Before the Blog: Doggy News, and More

A couple of weeks ago, we had Shrike's family over for Easter. This was the first time some of them had seen our new house, and the first time any of them had been here for more than a quick tour. It was also the first time we've hosted a family shindig at all.

We were supposed to be hunting Easter Eggs in the backyard, but it rained all day, so we ended up hiding them in the house for the kids. Later, they (with some help from Shrike's mom) hid them for the grown-ups.

Last weekend, PerfectPuppy played hooky from her doggy class and we took her to watch a dog agility trial in Frederick, MD, about an hour away. She was very well-behaved and it all looked like a lot of fun, so we're thinking of signing her up for a puppy agility class that starts next month, if it fits our schedules.

The next day she was scheduled to be spayed but, in what can only be described as an incredible act of uterine self-preservation, she went into heat that day. Although, in retrospect, she was probably already starting to bleed a bit when we were at the trial, luckily it takes a few days before things really get going, so she didn't attract any unwanted attention while we were there.

Monday morning, when we figured out that she really was in heat, we tried repeatedly to call the vets office, but couldn't get through to them. So, we headed on over there, and when we arrived, I went into check on whether it would be a problem. As it turns out, they won't spay them when they're in heat, because the uterus is full of blood, increasing the risk of bleeding during the surgery.

That very day, we got a letter from the shelter that we adopted her from, fussing at us because we haven't sent them proof that she's been spayed. That figures.

On the work front, we're both still at the same jobs, but my situation has changed a bit. At the beginning of 2003, my boss sold the company to a larger company, but thing stayed pretty much the same, other than who was signing the checks.

However, in February of this year, all of our operations were moved over to the headquarters of the larger company. It hasn't been too bad, but has been something of an adjustment.

The bigger change, however, will be coming in a couple of weeks, because my boss is leaving the company; April 30 will be his last day. I will continue to handle all of the website and database design and development, and will also take over all of the development-related client interactions and all of the development-related server stuff that he does now, too. Basically, other than billing, everything from "Hey, I want a website," to launch will be my job. Should be interesting.

Before the Blog: Write In Whozat!

In March, we saw Melissa Etheridge in concert at a club in Washington, DC. Our fan club tickets got us early entry, so we - once again - ended up within feet of the stage. This stage was much lower than usual - about waist height - so we were even closer to her than before. The concert was incredible, as usual.

She was much more political than we've ever seen her be in concert - she talked about her recent marriage, and then went into a whole bit about, "Or, in some newspapers, my 'marriage.'" (with big, exaggerated, "finger quotes")

She played "Silent Legacy," "Scarecrow" and "Tuesday Morning" back to back, in what I refer to as the "pissed off queer portion of the show," and ended the concert with "Giant."

Since the suspension of Howard Dean's presidential campaign, I have stayed involved with his new political group, Democracy for America and the local SomeStates for Democracy group. SomeStates for Democracy has decided to work on a local level, helping progressive candidates in area races and getting involved in county party committees.

To that end, I attended the April meeting of our county Democratic committee, where she learned that only three delegate candidates (all pledged to Kerry) had made it onto the primary ballot, for our district's four available seats. The county chair asked me to run a write-in campaign for the fourth seat, and it didn't take much convincing to get me to agree.

Coming in fourth place against three others doesn't sound very difficult, but as a write-in candidate, I have to get at least 250 votes. However, this time, I've got help from the county chair and some committee members and have asked pretty much everyone I know to vote for me and to tell all their friends.

Getting those votes isn't necessarily a guarantee that I'll be a delegate, because I still have to be approved by the campaign (probably Kerry, but there's a possibility that Dean, or maybe Edwards, could get 15% in our district and earn a delegate) at the state convention in July.

However, going to the effort to run the write-in campaign will definitely make an impression, so I have a good chance of being approved.

Before the Blog: Petitioning

In January, I got a call from the political coordinator for the BlueState Gay and Lesbian Alliance, asking me to run for delegate to the Democratic National Convention. BS-GALA was trying to get at least one out LGBT delegate candidate slated for each presidential candidate in each congressional district.

After thinking about it a bit, and talking it over with Shrike, I decided to go for it. Based on a brief resume and bio, along with an endorsement from BS-GALA, I was slated by the Howard Dean campaign and approved as a delegate candidate.

At that point, to get onto the ballot, a candidate has about 3 weeks in which to gather 250 signatures from registered Democrats within the our Congressional District.

This part turned out to be a lot harder than it sounded. There was an ice storm in our area the first week, making it impossible to go door-to-door. In the second and third weeks, I knocked on lots of doors (armed with lists of registered Democrats), visited three gay bars, stood in front of grocery stores, attended the county Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, crashed a LGBT club meeting at an area university and ended up with about 150 signatures.

Obviously I was pretty disappointed, and it was little consolation that both the political director and the folks from the Dean campaign told me that I had worked really hard, gone "beyond the call of duty," etc.

Before the Blog: Fall Wrap-Up

In September, we went on another Susquehanna Club women's camping trip; this time to TinyTownNamedAfterAGuy.

On October 11, we hosted a National Coming Out Day House Party fund raiser in conjunction with Out for Dean. The highlight of the party was a conference call with Gov. Dean.

The two parties that had raised the most money and had the most guests started the questioning, and then they gave the other parties a chance to play "fastest fingers" for the rest of the questions.

Earlier in the party, we'd discussed what we might want to ask, and our friend J's 15 year-old daughter (same one who helped paint our house) suggested asking Gov. Dean why first-time voters should vote for him. When it came time, we were shocked to hear the operator call on us for the first question!

I introduced J's daughter and she asked Gov. Dean her question. I'm not sure any of us remembered a word he said though, we were so excited!

We didn't do anything real exciting for Halloween, but we carved some cool pumpkins.

In November, we got PerfectPuppy.

Before the Blog: Summer Wrap-Up

In addition to all the shopping, painting and packing, we found time to do a few other things over the summer.

We went on two camping trips with the LGBT camping club; WoodsInStateWithMuchConcrete in May (co-ed) and DifferentWoodsInNeighboringState in June (women only).

At the end of May, we went down to Texas for my nephew's high school graduation.

In July, I went back to Texas to volunteer for a week at the summer camp that I used to go to. This week was a special all-girls session planned and run by camp alumni, and I was on the planning committee.

I also organized a SomeStates for Dean information booth for the CapitalOfBlueState PrideFest at the end of July.

We saw Melissa Etheridge in concert at a music festival in TownWithBibleName and managed, again, to end up close to the stage. There was too much walking, way too long a wait for the bus back to the parking lot and it was hot as hell, but the concert itself was great.

Before the Blog: Our New Home

We Bought A House!

In April, we decided that we were close enough to being ready that we should stop by a local Real Estate company that was holding free "How to Buy a Home" seminars each week and get more information. Wow, what a great marketing ploy. The seminar turned out to be the two of us and a Realtor, and within a week, we were looking at actual houses.

After visiting fourteen houses, ranging from "The Wacky Shack" where we had to bite our tongues not to laugh as the owner showed us the "improvements" he'd made, to the "one that got away," with the gorgeous ceramic tile and tub for two (nevermind that it didn't fit any of our other criteria), on Memorial weekend, we visited number fifteen and fell in love.

Given what we'd already learned about how quickly houses were going in our area, we didn't want to wait long to make an offer. We went out to dinner to discuss it, although we'd really already made the decision. We called our Realtor from the restaurant, met her at her office and wrote up the offer that night.

The next day, we were at the grocery store, buying food to take to a party that night, when my cell phone rang. It was our Realtor, calling to ask if we'd be okay with closing at the end of June and renting the house back to the owner for a few weeks, because her new house wouldn't be ready until August. We said that would be fine, and she accepted our offer.

We did close on June 30, and spent most of June and July shopping, packing and planning. With some help from my parents, we ordered new furniture for the living room, dining room and bedroom.

When the previous owner moved out at the first of August, Iimmediately went to work stripping wallpaper in the kitchen and master bath. Throughout most of August, Shrike spent her days bringing boxes over and unpacking what she could, before going to work in the evenings. When I got off work, I went straight to the house and worked on the walls for a few hours.

We both worked on the kitchen walls for the last week or so, when Shrike was working the day shift. We got both rooms stripped, cleaned, spackled, sanded, taped and primed just in time for some friends to come help us paint on the Sunday before Labor Day.

I had actually painted the bathroom the night before, so that was all taken care of. We painted the kitchen, while our friends J and L, along with J's 15 year-old daughter a-different-J, painted the bedroom.

On Labor Day day, after a few tests and a few additional trips to the hardware store, I finally worked out a faux technique I liked and did that below the chair rail in the kitchen and on one entire in the living room, while Shrike painted above the kitchen cabinets and we both worked on various final touches.

On Tuesday, we went to BeachTownInOtherState with Shrike's family. We had a great time and would've loved to have stayed longer, but had to come back Wednesday, because the new furniture was delivered on Thursday.

After a weekend to finish packing and other final preparations, we actually moved in the next Monday. Now, we just have to finish unpacking!

Before the Blog: The Birth of an Activist

In April, Whozat started attending the monthly Howard Dean Meetups in a nearby town and founded a group called SomeStates for Dean, made up of Dean supporters from BlueState and three others nearby.

Before the Blog: You Can't Get Theah from Heah

In January, we realized that Shrike was somehow scheduled for a four-day weekend, right before our anniversary, so we decided we'd use the American Airlines gift certificate that my brother had given us for Christmas and take a short vacation.

After debating for a while about where to go, we finally settled on the Big Gay Mecca of Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Why, why, why we thought that going to a beach town in Massa-fucking-chusetts in February would be a good idea, we will never know.

The plan was to fly from CapitalOfBlueState to Boston, MA and then onto P-Town. We'd considered flying out of BigCityTwoHoursAway, like we usually do, but that would've required a stop-over in BigCityInBlueState, and that seemed silly.

On the way to CapitalOfBlueState, it started snowing - never a good start to a vacation. By the time we were all checked in at the airport, we'd learned that our flight had been delayed.

After we'd been waiting about four hours and the departure time had been pushed back several times, we were finally told that there was no way we'd be getting from CapitalOfBlueState to Boston that day, but that there was a flight to BigCityInBlueState, and from there, we might be able to get a flight to Boston.

We decided that even if we couldn't get to Boston that night, if we at least managed to leave CapitalOfBlueState, that would be some kind of progress, so we went with that plan. We were able to catch a flight out of BigCityInBlueState, and made it to Boston that evening. As we were waiting for our luggage, we saw some people that we'd been talking to in the waiting area in CapitalOfBlueState.

We said, "Oh, did you go to BigCityInBlueState, too? We didn't see you on either plane." "No," they said, "They let us fly out of CapitalOfBlueState after all. We got in about 30 minutes ago."

So, after learning that we'd flown to BigCityInBlueState for no apparent reason, and knowing that no flights were going to Cape Cod that day, we found a hotel, got some dinner and went to bed.

While still in CapitalOfBlueState, we'd talked to the airline that flies to Provincetown and had managed to get on stand-by for both the 8 am and 11 am flights and had actual reservations for the 2 pm flight, in case we still hadn't made it out of Boston by then.

When we got to the airport, we were told that it looked like there would be room for us on the 8 am flight, unless two more people showed up. The girl at the ticket counter gave us a few updates as we waited, and right after she told us that she was closing the flight in five minutes, so it looked like we were good to go - two more people showed up.

"So, how would you like to go to Hyannis?" she asked. "There's a flight leaving for there in the next hour."

Once again, the idea of "making progress" won out, and we took her up on the offer. She explained that there is a bus that leaves from the airport and runs from one end of the Cape to the other; we could catch it at the Hyannis airport and it would take us to Provincetown.

Remember the TV show Wings? That was pretty much what we were flying.

The planes seat nine people, including the pilot, and they ask how much you weigh when you check in. That always worries me, because I know how people are about telling their true weight. What if everyone has lied and we're carring 300 pounds more than the pilot thinks we are? Surely they take that into consideration. . . .

As it turns out, the flight to Hyannis stopped at Martha's Vineyard on the way. The pilot told us that we'd be stopping to let some people off and then continuing on to the Cape immediately.

However, when we got to the Martha's Vineyard airport, a guy from the ground crew came out and told the pilot that we actually needed to switch to a different plane. Everyone got out, got our carry-on bags from the "wing locker" and headed inside.

We got about halfway across the icy runway (yeah, that kind of worried me) when the pilot told us to come back, because we would be staying on that plane after all. Um, ok.

When we finally landed in Hyannis, we went to look for the bus. As it turns out, the bus station was actually a few blocks away. We went to the rental car counters to see if we could get a car there and drop it off in Provincetown.

Only two of the four companies had locations in P-Town, and neither of those had any cars available. So, back to the bus. . . .

We caught a cab to the bus station and the moment we walked in and looked around, we knew that we didn't want to go that route. Not only was it entirely skanky, but the next bus to Provincetown wasn't until mid-afternoon.

We borrowed a phone book and started looking for rental car companies, hoping there was something other than the ones at the airport. As it turned out, one of the "no cars available" companies from the airport had second location just a mile or two away. We called and, sure enough, they had a car that they'd be glad to rent to us.

Why the guy at the airport couldn't have called his other location and checked on that while we were talking to him, we will never know.

So, after another cab ride to the rental car company, and a quick stop for lunch, we were on the road for Provincetown. It took a couple of hours to get there and it was a beautiful drive, all the way up Cape Cod.

We drove straight to the Provincetown airport, returned the car and called a cab to take us to the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying. When we finally made it to the B&B and checked in, we were only about 24 hours late.

This story is already way to long, so I'll just summarize the rest of the trip by saying that it was about 20 degrees out, there was a foot of snow on the ground and we were a few yards from the water. There were probably about 10 other tourists in the whole town, most of the stores were closed and no restaurants were open past midnight.

I believe the highlight of the trip was the first evening in P-Town, when I told Shrike that "We just fucking got here and we haven't even done anything yet, you can't expect shit piles of joy to just come pissing down on your head!"

I don't know that it made us feel any better that night, but we've gotten much enjoyment from it since.

All in all, though, we saw lots of things that looked like they might be fun if they were open, or if there were more people there, so I would like to try it again sometime in season, but I haven't quite convinced Shrike yet.

Before the Blog: On Being Famous

Whew - Is Christmas over yet?. It seems we've been celebrating it for a month. We flew to Texas on Monday December 23 to spend Christmas with my family and returned on Saturday the 28.

The next day we did Christmas with Shrike's extended family, and then celebrated with her more immediate family on New Year's Day. We finally found time to exchange our gifts to each other last Friday - January 3!

We had a really nice New Year's Eve - not too crazy, but we've decided that we're too old for craziness anyway. We went to a new gay bar in a nearby town and met up with Shrike's sister and her partner, and a couple of new friends.

Funny story about that, actually - a few weeks ago we got an email saying "We really liked your website. . . my partner and I are planning a commitment ceremony. . . in TownWhereShrikeWorks."

Needless to say, I emailed back and told them that we're neighbors!

After a few emails back and forth, they told us about the bar, and we decided to meet them there. We really enjoyed meeting them, although it was a little disconcerting realizing that they already know so much about us, like when they told us now they met - then told us how we met! But we got over that, had a great time and hope to get together with them again soon.

Before the Blog: Into The Woods

Oh my, the year is almost over and this is only the second installment of the Latest News! It seems to one of those "the cobbler's children have no shoes" situations - I've been staying busy working on other people's websites and haven't touched our own.

In addition to working fulltime, my feelance business is going quite well, even if it does keep me away from this site; I've got several paying clients now and is developing a nice little "niche" market in the LGBT community.

Back in July we said it would be "hard to top" the Melissa Etheridge concert in TownEverybodyLoves but, guess what - the BigCityThreeHoursAway show did top it!

This time we knew what to expect and shortly before the show started, we snagged a couple of empty seats near the front, right on the aisle she'd be entering through. Sure enough, she touched both of us on her way by, and we just fell right in behind her, slipped through the semi-blockade at the front and ended up right in front of the stage again!

The stage wasn't as high as it was in TownEverybodyLoves, so this time we were literally up against it, and again we got "high-fived" at the end of the show. And, of course, again, we were giggling like a couple of kids! It doesn't look like Melissa will be touring again anytime soon, but when she does, we'll be there - we can't wait to see how we'll top the last two shows!

In September, I finally convinced Shrike to go camping with me. We went to Funny Name State Park in TinyTownNamedAfterAGuy with an area LGBT camping club for their Women's Weekend.

After all the bitching and moaning during the planning period, the best I was hoping for out of Shrike was maybe a "well, it wasn't that bad, but I'm still never doing it again."

We decided to wait and go up Saturday afternoon, because the weather was bad Friday night, and then had car trouble on the way up Saturday. By the time we finally got there, I was thinking she'd be lucky if Shrike didn't leave me in the woods for the bears.

We did manage to get our tent set up without too much trouble and settled in around the fire with 13 other lesbians, only two of whom we'd met before. After a few hours of sitting around and talking, Shrike turned to me and said, "Ok, FINE, I'm having fun."

I was considerably relieved by this, but not too surprised. However, I was floored the next morning when Shrike started making comments like, "You know, we really need a bigger tent," and "I think we should get warmer sleeping bags before we do this again..."

Again? She's planning to do it again?!? Yep, It seems that I've converted Shrike into a camper - I'm not quite sure what I get for that, though - a marshmallow stick, perhaps?

I've even caught Shrike surfing online camping supply stores - I suspects that perhaps it's the gear and gadgetry that is the attraction.

Whatever it is, we've ordered those warm sleeping bags, and we're looking forward to spring when the next camping season begins.

Fan Grrls

What a loser! I can't believe I haven't updated the site in over six months! My deepest apologize to all our visitors who've been waiting on pins and needles to hear all about our adventures.

So, where did I leave off? Oh yes, the name changes and flight reservations. . . .

Stupid Airline Woman indeed did not add a note to our reservations regarding our name changes, and we had to explain it all over again at the ticket counter. The woman we were dealing with there wanted to charge us something like $100 to change the names on the tickets!

Luckily a manager came by at that moment and told her that since we had court orders showing the name changes, to let us on the plane. Whew! Of course, with all the added security, we had to show both IDs and court orders about 3 times before we actually boarded.

We finally did get on the plane, and enjoyed our visit with my family in Texas. In fact, it's taken me so long to update the site, that we've actually made two trips to Texas since the last entry!

We spent a few days down there around Memorial day, and attended a roast in honor of my dad, did the big-hoo-hah birthday / Mother's Day / Father's Day gift exchange and, as usual, spent lots of time visiting family and friends and our favorite restaurants.

We're both still at the same jobs, and my free lance web design business is really starting to take off. I'm getting lots of work from area LGBT organizations and has done several websites for my brother's law firm. My highest-profile project so far is FamousLesbianActivist's website, which launched about a week ago.

We've also "been seeing a lot of Melissa," as Shrike put it the other day. In August 2001, we saw Melissa Etheridge in Washington, DC at the opening show of her Live - and Alone tour. We also saw her in TownNoOneOutsideOfBlueStateCanProunounce during the same tour. July 12, we caught up with her again, this time on the Skin tour, at an amusement park in TownEveryBodyLoves.

After the intimate venues and Row 10-15 seats of the Live - and Alone shows, Shrike repeatedly warned me not to be too disappointed with a "stadium show" in TownEveryBodyLoves.

As it turned out, she wasn't playing to the whole stadium, but rather a smaller amphitheater, which is essentially the endzone. When we picked up our tickets, I was beside myself that we had 7th row seats in one of the two center sections.

During the opening act went and got a beer, and ran into a couple of friends. We were standing in the concession area talking to one of them when we realized Melissa was singing. We hurried back into the seating area and saw that she was entering from the back and walking down the center aisle. People were moving into the aisle, especially in front, and we figured we'd see how close we could get before returning to our seats. We were almost to the aisle when she reached the front and went onto the stage.

We were a bit disappointed that we hadn't made it over there in time when we suddenly realized that we were standing about five feet from the stage - no one between us and Melissa but a big burly security guy - and he wasn't trying to make us move.

We spent the whole show there - a few feet from the stage, just a bit stage-right. At the end of the show, when she went along the front of the stage, she actually touched both of our hands.

I felt like a 12 year old at at N'Sync concert - "Oh my God! She touched me!"

Disappointed? I think not.

We've got tickets to see her August 4 in BigCityThreeHoursAway. Perhaps this time we should heed the "don't be disappointed" speech, though, because it will be awfully hard to top the TownEveryBodyLoves show.

Before the Blog: Enlightening the Airplane Lady

The name change process is coming along; we've both got our new driver licenses, and social security cards, we've opened a joint bank account in our new names, we've changed them on several other things and we're wracking our brains to think of what we've forgotten.

I had an interesting phone conversation with Continental Airlines this afternoon, trying to deal with the fact that we have plane tickets for a trip to Texas in January with our old names on them.

We were hoping we could change the names on the tickets, but the best they could do was make a note about it, so the ticket agent at the airport won't give us too much of a hassle. This poor woman that Italked to just wasn't getting it.

"I don't know what you mean by 'hyphenated.'"

At one point she said, "I'm still confused, but I'll document it anyway."

I tried explaining again, and the lady said,

"So both your names are this now? I don't understand - this is your traveling partner?"

"No, my partner partner - we're a couple."

"But this is a female, not a male?"

"Yes."

And later, "So, did you get married, or just change your names?"

"Well, we consider ourselves married, but not legally; we legally changed our names to reflect that."

Shrike was overhearing the whole thing from the other room, and came in to give me moral support; but what I needed most was a way to keep from laughing at this woman's inability to comprehend what I was telling her.

We can just envision her getting off the phone and telling her coworkers about the wierd call she just handled. Maybe they'll explain it to her!

So, we're not sure at all what kind of a note this woman added to our tickets, but hopefully our new IDs and our court orders will get us on the plane!

Before the Blog: Meet Ms. & Ms. Shrike-Whozat

Two updates in a month - amazing!

Our big news is that last Friday we went to court to finalize the hyphenation of our last names. We thought that the legal stuff would be a pain in the butt, but it's starting to look like that was nothing compared to getting them changed on all our various documents.

So far, we've applied for our new Social Security cards, I have my new driver's license and Shrike has taken care of changing her health insurance. Lots more to do, though; every day we think of another company or institution that we have to deal with.

This past weekend was a busy one. We baby-sat Shrike's niece and nephew from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. This is the first time we've kept them overnight, and we were a bit worried, since despite having kept them several evenings, we'd never actually succeeded at getting her nephew to sleep.

We did manage it this time, with some clever ventriloquism on my part, if I do say so myself. (It involved his toy shark being very tired, but very lonely, and needing to be snuggled - don't ask.) All in all, it went pretty well; we had a good time, and we think the kids did, too.

After we dropped the kids off at Shrike's parents' house we headed to TownNoOneOutsideOfBlueStateCanPronounce to see Melissa Etheridge in concert. Of course, that was incredible.

I smuggled a camera in (no thanks to Shrike, who upon seeing the "No Cameras" sign at the door proclaimed loudly "Honey, you can't take your camera in.")

They didn't hear her and I managed to get it in and take a couple of photos. The plan was to take some with flash and some without, not knowing which would work better. However, we decided it was best just to blow it off, after a woman seated in front of us was threatened with arrest for refusing to give up her camera. If those two photos turn out to be any good we'll post them here.

That's about all the excitement around here - and it's about all we can handle.

Before the Blog: (Debt) Free at Last!

Wow - it has been WAY too long since the last update here, hasn't it? Sorry about that! So, what has been happening in our lives in the last eight months or so...

Picking up where we left off - in March, my immediate supervisor at work left the company, leaving me as the lead web developer. It was a pretty scary prospect, but the "field promotion" came with a raise, a week's worth of bonus vacation days, and a whole lot of overtime the first month or so.

After a few weeks, I was a starting to feel whole lot more comfortable about the idea. I have learned a whole lot (out of necessity!) and am infinitely more confident in my skills now, both in design and programming. I'm even picking up some server/networking knowledge along the way, too.

Thanks to my raise and overtime pay, Shrike's raise from last November and tax refunds (the real ones from 2000, not those stupid $300 checks - those went to an LGBT Rights organization), we had a fair amount of "found" money on hand, and by summer we were able to pay off my credit card debt, Shrike's car and Shrike's credit card - and we are now officially debt free!

We still put a few things on the credit card, but only what we can pay off when the bill comes - our new motto is "If I can't live in it or drive it, I'm paying cash!" We're now saving the money that was going toward debt and we're hoping to have enough saved up by the end of 2002 for a down payment on a house.

One of the high points of our summer was seeing Melissa Etheridge in Washington, DC, at the first show of her Live...and Alone tour. The show was incredible; it was in a very small theater, and we were on about the tenth row. I guess we didn't quite get enough, though, because we have tickets to see her again in BlueState next Sunday!

I'm sure many other exciting things have happened to us in the last several months, but none of them seem to come to mind at the moment.

Before the Blog: Ringing Out the Old

Again, it's been forever since an update here, but we've been pretty busy lately, what with the holiday and wedding plans.

Shrike started a new job in November, doing the same thing at a different newspaper for lots more money. She works evenings, but Whozat's boss has let her adjust her schedule so she can afford to wait up for Shrike at night and we can at least have a little time together before going to bed. The hours are kind of a pain the ass, but we'll put up with it for the money!

Because the wedding is so close, we didn't go to Texas for Christmas, but we had a really good holiday here with Shrike's family. Her nephew is almost 3 1/2 and was really into Santa Claus this year, and her niece, who's now 6 months, enjoyed the wrapping paper!

We're having some friends over this evening to ring in the New Year, so Whozat will need to stop working on the website and start getting things ready pretty soon!

Before the Blog: New Wedding Date?

Well, Whozat's been busy catching up with things on the website, adding various resources we've discovered in the last few months, fixing some typos, etc. Looks like the wedding date will be changing - again - we'll post an update when we have it figured out.

Before the Blog: We're Aunts Again!

Finally! Whozat's computer crashed on June 25, and, as of today, it's finally fully functional!

So, on with the long-overdue update....

Picking up where we left off - on June 12, Shrike's sister gave birth to a baby girl - she's 3 1/2 months old now, and she's smiling and laughing, and doing all those other wonderful baby things.

As mentioned elsewhere, our wedding plans are back on track, more or less. We're hoping for January 1, 2001, but a lot of the plans have been on hold while the computer was down, since Whozat's hoping to work a deal with the woman who runs the chapel where we'd like to have the ceremony, for free rental in exchange for redesigning their website.

The computer was mostly functional as of Saturday, and she's already posted a sample design for approval - she'll be giving them a call later this week, to see if this will work out - keep your fingers crossed for us!

Other than that, we've been staying pretty busy, with one thing and another. It's pretty late right now, and about bedtime, but watch this space for plenty more updates in the next week or so.

Before the Blog: Home From Texas

We got back in town on Sunday from spending a week with Whozat's family in Texas. It was a great trip; we got to visit several friends and eat at all our favorite restaurants!

(Shrike will readily concede that the food in Texas is better than that in BlueState!)

We spent last weekend in Houston, particularly in Montrose (the gay area of town). We went out dancing Friday night and hit several bookstores Saturday afternoon, and of course, spent way too much money!

Shrike spend most of the week with a cold, and about the time we got back, Whozat came down with it, so that part wasn't too fun.

Monday night Whozat walked into a chair leg and was convinced that she'd broken a toe, until X-rays proved otherwise. So, she's spent the last couple of days being a big ol' whiner, and Shrike's spent them babying her!

Before the Blog: Whew!

Our letter to the editor ran on May 9 and the feedback we've received couldn't be more positive.

Oh, of course, a couple of the "bad guys" have had letters in response printed, but that was to be expected.

Our biggest concern was that the letter would, obviously, out Shrike at work, but she's gotten nothing but support from her coworkers.

Before the Blog: Letter to the Editor

Our local newspaper recently printed a letter to the editor, in which the writer quoted from the Bible, to try to show why same-sex marriage should not be legalized. The following is the letter we wrote in response:

As a lesbian couple, we were deeply troubled by a letter printed recently, against the legalization of same-sex marriages.

We find it ironic that anti-gay Christians are so intent on upholding "God's laws" of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, yet few seem to heed those proscribed in the surrounding chapters. Leviticus 17 sets forth guidelines for animal sacrifices to God, while chapter 19 prohibits, among other things, fully harvesting ones crops, interbreeding cattle, planting fields with more than one kind of seed, wearing clothing of mixed fibers and eating fruit from a tree that is less than four years old. Furthermore, when Jesus himself was asked, in Matthew 22: 36-39, which was the greatest of all God's commandments, he said that there are only two commandments - to love God and to "love thy neighbor as thyself."

The more important issue here, however, is that the question of what the Bible may or may not say about homosexuality is moot. The fact is, the Bible and the laws of the United States are two separate entities. The founders of our nation granted us not only freedom of religion, but also freedom from religion. The same amendment that gives the writer the right to practice her faith according to her beliefs prohibits the government from imposing those beliefs on us.

There are many "sins" named in the Bible which are not reflected in the laws of the United States. In fact, of the sins prohibited by the Ten Commandments themselves, only murder, theft and lying - if under oath - are illegal. The Bible says that pride is a sin; we shudder to think how many prisons we would need if that were declared illegal. If one chooses to make the Bible the authority that guides his or her life, that is fine, but one cannot expect the government to force the rest of the nation to do the same.

The freedom to marry is not a religious issue, it is a legal one. There are already many churches that perform same-sex unions, and those that do not want to could still refuse, just as they can refuse to marry any couple who does not meet their requirements. We are not asking anything of churches; we are asking that the government grant us the same rights and responsibilities afforded to opposite-sex couples who wish to marry.

Gay and lesbian couples face a number of obstacles based on the fact that we cannot legally marry. If one of us becomes ill, the other can be denied the right to visit her in the hospital, or to take time off work to care for her. If one of us dies, the other may have no legal claim to the property that we have obtained together, has no voice in decisions regarding funeral arrangements, and may not even be granted bereavement leave by her employer. No matter how long we have been together, the survivor cannot receive the social security or pension benefits that an opposite-sex spouse is entitled to from the moment the couple says, "I do." In addition, it is legal to fire us from our jobs, or to evict us from our homes, based on our sexual orientation. We must conceal one of the most important aspects of our lives or risk harassment, discrimination, or even bodily injury. However, unless we speak up and demand equality, we have no chance of getting it.