or not to pull the plug wouldn’t be Geoffrey. The person with the legal right to decide who finishes raising my minor daughter wouldn’t be Geoffrey. The person with the legal right to plan my funeral and make choices about my personal belongings wouldn’t be Geoffrey. Even if I had legal documents drawn up to cover all those bases, it’s entirely possible they could be overturned. Unless we get married.
I can’t let that happen. Even if I live to be 88 like my grandfather (or 97 like my great-grandfather!), there are plenty of other reasons to go ahead and “take the plunge.” Hell, just the quirky amusement of having all our non-Pagan relatives present to wish us well at a decidedly Pagan wedding ceremony is damned near reason enough. (I’m gleefully twisted that way.)
So. While I don’t have the invitations ready to mail out just yet, we do have a date set and plans in motion. Luckily we have the maturity and determination to do this our way, instead of kowtowing to friends’ or family’s wishes. It’s our wedding and we’re paying for it, so it’s going to happen our way. (Ah, the joy of financial self-determination. Some people should seriously try that out someday.)
So, the details: June 21st, mid-afternoon, with Lyse officiating. My bridal attendants will be the World’s Cutest Wife (my dear friend & next-door neighbor Claire), my eldest daughter, and my dear friend Kylanath. Standing up for Geoffrey will be his stalwart friend Jake, and my younger daughter. Wedding colors will be garnet and deep green, the groom will wear a kilt, and the bride will NOT wear white (or walk down the aisle, or be given away, or any of that traditional bullshit — we’re only using traditions that speak to us personally, and everything else can go hang).
Don’t know what “peruse” means? Get a fucking dictionary.
Now then…
Best blog for a laugh I’ve found in ages — be sure to read the readers’ comments, too, as many of them are easily as funny as the actual articles. I especially recommend the review of Clocky, which is a product I’ve been tempted to get myself. Don’t miss the accompanying video for the Hula Chair! (And hey, Lyse, I told you the Kinoki Foot Pads were a giant scam.)
On the less-impressive side, I’m rather horrified that Cathay Pacific Airlines actually apologized to the stupid bint who was embarrassed by a video posted on the Internet that showed her throwing a temper tantrum over missing a flight. Anyone who is “wailing, throwing herself on the floor, banging on an airport counter and trying to barge through a closed boarding gate” in public DESERVES to be embarrassed on the Internet. Foralltime.
Many thanks to Breda for introducing me to Steven Crowder, who made me laugh so hard that I had to try to explain it to my Saturday coworkers. I really loved this one:
Wondered what, exactly, the lovely stimulus package that the POTUS has suckered us into actually looks like? The $787 billions (or is that a few trillion?) of dollars isn’t a concept I could really wrap my brain around. But this will show you. I was impressed (or do I mean “aghast”? go ahead, check that dictionary…I’ll wait). We need one of those cute educational films, the kind they used to make schoolkids in the 1950′s watch, titled “Public Debt, what does it mean to you?”
Speaking of the gub’mint, I really enjoyed this list of suggestions for Alternate Names for the “Assault Weapons” Ban — also a great idea to read the readers’ comments in this article! (Do you even know what an assault weapon is? There is no make or model of gun called “Assault Weapon,” after all. It’s a propoganda term — Americans alreadycan’t legally own machine guns, AKA fully automatic firearms, and several other weapons classified as “Title II weapons” without fulfilling the following: obtain permission from the ATF, obtain a signature from the county sheriff or city/town chief of police, pass an extensive background check to include submitting a photograph and finger prints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a $200 tax.)
Sadly, I did not know about the passing of a great American until a whole week after it happened. I grew up listening to this guy on the radio; those segments are what began my enduring fascination with history:
And because it’s an oldie but a goody, here’s a letter my mom sent me, that my grandma might have written. (Didn’t, mind you, but might have!)
Dear Grand-daughter,
The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting. So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did, what an uplifting experience followed!
I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good He is, and I didn’t notice that the light had changed. It’s a good thing someone else loves Jesus, because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus! While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, “For the love of God, go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!” What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!
Then everyone started honking! I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love! There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach. I saw another guy waving in a funny way, with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back. My grandson burst out laughing — why, even he was enjoying this religious experience!!
A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray with me, or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, I waved at all my brothers and sisters grinning, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the Christian love we had shared. So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away.
Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!! Will write again soon,
