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.