Creepy Crawly Critter Update

This is a sequel to Promises Promises, and Ding Ding Ding...We have a Winner. Haven't read them? Shame on you...go now, click above.

Well, did I tell you we caught the second Kangaroo Rat? This one was much smaller than the first (we're assuming this is the female) and quite a bit less aggressive. Still closely resembles a Disney mouse, and pretty darn cute.

Hopefully she found Mr. Roo Rat behind the Dairy Queen and they lived happily ever after.

Notice those LEGS. No wonder she could move dog shit from shelf to shelf in a single bound.

In other news, it was a sad day for Geckos nationwide (especially this one). The stow-away gecko from Key West that vanished behind my vanity mirror was found dead this week on the bathroom floor. Crusty and with empty eye sockets, it was not a pretty site. Obviously I was correct in my statement that Geckos don't (and can't) live in the desert.

Not me...

This post started as a comment to thewishfulwriter 's post "Forward Backward", but I realized it needed to be more than a comment, a statement. She was commenting on America's giant step forward for African Americans that was simultaneous with the giant step back for the gay and lesbian community. Prop 8 passing in California.

It breaks my heart, both ways. Breaks my heart for the millions of african american children whose parents can now say with certainty that they CAN be anything they can dream of. For our older americans who can finally gain some healing for the sins of of our country's past. And for all of the people that have heard no all their lives to finally be able to stand up and say "Yes We Can!"

But for those of us, gay or straight, who wish that our children could grow up in a more tolerant and open-minded society, it is a soul crushing defeat. Amy says that in all actuality, GLT rights have not really changed in her lifetime. That the majority of Americans, if they got the chance, would still throw a beer bottle at our heads if they thought no one was looking. It is strange to me that America can progress so far as to elect an African American man as the most powerful leader in the world, but be scared shitless of two people who love each other and want to be recognized as a family.

Let me be clear, for me it isnt about "the wedding" or the piece of paper. I know to some, that is of monumental importance, and I understand that. For me, it is about being able to have a family, to have insurance, to have a house if something happened to my partner, to have her at my bedside if I am ill and in the hospital, to be able to leave our legacy to our children. Tell me please how those wishes make anyone else's marriage less sacred. I'll tell you what is threatening to the sanctity of marriage. Divorce, abuse, adultery, disrespect. Not me.

Today I'll be disappointed, and tomorrow, again, I'll have hope that with a new administration, and a new direction, this country will be able to do right by all it's citizens.

A Vote Cast (and a tiny little fickle one)

I couldn't wait to vote this morning. Double checked my polling place last night, and was up EXTRA early to try and beat the crowds. At 6:50 I was at our local Fire Department ready to cast my ballot. Waited just a few minutes in line, but when I got to the table the lady said "oh, we have had a lot of confusion over this, this isn't your polling spot, you need to go to the middle school." 

Okay....so off I go to the middle school (i'm not super familiar with which schools are which here, but I asked around and ended up at the middle school. To which I was greeted with "oh well this has caused a lot  of confusion, not this middle school the OTHER middle school".

Alrighty then strike two.

So off to the old middle school, yes sir-y bob. Finally the right spot. There was ONE person there besides me. I have a few theories as to why this was, but Im going to keep those to myself. 

I was determined not to vote a straight ticket, but to go through every single contest and pick the right person for the job. When it was all said and done, I voted Democrat all but one.

I'm ashamed to say that the one Republican I voted for was a very fickle decision. 

We have these CRAZY neighbors. They are just absurd, really. Anyway, they have had a HUGE banner of their pick for County Commissioner on their fence since JANUARY!!!! Not only is it the first thing I see every morning, the lady in the picture is wearing a giant cowboy hat. A COWBOY HAT!

So it just so happened that that was the last contest to vote for and I thought to myself, "I have looked at that woman's ugly mug for the last 11 months, and at this point I just want that face to go away."

She is a democrat...and her box was the only democratic box that didn't get checked. Shame on me I know, but I just couldn't do it. 

Three Toed Feet, and Bunny Eating Pumpkins

Halloween day...took a little convincing to get Amy to go along, but she ended up being a really good sport. We waited until the last minute (of course) and things were a little picked over by the time Ruby and I headed out Wednesday night to find costumes. 

There are four of us. Myself, Amy, and our staff, Eva and Ruby. Eva is about 5'10'' and an average size, Im 6', Amy is 5'2'', and little Ruby, well she is 22 years old, and 4'8''.

We wanted costumes that all four of us could be, a "theme", so we started at our local spirit store. We thought about all four ninja turtles, but Ruby could only fit in the kids version, which wasn't near as cute as the adults....so we vetoed that idea. 

When we moved on to the next store we found the PERFECT costumes. The Flintstones! Fred for Amy, Wilma for me, Betty for Eva, and PEBBLES for Ruby!!!!! We even found a plastic bone to tie in her pink wig! It was perfect, EXCEPT that they were out of "Wilmas".

So we had to make due and use a "Marilyn Monroe" white dress (that I shredded the bottom of) and two wigs. The first wig with the right bangs was an "Ariel" wig, but it was for kids, so it didnt cover all of my real hair. By the time it was all over, I had clipped the horns off an adult wig, and sewed the Ariel one on top of it. Follow that with some white spray painted wooden cabinet door handles, and Poof, Wilma Flintstone. 

All of the patients loved our costumes, and it was a really great day.

The bunnies were not NEAR as cooperative as I had hoped, but Miss Scarlett finally got too dang hot and just laid down. 

The poor baby had a pumpkin eating her head....how unfortunate. She was not liking our little holiday
tradition. 

Don't you already feel sorry for my future children?

Family Tumbleweed

Every time I start to tell Amy a story, it takes five times longer than it should. Why? Because every time I begin with "my ____ family member" we then have to go through who exactly that ___ person is, and how they are indeed related to me.

I was commenting yesterday that it really couldn't even be classified as a family tree anymore, it was more like a family shrub, or bush, a hedge even, and Amy so perfectly said "dear, you have a family tumbleweed".

Let me explain:

I am adopted, and am lucky enough to have a great relationship with both my adoptive parents (Dave and Kay) and my biological parents (Tom & Teresa). I found Tom and Teresa about 6 years ago, and it couldn't be any more perfect. All of my parents get along with each other, and conspire against me on a regular basis.

Here's where it starts getting a little tricky. None of my parents stayed together. Dave and Kay divorced when I was five. Dad re-married a few times since then, creating a veritable maze of step-mothers and siblings, and is now with a great little lady named Peggy. Since they haven't yet married, I classify Peggy's as my "Not quite Step Mother". She has two sons, which are my "Not Quite Step-Brothers".

Mom (Kay) remarried Kerry. Who has two kids, Megan(girl) and Dallas (boy) (but Megan isn't technically Kerry's). So that's a pretty easy one.

Now, Tom and Teresa didn't stay together either. Teresa is married to Lynn. Who has three kids from his previous marriage. Jamie (girl), Randy(girl) and Cody(boy) my step siblings on that side. Teresa never had any more children, so I'm it...which works out really well.

Tom married Deborah and had my three half-siblings, Anabelle(girl), Sidney (boy), and Sadie (girl). They are my only blood siblings (and the very last family I found). Our mothers couldn't be more opposite, so we don't look a thing alike, but we have some very similar aspects in our personalities.

So I have four sets of parents. Eight sets of grandparents. All of my parents have siblings which makes for an array of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Step- grandparents, Step Aunts, Step Uncles, and Step Cousins.

And then there are the Ex-Step Monsters...errr Mothers (and their Ex-Step Families). "Ex-Step Sister-In-Law" was always one of my favorites.

The primary problem is that Amy's parents and siblings are all still married to their original partners, and she quite doesn't understand the difference between "Step" and "Half", and the other difficulty is that it doesn't all fit on one dinner napkin. (we've tried on several occasions to pass the time this way at restaurants.)

I had a pretty good map of it, at one point when I was trying to help my poor therapist, but I'm due for an updated version. I'm sure Ill have to have a clear one with pictures one for my children to be able to make heads or tails of it all.

To Amy's credit, she tries really hard. It throws her that a lot of them have names that could be male or female (ex. Kerry, Lynn, Randy), but for the most part, she can at least keep all of the parents straight.

Luckily we won't have to worry about wedding photographs...(your welcome Mom('s). )

Speaking of "two mommies", talk about needing clarification! HA!

P.S. Look for a "Genetics" post in the near future...I am really quite the little science experiment when it comes to the nature vs. nurture debate.

Holding Hands with Hillary

That's right, THE Hillary. 

I wasn't always a Hillary fan, in fact, I didn't know that all Democrats weren't Satan's warriors until my sophomore year in college.  

When the Presidential Primaries began, and there was talk of Hillary throwing her pantsuit into the race, I was thrilled.  Finally a woman with the chops to be President, and a real chance to make that dream a reality.

So imagine my incredible disappointment when she fell a  perfectly highlighted hair short of the nomination. I will vote Obama, but only if they don't leave me enough room on the ballot to write in Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Hillary made a trip to our Sun City during the Primary season, and Amy and I went to the Don Haskins Arena to see her with 20,000 of our closest friends. Needless to say we didn't even get close enough to see the color of her pantsuit without binoculars.

Last week, we got word that Hillary would be coming RIGHT HERE to our tiny town to stump for Obama. She would be speaking just down the street on Saturday afternoon.

Sleep was elusive Friday night, all I could think about was getting up, putting on my "Bitch is the New Black" shirt, grabbing my "Hillary is My Homegirl" sticker, and getting my spot at the speech.

Saturday morning that's exactly what we did (but Amy would NOT let me wear my "Bitch is the New Black" shirt) and when we got to the park, we were pleased with our spot. Not right in front of her, but pretty damn close. So we waited, about 2 hours (she was an hour late), but when she took the stage, it was electrifying.

After her speech, most everyone but the ones right up front began to leave and find their cars, but Amy and I decided to hang around and see how close we could get to Ms. Clinton. 

At first I was (frustratingly) about 4 people back, just far enough away from the front line that I couldnt get her...........attention ; ) 

 However, as I further surveyed the situation, I realized that if I hopped a strategically placed bleacher, I could tuck myself in the last little corner of the handshake line. 

I slid into position just before she she got to that point, and immediately shoved my "Hillary is My Homegirl" sticker over the lady in front of me, and right into Hillary's line of vision. When she saw the sticker, I reached out with my other hand, and she shook it and said "Oh I LOVE that!". I screamed "I know, do you want it?",  she hesitated, and finally said, "No, you keep it" to which I replied (all of this taking place over the two short people in front of me) "No, I have two", and as she grabbed it from my hand she said "then YES I want it!".

At this point she realized I still had a death grip on her hand and removed it from my grasp (with a little help from the secret service) and was rushed into her green SUV (WITH MY STICKER!!!!)

It was definitely a moment I will never forget, a highlight for sure. I would have loved to have had a picture with her, and my sticker, but I am tickled pink that I got to have a mini conversation with her and that she took my sticker. She looks great for all she's been through, and she is a woman who deserves so much respect. 

Feather's Challenge

Im pretending to be "tagged" by wishfulwriter and attempting the "7 random facts about yourself" post.

1. I have a really hard time saying "Well, I guess I better go" and it usually comes out "Well, I bess I getter go". Must be some weird nervous thing...or a mini-stroke..hmmm

2. Speaking of mini-strokes. I whistle completely out of the side of my mouth, like (yes, you guessed it) I have had a mini-stroke.

3. Speaking of mini-strokes (again) my mother whistles the exact same way. 

4. I have a new tattoo of Sarah Palin winking, on my ass. 

5. I have an obscene obsession with the skin on my elbows, and earlobes. I can't leave it alone. If you see me, you can pretty much bet I will have my hand on my ear or my elbow, especially if Im nervous...or bored...or happy...or sad....ok pretty much always. Might as well be sucking my thumb.

6. Speaking of sucking my thumb, I did it till I was 7. My parents tried everything from a retainer with a spike, painting my big o digit with that sour apple crap, everything. Know what finally worked? A nickel... for every half our I kept my thumb outta my trap. I wasn't stupid.

7. My all time favorite TV show is the old Get Smart. When I was a kid we didn't play tag, or hide and seek, we played Get Smart, theme music and all. I was ALWAYS 99 hello, first crush = Barbara Feldon. 

There....I'm officially tagging MixtapeJones, I'll be waiting Mister.