Family Tradition

I was born in a town where families spend the last full week of July in glorified screened porch cabins in a county park under shady trees.  At one time, before electricity, it was most likely the coolest spot in town.  Today, in the age of air conditioning, we always wonder - why are we doing this event in July?  There are cooler months in Texas.  Regardless, we gather fans and swamp coolers, and we suffer through the heat to spend time with family and friends.  I really enjoy the fact that many of my childhood friends are within a one mile radius every year.  It's fun to see everyone.

 I also like the fact that my grandmother, my mother, my brother, and now my nieces all spent magical childhood moments at the reunion...

I enjoy family traditions.

We Could Make Millions

For those of you who don't venture beyond Glorious Gay Days to explore the gay side of the internets, I thought it was important to point out this headline on Towleroad (the place where The Gays go to stay informed and uplifted).

STUDY: TEXAS WOULD MAKE MILLIONS ON GAY MARRIAGE

QOTD

Kirk Douglas wrote a nice little note about the passing of his friend Elaine Stritch; you can read it at the Huffington Post.

One part of his note that really jumped out at me:


"...Which is an important lesson for me, even at the age of 97. Keep in touch with those you care about, no matter how much distance and time separates you. Share a laugh. Share a heartbreak. Share life while you can."

-Kirk Douglas
Remembering My Friend, Elaine Stritch

Birthday Pride

My husband ensured I had a very proud birthday cake in my custody this morning.  How fun is this cake?  I am very proud of my first 34 years of life: like all good adventures it has included ups and downs and joys and sorrows, but overall I've lived a very charmed life!  I have great family and friends, and the best husband.

Since it is my birthday, my mother sent me a two page beautifully hand written note expressing her love  of me and her appreciation for me.  It is a note I will treasure always.  When I got to the end of the note I realized, this note sums up why we need to have children.  My mother (and father) have received so much joy from their two sons.

I'm 34 today and I bet we'll have babies before I turn 36.

This is July in Texas

On Saturday we had a group at my husband's parents' lake.  The clouds did not burn off.  The temperature did not climb above the mid 70's.  This is July in Texas?!  I'm so confused.  After spending 4 hours in the lake our group was cold.  So my husband's parents lit the copper fire pit.  Yes, it was July in Texas, but it felt like October in Texas.

Lady F-in Gay Gay

Life is what happens in-between the work day, right?  My husband is winding down his role at the large corporate entity where he's worked for the past 10 years, and armed with his new MBA he's getting ready to start another role at the largest management consulting firm.  I'm in the midst of another IPO readiness assignment - working more than I wish, which means it's hard to find down time.

When we do find down time - we're finding exciting new adventures.

On Thursday, one of our super successful friends gave us and my husband's mother tickets to the Lady Gaga concert in Dallas.  We saw the show from his company's box...

 The show was everything you'd expect.  Lady Gaga has an incredible camaraderie with her fans.  It was the most interactive arena show I've ever seen.  It was a great big exciting show, and we loved every minute.

The Three Percent

"Less than 3 percent of the U.S. population identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday in the first large-scale government survey measuring Americans’ sexual orientation."

-Washington Post

A Bigger Leaf

I'm ready for a scientist to genetically modify cilantro.  I need more leaves and less steams on the fresh herb.  Plucking small leaves  - ain't nobody got time for that!

A Love That Never Grows Old

I saw these photos of the royal couple (she's wearing the same pearls and the same brooch) and I thought it was too sweet not to post.  Aren't they living the dream?  I hope to grow old with the husband.

Yesterday we finally received an official copy of our marriage license from this fall.  I keep reading it.  It's exciting!

I'm going to send out a calendar invite to my husband - in 60 years (we'll be 93) - we need to take a similar photo.

Lafcadio

We like to give books to babies.  And we're at the point in our life where many of our friends are having babies.  As a result, I spend a lot of time on Amazon buying books.  Recently I stumbled upon one of my favorites Shel Silverstein books, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. 

I bought it to keep.  (I also like to give books to non-babies.)

My mother was an epic public school educator, and on the last day of class one of the books she read aloud to her students was Lafcadio.  The story is entertaining, but it also carries an important message.

Lafcadio succeed at something he was not (being a man) and as a result he forgot who he really was (being a lion).  His success brought him fame and fortune, but it didn't bring him happiness.   In fact, the more success he achieved the more unhappy he became.  The book ends with Lafcadio questioning is he now a man or is he a lion? He decides he is neither and wanders alone into the valley.

One of the many things I adore about my mother is the importance she placed on reading and books as I was growing up.  The books of my childhood are old friends, and they make me happy to read again.

QOTD

"The greatest success is being yourself"

Away at the Lake

We loaded up Sarah Dooley (pictured) and Trigger Monkey (not pictured) and we headed to the lake for the weekend.  It was a nice way to spend the three day weekend.  My husband's parents have the perfect spot on the lake: standup paddle boards, jet skis, sailing, pontoon boating, and (my favorite) anchoring in the middle of the lake and swimming around!

We celebrated with blackberry cobbler...

Homemade Mexican vanilla and Heath bar ice cream...

and snow cones...

I love being American.  It's delicious. 

I hope your weekend was equally as pleasing!

We've Found Our Tribe

Our 11-house cul-de-sac has welcomed our recent arrival with open arms.  We've received bottles of wine, champagne, home made cookies in addition to the "Meet the New Neighbors" happy hour in honor of us.

I now understand why people do not move away very often once they arrive in this cul-de-sac.  We bought our house from the original owner - who lived here for 20 years.  (Our neighbor's bought their house a few years ago from the original owners too.)

I think we've found our tribe - I look forward to raising our family in this house.  On our street we have a mix of gay people, straight people, families with young kids, empty-nesters, DINKS, and retirees.  It's a fun place to be.

Community is such an important part of life, right?

The Nephews Are Here

As you can see from the above photo, we had a great weekend...we went crazy on the "La Croch" aisle at Central Market.  We're getting ready for the holiday weekend on the lake...but in the immediate future I'm trying to survive the short work week.

We met our traveling yoga teacher who normally lives on the other side of the world, in Australia, at Gemma.  The salmon was delicious:

 She brought us dark chocolate Tim Tams from Australia, which are delicious:

We also went to Del's stand up comedy show with my husband's parents.  It was odd hearing the "F" word spoken while sitting near my husband's mother (she's a lady!) but the show was funny.

The weekend ended with our nephews Owen and Henry arriving in Texas.  These are our California nephews that visit Texas once or twice a year.  It's an exciting week!