New York is steppin' it up!

This has made me smile today. Go NY! If all works out, B and I will be married in CA before the November election. We will put this to the test as NY citizens and as a state employee. Say goodbye to the imputed income tax for health insurance and hello to equality for state employees. GOODBYE and HELLO.

And this little guy always makes me smile. I can't wait to spend a week with my little Silas in July.



Journal of a love-struck girl

Camping is not all that fun...it is making me fat

We have returned from our Extravaganza, and I am still standing, a little bruised, but still standing. I am not sold on the idea of camping but I now have a greater appreciation for some things: beautifully built campfires, air mattresses, body heat, fresh pine tree air, and most of all modern plumbing. My experience has also confirmed some things I do not like: hordes of children EVERYWHERE, perpetually dirty hands, hurricane force winds, outhouses.

We had fairly good weather for the Extravaganza, but here in NY State, each day is different. I don't recommend spending the night outside when the temperature dips into the 40s. It gets pretty cold and the cold seeps into your body from the cold buggy ground no matter how many blankets you have. I firmly believe that B's body heat kept me alive that first night. I am not fond of near death experiences.

During the day the sun came out and warmed things up quite a bit - but then the winds kicked in and sucked the heat from the air - aaahhh, camping, gotta love it.

Not all of my experiences were bad. I sat in the sun reading, I played bingo, I lost again at Chronology (that damn game; I have such a love/hate relationship with it) and I sat by the campfire and toasted marshmallows (highly recommended). I found the time to play with some cute kids and I found the time to eat A LOT. I think I am gaining all the weight that B is losing. It is flying off of her body and getting sucked onto mine via chips and candy and cookies and cake and marshmallows by the dozen. She is on a super weight loss program and has lost 13 pounds so far (go baby! you look f***ing HOT!) With the way things are going, I am going to have to start the program when she finishes.

I have no awesome pictures to post of our camping extravaganza due to the fact that B has re-gifted her mom's camera back to her mom. She even wrapped it up and pretended it was a gift - such a silly girl.

Can I just say how much more excited I am by the California Supreme Court ruling than I am by camping. I am also much more excited about some pots and pans we recently bought than I am by camping, but...camping isn't so bad if you keep good company and avoid the bugs (which by the way are everywhere, just like the hordes of children).

Journal of a girl who showered as soon as she got home

Camping is fun (the more I say it, the more I believe it)

B and I are off to a Memorial Day Extravaganza this weekend. Included in the extravaganza is three nights of camping in a tent. Now, I don't really mind camping. There is something charming and rustic about being dirty and eating food off the grill, and not caring about the bugs on your arms because the scenery is so beautiful. I am reminding myself of all the good things about camping. We will also have great company this weekend and lots of alcohol. 2 things I like. Camping is fun.

B loves to camp. She has a tent and camping gear and other stuff that people need for camping. I also (surprisingly) have my own tent and my own ax. I bought them as a set when I once thought I might like camping. Exclaiming to myself, 'Camping, yeah! I need gear for my new passion!', I rushed off to a camping store and bought a bomb ass set of camping stuff - everything one would need to enjoy the trees and dirt. But, after using the stuff once, I realized there wasn't any 'camping passion' included in the set. I looked and looked, but just couldn't find any. Found some bugs though, and they crawled on me. Camping is fun.



Here is my engagement ring. Love it! I will not be wearing it camping, however, for two reasons. The first is that camping is dirty and my ring may get dirty. But, perhaps the second reason is more relevant; my ring is in the shop. A diamond already fell out! So, I will be without my ring for about 2 weeks! Ouch!



Look! Here I am outside in a rural setting! See, I like to experience nature. I then like to go home and take a shower.

Journal of a girl willing to camp (to impress her girl)

Family Portrait

So, it seems as if our family portrait wasn't too hard after all. We took advantage of all the kittens laying on my lap while we were watching our favorite show Tila Tequila! Go Tila, pick a girl this time. Huey made things a little more difficult. I had to hold all the kittens while B set up the camera, pushed the timer and then ran and grabbed Huey.



This one is before Huey got in the mix. We were all a little calmer.

Journal of an unphotogenic cat lady

Lots of blabbering

Today is my last full day as a foster mom to my little kittens. Tomorrow I take them to the adoption clinic hoping that they will find their forever homes. B and I are going to keep little Frankie as our own since we only have one cat at home. Tonight we are going to attempt to take a family photo - I'll post the results (DO NOT have high hopes that we can corral all 4 kittens and possibly Huey to sit by us and have a picture taken).

Now that California has enacted a non-discrimination policy as to marriage, B and I really want to travel to my home state and GET MARRIED FOR REAL. Since my parents and my sister live there we can go anytime and do it, but we are so super excited that we may just do it when we are visiting Tahoe in July (aaahhhh!!!, don't tell anyone) Our options are:

#1 to rush into it and see if we can do it in July (spontaneous, fun, not romantic). One of the major reasons to do it so soon is fear that the Court's ruling will get overturned by the voters if a constitutional amendment is placed on the November ballot. If we get married before November our marriage may still be valid, even if there is later an amendment to the constitution (I don't really know if this is true, or not, but the situation differs from my first marriage [yep, married before, when Portland Oregon was allowing it], in that the Oregon Courts hadn't specifically allowed same-sex marriage and so when put to a vote by the people, the same-sex marriages that had been performed became void).

#2 to wait until March/April and plan something small and intimate in my parent's garden (planned, intimate, romantic)
The risk of waiting until after the election is that we may not have the chance to get married legally at all. But, the amendment could not even get on the ballot, or if it does, may not even pass.

In addition to all the California talk, we are still having a ceremony and reception here on the East Coast, most likely Vermont. Vermont has some awesome old barns and I REALLY like old barns. Check out my wedding planning bio here.

Journal of a girl ready to go home from work

Arsenio Hall fist in the air for the CA Supreme Court

Yeah! Yeah! Whoo hoo! The California Supreme Court just ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unconstitutional. Hell yeah!! Equal protection of the law, here we come.

At this moment I am very proud to be a Californian. Even though I no longer live in this gigantic state, I still feel a very deep connection and still consider myself a member of this awesome state.

Who knows what this ruling will mean. Things will be hashed out in the months to come, hate will be slung from the highest mountains, cruel religious dirt will be thrown at us, gays and lesbians will be made to look like disgusting pond muck determined to ruin the sanctity of marriage, and yet, it is an amazing step for this country and I will continue to smile as I trudge through the hatred, knowing that the world can be a fair and just place if you know where to look.

Seems appropriate to talk about the love of my life at this moment. We are engaged to be married in the very traditional sense. Love, proposal, ring, crying, yes, planning, happy. Yet, we have no place that will have us married in the very traditional sense. Not in this country, at least. We still have a long way to go. But, back to the love of my life: she is da bomb, she completes me, she makes me smile, she is the apple of my eye, she is what I love.

Here is a picture of us in the great state of California (take note of the sunshine and the palm tree - clear indicators of what an awesome state this is):


Journal of a traditionally engaged wanna be lesbian bride

Happy First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my sister's first mother's day. I couldn't be with her or with my own mother, but today she sent me some pictures and so this post is in honor of mothers. Some may even consider me a mother, although I am not a mother in the typical sense. I have a cat and he considers me his mother; I even got a Mother's Day card from the cat (via the magical brain of my girlfriend).




This is Huey - he is my baby and acts like a very typical cat on most days. He is 7 and is on a diet.






This is my sister on a windy day with her little giant. He has been around since the end of December. He was supposed to be born on my birthday so that we could have an undeniable connection right away, but he waited longer than I would have liked and missed my birthday by 4 days. Now I will have to foster a connection via a different route - such as being a totally bad-ass aunt (awww yeah!!)

Journal of a cat mom and a very cool aunt in the making

Life is like a bundle of kittens

I make a small contribution to the welfare of the world by volunteering with a local orginization called Animalovers. I work at the adoption clinic a few times a months, but my major contribution is through the cat fostering program. Currently we are fostering a litter of 4 kittens and their momma. I am only writing about the fostering so that I can post pictures of THE CUTEST KITTENS EVER!!


Yes, they love tampons as much as we do - if I could fit my little body inside a tampon box, my goodness, I would. The picture above was taken just after they had crawled out of their warm little tampon home.




This is Frankie: He squeezed himself into the inner box of the jumbo tampon package - we found him sleeping happily there.

Journal of a mushy kitten fool

very first post on my very first blog...kind of

I have posted on a blog once before: I liked it, it was relevant, it was specific, and it is now pasted below.

Since I posted my very first blog ever, things have changed. Not drastically, but significantly. Three days ago I finally let out a breath that I had been holding since February. I passed the bar exam! Now I can begin the rest of my life. Whatever that means.

Journal of a happy girl.

First post ever: Tuesday April 29, 2008 (I know...not that long ago)

Intro: I will begin at the beginning. I first met my girlfriend (partner, fiance, hotgurl, whatever you prefer; I prefer girlfriend) at a dance club. She spotted me through the crowd of sweaty dancers and decided to start dancing her way toward me. I saw her moving SLOWLY in my direction and after what seemed like too long to keep her hanging, I scooted on over to her and started our life together.

Fast forward two years: she asked me to marry her while we danced the waltz in our dining room.

Present: Waiting for the funds from the folks to kick in before I really start planning. I don't want to fall in love with ideas that I won't be able to bring to fruition.

First bridal show: last Sunday we went to our first show and it wasn't too bad. I don't have a fear of being the only lesbians in the room, but it always crosses my mind because it is always true. So, of course we were the only lesbians in a very hetero setting, doing a very hetero thing - researching our wedding. Just as a background note, lesbians cannot get married in this great state of NY, legally married that is, some think marriage can be a state of mind, some think marriage takes place only in a church, some think marriage is a piece of paper and some don't think about marriage at all. I don't know exactly what marriage is yet, but whatever it is, I want it!

While at the show, I got asked if I was the bride about a thousand times. I don't think my girl was ever asked, but I always answered that yes, I was the bride, and so was she. Reactions varied, some people were clueless as to what that meant, others didn't care as long as we had a credit card with an unlimited balance and some were very quick to tell us about the last civil union they participated in, one lady was even as specific as to say that her venue had a civil union there two Octobers ago. I can't decide if that is good or not.

Whatever the reaction of the person behind the table, we grabbed the info and the free stuff, wrote our names on the card to win whatever the prize was, and headed to the next table. So far, we have both won a third prize $300 coupon for laser treatments of any sort, and I have received three 'nice to meet you at the bridal show' emails. No grand prize winnings yet, but I am still waiting.

My favorite table was the one that handed out champagne and petit fours. I don't know who they were but the champagne made an impression and put a smile on my face.