Category: parenting

Always the best part of my night…

is helping G with homework. She came down for help with math early today, and we got that out of the way easily. She easily learned where the parenthesis belong with cross-products. Then, she wanted help with a short story. I gave her a few paragraphs and a funny ending.

She re-wrote everything, and returned with a heart-wrenching tale that will not leave my memory for a long time.

And what really gets me, is that that was her teacher wanted. All I did was to give a spark — which was discarded. She kept the theme (which I kept asking her to select out of 4 options) but went completely her own way.

I couldn’t be happier to be heart-broken. And just so you know, my ending was to have one girl shoot a retallitory spitball into her little brother’s mouth just as he was going to sleep, and to get a high-five from her mom who was walking by at the time. G managed to top that ending.

A full weekend of anniversaries…

So, if we go by the eventually allowed marriage certificate, Cy and I have been married a whole three months since yesterday.

If we go by our accounting, we’ve been together 30 years today.

The best part of my day? Telling Cy to go back to sleep while I help G with her homework. He’s earned a rest after 30 years, and I’m so proud that she is taking full responsibility for her own homework.

I couldn’t be happier with my family.

#anniversaryzilla

Another good day with G…

While Cy is rehearsing for SJB, I get to single-parent.

Tonight, I got to help not only with math, but with a book report as well. Her summer reading was a book we shared in her youth, and she needed some help identifying foreshadowing. In “Ender’s Game”.

I mean, come on. That’s TOO easy! She did everything except smack her forehead…

What has four thumbs and a filed marriage license?

These guys!
These guys!

I would like to thank:

  • My parents and my in-laws (no longer out-laws!) for providing such an excellent example of commitment.
  • The Travis County Clerk’s office, specifically:
    • Dana Debeauvoir, for leading such a great team who made us feel welcome from beginning to end
    •  Adrian R., our clerk, who helped us by walking us through the process (and remembering us when we returned to file!)
    • Louis L., and his team who made the filing process – well, if not fun, at least painless.
  • District Judge Gisela Triana, who made the process of getting a wavier fun.
  • Our officiant, who for now chooses to remain anonymous.
  • My entire management chain at work, for their well-wishes, and accommodation of missing an entire day on such short notice.
  • Hundreds of facebook friends for their likes and congratulations!
  • The dozens or hundred of other couples going through the same welcome process – folks were sharing flags, flowers, photos – just about anything to make everyone’s special day…well, special!
  • The officiant offering free services outside Judge Triana’s courtroom – we didn’t need you, but we were glad you were there!
  • Diane and Torsten, for their insistence on joining us to celebrate afterward.
  • Our Esther’s family, for unrestrained joy they all shared with us
  • Our daughter, for her patience with both daddies on this historical day
  • Cy, for the rest of our lives together. Oh, what the heck, for the past 30 years, too…
  • And finally, snarkily, Anton Scalia, for being so wrong about every decision he’s put in writing since joining SCOTUS, that I know when he was this upset that this was DEFINITELY the Right Thing To Do, no hesitation nor doubt on my part.
  • And now, really for final finally, our daughter again, for making a joke confusing SCOTUS with SCROTUS. Honestly, folks, that’s what she said. No idea what SCROTUS would stand for, but I ended up giggling almost as hard as she was…

 

On the eve of the supreme court hearing, I must posit a ridiculous idea:

Every minority that has gained acceptance in the US has gained it be beginning with cuisine.

Therefore, I propose that part of the reason that LGBT acceptance is at what must almost be the tail end of minorities is the lack of a “gay quisine”. Note: “Brunch” doesn’t count…

The closest I’ve come in my life was a gay bar in Pittsburgh years ago that had a baked chicken with brie and apricot preserves entree, and honestly, that can’t compare to Pho, or curry, or Guinness, or lasagne, or hummus, or any of a thousand other dishes that our culture has absorbed.

Despite that lack, we’re still on the cusp of equality. (And let’s be glad that it wasn’t sponsored by Apple, otherwise we would be fighting for iquality…)

Equality is coming. Are you on the right side of it?

From George Takei’s facebook:

Friends, on Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court hears the case that might finally bring marriage equality to all 50 states. I’m changing my profile for 48 hours (using the special tool at http://equality.georgetakei.com) to show my support. I address this not to my LGBT fans, but rather to our straight allies: We cannot do this without you. Stand with us, ?#?makeitcount?, and together we will achieve equality for all.

NOTE- Your overwhelming support has Takei’d the site. Please be patient with it and it will be up in no time.

makeitcount32804

G had a busy day…

So G woke up at 4am to do a band field trip that included Schlitterbahn. She comes home, and says:

I’m going to take a nap, but be sure to wake me up.

I was reminded of this picture from years back:

Refusing to sleep
Refusing to sleep

Needless to say, she is still asleep.

Really? REALLY? What the #%!? is wrong with people?

<http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/04/04/smerconish-cortreras-04042015.cnn/video/playlists/gay-rights-movement/>

As a gay man…

You know, don’t serve me pizza, fine, I’ll eat elsewhere. I don’t want your hate-filled cake at my wedding. I can get my car fixed anywhere else without having to show a CHL. I can buy flowers anywhere else that will be assembled caringly, not with resentment.

But if you as a pediatrician can’t be a good doctor to ANY child for ANY reason, you should just retire. This makes pharmacists that won’t give out plan B look almost human.

The phrase “first, do no harm” should also apply to this “pediatrician’s” reputation.

Another year without killing the baby!

This is the pic she chose to share on instagram. I think it sums up today fairly well!

And yes, the check now comes due for all those times I told her to “save some attitude for your teenage years…”

G bday 2014
G bday 2014

How dare middle-school homework be fun?

So, G had homework about a Robert Frost poem and its use in a story she was reading. I got to re-introduce her to Dorothy Parker, and earn her respect for my writing, and expand her vocabulary. Then, after all that, she pulled out her telescope and aimed it at the moon so that we could see crater shadows along the lunar terminator (where the shadows meet light). Along the way, she made me laugh out loud more than twice, and called me out insulting Cy once (and we won’t talk about that on social media…)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, and I’ll always mean it: each part of her life is fun in its own way. I miss her being immobile and unable to talk, but love the push for independence that we now see everyday. For example: we weren’t asked about her trying out for the basketball team, we were informed about it.

Every day gets better. Only one month until she’s a teemager! (and you hush your mouth, you!)