Hooray for Youth

Our world gets better each day.  When I stumble across a vintage photo of two men that may have been gay I am reminded at how lucky I am to be living in our time.  All the gay men that lived before me lived in a more difficult world.  For homos, today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.  If I live long enough, then my husband and I will be able to marry in our state of Texas- no doubt.

I'm still excited about New York granting same sex marriage last week; in that state an individual is free to marry the person they love.  I was also excited to read a new poll that finds most New Yorkers support same sex marriage, and the youth especially support same sex marriage! 

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State voters support 54 – 40 percent a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, with voters under 35 supporting the measure 70 – 26 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Voters 35 to 64 years old also support the measure, while voters over 65 oppose it 57 – 37 percent.

Dipped Cone

I would just like to say that I never get tired of a Dairy Queen dipped cone in the summer.  It's delicious.

Georgian Rug

Our most significant souvenir from our trip to Georgia just came back from the rug cleaners.   This photo does not accurately display the beauty of this rug. It's 50 to 60 years old and it's beautiful.  It has blues, reds, oranges, and neutrals.  Every time I see it I think of our great trip to Georgia!

Gay Equals Fun

There is a new world order.  While my husband and I were spending the weekend hanging out on Lake Nocona with not another gay person around, my parents were experiencing their first gay pride parade in San Francisco.  And our beloved two-legged Dooley was at the Minneapolis pride festival with her mom; she sent us text updates!  And our brother-in-law called us from the New York pride parade; he was in town on business.  All the heteros were having fun with a whole bunch of homos, and we were having fun with a whole bunch of heteros. 

Winning

We got third place in the sailboat regatta this weekend, and it was the most fun I've had in a sailboat race.  The wind was blowing like a hurricane; my adrenaline was rushing through my body the whole time because everything was happening so quickly.  We accidentally dunked the boat when we were tacking, but we recovered and finished the race.

The weekend takeaway:  Even if you boat fills with water you can still recover and finish the race.

Parents at Pride

My parents are vacationing in San Francisco this week, and today just happens to be San Francisco's gay pride parade.  They called me this morning to tell me they were going to the parade!  I'm so surprised that they went, but I think they're having fun.  (I've been getting text message updates.)  I'm sure a gay pride parade is unlike anything they've ever experienced before; it's exciting they like to try new things!

New York, Thank You

New York has legalized same sex marriage.  I'm so proud of New York.  I'm so happy!  Love is love.  Our love is equal to your love. 

Ice Cream

My husband gave me an early birthday present, something I've wanted since we bought our first house, a White Mountain ice cream maker.  When I was growing up, my mother made ice cream almost weekly in the summers on her White Mountain ice cream maker, and I've always wanted to carry on her tradition of including homemade ice cream at all the summer social events.  Tonight we made our first batch of vanilla using my mother's recipe.  It's delicious, and it almost taste as good as my mother's.

I can't wait to make my next batch of ice cream with my mother.

Regatta Weekend

Wish us luck.  This is the sailboat regatta weekend.   My husband used to win these races before he married me. He loves having me in his boat, and I hope he always will, but I'm not a sailor.  I don't think my heart is in the sport.  They've invented motors and biminis- why can't we just use boats with those items?  Of course harnessing the invisible force (the wind) has never been intuitive to me; my husband will yell out, "here comes a big puff of wind" and I'll wonder why the hell he knows that.  Magic?  He'll also tell me to steer into the wind, and I'll have no clue how to implement that request.  I can't see the wind- can he?  I do love that my husband understands it all, and I'll do my best to follow his orders tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Dooley can Text

The two-legged Dooley was in Dallas last night on business, and although we both had dinner plans we were hoping last night would be the night she could meet her namesake; however, our schedules didn't jive last night. 

I was walking Sharon to her hotel, when my husband called me...I told him I got a text message from Dooley and she might be coming over later. When the call ended Sharon looked at me and asked::  "Did you just say you got a text message from your dog?!"

Cheers to Old Friends

I had dinner last night with two of my life-long friends Sharon and Jennifer and Jennifer's husband William.  Sharon is a school district nutritionist and she was in town for what we like to call "the lunch lady conference."  The best part of having old friends is that we always seem to pick up where we left off regardless of the passing of time.

Thanks William and Jennifer for picking up the check at Mi Cocina! 

Father's Day Flash Back

Sunday was Father's Day.  We went to yoga and then we met my parents at my husband's parents' lake house.  The six of us had a nice steak lunch together.  It was too windy and too hot to lake, but we enjoyed the afternoon together.  We're two gay sons that have two sets of parents that love us very much.  It's a good feeling.

109 or 107 in the shade

Our friend from Los Angeles is visiting this weekend.  He claims his rent car said 109 degrees this afternoon, but my husband's only said 107 degrees.  Our friend claimed that it was unChristian-like for it to be that hot while he was visiting.  Ha!

Nap Time

Here's a photo from Saturday afternoon nap time at our house.  I felt like the beast master, but the beast didn't really want to take a nap.

This is your life

Read the sign in this photo- you can click on it to make it larger.  Don't you just love what it says?  I'm going to read this sign every morning for encouragement and inspiration.     

Happy Flag Day

Today, June 14, is National Flag Day.  I work closely with two other financial analyst, both are hetero, and all day in meetings, during conference calls, and at lunch they kept wishing me "happy flag day" and asking if I was going to the "flag (day) parade."  Of course the joke is that the word "flag" is very similar to the derogatory word for homos.  Those guys are my good friends and we give each other a hard time, always, which means I'm laughing along with them...

Plus, I think it's healthy for other people in our office to see us joke around, because I'm almost certain I'm the only gay guy in our 35 floor building.  I feel like I'm the only gay guy most of my office knows.  The humor gets people talking. We're the red neck, womanizer, and gay guy office trio.  On paper, we're extremely different, but in real life we're extremely good friends. 

Happy Flag Day!    

Cady is Here

We're keeping my brother's Jack Russell Terrier, Cady, this week.  I tried to warn our backyard snakes and lizards and bugs before she arrived, because Cady is a successful hunter.  Our backyard is busy with life, and Cady likes to hunt and/or chase the things that live in our backyard. 

The sight of a grass snake in my flowerbeds always makes me scream like a tween girl; when we keep Cady I know she's saving me from another one of those "I didn't know a 215 pound grown man could sound like a 12-year-old girl at a Justin Beiber concert" moment.

Sunday Lunch Part II

Here's a picture of Paxten; she is my brother's youngest daughter.  She liked to take ice cubes out of our iced tea glasses on Sunday, she's holding ice in her right hand, she is such a sweet little monster that no one seemed to mind having her little hand dipping into their glass.

When I posted what we ate on Sunday, here, I forgot to include my brother's grilled bacon wrapped scallops.  They shouldn't have been forgotten, because they were very tasty. I would like to now make a complete list of Sunday's menu:

• My brother's unforgettable grilled bacon wrapped scallops
• Lora's famous fish tacos with all the fixings
• My mom's mango and black bean salad
• My mom's chilled avocado soup
• My mom's Asian broccoli crunch salad
• My husband's award winning guacamole 
• My grandmother's seven layer dip
• Chips and salsa
• My mom's homemade chocolate ice cream (for dessert)

Sunday Lunch

We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday at my parents' house.  This is a picture of my brother's oldest daughter, Presley, riding the John Deere tractor her Poppy (my dad) bought her when she was just a little baby.  Three years later she loves riding her tractor.  We ate on my parent's screened in back porch- it was almost too warm to eat outside, but we had enough fans going to make it enjoyable.  Here's the feast we had at lunch:

• Lora's famous fish tacos with all the fixings
• My mom's mango and black bean salad
• My mom's chilled avocado soup
• My mom's Asian broccoli crunch salad
• My husband's award winning guacamole 
• My grandmother's seven layer dip
• Chips and salsa
• My mom's homemade chocolate ice cream (for dessert)

Britney

Britney is coming to Dallas in July, and guess who has two tickets to the show?!  We do!  It's going to be fun!

Farewell Meredith

I loved this.  Watch it.  You'll love it too. Also, I admire Meredith for having the courage it took to walk away from her Today Show job.  She was making millions a year; she was a star on the number one morning show, but it wasn't what she wanted- so she left.   I wish I had some of Meredith's courage!

Happy Birthday Dooley and Carlie

According to her papers, today June 10 is Dooley's birthday!  She's one year old.  It's been an exciting six months of having her in our life, and I hope there are many more birthdays to celebrate!

Today is our cousin Carlie's birthday too.  Happy birthday Carlie. (It's surprising that you're fourteen years old already- where did the time go?!)

Open Letter

Dear Cambria Cove,

Please read my previous letter to Pottery Barn, because it applies to you too.  Why is it so difficult to predict demand?  These "Mayan Riviera Iced Tea Glasses" were on the cover of your June catalog.  Today's June 9 and they're all gone.

You can't tell by looking at these glasses that every blue person is going to want a set of at least eight?  Is it that difficult to spot a winner and plan stock accordingly?

Sincerely,

Me

Open Letter

Dear Pottery Barn,

Who's in charge of your supply chain? Do they know what they're doing?  Why are they keeping you so lean?

I don't like it when I see something sensational in your catalog like the recylced mojito glasses or the vintage glass buoys but when I go to your website it's listed as "no longer available."  Why put items in your catalog if you don't have enough stock for your customers?  (Oh, how I miss the never-ending inventories that existed before the great recession.)  

You, clearly, need a new system of predicting what's going to be in demand, because it seems like the stuff I want is "no longer available."

Sincerely,

Me

What is Normal

This is a picture of me playing with my dolls as a child.  In my family, it wasn't that big of a deal that I wanted dolls.  I got She-Ra and my brother got He-Man from Santa.  I used to love to spend a week at my cousin's house in the summer, because Sarah had a room full of Barbies.  I eventually stopped playing with dolls because I realized that it made my friends uncomfortable, but that was pressure that I felt from myself; it was nothing that my family mandated.

This CNN story really upset me.  Why do we make life so hard?  If you have a son that likes to play with dolls - don't worry - it'll be okay.

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Los Angeles (CNN) -- Kirk Andrew Murphy seemed to have everything to live for.
He put himself through school. He had a successful 8-year career in the Air Force. After the service, he landed a high profile position with an American finance company in India.

But in 2003 at age 38, Kirk Murphy took his own life.

A co-worker found him hanging from the fan of his apartment in New Delhi. His family has struggled for years to understand what happened.

"I used to spend so much time thinking, why would he kill himself at the age of 38? It doesn't make any sense to me," said Kirk's sister, Maris Murphy. "What I now think is I don't know how he made it that long."

Read the rest of the story here.

Looking Right, Looking Good

It's spectacular to have children that look this good to keep me company at night; it's also spectacular that one of my greatest friends is staying with us while he's in Dallas on business this week; however, it's not spectacular when my husband is gone all week on business.  I never want to make my husband feel guilty when he's gone on his business trips- that's just part of his job, but I do want him to feel missed.  Is it Friday afternoon yet?

Shiny Silver

I would like to thank my husband's mother for letting me use her silver serving pieces this weekend.  I think food taste better when it's served on shiny silver. Damnit! I don't like to promote stereotypes, but yes I'm a gay man and yes I like shiny things.  That's just the way it is.

Desert Rose

My desert roses are in bloom on the back patio.  They are bright and beautiful.  I baby these plants year round for the two weeks they are in bloom.  It's worth the work.

Party

These are a few photos from the stock-the-bar couples shower we hosted on Saturday for our friends Melissa and Blake.  My husband and I are the best party-hosting team.  If we had unlimited funds, then I'd host more parties.  It's always so fun to have a house full of interesting people, great food, and tons of drinks!

Go Dooley!

We hosted a stock-the-bar party for our friends Melissa and Blake on Saturday night.  Dooley was the big hit of the party- she was entertaining the crowd with her personality and looks.  Two people at the party also know the two-legged Sarah Dooley and they thought it was hilarious that we named our daughter, the four-legged Sarah Dooley, after our friend.  Why is that funny?  Also, one of the guests disclosed that she went to Dooley elementary in Plano, Texas, which has a fight song...after a few rounds of margarita punch this guest was willing to sing the Dooley Dragon's fight song to our daughter.  Fun times.

Damn You Oreck Man

Our neighborhood Oreck Vacuum store sells the best carpet cleaner.  It removes new and old carpet stains easily.  It's important to have a good carpet cleaner when you love dogs.  The only issue is that our Oreck store must have their employees on sales commission.  The other issue, which is really my personal issue, is that the Oreck store has the cutest 20-something man that's always working in the store.  He's cute, he's charming, and he knows it.  He's a good sales man, and I have a hard time telling him no.  I'll walk into the store wanting one bottle of carpet cleaner, and I'll walk out with $100 worth of stuff.  I get so mad that the cute guy can play me and win- every time. 

We're out of carpet cleaner, again.  I told my husband that he needed to go buy some more.  (See what I did there?  I punted my problem to my husband.)  When we pulled up to the store I waited in the car.  I told him to be strong because the cute guy was working.  I also reminded him that we only needed one bottle of carpet cleaner.  I wished him luck and he looked at my like I was crazy.

I watched the whole thing go down from the safety of my car.  My husband went in for one bottle of carpet cleaner and he walked out with an enormous smile on his face caring two bags full of Oreck products!  Damn you Oreck man!

Baby Fever

My buddy Jordan and his wife were nice enough to let me tag along to their 23/24 week sonogram appointment today.  I work with Jordan and we met his wife at the doctor's office on the way to lunch.  When we were walking into the building Jordan asked me if people would think we were two gay guys since we were walking into a sonogram appointment together.  I told him that if anyone thinks he's gay, then he should thank them!  We laughed.

This was my first time to see a live sonogram, and it was spectacular.  Their son was constantly moving, stretching and kicking.  I think I saw him yawn.  I could have watched it all day.  The sonogram technician was a man so we had three men and one woman (with child) in the room.  This is typical guy humor: Jordan was proud to show me how big his son's boy parts were!  (His wife roller her eyes, but she was outnumbered and if she's having a son she must learn to deal with guy humor.)  Of course, I played along and asked why his son had three legs.

I have such baby fever right now.  I'm ready for us to get a kid!  However, I just don't feel like my career is where I want it to be- I need to work on my career and then work on a baby!

Jordan and his wife were incredibly kind to share that moment with me today.  Jordan knows I'll never have a pregnant wife, and he also knew I would totally love experiencing the sonogram; he spoke to his wife and asked if I could come before he asked me!  I was so touched by that random act of kindness.

Gender Party

Because of our trip preparations we missed my buddy Jordan's and his wife's "gender party" in May.  These events are what all the cool kids are doing nowadays, but this was the first one we were invited to.  Here's how it works: the sonogram technician writes the sex of your baby down and places it in an envelope; you take the sealed envelope to a bakery and ask them to open the envelope and make a blue cake if it's a boy and a pink cake if it's a girl.  You host a party and at some point you cut the cake. 

I think it's a fun way to have a party!

Bath Time

Sarah Dooley turns one year old on June 10, which means she has until then to grow.  They say dogs can grow up until they turn one.  Of course the bad news for her is that if she doesn't get any bigger, then she'll be washed in the kitchen sink for the rest of her life!