I'm back

I have a lot of stuff going on personally (those of you who know me IRL know that The Wife has been ill and in and out of the hospital twice over the past month and my sister has been having some health issues) and professionally (can't talk about work but suffice it to say that it has been crazy busy with no end in sight.) I have had either no energy to blog or nothing I could write about. There are times when I really wish I could blog about the job or the family because I'm in a period of "you can't make this shit up" and from the outside it is so outrageous it is funny. In fact, a few days ago I emailed a friend a list of the things that are going on. I saw her last night and she said "I could have cried and that probably would have been the appropriate response but instead I laughed my ass off for 25 minutes." I was glad that she laughed. I didn't email her to make her cry or feel sorry for me, I knew she would see the absurdity of the situations (yes, plural.)

I have been so caught up in my life that I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to what is going on outside my world. I don't think I've read the paper in weeks (and we have 2 delivered to the house every day - I am grateful for recycling...) I did read Newsweek this week because I was travelling and it is a good read on the plane. Even now, I feel like I should be coming up with a list of things I need to get done this weekend and get started on the list. But I'm enjoying the quiet. The Wife is still asleep, the dog is snoozing on the couch, the cats are snoozing in one of their many napping spots, the TV and Ipod are silent, and all I can hear is the dryer, a sound that is fairly innocuous to me. It is cloudy and in the low 40s today (snow is predicted for tonight) but we still have lots of fall color.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but the moon has been fabulous this week. Earlier in the week it was a perfect crescent low in the sky, last night it was at maybe 1/3 of full but huge and beautiful and low. During the day, the sky has also been that deep blue that only seems possible in the autumn. Yesterday I started to think of winter because it was very windy and we had low dark clouds that were scooting across the sky and I knew that a cold front was coming in. Perfect hot tub weather...which reminds me I'd better get started on that "to do" list which includes "put sanitizing chemicals in hot tub" if I want to take advantage of the weather.

Homophobes with Queer Relatives

From Sarah in Chicago via Shakesville.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary is a lesbian, who just had a baby with her lesbian partner, Heather.

Former Senator and arch-conservative Jesse Helms, who blamed gays and lesbians for "the proliferation of AIDS" and denouncing the use of the word gay because "there's nothing gay about them," has a lesbian granddaughter.

Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the conservative Eagle Forum, was instrumental in drafting the Republican Party platform language opposing gay marriage and civil unions, has a gay son, John.

Barry "Mr. Conservative" Goldwater (who in later years came out in favor of gay rights) had a gay grandson and a lesbian grandniece.

Nixon's Chief of Staff and Watergate convict H.R. Haldeman had a gay child.

President of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality Charles Socarides, has a gay son Richard, who was liaison to the gay community under President Clinton.

Then of course there is Alan Keyes, GOP presidential candidate, family-values harper, and the guy that tried to keep Barack Obama from the Illinois Senate seat, tossed his college-student daughter, Maya, who came out during his campaign against Barack out of the family home and cut off her tuition money.

The late California state Sen. Pete Knight who spearheaded the ultimately successful Proposition 22 that bans gay marriage in California, has a gay son, David, who married his partner during San Francisco queer marriage rush in '04.

Sadie Fields, state chair of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, who helped push the constitutional ban on gay marriage, has a gay daughter, Tess.

Bill Byrne, who was head of the Cobb County Commission in 1993 when it passed a resolution proclaiming “the homosexual lifestyle” unwelcome in the suburban Atlanta community, has a lesbian daughter Shannon.

Regina Griggs, an executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX)—ie the group set up to mimic and oppose PFLAG—has a gay son.

Anti-gay rights and pro-life activist Randall Terry, has a gay son, Jamiel.

Robert Mosbacher, the man heading President Bush's national reelection campaign in 2004, and later chief fund-raiser, has a lesbian daughter, Dee.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s half-sister Candace is a lesbian.

Wet Dreams

I had a little nocturnal adventure last night. We've installed a water alarm in the basement so we know when we start to get water. Then we can drop an extra sump pump before we get 4 feet of water (yes, we've had 4 FEET of water in our basement more than once.) I woke up about 4:30 AM and thought I heard the alarm going off. I went to check and we had about an inch of water over the entire floor. I confirmed that both pumps were running and then tried to determine if the water was rising or falling. I was finally able to ascertain that it was, in fact, rising. So I got the extra sump pump from the garage, swapped my nightshirt for a T-shirt out of the laundry basket, and swapped my slippers for my Crocs (yes, I was wearing pants, I did remember to put those on along with my glasses before departing the bedroom.) I went out and cut the plastic over the basement window (we've broken it so many times we've stopped having glass or plexiglass installed, heavy plastic sheeting is cheaper...). Of course, my father-in-law just fixed it on Tuesday. I then had to drop the sump pump into the basement. It took some wrestling but I managed to get it through the hole and into the basement (all of this is made more difficult by the fact that the window is in a below grade well.) I plugged it in and...nothing. Back into the basement I went. I reset the breaker and still nothing. Back upstairs to change plugs. Back into the basement to jiggle the float on the pump. That made the pump kick on which made the tubing come flying back into the basement. Back outside, pull up the pump, grab the tubing, weight it down with pieces of firewood, and drop the pump again. Back into the basement to jiggle the float. Finally success. Of course, by now I am my very own wet T-shirt contest. I was soaked to the skin. I got dried off and got back into bed about 5:50 AM. The best part of it? The Wife never knew I got up and the BIL didn't wake up either.

Eh?

This evening I was retrieving messages from home voice mail and there was a message for The Wife that said "it is affirmative that you call today." WTF?

Snake Wrangler

I am the mighty snake wrangler. On Friday The Wife and I were getting ready to leave for 5 days on Martha's Vineyard with the MOH and her family (PreppyMan, Minime, WeeXman) and I needed to get something from the basement. Upon descending the stairs I noticed that the snake had made his way across the basement and was far away from both sump pits but under some shelves. I did my new trick of tapping the floor with a stick (this time the squeegee) and determined that the snake was indeed still alive. I decided it was time to remove the snake. I put on my leather gloves and used the squeegee to bring the snake out into the open. I scared myself at that point because I looked at the shape of the snake's head and decided it could be poisonous. I couldn't grab the snake behind its head so I pinned it down with the squeegee (the snake did NOT like that) and managed to get ahold of it. I carried it upstairs (all the while it was trying to bite me and I was glad I had put on the gloves). The Wife bravely held the door open and I took the snake out and released him into our front yard. Hopefully he won't come back.

Unbelieveable

This will not seem like such a big deal to those of you who don't know me in reality but I just bought 2 suits (separates really) and 4 shirts to go with them. I did this after discovering at my co-workers wedding that the waistband on the pants of my silk suit was shot. I have business travel coming up over the next several months and I need stuff to wear. I was agonizing over the purchase and The Wife declared that she was sick of my old suits and I must buy new ones. She also declared that in the Spring I will be buying new warm weather business attire. I have owned these suits since I started working in my current profession and that was 10+ years ago.

The wedding was fine. The priest was obsessed with celibacy and wouldn't shut up during his homily. It was almost 90 out and the church was not air conditioned. There was also a heroin bust in the parking lot during the wedding. We walked out to discover several police officers searching the weeds along the parking lot for the heroin that had been dumped. We then saw a handcuffed guy whose car was getting searched and 4 police cars in the midst of an arrest at a gas station. All in the 2 miles from church to reception site. The Bride and Groom taped a cute (and very brief) video and then they had childhood and more recent photos on a loop. We sat with a group of the Groom's childhood friends and their spouses and another couple from our town. The food was good and the music was set at a level so you could talk during dinner. We left about 9 PM because The Wife needed to change her meds (and we wanted to watch the Phillies game.)

I have not spent any significant time in Pittsburgh as an adult. Yesterday I took a walk. The riverfront (Allegheny River) is awesome. I walked from our hotel across the Roberto Clemente Bridge to PNC park (and the statue of Roberto Clemente). PNC Park was open so I wandered in and had a look at the field. Note to self: Must attend baseball game there sometime. Then I went down the stairs to the river front and walked along the river to Heinz Field. Up the steps and back (in the shade) towards PNC park, the bridge, and the hotel. There was a regatta taking place so there were people and shells all over the place. I would have hung around if I had more time. The Wife and I also had a very good dinner on Friday night at a restaurant called "Christos." It was a hole in the wall tucked in between two other restaurants but it was such a find. Really great authentic Greek food at a low price. We both had greek salads, hummus and pita, and The Wife had Kreatospita (sp?) with veggies and I had a greek sampler platter with gyro, tzatziki, pita, grape leaves, and rice pilaf. The owner of Christos cooked for Jackie Onasis for 2 years when she lived in Greece and created a dessert for her so I had that. It was great. Hard to describe because the description doesn't do it justice. Just YUM.

Road Trip

Today The Wife and I are off to Pittsburgh for a wedding. I've never been a big fan of weddings (probably because most of my early experiences with weddings were the extremely boring weddings of my MUCH older cousins AND it involved getting dressed up and wearing dresses.) I'm having mixed feelings about this wedding. It requires a long drive but I have the day off so we can go early. I know both bride and groom (I work with the groom) but not anyone else who is attending the wedding. I have to get dressed up but I have a nice silk suit I can wear. I hate the way the silk suit looks on me and there is no but. Many things come down to that. I don't want to go because I have to wear clothes I don't think I look good in. The other day I went to get the mail in a white T-shirt and my comfy knit pants and I felt like Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski. I'm going to feel like Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot" on Saturday. I need a tailor (and lots of money.)