Thursday, August 27, 2009

Farewell Ted Kennedy

I'd just like to say farewell to the last living Kennedy brother.

I didn't agree with very many of his ideas, but no one can deny that he was, at some points, larger than life. The Princess who loves history and always says her favorite president was JFK said "all the ones I like die." She was very sad, so in her honor I say farewell, I hope he was at peace in the end and surrounded by his family.

Band practice, what beautiful music!

School has started, and my children are going to do a wonderful job this year. I just know it!! T (my son) has started band, he is playing the french horn. I was in band forever and a billion years, and I loved every.single.minute. of it. I can't wait to go to his concerts and let them all pierce my ears with their beautiful noises. Because... right now it is just noise. He doesn't know any notes yet, but he can make noise!

The noise is a cross between an elephant and a goose. Sort of a trumpeting sound with a honk thrown in at the end for good measure. C called on her way to work and said "he doesn't know how to play that thing!" Well, no kidding! He has to learn, and the learning is a beautiful thing. So, when I am holding my head during his twenty minutes of practice, someone remind me that learning is beautiful...mmmmkay?

The Diva has also started cheerleading practice so we wander around clapping and head-bobbing randomly. She's so cute!

The Princess wants to join some school counselor group, and the fairy princess officially missed her first day of school due to asthma today. I figure it is just the beginning. We are actually having a normal (read-hectic, crazy) week around here and it feels good! :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Four reasons visiting Des Moines isn't good for me, and two that I love!

1. I gained 5 pounds in 4 days.
2. I was stuck in a house the size of a postage stamp for three days with all four children, two dogs, and my lovely wife.
3. I have to hear about my father-in-law's new girlfriends (Yes, I said GIRLFRIENDS!)
4. I had to refrain from beating my sister-in-law's ass.

The reasons I love Des Moines.

1. Smitty's makes the best tenderloin EVAH!!!
2. I got to spend time with my lovely wife, and we weren't in a prison.

We didn't get to go there for a social call, my wife's grandmother (who she loved like a mom) passed on Monday afternoon. C and I have now put everyone on notice...we are getting off this roller coaster now! No one else is allowed to have a problem for a little bit, while we regain our bearings. And, we still didn't get to get married.

Friday, August 14, 2009

They like me, they really like me!!

I was having a conversation with my boss yesterday, and he gave me a really nice compliment. He said "I know I don't say it very often, but you do a damn good job. You fixed property for the audit, and you work very hard, and those grievances are awesome!" I said thank you, and then I wished that he would put it on paper in my file.

And then I thought, sometimes it is nice to have positive affirmation. Working in a prison, I don't get that very often. There is always something late, something else that must be done NOW, or some emergency somewhere. The first year I was a caseworker I spent going totally crazy with an egotistical, woman-hating boss. I thought surely I would never make it. And then last year the opportunity came to take this job. I was back with the crazy, micromanaging boss and I really needed a break.

I know that I complain about how boring this job is, but I also know that I am really good at it. And, it will prepare me whenever I can get promoted. But sometimes, you forget that you are good at something. I told my boss last week that I felt like people hate me because I spend so much time creating a shit-storm of paperwork that must be dealt with. Plus, I am aggressive, sometimes overly-assertive, and extremely High-Alpha. So, you all know what this leads to right? That feeling that you will never be the one everybody likes, because you lack a filter on your mouth most of the time. For the most part, I have gotten over the need to be liked. Probably because I lacked a lot of it to begin with.

But occasionally, it is nice to hear good things said about you. And I will take the true compliments wherever I can get them. Because my boss? Yeah, he doesn't hand out the bullshit real well. So if he compliments me, I know I got it right!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Parent Sex (yes, I said sex!)

So, have you all ever had parent sex? You know the kind, where you look at your partner and say "If I wasn't so tired, I'd eat you up!" Somebody shared that with me as a joke today, but I see the reality in it.

My wife (partner, baby mama, whatever) and I work different shifts. She works third shift and I work second. That means when I am almost ready to come home, she is going to work. Last week we went three whole days without seeing each other awake.

When I first met C I could wait until midnight when she got home and then we could talk or cuddle or whatever (wiggles eyebrows suggestively). Now that we have lived together for almost 3 years, we are both tired. TIRED!! I want to be able to be with her more than just the weekends when we are both home. Technically we aren't even home together on Saturday. She still has to work, and I try to let her sleep. Sometimes I will see her for about 3 hours before she has to go back to work. It really just sucks. There is no other word for it.

I really enjoy the time we spend together. I know there are couples that get tired of each other and need a break, but we have never been like that. I truly crave her company, she is the best friend I have ever had. Normally we have two times a year that we are alone together. Either New Years or her birthday and Pride Weekend. This summer because of all the stuff (read earlier posts) that happened, I was unable to be with her for Pride. And she was at home alone with our kiddos. It has been almost 9 months since our last time alone, and I neeeeeed it. As in NOW, right now, today, not tomorrow, not next week. And I can't have it. We can't change our schedules until they put bids up for her. We can't do anything about it. And that sucks!

Just thought I'd vent a little, hope y'all understand!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

That's soooo gay...

So, good afternoon intranets! I read a post at today talking about a discussion she had with her son at some point.


It reminded me of my own son coming home and telling me that some of the mean kids were calling him 'gay' and using the word 'fag' to describe him. My son knew what 'gay' was, but the first time he heard it he didn't know what 'fag' was. I felt bad for not preparing him, but I also thought he was almost 13, shouldn't he have known what that was?

Fast forward to almost a month ago, and one of my other friends (who is also a lesbian) told me that a child of a mutual acquaintance of ours had called her daughter a 'fag.' She then had to explain it to her daughter because, like my son, she had never heard it before.

This leads to my point (a tad long winded, I know!), are we as gay parents not preparing our kids for life in the real world by avoiding what we deem an extremely ugly word? I know personally, that word is not allowed in our house. But, when I voiced my concern to another mom (who is hetero) she said perhaps I was being overly sensitive. Her statement was "all the kids say it, it's just a saying."

I disagree wholeheartedly! To me, and most gays, it is a word most often used in hate speech. It is a word used to denigrate and demean the gay,bi,queer,tran members of the community. But, should we be explaining it to our children young? Should they know what the word is, so they are hurt earlier, or should we explain it when it happens?

I am torn. I want to protect my son, but my stomach turns when I even use that word in a sentence. I know that before I even came out I deemed the word 'fag' to be hate speech. I always felt (probably because I hid for so long) that the people who were openly gay deserved our sincere respect for their strength. So that is my question...

When do we prepare our kids for the ugliness in this world? What do you think??

Monday, August 10, 2009

The St. Louis Museum Of Art, A Review...

While the little kids were gone C,The Diva, and I went to the St. Louis Museum of Art. We all loved it! It was free and it was a great way to spend a really (REALLY) hot, bright summer day. Below are a few of my favorite pictures. I'll also take this time to give thanks and all praise to C, she took all the pictures and she did an outstanding job!! I really wanted to put pics of C and the Diva in here, but I was vetoed because of where we work. Enjoy Everybody!!




This is Degas' Dancer sculpture, isn't she beautiful? I have waited my whole life to see these things.




This is Monet's Waterlilies. It is my all time favorite painting. I love it. I have a copy of it on the wall of my office at the prison, and now I have a small copy for our bedroom at home. Looking at this painting gives me a sense of peace daily, and seeing the real piece of art brought tears to my eyes. C found it and took me to it, because I wasn't paying attention and didn't know that it was there.


This is a chinese dog, he looks remarkably similar to our bulldogs at times. I loved being able to see genuine, real pieces. I am amazed that they made it to our day and age as beautiful as they are.



These arches were made by local artists for the All-Star game which was held in St. Louis this year. They had two arches at the museum. I love looking at local artists' work!




This horse overlooks all the ponds and bridges leading up to the museum. I believe that we read that the statue was a present from France. It is just majestic!






C took these pictures in the war room. These are German guns, she absolutely loved this area!!



Remember I said the statue of the horse overlooks the pond and bridges? This is the pond area. I want to come up here whenever C and I actually have a ceremony, and have our pictures taken here. It is one of my favorite spots in ALL of St. Louis!



Our truck is in that parking area. There is a point to this picture, never fear! There are signs that say no parking, but we (The Diva and I) assumed they (whoever they are) meant No Parking on the Street. Scroll down and see how wrong I was!




See the pretty parking ticket I got? See all those other people parked in the area with our truck? The City Of St. Louis made a killing on all of us that day. We looked and every.single.one. of us got a ticket that day. Oh well, live and learn!

The City Museum of St.Louis, A Review...

In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should mention: nobody is paying me to review the City Museum. I just thought for those of you that don't live here, you might want to know what it is like if you ever visit.

A word of caution to all of you that do not like heights or tight spaces: Do NOT go there. Don't even let yourself be tempted by your wife who will likely say that it will be alright. Don't do it. It will not be ok, not even for a minute. You will have a panic attack the likes of which have not been seen 'round these parts for many years.

But...I digress. No one in our party of adventurers had a panic attack. I did have a moment of "Oh hell, w.t.f. did I get myself into here?" And then I realized that I couldn't very well leave the children, including the Diva, in the oh so capable hands of my ex-husband.

They do have a lot to do at the City Museum. There are places to climb and hide and slide in almost every area. Everything in the museum is recycled, according to the Diva, and that is pretty cool. The Princess had a lot of fun, while she scared me to death, climbing and hiding.

The Roof Top is also supposed to be pretty cool, they have a preying mantis, school bus, and a Ferris wheel that the children can ride. We couldn't go up there because of the heat advisory in St. Louis this weekend.

The aquarium is nice, they have a place for the children (no big people) to crawl through with sharks and turtles that swim overhead. They even have a ray tank, where you can feed and pet the various rays. The rays came right up to the edge and wait for you to pet them, which is awesome!

The Soldier and the Fairy Princess really enjoyed the skate park area. They don't allow boards in there, but you can run up and down all the curvy parts. You can even slide down the concrete areas. The Soldier gave us a scare when he fell down the 15 foot wall, but he didn't break anything so he kept on going.

The Circus School is the only one in St. Louis, and the kids really enjoyed that. The man running it made a handkerchief disappear and made a little girl levitate. The Soldier and The Diva thought that was pretty cool.

All in all, the kiddos had a lot of fun, and I only had a few moments of sheer terror. C did not go which turned out to be a good thing, as she is really not fond of thousands of screaming people and tight spaces and dark corners. If you enjoy any of these things, you should have a blast!

And now we're off to go bowling this morning, Yeah!!! I really do like bowling! :)

p.s. It cost's $12 per person, even for the little ones, and the aquarium is an exta $6 per person.

p.p.s. You cannot drop your children off and leave, unless they are 16 or over. And let's face it, they really aren't children in any sense of the word at that point are they?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Aaaah, Yes! The joys of children

Yippee! All the babies are home, happy, safe and healthy. We picked them up last Sunday, thus explaining my absence for the week. Did you miss me???

The Soldier and the Princess had doctor's appointments on Monday. The boy grew 2 inches and 14 pounds in the last year and a half. Yeah!!!!! We have done every kind of test (I mean ALL) imaginable, and I am so glad that he is finally growing. Of course he eats us out of house and home daily, but I will do whatever is necessary for him to be healthy in the end.

I know some of you read earlier when we were having such trouble with The Soldier so here is a little update. When we went to the doctor, C and I told him everything...Every.Thing. We have started him on a low dose of some medicine and we will see if this one thing will help. Otherwise, we will have to do a dual med and I don't know how I feel about that yet. I do know I will do whatever it takes.

The best thing ever happened at the dr's appointment. The doc looked at C and me and said "Who is the biological mom, again?" I love him for that! There is never any judgement there, they just act like we are regular parents which.is.awesome!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I was still here and hadn't fallen off the planet. Oh and to The Mother, my work internet keepers won't let me comment on your site from work anymore and that sucks because you have had the funniest posts this week. I love your survival guide!

Everybody have a wonderful weekend, maybe I'll take pics or something this weekend. Wouldn't that be neat?