Blog-Aversary

Yesterday's post marks my 50th post since the start of my Blog! Unlike most Anniversary Shows, we are not going to have a cheesy clip show to celebrate. This will be a regular post. To celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday, AP and I are going to the MIL house in Merced. However, we are doing a good deed in the process. There is a dental student who works for Beth and me (confirming, making new patient charts and packets etc....), who's family lives in Madera (8 miles from Merced). We will be driving her to her parents house on the way to the MIL house.

Also, AP has a terrible cold. She got it from me, but I stayed home from work on Friday, so I'm fine now. Also, I slept for most of the weekend, in-between nephew wedding stuff. Hers has moved into her chest and she feels pretty bad. Beth makes me get a flu shot every year, so that may be a factor as to why my cold wasn't bad at all. AP never gets one or takes care of herself when she's sick, but, hey, she's 38, and it's really hard to change someone who is so set in her ways, especially her!! But I love her anyway; It's one of her best qualities. She sticks to her guns, no matter what. I am doing my part by making her my "Special Drink" and feeding her Wonton Soup (her feel-better combo).

What is the Special Drink you may be asking? The recipe is as follows:

2 c. apple cider
1 c. dark rum
2 oranges
cinnamon
ginger
nutmeg

-Heat the cider and the rum on the stove in a medium saucepan. Cut the oranges in half and squeeze the juice into the mixture. Add the spices to taste. Bring to a slight boil. Serve, drink, and enjoy.

I sort of invented this drink when I was looking for something holiday and festive. As it turns out, it helps ease colds and flu as well. Partially because it gets you tipsy, and partially because the rum seems to loosen the goo in your chest!! Hooray for dual purpose beverages.

That's all for now. I'm sure something else will happen today and fuel my post for tomorrow.

Ohh, the Holiday Season

My dear loyal readers, much has happened over the past few weeks, including going to AP's nephew's wedding on Saturday (SUPERFUN!) and waging a war on Stupid Fucking Rose, the destroyer of my ex-vehicle, and ruin-er of lives for all she encounters.

I feel like I should explain the last part. AP and I are getting our own place in February when the lease is up, so I, as a respectful roommate and leaseholder, told them about it last week so they can plan their next roommate and figure things out for next year. They sent me an e-mail detailing how Rose would need to be there when AP and I are packing our kitchen and living room things so that we don't steal her stuff. This is an outrage for many, many reasons, including the fact that I have never broken into any one's room to steal their stuff (hello, that's why all the doors have locks on them--to keep her out). And why would I even attempt to take any of her things when AP and I literally have a closet full of brand new, not out of the box kitchen and other decorative items? Ridiculous. So AP and I started packing our kitchen stuff for safety reasons (things "accidentally" get broken in our house all the time). Next thing we know, Stupid Rose and her slave/boyfriend are doing the same thing. AP and I decided to make good use of all the leftover paper and plastic supplies from our party. I know it seems a little stupid, but there is no reasoning with that psychotic sociopath. Then, as she was removing one of her hideous paintings from the living room, she purposely poured a plant, water and all, all over the rug in the living room. Not the carpet, it was only and specifically on the (AP's and my) rug. When I confronted her about it, she wouldn't even look at me, much less respond. Luckily, that rug is machine washable so all the plant water and dirt came out easily.

Seriously, though, what the hell? That is how the war started. Luckily, I have unlimited access to as many boxes as I can carry (and bubble wrap) from work, so packing the rest of our stuff will be easy. And no, Mom, I am not stealing the boxes. People want me to take them off their hands. Officially, I'm doing them a favor. That's my story for this post. I know, I know exactly what you're thinking.

Also, AP and I were going to host Thanksgiving, but due to recent events, we won't be doing that. Now, we are going to AP's mother's house for the holiday festivities. I'm making a pie. I'm thinking about doiong that double layer pumpkin cheesecake thing from Thanksgiving 2005. It was really good. The point of this post is to show everyone that I am thinking positive and only good things to come for the rest of the season. Wish us luck.

Happy Happy!!

Happy happy day to me!! AP has 2 jobs, we have money coming in, I am thrilled. No more financial messiness or woes. That was a very dark couple of days. Money is always a scary thing to have to worry about. Now AP will be doing something she really likes: Managing people. She will be a manager at a Peet's and a Starbucks! This means, expect a lot of coffee related Christmas gifts. I am overjoyed. Thanks to everyone in my loving family who had encouraging words for us while we were having a hard time.

New Baby

AP and I are parents again! We now have a trio of beautiful cats, with our newest addition, of Bennie. She's a gray and white striped beauty that was found over the last week in Merced, where AP has been caring for her mother. She's about 3 1/2 months old and really tiny. She has a full tail (we now have a no-tail, half-tail and full tail), and she is so loving and pliable, it's hard to believe she's a real cat. She just goes wherever you put her and does not make a fuss. She did not cry or struggle when we put her in the cat carrier or at any point during the 2-hour drive home from Merced.

Brown Bear and White Girl are adjusting as well as can be expected, considering they are jealous and are used to having their mommies all to themselves. They'll get over it eventually. But she is soooo cute. I wanted to name her something with "Gray" in it, in keeping with the theme of her sisters, but AP already decided to name her Bennie because it is a shortened combination of our names (think Bennifer). If I ever figure out how to upload pictures, the three of them will be one of the first ones. Super cute!

Babies, Babies On The Brain

As both of my loyal readers know, I just tied the knot with AP. You know about my MIL, she's doing fine by the way, now I have 2 main goals for the next 6 months, and lots of smaller goals for the in-between. Tied for first place is getting preggers and buying a new car. Y'all know the car saga, I won't go into it again. But I have my eye on the Dodge Caliber, a half SUV, half car type vehicle. It's fairly inexpensive, but has gotten good reviews from what I've read.

But I want a baby too. So, since the one thing I can start working on now is the baby (it will take longer to plan than the car), I have e-mailed my OB/GYN for advice on how we can go about jumping over my conception hurdles (lesbianism, irregular periods, etc...). She says I should start taking Prenatal Vitamins, tracking my periods and start doing some in-home ovulation testing. So, I bought some test strips at Walgreens yesterday and as soon as my period ends, I have to start a daily ritual of peeing in a cup. Awesome. However, AP and I want a baby so badly, I'd pretty much do anything to get one, so peeing in a cup and tracking my ovulation is relatively minor, considering what will come down the road when it's really time to inseminate.

She said that I should track everything for three months, and if after this cycle, I don't get another period for 4 months, I should have some fertility testing and she'll help me. So, free advice through e-mail and now wait and see. So let us pray that I get another period soon. I am kicking myself for not keeping all those fertility drugs from my egg donation in 2004. Frick!!

Also, sperm is expensive, and it seems to be getting more expensive as the months go by. No jokes about Sperm-Jacking some guy for his goods, Bettylou. It would be unfair to AP, and I don't like man-sex. Ick. However, neither of us are desperate (yet). This whole thing is still in the very early stages.

So, the ball is rolling. OOOHHH, I would like to give a shout-out to my Mom, and a congrats on her new boobs. I hear they're awesome. Now YOU'RE the one with the biggest boobs.

MIL

The title of the post "MIL" stands for mother-in-law. I have one now, as everyone knows, and I must say, having 2 families is harder than just one. My MIL, Patricia, just had a triple bypass and a valve replacement in the city so several members of APs family have been staying with us and going to hospital, driving back and forth, taking care of things, so the past week or so has been a super-busy whirlwind. She's okay, but now she starts the long rehabilitation process. Both AP and I have been going a little crazy over the past week, so it's about time for some much needed R & R. Last night, we were finally able to have some "alone time," and actually spend time together without sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, or roommates. It was nice. And I was actually able to go to bed at a decent hour for the first time in a week. (I'm old now, I go to bed early.) So AP is going camping this weekend and I am relaxing at home. Part of being together is spending time apart, so that's what we're doing this weekend. I'll probably sleep late, have lunch with a friend, maybe catch a movie. As much as I love and cherish AP, I was single for a long, long, long time before we got together. Sometimes, you have to do stuff with regular friends, or even by yourself. It's time for some "me time."

AP, however, thinks that every time I want to spend time by myself, it means I don't want to be with her anymore, which is totally not true. I am really independent, always have been. I am one of those ladies who can take herself out for coffee, or dinner or a movie all alone and be happy as a clam. I can shop by myself too. It doesn't mean I don't love her, it means I need a break from the inundation of family and hospitals and general disruption of my routine. (Again, I'm old, I don't like my routine interrupted.) We, however, have such a great relationship that we can talk about these things and she understands my need to do things alone. I love her. She's awesome.

Why People Marry...

Based on the information I've been getting over the last 24 years of my life as far as what marriage and partnership is really about, I have come to a few conclusions: People plan weddings pretty much for the ability to register at cool places and get cool stuff. Yes, the lifelong partnership of someone who loves you and is made to be with you is nice, but the presents are simply awesome. Over the last few weeks, AP and I have been slowly acquiring the gifts that I painstakingly registered us for at Crate and Barrel and Target. People are so generous. And yes, I wrote all of the thank-you notes over the weekend and gave then to people.

Anyway, I went to C&B over the weekend and used the gift card one of the doctors got for us and we are now the proud owners of a really pretty tablecloth and cloth napkins, several serving dishes, and candle holders. There is tons of other stuff, but I can't list it all here. I am talking about the tablecloth and that stuff because AP and I have decided to host Thanksgiving this year! Once you acquire stuff to serve people with, you just want to entertain all the time. Plus, with the left over bottles of wine and champagne we have from the party, it seems only logical to invite over 6 people or so and have Thanksgiving dinner. I am very excited. There will be 2-layer pumpkin pie. It will be awesome. Mer.

Luau-Licious

As both of my readers know, AP and I had a committment ceremony in June and then we went camping. It was super-fun, but I promised my mom that we'd have a party and everyone would be invited (parents, sisters, friends etc.). Hence the title of this blog. We had our big luau extravaganza on Saturday afternoon in which my parents, older sister, older sister's buddy, and parent's close friends all from Colorado and all of my co-workers/friends came to celebrate our couple-hoody-ness/committment to each other. It was awesome. I even had a tiki punch bowl that cried punch! The decorations were super festive and from what I've heard, everyone had a rockin' good time. My mom knows how to throw a hell of a party and with her help, I think we all did a great job at this one. Apparently her party throwing skills work across states. I am so grateful to my parents for everything they did for me over the weekend and throughout my life. Without their love and support, I don't think I'd be the person I am today. So, mad props to my parentals. WOO HOO!!

Aunt-Hood

Also, I've been an aunt for three weeks now, I just haven't Blogged in awhile, except for today. Anyway, I just talked to my sis (Mama K) who had the baby (B-Man), and I've heard he's the cutest thing in the world, but had seen no pictures of him except for when he was first born. Mama K send me a bunch of pictures and he certainly IS the cutest thing I've ever seen. I can't wait to see him in person for Christmas!

Disneyland!!

I know that exactly 2 other people read my blog, but there was some comment made at another Blogger's site that totally bugged me. My sister (Betty Lou) and my mother don't think I ever go to work because I take time off. This is completely not true. Every month, I acquire 10 paid vacation hours and 8 paid sick hours. I can use them whenever and however I want as long as I ask first and fill out a vacation request form. Last week, my sister called my phone and I happened to be in Anaheim, CA at our hotel between going to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure theme parks. AP and I went to celebrate AP's 38th birthday (Yes, I know, I am the best present giver ever!). I had actually been planning the trip for several months and I guess I just didn't mention it to anyone in my family so when she called it took her by some surprise.

My mom asked if we drove, and yes, we did. I guess we could have flown, but we would have had to rent a car anyway, so we just drove the 8-hours to Anaheim through the LOOOONG stretch of highway that is California. Besides, AP hates to fly. It scares the crap out of her and she never does it, ever. She makes few exceptions, but we are planning on Colorado for Christmas (no one does a major holiday like my family!!). Anyway, we drove to Anaheim on Tuesday, checked into our hotel around 8pm and just had dinner and relaxed. Driving for hours is tiring. Then on Wednesday, we got up fairly early (it is hot in SoCal no matter what time it is), and headed to Disneyland. We decided to do the ParkHopper Pass so we could have unlimited trips to Disneyland and California Adventure that day so we could take breaks and naps and return for more fun. We did everything at Disney that sounded fun (yes, we went on It's A Small World), and AP took several rolls of film and used most of them. Around 4, we decided to go back to the hotel (it was on the same street as the parks) and shower (did I mention how freakin' hot it was?), and take a short nap before going to CA Adventure and doing the night festivities. Then we went back to the park and rode some rides (CA Screamin' was really fun) and saw the Electrical Parade (still really awesome, even years later, my readers know what I'm talking about), and then everyone begins the mass exodus 500 feet from CA Adventure back to Disneyland for the fireworks display. It was so amazing, both AP and I got tears in our eyes. The whole experience was truly magical. The we rode some more rides and did some repeats of the afternoon and went home (hotel) around closing time (Midnight). We went to sleep around 1 (we were excited). Then we got up at 7-ish and got on the road. We took the long way and decided to stop at several places along the Central Coast just to check it out (Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo). AP is just a girl who can't say no because she also agreed to drive one of her nieces and one of her little children to San Jose while we were on our way back from Anaheim. So then we decided that it was getting pretty late and we still had about three hours to drive back to San Francisco (not including driving all the way to San Jose in between), so we stayed overnight and Jenny and Todd's house in Chowchilla (just outside Merced) and got up at 3:45 am and was at AP's mother's house to pick up her niece and great niece by 4:50 am. We were on the road by a little after 5 and were on our way. Because of traffic and such, we dropped them off in San Jose and I knew I was not going to able to return the rental car on time, so I asked to keep it another day and they said it was fine, so we finally got back to the house, unloaded, and I drove to work. I had called earlier and told them I was going to be an hour late, so it was fine. That was Friday morning. Friday evening, AP and I took advantage of having a car and I went to Target and went grocery shopping.

That pretty much was my grand adventure of last week. It feels like so long ago. And next week, it's guest and party time!! Our luau is next Saturday and I am really excited for everyone to come meet AP and celebrate with us and meet my family. I have 41 yes responses so far, so we will have a full house. I am so excited!

New roomie, new house

Oh my gosh! Ever since the last post, the house has a whole different feeling to it. First of all, I will never live with another guy, EVER. Jesse was going to be out of his room on Friday so AP and I could move into his room so the new chick, Erica, could move into our room. This happened, sort of. AP and I had already moved out all of our stuff into the dining room so we could prepare Erica's room in advance of her arrival (this went off without a hitch, everything worked perfectly). Jesse, however, is a total jackass. All he did to move out of his room was remove his things from his room. He did not clean it, vacuum it, or anything at all! When I saw this, I was very, very, angry. I called him on it and asked him if he had to clean his new apartment himself before moving into it. He said no, that would be stupid. Then I asked him why he thinks it's appropriate that he should do nothing upon moving out of his room. He's an idiot. AND...I told him that I was holding his deposit hostage until I get his keys. His ex-Aaryn, also has a key, and I told him that until I get both sets back, he will see none of his deposit money. Hell, between staying in the house an extra 10 day and leaving his room a nightmare, he's barely getting anything back anyway. But he'll find that out when he gets my itemized list of deductions. I am planning on nickel and diming the crap out of his deposit for all the crap he's put both AP and I through over the last year. Little bastard.

On a more positive note, Erica is great and the house is looking really sweet. AP and I rented a carpet cleaner and she cleaned every carpet in the house so now everything is clean and bright and fabulous. On Thursday and Friday, we moved completely out of our old room, cleaned the carpets and painted it. Then we closed it off so the room could dry before Erica's arrival on Saturday. On Friday morning, AP helped Jesse move all of his crap out of the house while I was at work. I was off that afternoon because I had to help ready our new room (paint, clean etc.). We worked our butts off and the room ended up sparkling. Side note: AP got a Hepa-filter vacuum cleaner at a garage sale from some rich people for $1 and all she had to do was spend $3 to replace the worn-out belt, and it purrs like a kitten. It's bagless, and I had to empty the container 4 TIMES when I was vacuuming Jesse's room. It's ONE BEDROOM! Four times! I swear, that boy did not vacuum his room once in two years. It was disgusting. Anyway, while that was happening, and AP was cleaning the carpet in our new room (yay!), I was finishing the living room and setting up the new bathroom stuff. New trash can, new towels, 2 new shelves, doing a massive cleaning overhaul (it wasn't that bad, it gets cleaned regularly), you know, that kind of thing. It looks great. Then, the Comcast guy showed up without two of the cable boxes we requested. He set up everything else, but there was a mess up on the work order. AP was pissed. And rightly so, so she spoke with a supervisor and someone was slated to come out and fix it the next day (Sunday). Then we discovered after the guy left, the he had not given us our On Demand or the Showtime. AP called back AGAIN and spoke with the same lady and she added that to the work order. The guy came yesterday and fixed all the TVs, but then we discovered (after we set up everything around our new garage sale entertainment center), that NOW THE INTERNET DOESN'T WORK. Dear God, help us all. I called the people this time and he said that someone would be out between 7 and 9 A.M. today. I just got a call from AP. It is precisely 9 A.M., and there is no guy. She'll be calling and bitching them out shortly. Again on a positive note, the house is gorgeous. I am so proud of us; we worked our butts off for three solid days and I am so happy with the results. AP and I are a great team.

Mmmm, Carpet Cleaning

I cannot wait until Jesse moves out and we can finally end his snotty, entitled Reign of Annoyance. He is actually not moving out until Aug. 8 or 9, so I am charging him $24 a day to live in my house, which I am deducting from his deposit, which he will get back most of. Why $24 a day? Because the room he will be inhabiting for 9 days is now worth $750 a month, and he will be paying rent at the new price because that's simply how much the room costs now. He is aware of this, I am not a total bitch, but he will probably be unhappy with how much deposit he's getting back. I really don't care what he thinks. The new chick, Erica, is super cool and she's coming to us on the 11th, but she's dropping off her deposit money on the 1st. We've worked it out in that I've deducted her time not in the house from her deposit, because she should not have to pay for days she does not live with us.
Anyway, the title of the post. I cannot wait to clean these carpets. When you live with boys who constantly have buddies over, the carpets will look really bad, really fast. Yes, they were half-assed cleaned right before I moved in, but because Jesse's stupid little dog pisses and shits all over the carpet and his friends are always spilling things, they started looking really horrible almost immediately. So yay for that. That is also coming out of his deposit. I seriously love being a "landlord." Officially, I'm not a landlord because I don't own anything (property wise), but I handled everything when it came to finding the new person, all of the interviews, working out the deposit and all that jazz. The new person is sub-leasing from me. We have a contract. It's fancy. It was really time-consuming, but now I'm drunk on power and happiness. AP and I have big plans for the new living situation. New decor, new rules, new room, everything starting fresh and pretty. Thanks, in large part, to AP's ability to find new things at Goodwill from Target. Hence our new towel rack, new shower rack, bath mat and some other stuff. Still in the packages from Target! I am very excited. She only spent $13 and got tons of new stuff. Happy Mer!

New Roomies!

There has been a lot happening (isn't there always?) First of all, the most pressing thing and title of this post. Jesse is moving out Aug. 1!!! This is awesome for several reasons 1) He never cleans anything or washes his dishes. I truly believe he thinks the dish faeries just come along and clean up his shit. In reality, AP and I do everything. He has never lifted one of his snotty, entitled fingers to do anything since the beginning of time and both AP and I are thrilled for this to happen. 2) This is a perfect opportunity for AP and I to re-do the structure of this house and make some needed personal and decorative improvements. What does that mean? We're moving to Jesse's room (it has a bigger closet and more area) and we are going to fill the other room with 1 or 2 lesbians! YAY!! 3) I have heard from a reliable source that Stupid Rose will also be moving out (October). This means all of AP's and my plans (and dreams) are coming true and we will get to re-structure the house with OUR rules and roomies of OUR choosing. I have already posted an ad on the glory that is Craig's List and since Saturday afternoon, we ahve gotten 20 good responses! It's only been 2 days! We'll probably have an open house this week to get an idea of who's interested and then do personal "callback" interviews for the best ones. I am really excited. There are already some that we really like. But we have to be fair to everyone (within reason). Since Stupid Rose has not told me officially that she is leaving, I have to play along and "ask" her how involved she wants to be in this process. I'll be happy if she want's no involvement at all since she's not staying. I don't think she should get a choice. But I have to be fair. I just want to lock this thing down ASAP. I don't want any break in time because I'll be damned if I'm paying any more than I have to.

Ceremony and HoneyCamping

Needless to say, readers, many things have happened since the last blog. I got "committed" to my AF, now AP (Amazing Partner), and we went camping to celebrate. Last Friday, we went to City Hall in our fair city and filled out our forms, spoke with the judge, took pictures before, during, and after the ceremony, put Mom on speaker phone for the during part and took many, many pictures of the whole thing. Then I fell down. This was after everything was all done and Molly and I were heading to the car. My right shoe slipped out from under me and I totally ate shit in the middle of the street. I really scraped up my knee (it was bleeding A LOT). And yes, we still went camping and YES, it still really hurts.
Anyway, I arrived back to my work to get cleaned up and get the car to go go back home to start getting all our stuff together for camping. AP had already made the list and was gathering things when I got home. So we did all the packing stuff, loaded up the car and went to Safeway to get the last minute items we needed for the trip. Then we decided that since we sort of got a late start, we decided that we didn't want to eat in the dark, so we went to Carl's Junior. THEN...We were finally on our way!
An hour and 10 minutes later we were at the campsite, only to discover that I had accidentally booked the handicapped campsite. We almost got in trouble with the rangers but it was decided that it was just a legitimate mistake and they let us stay (also there were no other sites to move us to.) Also, I don't know if you know this, but alcohol is strictly prohibited at the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. We had brought some champagne (we just got married), and had just opened it when the ranger drives up to talk to us about being in the handicapped space. She told us that the penalty for alcohol in the park is usually ejection from the park with no refund. She made me pour it out. :( I told her that we wouldn't have brought it in, but we just got married in San Francisco about 7 hours ago and we were celebrating. Then I showed her my ring and she said she was sorry for ruining our special night. Thank god she was a lesbian too! So she hugged me and said she'd let it slide and reminded us that, "there are OTHER things do do on a wedding night besides have champagne." That's a direct quote! Again, thank god for lezzie park rangers!
So that was Friday. On Saturday, we let nature wake us up and then we got ready to go to brunch in Downtown Santa Cruz. Specifically to Zachary's, a great restaurant that is special to us as a couple. So we ate, then we went to a couple of little shops and then we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It's an amusement park on the shore (the last of it's kind in California) that has rides and an arcade and shops and restaurants. It's really big and just as fun. It's free to get in, but if you want to ride rides, you have to buy tickets. We didn't ride anything, but we played arcade games. AP is awesome and she hit the jackpot on the of the games and 250 TICKETS START FLYING OUT OF THE MACHINE!! It's was so cool!! We bought shot glasses with the tickets, did the 4-in-1 photo booth (really cute pictures), and got some saltwater taffy. After a little while longer, we decided to go back to the campsite and have sandwiches and relax before dinner. We ended up napping until 7:45 p.m. Then we built a fire and made S'Mores (my favorite quintessential camping food). Then we watched a movie and went to bed again.
Now Sunday. We wanted to get an early start back to the city so we could unpack and get things put away so we could wind down from all the weekend excitement, so we got up at 7. We took down everything, reloaded the car and headed to the Ugly Mug, a lesbian coffee shop in downtown Santa Cruz. The we went to New Brighton State Beach. It was only about 9 am by this time so we took some pictures of ourselves and hung out on a big log on the beach and talked. It was a really beautiful morning. The we were on our way back to the city. We got home, unpacked and put everything away and showered, and went to wash and vacuum out Beth's car. When you camp, leaves and crap get in the trunk and the floor boards. So we went the wash it yourself place and cleaned it and vacuumed and made it look really nice. And then we rented PS2 games. Then we went home and played them.
I know what you're thinking: Wasn't it Gay Pride Weekend? Yes it was, and no we did nothing Pride-related, except get married. We did other gay things too (camping is pretty gay, right?) Kidding, straight chicks camp too. We didn't do anything for pride because in San Francisco, by the time you do all the events and parades and the booths and deal with the million + people that are there, downtown, celebrating their pride also a couple of times, you realize that you want to make your own plans. All that stuff is really great for the community and all, but it can get tiresome. San Francisco is a really lively city and we do gay stuff all year, not just this one specific weekend, so that's that. So, that was our weekend! I look forward to your comments.

More Bad Stuff (But It's OK Now)

There has been much drama in the Land of Mer over the past few days, so I'll recap. My Ceremony witness, Beth, went out of town and because one of her very dear friends had a heart attack. She was supposed to be back today so she could partake in both the Pros Graduation and the Ceremony, but she called on Monday saying that they really need her down there (Arizona), and she won't be back until this coming Tuesday. However! All is not lost. There are a lot of people who want to witness this event, so I asked the only other woman over 50 and fabulous that I knew could be available for this. It's Dr. Molly Newlon, my dentist, but she is also my friend. So that fire was put out. AND...as a consolation prize for not being able to witness, Beth is letting us borrow her car for the weekend. I picked it up yesterday. She said I could have it until she comes back on Monday. Yay!!!
This brings me to THIS WEEKEND. AKA: HONEYCAMPING! It is not a Honeymoon. It's Honeycamping. The original plan was to rent a car and go to Santa Cruz and stay over and do brunch and the beach and maybe hike. The problem is that it's Gay Pride Weekend and there are no reasonably priced hotels with available rooms anywhere in the town. So the alternative? We found the LAST POSSIBLE campspot in the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park for this Friday and Saturday. Both AF and I like to camp and the site is right outside Santa Cruz and our plan is as follows:
Friday 1:30-2:15 Sign more forms and "GET MARRIED"!
Go back to house and load up car for camping, leave for the Redwoods. We'll probably check in around 4-4:30 or so. Set up camp, build fire, eat dinner (hot dogs, Pasta Roni, and S'Mores), hang out, maybe go for a walk, watch a movie....Etc. I trail off because you can all use your imaginations for the next part.
Saturday Morning: Breakfast at Zach's (this amazing breakfast place in Santa Cruz), beach and hiking, more camping related fun, get a good night's sleep.
Sunday Morning: Breakfast on the way home, get home early enough for the Gay Pride festivities, and collapse in a heap of happiness. Oh yes, and take many pictures. We just bought 2 disposable cameras, so we will be documenting the whole trip.

Longest Week Ever!

Can I just say that this week feels like the slowest week ever! Seriously, it's worse than Christmas. Anyone who knows me knows how I am with Christmas. And my birthday :)

One Week to Go!!

Next Friday is the ceremony and I am super-excited. It's like it's not even really happening!!!!! However, nothing is really changing except now we will wear matching rings and refer to each other as "partner." Yes, that is the term we have chosen. But I think I'll just keep calling her by her name: Baby. Or Honey Dew. I can't stop smiling. :)
I have started ordering decorations for the party in September. Plastic tablecloths in varying colors have been purchased as well as a grass table skirt with hibiscus flower trim for the "Gift Table." Since Betty Lou (my sister) refuses to help guide guests to the party area, I have a new plan. Signs and silk flower petals. The silk flower petals will serve as a pathway to the downstairs and outside area, and therefore will lead guests from the staging area to the party. Problem solved. More to come...

Almost Really Bad, Then Good Again

Just in case I hadn't explained the RING DRAMA, I will discuss it now. I ordered the rings separately because of the cost and when we got AF's, everything was fine, but mine had scratches on it so I sent it back so they could buff it out and send it back to me. So 3 weeks went by and I hadn't gotten it back yet, so I called them. It was my fault after all because I forgot to include a copy of the invoice in the box and they didn't know where to send it back to. Totally my bad. That was fine. So, when I got what I thought was my ring in the mail, I opened it to inspect it's smoothness only to discover that IT WAS NOT MY RING!!! This ring was too big and did not have the engraving inside like MY RING. I was really unhappy, because the ceremony is on Friday, so my plan was to write an angry e-mail and get my money back. I say WAS because I poured my heart out to AF and she called them for me, explained the situation and the lady called me back and explained that she didn't know why the guy mailed this other ring and that she had mine right there and she'd send it back to me today with a return address label so I could mail back the other ring when I received the correct one.
I know you're probably asking yourselves, "Why didn't you just call them yourself?" The answer is simple. I tend to get really emotional when it comes to things like this, especially when dealing with people on the phone, and I tend to go a little crazy with the possibility of getting hysterical. And there was a chance that I would burst into tears and start flipping out. Completely unnecessarily, I might add, because SOMETIMES I run on pure emotion and am unreasonable and don't think before I act or speak. This is why I have AF. She makes things better. She understands that sometimes I can be like this and is there for me so I don't have a meltdown.
All that being said, usually I am pretty good at handling bad stuff, so being able to have her help sometimes is very refreshing. Usually I come from the, "DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF SO NO ONE CAN DISAPPOINT YOU CAMP," but I am slowly learning that delegating small stuff to trusted people is okay some of the time. Ahh, I guess that means I'm growing up. (Wipe away the tears Mom). ;)

The Importance of Notarization

I assume that's a real word. "The act of having something notarized." Either way, it brings me to todays discussion. AF's sister in law is a notary. She notarized our State of California Domestic Partnership agreement on Saturday. I am super-excited! We are also registering with the City and County of San Francisco, but that happens on our ceremony day, June 22nd. I am just, un-holy excited about this whole thing. To celebrate our signing yesterday, we took pictures of each of us signing it and then went out to a restaurant called the Burger Joint for dinner. It was fun. It was actually a very lazy weekend other than that.
On Thursday we went to Chevy's for no reason. We don't normally eat out, so this has been a treat. But I did wear my dress to work on Thursday, so I guess that was an occasion. After work while I was waiting for AF I went to the Borders store next to the restaurant. I love Borders. I love all bookstores. It was really fun to walk around and look at all the new stuff. AND...since it's June, there is a lot of bride-y stuff out right now. It's always fun to look at that stuff. There is so much variety when it comes to all those things! Plus, my mom sent me a catalogue full of cool wedding stuff.

Lezzies and Big Trucks

As you all know, my evil roomie CP (Crazy Pants) crashed my car in February, so whenever AF and I need to go anywhere far away or take our children somewhere, we have to rent a car. This time, not only did Enterprise give me a free upgrade to the car of my choice, they let me keep it a few extra hours for free because I was early for the drop off. I'll explain. AF and I got to rent a Ford F-150 (Big Ass Lezzie Truck) for the same price as the "Economy" vehicle, which is usually something sad like a Neon with no power that needs gas every 10 minutes. I was very excited. We had to rent the car to do several things. We took White Girl to the vet: Good news is that she is allergic to flea bites, so she now has drops and goo, but it's nothing serious. Hooray! We also went to Ross which is next to her vet's office in search of my Commitment Ceremony dress. More good news, but of course there is a story behind it.
I bought a dress at the mall with a matching necklace for $85 total. Keep in mind, loyal readers, that I do not ever buy clothes for myself EVER, let alone spend $85 for one freaking outfit. But the dress was pretty and this is special, so I figured it was okay. Get the dress home and AF hates it. I was shocked at her reaction, and let's just say, I was really upset. I was expecting her to say how pretty it was. Needless to say, that was not the reaction I got. So we decided to piggyback the car rental and cat to the vet with a trip to Ross to see if we could do better. Not only did we find my ceremony dress, I also purchased 2 other dresses for a grand total of $68! I literally got three really pretty dresses for less than I paid for 1 at the mall. I will never shop retail again. But I should have known Ross would be awesome. They always are. Then we took the kid back home and started getting ready for the real reason we rented the car: The Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile in concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
GO TO THEIR WEBSITE. It was truly awesome and beautiful and romantic.
The Indigo Girls are pretty much a lesbian institution and AF and I have seen them in concert 3 times now. We are both huge fans. Plus Brandi! I have decided that if she ever comes to SF alone, we'd go to that show too. And... She signed my program and congratulated us on our upcoming Ceremony. It was really cool. After the concert, we went back to the Big Lezzie Truck and made out like teenagers in the back seat. Also really cool. Then we headed home and arrived at the house around 11 pm. On a school night no less. It was hard getting up today. I am very tired, but I am also wearing my new casual dress from Ross. I look adorable and have gotten many, many compliments from my work-people. Yay!! The joy continues. Happy MER!!

More things...

There is a lot of paperwork to be done for this whole domestic partnership ceremony thing. And it all has to be notarized. And paid for. Luckily, there is a notary 2 blocks from my work. AF and I are going there on Tuesday during my lunch hour to sign our City and State domestic partnership forms and have the nice lady sign off on them so we can mail them in and get officially registered as Domestic Partners. This means she gets to be on my benefits now and is also contractually obligated to love me forever. Okay, the second part isn't true, but it's just fun to say. Planning all this stuff is actually a lot of fun. It's a really amazing feeling to do all this prep and planning for our future.
Basically how this whole thing got started is sort of old-fashioned. Both of us really, REALLY want to have a baby (or 4: See previous posts). But I'm no fool and I told AF that I want to have a baby with her but I am not going to do that until we get married. We've been through a lot of rough things as a couple and it has strengthened our relationship, convincing me that we can stand the test of time, but there is something about having a ceremony and signing forms and getting certificates that really makes it all special. After this is all over, it's baby time. I was talking to my big sister on the phone yesterday and she was saying that it feels weird to have one sister getting married and one having a baby (Lil Sis is preggers). I told her we all do things in our own time and she'll get there if it's meant to happen.
I also asked her for the one thing I am going to need help with in all of the wedding planning. On the day of the event, I am going to need someone to answer the door, tell people where to drop their things off and where to go for the party. The way our house is structured, people have to enter on the top floor, go down 8 steps to the garage level, then 12 more steps to the outside area. She started complaining that she didn't want to be my "servant" while she was here visiting and I was being unfair! This is the only thing I have asked of anyone since the planning began (except for my Mom to help me make the invitations), so I don't think it's asking too much for her to help direct for one hour. Besides, I told her, our Mom is going to make her help me anyway, so she may as well stop whining now. Her response? "Good point. I'll help you." Success!! Woo hoo and yay!

Many, Many Good and New Things!

So, I know it's been a long time since my last blog, but I have actually been really busy. There is a lot to talk about. Item 1, White Girl (my cat) has a weird skin thing where she has lots of tiny, gross scabs all over her skin and you can feel them when you pet her. It is really quite sad, so I am taking her to the vet June 6th. I know it seems like a long way to wait, but I am piggybacking it to a day when I will have a car because AF and I are going to the Indigo Girls concert and we are renting a car because it's in Saratoga at the Mountain Winery. Awesome venue and I don't think my baby wants to ride the bus, so she has to wait until I have a car to take her to the doctor. Other than that, the cats are okay.
Item 2: AG has officially become AF (Amazing Fiancee), as we have set two dates for our wedding. Day 1 is June 22nd. That day we will be going to City Hall for our paperwork so we can officially become domestic partners (YAY! Recognition of our life as a couple!!) Day 2 is September 8th, the day we will have our big giant Lesbian Luau Wedding Party in which my parents, sisters, friends, and many, many co-workers will join us at our house to help us celebrate our commitment to each other and have cake.
Item 3: The MOST FUN THING TO DO IN THE WORLD: Register for wedding presents. AF and I have decided (OK, I have decided) that I will be planning the entire thing myself, that includes registering for presents and making the invitations. However, the first thing you have to do when planning something like this is to register for gifts because you are then given little tags telling the guests where you are registered. Step two is a guest list and step three is making the invitations. Since I have the entire thing planned in my head, I have also decided that the only place I can make the invitations is Archiver's Scrapbooking store in Colorado. There is nothing like that here in SF, so I have to wait until my next CO trip to make them. I will be enlisting the help of my mother and whomever else we can to help. We have to make a total of 70 invitations. I am really excited about this whole thing.
At first, we weren't going to do anything. Now, we are having a Luau and registering for things. The more planning that goes on, the more excited we get. And trust me, I am not the "BRIDE" type. But now I'm wondering why I didn't tell more people about this earlier. I am getting a lot of positive response from everybody, and they are all really happy and excited for me. It's really cool! More to come....

On Little Mers...

And by Little Mers, I mean children. AG and I want 4. Obviously, for us, it's going to take a little magic juice from the Sperm Doctor. She can't just get me pregnant. Not like you heteros. It's so easy for you. A few too many Mai Tais and some Barry White tunes and BAM! It's baby time. Luckily, thanks to the magic and glory that is the Internet, and the liberal gay-friendliness that is the Bay Area, there are many, many options for lesbians who want children (like us).
Despite all of these things and modern technology, I am still an old-fashioned gal. I told AG (soon to be AP= Amazing Partner) that I will not even consider taking steps to have our babies until we get legally partnered. I'm talking Domestic Partnership papers and ring-exchange here. Neither of us are the circus wedding, big fluffy white gown, 500 guests and way too much money type people. It's just not us. We'd rather spend our money on fixing the car and saving up for sperm and fertility treatments. I know what you're thinking: Sperm is free. No it isn't. It's about $150-250 for the good stuff, but that's not all. There are many extras. You have to pay for the complete profile for the donor, you have to have a consultation with the doctor, you have to buy the insemination kit, book time to do it (either in-office, or at home), each procedure also costs money as does each vial of the good stuff. Ironic isn't it? The one time you NEED a man. Well, not all of him. Just a few of his strongest swimmers. You also have to pay for the sperm to be washed and for the samples to be prepared. A lot more goes into this than one would think.
Luckily, we are already preparing for this, financially and emotionally. It's just my way, I guess. I always try to get as much information and do as much preliminary prep work as possible before I take on anything major. That brings me to another point. For a long time, I was known as "the impetuous one." I am not really this way. I marinate on the major stuff for a long time, and as soon as the right time hits, I waste no time in making my plans come to fruition. I strike while the iron is hot, so although it APPEARS that I have put no thought into anything, the truth is, everything is already planned. I just don't take the time to share every little step and detail of my plan to everyone. Only the people it directly involves. I'm just making the planned things go as quickly as possible. I am really excited about this year. It's going to be interesting and fun.

My Mommy!!

I received much buzz and commentary after my last blog posting, and ended up with a result I am happy with. Mommy has agreed to come and visit me soon, but we don't know when yet. I don't ever include my Daddy in my pleas for SF visitors because he has said he will never visit me here because he hates the city, so I don't try. It's not as if I don't want him, he jsut won't come.
So, the next question, what to do when Mommy comes to visit? The last time she came, it was with my sisters, 2 months after I moved to the city and it was only for 2 1/2 days. Much has changed since then. Depending on when she visits, there are many things that have to be planned. There are tons of cool museums, including the Asian Art Museum, SF MOMA, Railway Museum and many, many others. There's the beach, the GG Bridge, many restaurants and parks, and street fairs.
But it all depends on WHEN. Different things happen in different months, and no two seasons are alike, weather wise or event wise. For example, if she comes in June, does that mean she is going to want to come to Gay Pride? If so, Pride begins on Friday, June 22nd. Also, that is when AG and I are having our little ceremony and signing our Domestic Partnership papers, and exchanging rings. She has already said she can't come in July because there's too much happening during that time. August is good too, I beleive the Castro Street Fair will be happening, and it is also AG's birthday on the 17th. However, Little Sis is having her baby Aug. 25th. That brings us to September, when Big Sis is visiting. Are they going to coordinate?
In any event, I am super-excited about this. More to come as details surface!!

Dilemma

Faithful readers-- I have a bit of a dilemma. I usually go and see my family in Colorado twice a year, but will be making an extra trip in November so the fam can meet AG. She is a little gun-shy about this because the only person she has ever met in my family is the Little Sister. Little Sister is probably the worst example of my family to meet first. She horrible. Judgemental, mean-spirited and crude. And merciless. My dilemma is this: I use up all of my vacation days going on these trips, and none of the good family members have ever made the trek out here (except when I first moved, and a lot has changed since then). I don't think it's fair that I have to waste my vacation days going to CO, and no one visits me!!!! SF is way more fun than CO, there is tons to do and free museum days, and walking tours and it's all right here at your fingertips all the time! And the weather is generally beautiful. No snow. So what to do? Mom has said that she can't visit me in July because there is just too much going on during that week. One of her nieces is visiting and there are things planned, and I'm supposed to be there, of course. And Little Sister's baby shower is going to happen that week too. I still feel like I'm getting screwed here. No one comes to see me. I'm getting really sick and resentful about this whole thing. And visiting CO for the baby shower is not going to be a big deal because LS won't give a shit that I'm there anyway. So what's the point I ask? I do miss my parents, but it isn't fair that they never come here. I'd much rather take my days off and spend them hanging around the city doing fun SF things with my family than CO things with them. I lived in CO for a decade, I think I know what it's like to be there. But none of them have spent much time in SF, especially now that I know things here. I'm going to wait for a response before I book my next ticket to CO. What do my readers think? Is Merlicious getting hosed here?

The Pursuit of Thinness

I've been walking home lately too. It's 4.2 miles. As much as I love myself (and as sexy as AG finds me), I am still trying to lose weight. I have to get down to a certain weight before I can donate my eggs, and apparently, my eggs are too fat right now. But the pursuit of thinness continues and I never give up hope. I have discovered a few things that help me: 1) Eat half of the amount you REALLY want and save the rest for later. Your brain and tummy get mixed signals and trick you into eating more than you need. 2) You really don't need that eclair. I know it looks little, but it's probably about a million Weight Watchers Points. This makes it pretty much not worth it. 3) It's all in your head. Motivation is really important. I know it seems like 4.2 miles is a really long way, but it really isn't. Especially if you are listening to the Black Eyed Peas and the whole trek is pretty much down hill. 4) Sex can be used as exercise. This is another great thing about the Pursuit. Your partner can help you and this particular activity is super-fun and serves several purposes. The more sex you have the healthier and happier you are. It's true. It boosts your immunity and releases helpful endorphins. WOO HOO!! And the last and most important part: No one is going to lose the weight for you, it is something you have to do for yourself for your own reasons, but it is important to have a goal.

Mer!!

Hello all, and by all, I mean the 3 people who read my blog other than me. Let me begin by singing the praises of Netflix. Since AG and I don't have movie channels with our cable, we have Netflix. We get movies every day and they are seriously awesome. It's all very exciting. The cats continue their cute-ness and the house continues to be clean and festive. AG and I went to the Haight on Saturday and I am now the proud owner of my first plant. I named him Roger and he needs water every 10 days. You may be wondering why I now have a plant and the answer is sort of like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." We have thousands of patients in Pros, and they all love us. We occasionally get presents when they are finally done with treatment, as is the case here. One of my favorite patients, Kirstin, gave Beth and me a fruit bucket. It had layers of fruit in Easter grass from Trader Joe's, a cool grocery store in SF. After eating the fruit, Beth and I realized that the bucket containing the fruit was pretty neat. It is a metal bucket that is lightweight and prettily patterned. Beth said I could have it, so I took it home. The question was, what do I do with this bucket? The answer: Put a plant in it. The problem: AG has many plants and they are in our room, but they all already have homes. The solution: Go to the Haight and find a decent sized plant to live in the bucket. When I saw Roger, I knew he was the plant for me. I don't know why, it just seemed right. We'll see how this works out, as I am not exactly known for having a green thumb, but I only have to water him every 10 days, so how bad could I do?
Let's see, it's been awhile since I blogged, so there's a lot. AG and I are still doing really awesome. I love her so much and we actually have an anniversary coming up. On May 10, I will have known her for two years. I don't know or really care how we celebrate, but it's going to be a good time. As always, I have some tricks up my sleeve. :)
Work is the same, except that Beth is out of town for the next 10 days, so work is going to be Hell for a bit. Our job is impossible to do alone, so when there's one of us, it's not exactly fun. We call ourselves 911/411/24-7/365. This is why: For some reason, Pros is the only department in the school of dentistry that actually answers it's phone calls and returns messages. And because of this, people call us for everything, even if they aren't a patient here. They do this because they know we always pick up and are as helpful as possible. It's okay when we aren't that busy, but sometimes...it's really frustrating. More later...

To Clarify

The ceremony AG and I will be participating in on June 23 is not our "Wedding." It is just a little thing (15 minutes), we are signing our domestic partnership agreement, and then we are going away for the weekend. Later on, at some point in the months after everybody meets and loves everybody, there will be an event. An event involving coordinated outfits at a special location probably involving a minister and a lot of Mom-related crying. No one is being left out because there is nothing to be left out of. I promise everyone will be kept abreast of the other ceremony. We just want to do this little one now. There will be an event when we can afford to spend money on it. This type of thing is very expensive. Everybody calm down. No one is being left out of the loop.

Happy Happy!!

I have excellent news: AG and I are going to see the Indigo Girls in concert for the third time on June 6th. We have already seen them in all their glory twice before and each time is always really cool and special. Last time, they gave away posters. Yee ha. The pre-sale tickets went on sale last week and I tried to get some on-line but I could only get individual seats (boo), so I decided not to go that route. Either way, the pre-sale tickets were sold out IN ONE HOUR!! So I called TicketMaster at exactly 10 a.m. on Sunday and spoke with a rep who got us really great seats. Luckily all of the tickets were either $35 for not reserved or $40 for reserved, so we went with the good seats. Both AG and I are really excited. I love the Indigo Girls and they are one of very few griups that I will pay to go see. I am not normally a music/concert person. I usually take the "why waste the money?" position. But they are totally worth seeing. Their concerts always make you feel like they're singing directly to you, and it feels so good. AND THE BEST PART: Their concerts are always 99% lesbians. Both AG and I really like being around large groups of lesbians (it's like being with family) and it's a guaranteed good time.
Also, and this is the BESTEST BESTEST PART: My wedding ring arrives in the mail this week!! I am so, so, so excited. Neith AG nor I are the Circus Wedding types, and that includes rings. It is a plain white gold band 4 mm wide (the thinnest size they can engrave). We are ordering them separately because if you do that, the second ring is discounted, and hers is more expensive because it is slightly wider (5mm), so we are ordering hers next week. I have promised (under penalty of death) to immediately turn over the ring package (unopened) to AG as soon as it arrives in the mail. I always have everything shipped to my work address because then I know I will get it delivered on time without fail. I got an e-mail on Saturday saying it was shipped. The company is based out of L.A., so it should be arriving this week!! HAPPY HAPPY!!

The Land of Mer

Nothing to report as of late, so I'll just update everyone in general. This is my 20th post, so yay for that. Easter happened, my mom sent me and AG an Easter basket, per usual, and it was fabulous. At least I waited until the day before Easter to start eating my candy (AG started right away). I cannot bear to take down my b-day balloons from our room because I love them so much. Most of them are still going strong.
Oh!! I almost forgot. AG and I gave the cats a bath on Monday evening. I don't know if any of you have ever tried to bathe a cat, so I'll describe it in detail. First, I have to tell you all that I have only what can be described as "Genius Cats." They are brilliant, I have no doubt, because their Mommies are brilliant. We have learned that in order to bathe the girls 1) We have to herd them out of the bedroom and close the door because they will hide under the bed and will not come out for the rest of the evening (escaping their bath). 2) It must be done 1 at a time in the kitchen sink (Brown first because sometimes she cries). 3) The directions say that the flea soap must remain on the cat for a full five minutes to fully work, so the timer must be set. 4) It takes two people to bathe each cat-child (I hold them down and AG bathes them). They have only had two baths in their lives and they really hate it.
They basically hate everything I do to them unless it directly involves me letting them sleep on me OR anything that results in the petting and love of them. I use a flea brush on them every day and they hate that too. The bathing thing is going to happen regularly. AG and I have a plan of attack for that. We are going to bathe them again next week, but instead of letting them back into the room, we are going to flea-bomb the room and pray that it works. That's the one really good thing about Colorado: It's so dry and high up that fleas cannot live there. It's not that bad though. I do have war wounds from the bath. AGAIN: They really don't like it.
I tried to put a photo of my cat scratch in here, but apparently me having my new and fabulous phone is like giving a camera to a toddler: They really have no idea what they are doing, but it's fun to watch them try :)
Also AG and I are trying to get Indigo Girls tickets for June. The pre-sales didn't have any remaining tickets together, so we have to wait until the regular tickets go on sale on the 15th. We love the Indigo Girls. We've seen them twice and it is always really special and amazing.
Gotta go, I have more stuff to accomplish today besides updating my blog. Love for all.

New Phone!

On a happy note, I am getting my new cell phone tomorrow. AG and I have joined
T-Mobile's Family Talk Plan and we are excited. I was paying WAY WAY to much ($80) for my regular cell phone, with 900 minutes a month, versus sharing 1000 minutes, plus 2 free new beautiful and fancy phones for $35 per person per month. It's is really an awesome deal and the phones arrive tomorrow! Both our cell numbers stay the same, so nothing is changing. I'll be saving about $50 a month!! We are both really excited about the new plan. I set the whole thing up on-line and it didn't cost me a dime. There is an activation fee, but they send you a statement for that in the mail. I've been with Cingular for almost 2 1/2 years and it was just getting too expensive. It's is actually cheaper to set us up with a whole new carrier. WOO HOO AND YAY!!

On Getting Older

I know I just had a fabulous birthday, but this post isn't about me. It's about my grandma. My mom's mom, specifically. I was talking to my mom the other day and she told me to call my grandmother because she is really lonely in her new digs. My grandparents recently moved into a retirement community, which I call a dorm for the elderly, and my grandma really likes it, but my grandpa really hates it, so he is making her miserable because he is unhappy. My mom says he's mentally ill, which I believe, because the last time I saw him, he told me to go to hell. AG says that lashing out and change in behavior is a sign of dementia. AG worked for many convalescent hospitals before her job makeover via Noah's Bagels, so she knows what she's talking about. So I called her yesterday and we had a nice chat. I feel really bad for her because my grandpa's a total jerk. I told her I'll be sending her a present for Mother's Day and she got really excited. I know that she's a lot like me. The anticipation of the present makes getting the gift just that much more exciting. My grandma loves presents.
They live in Sedalia, MO. They used to live in Smithton, MO, and Grandma says that Grandpa wants them to move back there in October. He says that all he has to do is fix up the house. The trouble is, he owns 4 houses in the area. None are inhabitable. He has been saying that's he's going to get them in order for a long time. It's never going to happen, but he's as stubborn as a mule and won't listen to anyone. I hope she's okay. She said that I sounded really happy when we spoke. I am really happy. I'm going to try and be a better grandchild and call her at least 3 times a month. And send cards for the holidays. She needs us.

The Weekend

So, now the main festivities of my birthday are over. But that's cool and other things are happening now. On Saturday, I went to the clinicians seminar for Lesbian Health. How did that come to be since I work at the dental school you are probably wondering? Last October I volunteered with the LHRC (Lesbian Health and Research Center) at the Folsom Street Fair. If you don't know what that is, Google it. I don't really want to describe it here, it's too much. :)
Anyway, That's how I got on the LHRC's e-mail list for classes and other volunteer opportunities for tamer things like Saturday's event. I wanted to go mainly because the first 2 seminars of the day focused on lesbian pregnancy and parenting and I feel that I have to get informed before AG and I take the baby plunge. AG was at work, and I had to be there at 7:30 a.m. because I volunteered to set-up. I chose to volunteer because all of the volunteers get to go to any of the seminars for free, while everyone else has to pay. I learned a lot of really interesting things and got cards and websites for more information. I am very happy. And there was breakfast and lunch. After that, I went home and curled up with AG to watch "In Her Shoes." Between the quietness of the movie and the rainy weather, we both fell asleep. We took a 3-hour nap! We woke up around 7, made dinner, finished the movie and went to bed again around 11. On Sunday, we let nature wake us up and decided to spend some time on the house. We cleaned the room and did laundry, AG vacuumed and I wiped down the bathroom. We did a cat box overhaul (removed all litter and washed it out). Washed the sheets and towels. After all that, we walked to the grocery store. Safeway isn't that far away and we have one of those little push-cart roller things to make the trek back to the house easier. The carts are essential and are impossible to live without when you don't have a car. Especially if you have to carry anything like toilet paper or anything involving a cat (like their food or litter). The only time we went shopping and had not yet purchased the cart was a disaster. We had to stop every minute to rest because we had so much stuff. Then we got the cart. Yay. Then we put on, "The Illusionist." We both fell asleep and slept for about an hour or so, then awoke and made pork fajitas. They were awesome. Then we finished the movie, which was excellent by the way, and watched 60 Minutes, Amazing Race, and Cold Case. Then more sleep. We had a really busy but relaxing weekend. More to come.

Hooray for Everyone!

I had the most perfect birthday of my adult life thanks to my work, AG, my parents, my sister, and my friends (not necessarily in that order). I ended up with 2 cakes. My work had a cake for me called the Princess Cake (I know), and then one of my co-workers got me my own personal multi-fruit cake. I got much love from everyone, including calls from my parents and grandparents, my sister wrote about me on her blog, and when I got home that evening, AG HAD FILLED OUR ROOM WITH BALLOONS!! They were all over the ceiling! It was so cool. They're still up and I will be waiting until the absolute last minute to take them down. The minute they start to wilt and look sad, I'll take them away.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but AG is holding one of my presents hostage. She says it's to drag out my celebration even more, but I think it's so she can torment me in a fun way because she knows I secretly love surprises. However, she did end up telling me what the gift is because she has a lot of insecurity around giving people presents because her ex is a huge bitch and made her promise never to buy her anything and to just give her the money because she hated all of the presents she gave her. ISN'T THAT MEAN?!?!?!? I love everything and I am really easy to buy for, so my mom always says that I am her favorite person to shop for because I'm so easy.
I'm sure you're wondering what the mystery present is so I'll tell you:
SHE GOT ME A SPA DAY!!! HOORAY!! It's something I've never had and always wanted, so I am really excited. For an undisclosed amount, I get to pick my services for my day of rest and relaxation at one of the Castro's finest spas. Yay!! I have this Friday off from work because it's Cesar Chavez Day and I work for the state, so I might go then, but we'll have to see. I cannot wait!
PS: My youngest sister, Katie (the pregnant one) is a total deadbeat sibling. She didn't even call me on my birthday. SHE LIVES WITH OUR PARENTS, who I spoke with TWICE and she didn't even call! I'm not really broken up about it, but still. My birthday was perfect, and I am really happy about it.

Past Birthdays

As an addition to my previous post, I want to let the world know that when I was a Little Mer, I had incredible birthday parties. This was thanks in large part to my AM (Amazing Mom). My Mommy rules. She is the smartest, most fun, loving, caring, creative and devoted person I know. She has kick-ass parenting skills that I hope to emulate in the near future and has the biggest heart. The only person who even comes close is AG. I can say they are pretty much on the same level regarding the qualities I just listed, but I love them in different ways and for different reasons. I am a very, very lucky girl to have such wonderful people in my life. YAY FOR ME!!

It's My Birthday Eve

In case my faithful readers have not been so faithful lately, my birthday is tomorrow!! I like to stretch the celebrating out as long as possible because I like feeling special. So far I have received the following Mer-Centric presents: 4 cards, 4 magnets, 1 giant bouquet of flowers (from my AG) that smells up the entire house (in a good way), kitty stickers, a beautiful stained-glass wind chime that is multi-colored rainbow, 1 book, 8 pairs of festive socks (in one pack, that are brightly colored and some are stripey), and a musical card that sings, "Celebration." AG is determined to hold my last gift hostage until the real day and my parents and grandparents are holding out until my actual birthday to give me their gifts, and I must say, I have a lot of people around me that love and care about me. I am really, really lucky because I know that I am a rare sort of person to have a loving partner, family, and network of other people encircling me in JOY to make my life truly great. Isn't that what birthdays and holidays are all about? Reflecting on the goodness in your life and being thankful for it?
I have decided to be more thankful on a daily basis for the graces I've been given. After all, after we're gone, don't we want the people we knew in our lives to know that they were loved and appreciated? I'm just saying, it sound like a good idea. I'm going to sound dorky right now but I don't care: Tell someone you love them today and make them feel special. Cookies and milk for everyone!

Yay for Timing!

I must say, my anal retentive attention to the timing of things paid off on Sunday at the much anticipated Dinner Party! A good time was had by all (I hope), and the food turned out really well. We had: Three kinds of crackers (did you know they come in Party Packs?) with herb-vegetable cream cheese, garlic-herb cream cheese, and herbed goat cheese (my personal favorite) for appetizer. For the main course, we had mashed potatoes, corn, buttery rolls, and Havarti chicken. What is that you may be asking yourself? It's chicken breast with a slice through the middle to create a pocket with slices of dill Havarti cheese layered inside. Then you dip the chicken in egg, then flour, pour some water in the bottom of a glass baking dish, and bake until the chicken is cooked through. It's a recipe of my own creation along with the dessert. I took champagne flutes and chilled them in the refrigerator while we were eating. Then, I spooned a ball of Tropical flavor sorbet into each of the glasses, then I added a layer of vanilla ice cream, then another layer of sorbet, then ice cream. A total of 4 layers. I melted apricot preserves in the microwave and spooned the warm preserves over the top of each of the flutes. I must say, it was delicious. I also wanted to try a special drink for this little event: The Flirtini. I am normally a beer drinker, but I enjoy the occasional cocktail. A Flirtini is 1oz. of vodka mixed with 2oz. of champagne and 2oz. of pineapple juice. Very, very tasty. I mixed the alcohol and the juice separately, poured one double shot of the alcohol mix into a frosted martini glass and filled the rest with the pineapple juice. It was really yummy. Everything went well and even the Brown Girl kitty came out to say hi!
I got to meet Katherine's Darcy and they got to meet my Jenn. Jenn really liked both ladies and we hit it off splendidly. I am very happy. So now, the things on my list: continue excitement about my impending birthday (this Thursday!!!!) and eat many, many bagels. Life is beautiful.

Stupid Roommates

I have determined that my roommates are some of the stupidest and most inconsiderate alive. If not the most. AG and I are the only ones that do anything around the house, ever. AG is the only one that takes down the trash. Today was trash day and we both had to get up really early for work so neither of us took it out today. (I just forgot, AG had to be at work at 6). Both of the other people who live in the house were home all day. J works from home and is just lazy and entitled. I don't know what his trip is, but he has never lifted so much as a finger to do anything around this house that we all share. CP (Crazy Pants) is just crazy (obviously), stupid, and selfish. She only thinks about herself and where her next drink is coming from. AG and I have devised a plan of action. Not so much a plan that requires any actual doings, but just a map for our future #1 Get married #2 In 2008 (when our lease is up), we will be moving into our very own 2-bedroom apartment in Westlake where we used to live before the unpleasantness happened. #3 Have Baby Mer #4 Live there for 2 years #5 Move to Walnut Creek (Lovely area in the East Bay), #6 Have 2nd Baby Mer, #7 HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Of course, this is all tentative and based around what we want as a couple. The timeline itself is used purely for organizational purposes. I know what you're thinking parents: How can Merlicious be planning her life already? She's only 5! In actual reality, I'll be 24 next Thursday, but in my brain, I feel about 34. I feel like these are the next logical steps for my life. I'm ready to marry AG and start our family. I am very excited to see what happens next!

Dude, Where's My Friend?

Now that I finally have the dinner party date nailed down, I want to try and invite a few more people. I tried to invite my buddy Danica, but I called her and her cell phone mailbox is full. So I texted her and asked her to call me. Should I be worried? It takes a lot of voicemail to plug up a mailbox, which means she hasn't gotten them in a while. AG thinks she's just out of town. This makes sense, but I tend to go a little overboard if I think something bad either has or is happening.
This is how I met Danica: When I first moved to the city, I was staying with a now-former friend. I was supposed to be there for a whole month, but it didn't work out and then I stayed with her brother at his house on their couch. I was sick of feeling unwanted, so I went on Craig's List and was determined to find a 1-Week sublet for less than $100, anywhere non-scary. Lo and behold, I did! That was how I met Danica. She had posted the ad for someone to live in a little, tiny make-shift bedroom off of the kitchen for $75 during the exact time I needed. I had never been happier. She took me to the grocery store, showed me where to do my laundry, and even gave me space in the fridge and bathroom shelves. I had never felt so welcome since moving tot he city. And we've been friends ever since. Every few months, we get together for lunch or dinner, or coffee, stuff like that. The last time I saw her, I helped her jump her car because the battery died in Pacifica, but that was several months ago. I hope I hear from her soon so she can come to the dinner!

In Search of the Perfect Pen (and Bagels!)

I realize what I'm about to say makes me sound like a huge nerd, but I really don't care: I spent most of today going through the Office Max catalog and picking out the things I want Beth (my awesome supervisor) to get for me. I know, I know, you're probably thinking, "who gives a rat's behind about pens and organizers?" I do, that's who. I love it. It's just a giant book of products designed to make people's lives better and easier. For example, I needed to find a specific pen that I really like to use and I was also on the hunt for a desk elevator to put my monitor, desk accessories, and phone on. Beth and I inhabit an area of the 4th floor that used to be a storage area. Once this area was taken over by Pros, it was converted into our office space. Unfortunately, this space is very limited and can barely house the two of us, let alone our stuff. Some creativity is necessary, which is why I need the desk elevator. I am planning on putting my monitor and phone on it, which will technically double my counter-area by pushing everything back at least 6 inches. Now, when I write something, the piece of paper won't be hanging off of the end of my counter! Yee ha!
Also, AG started her new job yesterday. Tired of the drudgery of the elderly and sick (she used to be a CNA), she got a job at Noah's Bagels in the Embarcadero! This is good news for me, as the bagel is one of the most perfect foods ever created, and she gets some pretty serious discounts. Also she works with many, many lesbians. I don't know how she lucked out with that, but we are both pretty happy. She is just getting into the swing of things, but the shop is right next to BART and they are really busy all day, making the day go quickly. I am very happy for her. She was really unhappy at her last job, even though she was there for a long time. Any job where you are around death and crazy old people is really depressing and she had just had enough (it had been 5 years). This is a great new opportunity! AND BAGELS!

Dinner Party

Katherine and I have finally nailed down a date for the dinner party. Sunday, March 18th at 6:30. Yea!! I am very excited and have also received an e-vite to Katherine's Birthday/Housewarming on March 31st! Katherine and I sort of have this weird parallel lives friendship thing happening. Her birthday is March 15th, she is also a lesbian, and she is also in a serious relationship with her partner, Darcy. Slight difference, she and Darcy are married while Jenn and I are not (a situation soon to be remedied). They have a cat (we have 2). It's stuff like that. I became friends with Katherine because we both volunteered at a street fair help every October in San Francisco called the Folsom Street Fair. We met at the thank-you party for all the people who volunteered through the Lesbian Health and Research Center. Friendship ensued. Now it is time for our significant others to meet. AG and I do not have enough lesbian friends. I don't know why, we just don't. But we do know a lot of crazy and horrible people. Our plan is to break away from the crazy and it is my job to scout the normals and bring them in to our circle of friendship.
Something I like about being in a grown-up relationship: We are on the same page about pretty much everything, from take-out orders to our future children and we talk about everything openly, even if it is unfavorable. It is so fantastic! Not everything is a bowl of cherries, boys and girls, it took us a long time to get here. So don't think I am one of those perfect, happy people. It takes time to get to this place. We had to go on a break for a few months and we weren't together and that was really hard. Luckily, all the break did was make us realize that we are meant to be together. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. She's my girl. More later...

The Home Syndrome

If any of you are faithful readers to yeahsureright.blogspot.com, you will know that my sister, Betty Lou, blogged about an incident involving a kitchen area and me being a horrible little Mer and Bogarting the toy and acting really, really, bratty not wanting anyone else to touch it. To me, this makes perfect sense. It was my present, after all. Looking back, however, I'm sure my behavior was less than reputable. I make amends now: I am sorry for acting a fool during my birthday party a.k.a. "THE KITCHEN AREA INCIDENT." This brings me to my post for today. Betty Lou also says in her post that seeing me living on my own and in a committed relationship with someone I actually really love is surprising. She says I must have mellowed, except for when I visit Colorado, I just revert back to my old habits: Sore loser, embittered, etc. Admittedly, I will always be a sore loser (no one like to lose), but anyone who knows me in my real life here in the city knows that I am far from angry, mean, or bitter. It's something about "going home again" that makes everyone revert back to their childhood personality. I don't know what it is about being around their parents and siblings, but it happens to everyone. Case in point, Mom. When I visited CO in July, we all (as a family) went to Missouri (or Misery) to visit's AM's (Amazing Mom's) parents. True to this theory, as soon as AM was placed in the presence of her younger sister, she immediately became a teenager again. It just goes to show you, you can be married, have three adult children complete with dogs and a house and the whole bit, but get in front of the people you grew up with, you become a kid again. Whoever said youth is wasted on the young just haven't been visiting their siblings enough.
I have found that in front of my family, I do change, and not in a good way. I have this whole other life in SF, and I am really mellow, calm, and nice. I'm centered and happy. People like me, I'm good at my job, I have friends who care about me. I have AG, who I love more than anything in the world, and who would do anything for me (I'd do anything for her too). But get me in front of my family, I am moody, impatient, and generally annoyed. After about 4 days (1 if there are board games involved), I have had enough and all that great grown-up progress is tossed out the window and I am back in high school. This makes me look really bad, and is basically 20 steps back in my life-long journey of proving to my parents that I am not a screw-up and that I am capable of being on my own and being an adult. I don't know what I am trying to prove, but eventually my CO self will permanently become my SF self (my true self). Maybe after AG and I get married and have a little Mer of our own. Only time will tell. ;)

My Birthday

Ever since I was a little Mer, I have always loved my birthday. In my head, it is a national holiday and should be treated as such. When you are small, you pretty much get one day, two if you're lucky to celebrate it. By 2, I mean the actual day and the party day. When you get older, however, everything changes to your advantage. Because you don't see your friends all the time like when you are in elementary school , there is a greater opportunity to stretch the celebration of your birth to a month or more. Last year, for example, I had FIVE birthday cakes. Each time your birthday rolls around, small circles of your frinds want to celebrate it with you, but never at the same time. The circle of birthday begins thusly: Girlfriend gives you presents or does something special for you. Family calls you and sends presents. Then close friends host a dinner or take you out in celebration. Then work gives you a present and there is cake. As the days past your actual birthday roll around, satellite friends come out of the woodwork and tell you what a bad friend they have been, and that they owe you a drink or a meal, or coffee (depending what kind of friend you are [the drinking or eating or coffee kind]), and that can lead to upwards of 3-4 extra celebrations.
This is seriously one of the best parts of my journey to that place we call "adulthood." For all you who are wondering what I am doing this year, I'll tell you. AG and I are hosting 2-4 friends for dinner. We're talking full tilt dinner: Fancy drink (The Flirtini), appetizers, dinner, and dessert. I'm excited and have 2 people definitely coming already. We're trying to keep it really small because it's a nice dinner, so the guest list includes my friends Katherine and her partner Darcy, and I'm going to invite my friend Danica with the invitation to bring a date of her choosing. The party actually serves several purposes. I have never met Darcy, AG has never met Katherine, Darcy, or Danica, and we've never gotten together as a group. Also, none of my extraneous roomies will be in town, so I don't have to worry about CP (Crazy Pants) crashing my party, stealing the alcohol, and embarrassing me in front of my normal friends. This is going to be super fun!

Target and Cookies

AG has been friends with Melissa for over 20 years. I cannot even fathom that kind of longevity with someone I have known since high school, especially because people change drastically once high school ends. Melissa and AG are very different people. Sometimes it's hard to believe they are friends at all, but they are. That being said, Melissa came up to visit this weekend and we went to Target. Since I have been car-less for the past month, it has been a bit of a challenge shopping for some of the larger items I need (like cat food and litter [it's really heavy, and hard to carry if you have other stuff]), so when Melissa arrived on Friday afternoon, I asked her if she would please take us to Target. I bribed her with Starbucks to sweeten the deal, and she agreed. AG and I were able to load up on almost everything we had been needing but had not been able to carry (40 lbs. of cat litter, 30 lbs. of cat food, 1 giant storage bin) and stuff like that. That morning I had clipped coupons so we saved even more money above Target's already awesome pricing. As I have said in earlier posts, The SF does not have Wal-Mart so we do the best we can with Target. I also talked to The Youngest (Future Mama) while shopping. She said she and Future Grandma were going to this baby stuff expo and that being pregnant sucks, but I refuse to believe that. I, for one, cannot wait to have a baby.
She asked me when the next time I am going home with be, and I said the second week of July, like always. Side note for my readers: I go back to Colorado twice a year. Once in July, once in December. Mom has a week off in July, that's why I go then. And December goes without saying. If it were up to them, I'd go back once a month. Anyway, got stuff from Target, went home, played with my daughters (the cats) and pretty much did nothing for the rest of Saturday. Sunday rolls around, Melissa leaves, AG and I hang out reading, playing with the cats and watching TV. Afternoon rolls around and I prepare to go to the synagogue for cookie basket making. However, when I arrive, I am severely disappointed. The doors were locked and no one was going in or out! I wait around for about 15 minutes and then go home. I was upset. AG was there to comfort me and she made me dinner. Now I have to find a recipe involving apricot preserves so I can use the jar I bought for cookie making. On a brighter note, my birthday is approaching and I am inviting a few friends over for a small dinner party. I was thinking I could use the preserves recipe at that. More on that later today...

Bloody Wednesday

Since I work at UCSF, there is also a giant medical center right up the street from my building. This happens to be the centennial of the nursing school so they are having different lectures and things like that this year until the actual party day. They are also having a blood drive. Their slogan is "100 Pints in 100 Days." This is going on until the first week of May. So I have done my good deed for the day and donated a pint of blood for the cause plus 4 little vials for whatever they want to do with them. I'm hoping it's something that defies the laws of nature and will somehow assist my sister, Betty Lou, in taking over the world (her evil plan to take over [and therefore save] the world). Hopefully when she reads this, she will get the joke. It's a sister thing, I assure you, you don't want to know. It's eternally nerdy, just like us.
NERD PRIDE. Considering smart people are ostracized and taken advantage of in middle and high school, Betty Lou and I have now taken pride in our nerdiness and are happy to be smart girls. It is no longer a source of shame to be good at everything and smart to boot. I once asked our mom if she would rather be pretty or smart and could only be one, what would she choose? She shocked the crap out of me and said PRETTY! I would choose to be smart for the following reason: Beauty is fleeting, intelligence is forever. Come on now!! Then I asked AG and she said smart (of course!) and this is why I love her. I did not reveal Mom's answer until later. I was still shocked. More later....

Crazy Patients

I work in the Pros department at UCSF. We are a specialized field of dentistry dealing with crowns, bridges, dentures, and implant crowns. Because we are so highly specialized, the types of patient we get here tend to be on the more "interesting" side. Translation: By the time you NEED a prosthodontist, your mouth is in pretty bad shape. Also, we get a lot of crazy people. This brings me to today's story. A patient called in complaining that his doctor is incompetant and he wants to change to someone else. I asked him if he would tell me the name of his doctor so I could gather background of the situation. He REFUSED to tell me the name of his doctor! He also refused to tell me his name. I explained to him that in order to fix the situation and make everyone involved happy, I would need this important info. He refused. Beth, my lovely and talented supervisor heard me repeatedly ask him for the information and then told me to put him on hold. She told me to tell him that I was done talking to him because this conversation was going nowhere and he was being uncooperative. This is why I love Pros: I am allowed to say things like that to patients and it is totally okay because they are being unreasonable. Where else in the world can anyone do that? NOWHERE!! Heehaaahee!! Evil laughter! All that being said, I love the other 99.998% of people that walk through my doors as patients and they love us in return. Cheers!

For Cookie

Much happened over the last few day in the land of Merlicious. Middle of last week AG got a call with some sad news. One of her besy friends from home (Merced, CA) died on Valentine's Day. She had complications with Pneumonia. It gets worse: She was only 38, leaves behind a new husband (they were married 9 months), and a teenage daughter. It gets even sadder than that! She was raised by her grandmother who died when SHE was a teenager too! The irony is crazy sad and incredibly horrible. The good news is that the husband is adopting the daughter and they'll be okay, but still.

Of course, we went to the funeral. I rented a car for the first time and we left Friday morning (the viewing was that evening) and we got there around 5:00. Cookie was cremated and there was a huge display board with memories on it from all the people that loved her. Did you know that most people that are cremated don't have those weird urn things? The holders for the remains come with a variety of options. Cookie was in a mahogany box with an 8x10 picture of her on it.

We stayed with AG's brother Todd and his girlfriend Jenny. They just built a house in Chowchilla just outside Merced and it is fantastic. First of all, it's literally on a golf course. Second of all, each bedroom has it's own bathroom. Third, they are the most welcoming people in the world with the only rule being "make yourself at home," we had some serious fun. And they have a new kitten! He's very, very cute. That brings us to Saturday. The memorial service was mid-morning. There were over 300 people there and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. This woman was well loved by everyone she ever knew. She was always smiling and AG said she never had an unkind word to say about anyone, ever. She was always there with a hug and a listening ear. No matter what, she was always there for you. I never got the chance to meet her, but I wish I had. The world is truly missing someone special now.

However, this is about celebrating life! Sunday rolled around and we left Chowchilla around 1. Got home around 4 (avoiding the toll road takes a little longer, but it's free). Also, we went to Wal-Mart on the way home. We don't really have Wal-Mart in the SF and I don't have a car anymore, so we took advantage of the situation. We got: shampoo, 24-rolls of toilet paper, and laundry detergent for less than $12!! Woo-hoo and yay!! That is almost unheard of where I come from. Then we were on our merry way and got home in time for the Oscar pre-show. So we made some cookies, popped a couple of beers and settled in for a night with Oscar! Ellen was hilarious as always and nothing special happened after that. Well, nothing I want to talk about here. I love AG so very much. She makes me happy, and is always there for me no matter what. Even when I am down in the doldrums and being a total Bitchy McBitch, she loves me anyway and helps me get through it. Happy Mer!