Sick Again!

I have been sick this last week. Unfortunately, not sick enough to miss work. I feel fine when I get up in the morning, but by the end of the day I feel like I'm on the verge of getting the flu.

Two people have been off from work this week with the flu. I must have some form of that. This is the third time I have been sick this year!

At least our weather is getting a little warmer. We did get snow the other morning. It didn 't last. Everything seems so brown outside. The roads and grass are full of the road sand they used for all the snow we had. It sounds like the spring rains are coming next week and maybe a little snow again. That's not the kind of weather that makes a person feel better.

Well, I have been up for a few hours and I feel like I need a nap. I guess I should head back to bed and rest.

campaign buttons

I was just browsing the campaign stores and noticed the GLBT buttons. I think the Obama button is the better looking of the two, but I must say the OUT for Hillary is a pretty cool slogan. It made me giggle.

The Democrats are much better at merchandising. Needless to say, the John McCain store didn't have any GLBT buttons. It would have probably frightened me if they did.

Hate

Every so often I go to AOL to read about an issue I'm interested in. Today I read about the gay Iranian teen trying to keep from being deported back to Iran after his boyfriend had been executed for being gay.

After the articles they have this poll and I always put my vote in. Have you ever scrolled down and read the horrible comments some people leave? It really doesn't matter what the story is, someone is always leaving a disgusting comment. I guess I'm more sensitive to the gay issue. But read an article about a Muslim and you will see just as much hate speech.

Are there that many homophobic, bigoted hate mongering people out there, or is it just AOL attracting them?

It frightens me sometimes to think about it.

Congressman King

I have tried to load the video comment that Congressman Steve King made about Barack Obama’s middle name. I just can’t get my Youtube to work. So, you’re just going to have to go look at the video yourself.

I just wanted everyone to know that Congressman Steve King represents the 5th district of Iowa and NOT the 2nd district that we live in.

I think I will be dancing in the streets when George Bush and Republicans like Steve King are out of office!

We Have Our Garden Plot

We signed our lease for a city garden plot this past week. I may have gone a little crazy with ordering seeds? The plots are 20’ wide and 50’ long. I just can’t wait until spring gets here! It has been such a long, long winter.

CORN- SWEET GATTA HAVE IT HYBRID PKT
PUMPKIN GURNEY’S GIANT MAGIC PKT
CARROT TENDERSWEET PKT/G
PEA SNOW OREGON SUGAR PODII PKT/G
LETTUCE BLEND PKT

RADISH CHAMPION PKT/G
SPINACH BLOOMSDALE LONG STANDING PKT/G
BEAN BUSH FLAVOR SWEET PKT -2 OZ
FL- SUNFLOWER LEMON QUEEN
ZINNIA THUMBELINA/G
RED ONION SETS PINT
CUCUMBER HYBRID MISS PICKLER PKT
EGGPLAN DUSKY HYBRID PKT
FENNEL BRONZE PKT
HERB OREGANO PKT
HERB DILL MAMMOTH PKT

We will still have to get tomato and pepper plants.

Still Fighting For Our Rights In Iowa

After I read Scooterville’s post on the gains made in Washington on the domestic partnership rights. I thought I would give you an update on what's happening here in our lovely bitter cold state of Iowa.

This week our Republican friends decided to try an obscure procedure to bring about a vote on a constitutional amendment to declare marriage between only a man and a woman. They failed to get this job done. As you already may know, Iowa has had a challenge on its 1998 Defense of Marriage Act. A Polk County District judge ruled that it was unconstitutional. The decision currently is under review with the Iowa Supreme Court.

Iowa has a Democratic majority in both houses of government and a Democratic Governor Chet Culver. Governor Culver said “he doesn’t want to take action before the Supreme Court rules. However, if the court upholds a lower court ruling in favor of gay marriage, he said the legislature can, and should respond quickly. We’ll do whatever it takes to protect marriage between a man and a woman.” We have no friend in Governor Culver.

It’s going to be an ongoing battle here in Iowa to gain marriage rights. I'm sure the Republicans will bring this up again around election time.

4 boxes

You know, I haven’t met a Girl Scout ( with cookies) that I didn’t like.

Ann

I have had the good fortune to have great friends. It seems that the right person often comes into my life when I need them.

Ann is one of those friends. I don’t see or hear from her that often anymore, but she will always have a place in my heart. She was a shoulder to lean on when I needed it.

We were the only two people in the receiving department on second shift. The job was pretty mundanely boring to say the least. We had to unpack the customer returns, log the information into the computer and then place them in an assigned storage location.

To pass the time we started talking, sharing music and just rambling on about anything that came up in our life. I talked about my past and Ann shared her interesting life. At that time I wasn’t out to my family, so I wasn’t out at work either. When I finally got up the courage to tell Ann I was gay. All she said was, “Tom I already know, now what’s wrong?” After working with me for a few months, she knew that something was bothering me.

I told her that I was ready to tell my parents and I didn’t know what I was going to say or how I was going to tell them. Ann just listened. All she really said was that I should do what I thought was best and it would all work out in the long run. I decided after spilling my fears to her. That I was going to tell my parents that weekend. I was really tired of hiding and I wanted them to know from me and not find out from someone else.

That Monday after I returned to work, Ann was waiting to find out how everything had gone. I told her that it was fine. My parents had done what I should have known they would do. They said that they loved me and that it didn’t matter. Everything would be alright.

Ann said that she knew it would turn out that way. I asked her how she knew that? She said, “Parents love their children and will do anything for them. Unless, they’re fucked-up or something.” It was the first time I ever heard Ann use any kind of curse word and I couldn’t help bursting into laughter! We spent the rest of the night talking about my new life.

Ann, thank you once again from the bottom of my heart. You made a difficult time in my life better. And I will always love you for that.