Hot in the City; Hotter in our house

It’s been over 100 degrees in the scary suburbs. Yesterday it was 104 degrees at 6:00 in the evening; I know for those of you who live in the heat of Texas or something, this might not seem like a big deal. For us. It’s a big deal.

Hot, hot, hot.

And in our house? Our house with central air conditioning?

Equally as hot.

This morning it was actually cooler outside than inside our fully air conditioned home. We were miserable all night long, the DD’s were crying they were so hot. Miserable I tell you. Why, do you wonder, would a two year old home with central air conditioning be hot?
Well, soon after we moved in to our new house, we had a few days of record heat. Our air didn’t seem to be working well or the unit wasn’t keeping up. We called the Air Conditioning Repair People of the Scary Suburbs and Malcolm came out to inspect. He duct taped something, added whatever you add to the unit to make it cool the house down and left me a bill for $105.00. The weather turned cool again, and we didn’t think about it. Then THIS heat hit and all of us were dying in our beds of heat exhaustion. I thought it was ridiculous that Malcolm came out here, we paid him, and our A/C is STILL not working. I called up Malcolm’s office and complained, complained, complained, (read: bitch, bitch, bitched.) The nice lady said somone would be out on Friday at 1:00. Of course if the heat keeps up, I thought we might all be dead by then.

HG and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We went out to that unit and decided to “reboot” it. Someone told us that if you turn the main switch off and then back on, it helps. We thought we’d try it. I was worried that maybe HG would get electricuted by that 220 line, so I went out there to protect her.
When we got outside to “reboot” the A/C unit, we discovered that the unit wasn’t even working. All of this time, the fan was blowing, but the A/C unti wasn’t even ON! We turned the big switch off.
And then back on.
Nothing.

I wondered if perhaps the circuit popped. So, we took our butch selves out there and discovered that indeed; this entire time of our heat wave, our A/C wasn’t even on due to the fact that the circuit breaker broke.

How stupid are we?
Don’t answer that.

The poor A/C has been working hard all day, and now the upstairs of our house is a cool 81 degrees. I’m hoping it will cool down just a little bit more before bedtime in an hour, otherwise I’ll be subjected to another night of drama from three little girls who are about to melt in their own sweat. Last night, DD#1 was in tears about the heat. I told her, “I never had air conditioning for even one day when I was a little girl; I handled it, so can you.”

The heat may have made me just a little bit cranky.
Just a little.

UPDATE::::::::

I can happily report that when I went to retrieve DD#1 from soccer practice that the temperature had dropped to a cool and comfortable 73 degrees.  I came home at 8:45, turned off the overworked A/C and let the cool breeze blow through my windows.  It was a lovely thing, and right now, I’m feeling a darn bit chilly…

Greatest Weekend

I had THE greatest weekend.

I saw Melissa Etheridge on Saturday night with my HG, my mom, and my friend Darcy. It was the best concert I have ever had the privledge of seeing.

I got to see my daughter play in one of her soccer tournament games.

We got a postcard from my “sister-out-law.” It was addressed to “Hottie Family.” I heart her already.
The sun came out in Oregon; it was 100 degrees today!

Life is so great!

I swear things just look brighter and brighter every day; because it’s all in how you look at it!

Ciao ya’ll!

The longest day of the year

We had a great time on our mini-vacation.  We went to Kah-nee-ta, which is a resort in a soverign nation of Native Americans (Indian reservation,) in the high desert of Oregon.  Some of you may recall that we went there last year, (sans HG,) and had a great time then.  Believe it or not, since that post nearly a year ago, I’ve had thousands of hits on my blog from people googleing “Kah-nee-ta.”  I guess I can look forward to another year of that.  But I digress.

We had a lovely time.  We stayed in an authentic native American tee-pee, complete with fire for the cool desert evenings.  The girls swam in the pool, went down the water slide, and we all took a kayak trip down the Warm Springs River, (which was incidentally, not warm.)  We cooked all of our meals in the tee-pee and told stories and sang songs by the fire at night.  It was very warm and fuzzy; except last night when we froze our asses off.  That’s about all the camping I can handle for a little while though, I don’t heart sleeping on the ground.  (okay, I was on an air mattress, but it was still the ground.)
On my last post, my “mother-out-law”* posted a comment under “Hottie Mama,” because that’s what she’s called here.  Everyone cyber wave to her!!!

Now for my bitch of the day:

Before HG and I moved in together, I owned a townhouse that I purchased immediately after XH and I divorced. My former LBCG and I did a lot to that townhouse and made it a picture of beauty and elegance. Okay, maybe not beauty and elegance, but it was a very nice, very cute house in a lovely neighborhood. History had shown us that townhouses in that neighborhood sold very, very quickly. So quickly that I was apprehensive about putting my house for sale until after HG had sold her house, which was in a different scary suburb of Portland. HG put her house on the market; we thought it would probably be there for quite a while. But guess what? It sold in ten days for full price. Okay, it was time for house hunting. We found our house, made an offer and put mine on the market. That was the day that we went to Mexico for my birthday. I thought for sure, when we returned that I would have multiple offers on my cute townhouse in the nice neighborhood of the very scary suburbs. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened at all since then.

And guess what? That was THREE FUCKING MONTHS AGO.
I’m about to write a check to my mortgage company for the third month in a row of NOT living there.  I’m sure you’re probably thinking, “Oh, it must be priced too high.”  No, blogging friends on the Internet, that is not the case.  It’s priced fine, it looks fine, I have no idea what the problem is whatsoever.  What I need is someone to buy my damn house so that I can keep moving forward with my life.  That is it.  And that is what needs to happen now.

End of bitching.

Oh, except for one more thing…

During my mini-vacation, while the DD’s were frolicking in the pool, I brought along a little light reading, The Truth (with jokes,) by Al Franken.  As funny as Al Franken is, and believe me, I’ve been laughing out loud at some of his (with jokes,) parts; I’m completely undone with how fucked up politicians are and what a debacle our entire government really is.  The Rebuplicans are trying to take over the world, kill our young people, destroy our environment, and take away our inalienable rights protected under common law and the Constitution.  And Democrats???  They’re a bunch of pussies who are willing to take it all laying down, all the while being worried about hurting someones feelings.  It’s time for someone in the party to grow some balls and stop allowing this country to be lied to, raped, economically brought to it’s knees, and it’s citizens ripped apart.

I’ve had it.

Okay, NOW I’m done bitching.

Happy Summer Solstice bloggers!
* This term I stole borrowed from LeLo who very eloquently pointed out that since the law does not recognize her marriage to AdRi, then the proper term should be “out-laws;” I like it.

We’re off

for our first summer jaunt.  It will be our first “family” vacation with kids in tow.  Just for a couple of days, but we’ve been looking forward to it for awhile.  The kids are so excited; they’re jumping around like kangaroos.  HG is barely maintaining her sanity; but she’s hanging in there!

During the preparation for this little vacation, I realized something very cool.  Having a woman as your partner really rocks.  HG did practically EVERYTHING, including packing the car.  A very different experience from what I’m used to, where I did everything, except drive.  She rocks my world every day, and she tries so hard to acclimate to this very different life from what she is used to.  I heart her.

I’ll post some pictures on our return.

Ciao y’all.

Get Your Pride On

It’s Pride Week here in the Rose City and as always it will be a weekend filled with fun and debauchery. HG and I will be celebrating a dating anniversary on Friday, and HG has decided to plan this months activity. It’s top secret, so I have no idea what we will be doing, only that I should dress in a casual manner.

Saturday is set for a little fun with some friends at the Portland Pride Festival, with perhaps a bit of beer drinking and possible dancing later in the evening. Sunday we will be parade watching and hopefully meeting up with LeLo, AdRi and Wink. Yes, we will be bringing Ginger with us and if I can get motivated, she will be wearing a, “I Have 2 Mommies” t-shirt.

And speaking of lesbians…

Today, I did something completely drastic.

I cut my hair.

Really, really, really short. Okay, not THAT short, but pretty damn short for me. And don’t be asking me for pictures because I’m just too self-conscience for all that right now. HG says she loves it, and the DD’s say that they love it, but I secretly think that they are all lying through their teeth. I mean seriously, do you really think that my girlfriend and kids are going to tell me, “well actually you look terrible,” I think not. So far, I haven’t cried, but I keep quietly asking myself what the fuck I did. I typically don’t cut my hair unless I’ve just been through a break-up, and since that hasn’t happened, I’m not really sure what I was thinking.

Watch, next I’ll be piercing something and getting a tatoo.

Okay, okay.

I succumbed to the pressure.

Here is a picture that HG took of Ginger and I just minutes ago,

don’t make fun, I’m serious.

“School’s out for the summer…”

And Summer has officially begun.  I am now the mother of a 2nd, 4th, and 6th grader.  My big girl is now a Middle Schooler and graduated from Elementary School with a Presidental Honor of Excellence for Academics.  (My only wish is that it wasn’t from this president.)
So now that Summer is here, what does this mean?

A lot of fighting and arguing and a lot of me saying, “Please, clean that up…”
Pancakes in the morning instead of cold cereal and muffins.
No more morning recreation with HG.
Snuggles with my kiddos when they wake up.
Otter Pop wrappers all over my garage floor.
Lemonade stands on the corner.
“I’m bored, what are we going to DO today?”
Spontaneous activities without thoughts of rushing home to get to bed.
No alone time whatsoever.
Quality time with my family.

It’s truly three months of adjustment which always makes me wonder; why don’t we have year round school here in the scary suburbs?  I guess it could always be worse; I could home-school.

But alas, here we are, hours into the summer, and so far, so good.  Two more softball games, three more piano lessons and we are home free, (except for camps and twice a week soccer practice.)  This is my final summer to kind of kick back a little and work my glamorous waitressing job, as the time has come for me to focus on the “real job opportunities,” that I have been contemplating.   It’s our first summer with HG in our lives and even though it will be more of an adjustment for her; I think we’ll have a good time.

The Summer will be good, life is good, and we’re all good, and that is all a good thing.  Sometimes I stand here, in the presence of my life and all of those who are in it, and I seek this space within the walls of my home.  Here I feel safe, here I feel accepted, here I feel understood.  HG is my partner, she is the part of me that has always been missing.  My children are my children, they are a part of me that has come from me, an extension of me in some ways.  Their lives are their own, but it’s my responsibilty to help them to find their way.  This is my home that we have made together, and it brings me all the happiness that I have ever imagined. And the long summer days, filled with hot summer sunshine, birds singing, and a feeling of freedom will be ours until September.

Countdown

This weekend marks the countdown to the three months of Hell Summer Vacation.

For a last hurrah, HG and I went out for a nice dinner last night with our friend Darcy, (who is in pain from an L-4 herniated disk, ouch.) Of course, after the second bottle of wine, she was starting to feel a little better. I had a lovely pasta dish (made with homemade noodles,) in a Wild Boar Ragu. I had never had Wild Boar before, and it was deliciouso.

This week, I received an offer to write a little neighborhood beat for The Oregonian. Fifty bucks a week for 150 words or less of what is going on in the Very Scary Suburbs. I figured, why not and am awaiting my Freelance Contract, (that sounds important, huh?)

Ginger had to go to the emergency vet after being attacked by the neighbors dog.

Well, that isn’t exactly why she had to go to the vet, but she DID get attacked by the neighbors dog. See, Ginger is a digger. She loves to dig and when she gets bored, she loves to dig even more. The other day, we left the dogs in the backyard while we ran an errand downtown. It was a nice day, and they were fine. Apparently, Ginger was bored and started digging a hole to the next door neighbors house where her friend Autumn lives. Autumn has a sister who is not nice and does NOT heart Ginger. Ginger must have forgotten that fact because when she was done digging her hole to Autumns, she slipped under the fence for a visit and the not nice dog got her. We don’t know what he did, but she let out a yelp so lound that my neighbor came out just in time to see her little tail slipping back under the fence. We checked her out and she seemed just fine; until later.

We had gone to another softball game and when we returned, I fed the dogs while HG took a shower and the girls got ready for bed. I then went upstairs to take MY shower and tuck the girls in. When I came down, HG said for me to check out Ginger’s stomach. It was bloated and tender and she growled and yelped when we touched her. I freaked out. HG said not to worry, that she fed her a lot and we should wait and see. I was so worried, all I could think of was that she was having internal bleeding and would drop dead any minute. I decided that she had to go in to the Emergency Vet, I changed my clothes and was out the door in five minutes.

I arrived at the Emergency Vet, crying, and was dissapointed to see my regular Cute Lesbian Vet, leaving for the night. I Handed Ginger to the Vet Girl and sat down to read a magazine article about the Dixie Chicks, whom I heart. The Boy Vet came out to tell me that so far everything looked fine, but he was concerned about her stomach. He thought an X-ray was in order. Of course, of course, do the x-ray, and I tried to go back to reading about how many people still hate the Dixie Chicks for making a very honest and accurate statement about the dumb-ass-who-is-our-president.

As I am sitting there reading, I suddenly hear HG’s voice saying to me, “I fed her a lot.” What did she mean, I wondered? I picked up my cell phone and called her to ask her what she meant by that statement. “Well, because when I fed the dogs, I fed her a lot of food.”

OMG.

I told her that I fed the dogs while she was in the shower.

Just then, the Boy Vet came out with the X-ray. I knew what it was going to show, and sure enough he pointed out that her stomach was overfilled with Chicken, Rice, and Kibble. She didn’t have internal injuries or bleeding; she simply had a bad case of over-eating and indigestion.

And for that lesson, I got to pay the Emergency Vet Clinic of the Scary Suburbs $130.00. I’m sure I also gave the Vet Girl and the Boy Vet quite a laugh for the rest of the evening.

I do what I can.

Update your links!

Okay, I think I’m ready to formally break up with blogger.

I haven’t done a redirect link from my old blogger account, but I will by the end of the day.  I was trying to avoid the whole break-up drama that always occurs when you break up with your former blog host.

Kristine says she’s going to help me make it pretty, and I need SJ to help me with the visitor log through the host, but besides that, I’m feeling quite comfortable in my new home.  If I missed you on my blogroll, PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know.  I was copying and adding from my firefox which is missing quite a few since IE crashed on me, (which is why I don’t use IE anymore…)

I’m excited.  It’s a new chapter in blogging, and so much fun stuff to try, (like IP blocking and Private posts!!!!!)

Feel the power!!!

Hello everybody!

Okay.  I think I’ve got it.

Now, I just need a little help on making it pretty, or if I sit here long enough, I might figure that out myself as well.  Only a few people have the link so far.  If you’re one of them, say hello so I see that everything is working fine.

I’m still here…for now

My blogging issue continues although I am making slow and steady progress!

I obtained my domain name and obtained hosting. I’ve redirected my domain to my new hosting server and attempted to download the wordpress software. I’m working on it, really I am but sometimes reading all of this stuff just gives me a headache and I lay in bed thinking about FTP and DNS and all sorts of other acronyms.

Really I just need someone to do it for me????? (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, anyone who knows how to do this stuff better than I???)

Until then, I suppose I will just hang here for a little while and ride out my web issues the best I can.

All is well in this corner in the world, the weather has been unusually humid and not so pleasant. HG and I have been painting like you would not believe. Here is our living room before…

Here it is now…

It’s in a bit of disaray (because we’re painting,) but you get the general idea. The color over the fireplace looks very pink in the picture but it’s not IRL. The name of it is Toasted Nutmeg. The darker is Wine Barrel, and the other is Wilmington Tan, although on the wall it looks quite gold. I was really trying to pick NEW colors from my old house,

but alas, I guess I’m set in my ways (and taste,) becuase it turned out looking quite similar. I like it, HG likes it, the girls like it, so that’s just fine.

In other news…(warning, RSG is jumping up on a political soapbox, read at your own risk…)

I guess we have nothing else important going on in our country that our elected officials should be looking in to, so they are discussing amending the constitution to discriminate against more than 10 percent of the population.

Nice.

I suppose that is more important than other things like a war that has killed 2500 US soldiers and thousands and thousands and thousands of civilians. Or the fact that we are in an energy crisis in this country and I am paying over $3.00 a gallon for gas. Or the fact that we have a major immigration issue/conflict that is causing civil distress.

Even this story seems more important!

Why aren’t they looking into THAT? Geez, our last president was impeached for such actions, but no one seems to care about W’s philandoring? Instead our trusted government officials are debating whether or not if I get married to HG if that would somehow upset the “sanctity” of marriage? What about the “sanctity” of W’s marriage? Where are his “family values?”

To be honest, whether or not W is having an affair with anyone, I could really care less. What I do care about is time, money, and energy being taken away from very important issues to try to stop me and a lot of other people from having the same rights as anyone else; it’s sickening.

Then I saw this bitch on the Today show this morning and just about puked.
You can read an article about the appearance here.
Or go to Today’s website and see the video. I’m telling you people, Jesus does NOT heart that woman. Also, she released her new book today; you know, today, The Devil’s Day. I personally don’t believe in “The Devil,” but now I’m starting to wonder if there IS a devil and she is actually Ann Coulter?

Okay. Enough political soapboxing for one day.
I’ve got important things to attend to, HG and I are off to Costco.

Ciao y’all. I hope you didn’t all forget me?