Ryan Playing With Nero

Friday, we had Ryan sleep over. He LOVED playing with our little dog Nero. Nero is a VERY busy little black bastard (as Nancy endearingly ;) calls him) who never stops! Well, Ryan wore his little black butt out!! I NEVER thought I'd see the day when Nero was too tired to play fetch - with whatever happened to be laying around. (They are playing with a popped blow up ball!!) He is something, my little dog, but Ryan is TRULY something! We adore him!!

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

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Thanks!! Connie

Upon Moving Mom in with us....

We've had an extremely busy summer! As you know we have been busy painting rooms and rearranging the entire house. This operation has two desired end results:

1. Prepping this big ol' house in anticipation of the economy turning back around. Once the whole political thang is over and 'we' as a country come to our senses and boot out the current administration and "hopefully" get some real change happening in Washington! We SIMPLY can not endure another 4 years (with the very real potential of eight years) of the same ol' idiocy that has reigned with the republicans!! AKK!! Our personal plan?? Make this old house as shiny and inviting as is physically possible for two ol' Lesbians to do, so when we do sell, we will squeeze as many pennies out of the equity in this place as is possible. This house, after all, is what will be financing our pending move to the southwest! *dance, dance*
   
2. Mom was declining in both her physical health and mental state. It was time for her to move in with us. She has developed emphysema and gets VERY short of breath at the least little physical excursion. She is legally blind, has been her entire life. She does well with what she can see - however her right eye is basically useless and her left one is bad as well - she also has no depth perception, so walking on uneven surfaces is not really an option. Her knees are shot, too. Stairs are very difficult. She has never had to take any prescriptions until the whole emphysema thing happened and then she immediately got confused as to when what and how she was to deal with a couple pills and some inhalers! It was time... I was stressed out about her being alone in her apartment, I was stressed about her being a half hour car ride away should something immediate occur on her end, I was just stressed.
   

I have always known that at one point in my life my Mom would be living with me full time. In fact it was told to me over and over that it was and would continue to be my job to watch over my Mom.

Different folks have commented to me about her living us. 'A relationship killer!', 'A sure fire disaster just waiting to happen!' - these are just two things folks have blurted out to me upon my telling them that we were moving my mother in with us.

I know it won't be easy. Mom knows and goodness sake Nancy certainly knows! We are 3 grown women, two menopausal and one elderly. We all have opinions and needs and wants, in other words, we are 3 strong vocal women. The potential for disaster is there, but I have faith in us, as a couple and as a family.

It'll take compromise and gentleness as well as lots of love. I love my Mom and I love Nancy more than anyone knows. She is so special to me and I know this is the woman who will be with me for the rest of my life. Our golden years. Nancy has known since we started dating that me and Mom were a package deal. She took that on and has run with it! Completely changing our lives and our home we have worked hard this summer! She is a trouper and must really love me for doing all this work to the house and moving Mom in!

I am simply struck dumb sometimes at how lucky I am to have found her. *gulp*

Circus at "The Big 'E" (The Eastern States Exposition)

Nancy's Mom is a tour bus guide and she took Nancy on a recent trip down to Springfield, MA to the "The Big 'E'" (eastern states exposition).


These are a couple pics of the elephants in the circus.

Here's a link to the set on Flikr.

Mama Mousie and the wee ones

Here's the latest shots of mama and eight babies. She is doing wonderfully with them! They all have fur now and are actually looking like little mice instead of squirmy wormies! their eyes aren't open yet though.

Pics are clickable.

























And a couple little videos.

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

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Thanks!! Connie

An afternoon at the pool with Ryan

Ryan and Nancy in the pool!

Ready? ONE, TWO, THREE! GO!!
KER-SPLASH!!!!

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

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Thanks!! Connie

Senate OKs Out-Of-State Gays Marrying In Mass.

Move Expected To Boost State's Economy

Senate has voted to repeal a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in the state. The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn't legally wed in their home states. After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages in 2004, then-Gov. Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to enforce the little-known law and deny licenses to out-of-state couples.

The repeal effort has the support of Gov. Deval Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter announced last month she is a lesbian. The Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the law. The House is expected to vote this week. An analysis found repealing the law could draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million over three years.

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, this site is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie

July 4th tripity, trip! Food, fun and folks!

This was our annual July 4th lobster pot! Sunday we gorged ourselves on Lobster, corn on the cob, and fresh strawberry pie ala mode! YUM!!! We had Mom down and our friend "D" came over and ate with us too.

"P" house and puppy sat for us while we went to Peaks Island Thursday afternoon, stayed over one night and then back home.

She REALLY helped with painting the double living rooms downstairs! More pictures of that coming soon!

Last fall we went to a benefit (for George Carman who suffers from cystic fibrosis) motorcycle ride and pork roast. I won a gift certificate for a nights stay and a dinner voucher at the Inn on Peaks Island.

It was simply wonderful!! Gorgeous weather, beautiful views, delicious food, yummy drinks, fantastic company (smooooooch -----> sweet meat) super comfy king size bed, pristine room with a luxurious jet tub - simple divine!!!


This is The Inn on Peaks Island, where we stayed on the third. GORGEOUS!!


Arriving on the island.


Nancy and I on our private deck.


The king size bed!


The view from the couch.


Heading back down to the dock Friday morning.


Us waiting on the ferry.


The ferry we rode over and back.

A video on the ferry back to Portland.

Some of Augusta's fireworks. Taken with my new phone, a Samsung Slider.

More fireworks, even more pics and videos HERE.


Hope you all had a WONDERFUL holiday!

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, this site is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie

The Way Life Should Be: Marriage in Maine

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Copyright © 2008 by Constance Pelkey.

This bloggy feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this content in a news reader or on a website related to Constance Pelkey Designs, this site is in violation of copyright!
Thanks!! Connie

Happy Pride!!

Yesterday was the 22nd annual Southern Maine Pride.

frustratingly, I missed it because I had to work in the afternoon. *pout*

Apparently it was well attended and had some good entertainment too!

Thanks to Justin for the pic at the top of this post. Link to the Portland Press Herald's story.

Happy Fathers Day.

We went to lunch for fathers day with Nancy's family.



And for my own Dad... here's a few shots from an old family album...


Grammy Etta, Dad, and Aunt Thelma

Uncle Harold, Uncle Stan and Dad

Dad and Harold

Dad, ??, Harold, ?? Stan, ??, ??, ??, Teacher - circa: 1927

Happy Dad's day, Dad. I love you and miss your physical presence.

A sweet story...

I came out many years ago - to myself. You see this was 1980. We, my then partner and I, were each others' "firsts." As in, first foray into lesbianism and all it's glory! We quite literally thought we were the only two women who loved women, who ever lived on this planet, in this life form - EVER!

Ah! To be young and innocent again!

Ha!

We first learned of other lesbians by going to the library and taking out any book we'd find on the subject. I ran across a number of books that touted the virtues of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.

Wow! I really grew to look up to these two as true pioneers in the lesbian visibility/ rights department!

I'm so heartened to know that they are still together! Here I am on my 7th relationship. Yep, all with women, I've never been with a man.

I wish I could have found the woman I'm with now when we both were kids!

I really want to spend the rest of my life with this woman. Whatever life is left for us, I am 47 years old ya know? My Mom wonders how she could have a 47 year old kid!!?

I want to be with this woman so much so that I want to be legally married to her!


Nancy,

Will you marry me?

---

"I now pronounce you wife and wife"

If you cry at weddings, grab a hankie; the news of these upcoming nuptials already has me tearing up at my desk. Next Monday, June 16, at 5 p.m. PDT, Mayor Gavin Newsom will preside over the marriage of Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, at San Francisco City Hall, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

You may well remember these two brides from their first trip to the altar back in February 2004. Martin and Lyon, who have been together more than 50 years, were the first same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license by the city of San Francisco. (For a refresher, their iconic wedding photos are here and here.)

Mayor Newsom has said that Lyon and Martin's love story inspired him to start issuing marriage licenses to lesbians and gays. But the couple's first marriage license and those of more than 4,000 other couples who got hitched during San Francisco's Winter of Love were later ruled invalid by the courts. Undaunted, Lyon and Martin became plaintiffs in the lawsuit that in May led the California Supreme Court to rule that same-sex couples do have a right to marry.

This isn't the first time that Lyon and Martin have broken new ground. Back in the '50s, they were also pioneers, founding the country's very first lesbian organization. "The couple first met in Seattle in 1950 and moved in together in a Castro Street apartment on Valentine's Day 1953," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. "Two years later, Lyon and Martin and three other lesbian couples founded the Daughters of Bilitis, which historians call the first lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon and Martin have been leaders of the lesbian community ever since. Their organization's monthly magazine, the Ladder, was an influential publication in the LGBT rights movement and began publication in 1956. Both women were inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame. A San Francisco medical organization founded in 1979 as a clinic for lesbians -- Lyon Martin Health Services -- was named for them."

The state of California officially starts issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the morning of June 17. But California has granted permission to San Francisco to start conducting same-sex ceremonies at 5:01 p.m. on June 16, after the state's official workday ends. In deference to their pioneering role, Lyon and Martin's wedding will be the only same-sex marriage held in San Francisco on the evening of June 16. The next morning, same-sex couples around the state will be free to marry, too.

Broadsheet Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, think it's fitting for San Francisco to honor Lyon and Martin's lifetimes of activism by letting them go first: "At a time when being openly gay cost you everything you cared about, they were. And they took risks and spoke out from the 1950s on in a way that I certainly do not believe I would have nor would most of us," Kendell said. Inviting the couple to be the first to marry "is the absolute least we can do to acknowledge how critical their legacy is to the lives of all of us."

Lyon told the San Francisco Chronicle that it's "heartwarming" that San Francisco wants her and Martin to be the first couple to marry, but ever the activist, she said that what really matters is that so many other couples will now have the chance to do so, too: "Hundreds of thousands of couples will be getting married this time, and that's the important thing," Lyon said. "It's something that has been due for a long time, and thank God, it's here."

-- Katharine Mieszkowski

Blast from the past!

Didn't work on anything upstairs today at all! Went up to Mom's and we went to the cemetery. Then we had lunch and I came home and prepped the desktop 'puter for the yard sale this Saturday.

I found lots of fun files on it! Including these two VERY fun videos from our southwest trip a couple years ago!




A link to the video



A link to the video

Motorcycle ride - not for slow dial up connections!

Isn't the price of gas !!!????



Until my shoulder heals up some more I am relegated to the "b*tch seat" on Nancy's bike - Bella, an 1100 Yamaha V-Star.





I am wearing my new Skid-Lid, half helmet with a loverly purple rose on each side! Aren't you jealous!? You should be!! HA!






Here's a couple of little videos I shot while riding along RT. 196 from Topsham to Lisbon Falls. That's our freind "D" riding lead.

Link to first video.

Link to second video.

And a google map -

View Larger Map



Moxie only costs .99 at this little corner store in Lisbon Falls! *G*

We had a WONDERFUL ride!! It was warm, sunny, and there were luscious flower scents all along the way! We a GREAT ride!

Weekend

Yesterday I went to work again. I worked from noon 'til four. It was good. Good to get out of the house other than errand running or going up to Mom's. I was tired out after getting home last night!! I'm vastly overestimating how quickly my shoulder is healing. Don't misunderstand... it's healing wonderfully and my physical therapist, Dana, say that it's leaps and bounds ahead of my right shoulder, which was repaired by the same surgeon last summer. I'm being impatient. Because it's doing so well I want it to be better, completely. NOW! Dammit!! I'm tired of being in a sling, I'm tired of being severely limited as to what I can do. I'm tired of it hurting. I'm just impatient.

I'd put some turkey cutlets in the crock pot yesterday morning along with some crushed Italian tomatoes and paste and some Italian veggies and mushrooms. What makes them Italian veggies as opposed to... say French veggies I'll never understand. *G* It was delicious when I got home and we ate. I LOVE no fuss yummy meals!

While I was gone, Nancy worked some more upstairs... details. DETAILS! The old saying "The devil is in the details" makes perfect sense to me. These rooms are taking much longer than we'd anticipated. She scraped and primed the crown molding in the bedroom and touched up ceiling spots in both rooms.

This morning after leisurely cups of coffee and home made banana walnut muffins on the front porch, we went upstairs and worked a bit more. She painted out the crown molding in the trim color while I finished caulking and trimming out the two windows. She then moved into the dressing room and scraped and taped the crown molding in there. I also vacuumed up all the loose paint chips from the painted floor and we realized that it was chipping. Easily. Ak! So, that will get another coat of paint and then a final coat of satin finish polyurethane. Hopefully that will stop the chipping.

This afternoon we are being deck dogs again. It rained yesterday and today it's a mix of clouds and sun, but nice and warm... so here we sit, me putzing on the laptop and her doing her Sudoko and reading her book. The dogs are lazing in the sun too!

Tomorrow is back to reality. Nancy goes back to work and I have a big day with Mom. It's our monthly go-to-lunch-with-the-the-low-vision-group and then I'll do her groceries.

On Tuesday I'll get back to trimming out the dressing room.

Connie

~ Life's too short to use cheap beads! ~

And in a related post...

In reference to my earlier post about Micheal Heath and his Christian Un - Civic League compatriots.

J.P. Devine: An open letter to Michael Heath

Oh Michael, why can't you let our gay brothers and sisters get married? This is pathetic, Michael. You have so many more important works of Jesus to perform. What about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, trying to get cable for the poor?

I'm sorry folks. This was supposed to be a private letter to Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League, but as long as you're listening in, I'll bring you up to date: "

Michael, I understand, is going to have his soldiers on our verdant streets this week, strolling with clipboards and pens and a paper for you all to sign YES on. That would be the league's Anti-Gay Petition Drive to take place on June 10, Maine's primary day, at polling places statewide. The drive that would rescind all state laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination.

Oh Lord! Not again.

Michael. All that these people want are the same joy and miseries you and your wife share.

They want someone to kiss goodnight, to pull the blankets away from, to cover the snorer with a pillow and get some sleep.

They want someone else to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, drive their kids to school and cuddle by the television on cold nights and watch Obama kick Hillary in her pantsuit.

Give them a break.

My gay brothers and sisters aren't perfect, Michael. There are mean-spirited folks everywhere. Most are happy people.

I see them whenever I pass by a church on Sunday morning. I see them coming out of temple on the High Holy Days, wearing yarmulkes their mothers knitted for them. A yarmulke, Michael, is a skull cap that Jewish men wear to temple. I could get you one from a gay Jewish friend of mine, blue velvet to match your eyes.

And while we're talking Jewish, do you really think it's kosher (that means acceptable) for a Christian to tell Jewish gays that they can't get married, rent a condo in Old Orchard Beach, or adopt Vietnamese orphans and give then a happy home, with a puppy maybe?

Seriously, Michael. Does your mother know you're trying to deny American taxpaying citizens their basic rights, just because they don't play by your rules? Are you ready to go to Heaven and have to explain to Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia," for God's sake, Michael) that you discriminated against gays?

They'll make you sit at the kids' table on Easter Sunday, Michael. We're in the fifth year of a terrible war: 4,080 dead, 30,329 wounded. Some of those boys and girls, Michael, were and are gay.

And think of this:

In your community of faithful, among your troops close by your side, there is a gay man or woman, boy or girl suffering great psychic pain. And while your followers are out putting tiny American flags on the graves of our fallen heroes, remind them that in some of those graves, a gay warrior is sleeping.

Happy Memorial Day, Michael.

J.P. Devine is a freelance writer living in Waterville, Maine.

Lunch in Canada

I drove my Mom to Canada for lunch yesterday. We drove up 95 and crossed at Houlton. Yep. A four hour drive, one way to see her 87 year old sister, my Aunt Vivian. They are the only two left, on this coast anyway. My Uncle Raymond is in Oregon, doubtful if he will ever make it over here again. Mom is 76. There were 7 siblings. 3 remain. There were some tears as we left... Both are in good health, but ya just never know. It was a good visit.

On the way back down I95 we ran into some heavy rain storms and there was even some hail mixed in at times.

Connie

~ Life's too short to use cheap beads! ~