Forging Family

I'm writing again! This time with company:
Forging Family

Still Alive

I miss blogging. Now that I'm not buying a house or planning a wedding I'm afraid my day-to-day is hardly worth documenting. But who knows...maybe I'll find a good reason to ease myself back in.

Giving Thanks

Thank you, from our wedding, in bullets:

• For loving us
• For being there
• For speaking up
• For supporting us
• For taking care of the details
• For taking incredible pictures
• For giving the best hugs (repeatedly)
• For that hug you said came from my dad
• For coming even though you weren't comfortable
• For expertly taking over set up and for staying to help clean
• For commenting on your 4 year old's widening view of what makes a family
• For proving to us just how big our family truly is. Thank you.

Newlyweds...again

Last Monday we drove from DC (where we stayed) to a little town in Connecticut. There were narrow streets, tall trees, red bricks with white trim and a sweet older woman in the Town Clerks office who lit up when we said we were there to apply for our marriage license. We filled out our paperwork, held up our right hands to swear all the information was true then headed to a little park nearby to be married. We found a kind, slightly kooky officiant on the internets. She'd had a computer melt-down and so led us through our vows thanks to gmail and my black.berry. It felt so different from what we experienced the Saturday before. We worked for a year for what we had last Saturday. Surrounded by our families and friends, flowers, decorations and the results of lots and lots of work. It was incredible, hectic, fun, emotional and completely unforgetable. Monday in Connecticut was just us, the Rev. and those hum-drum legalities everyone takes for granted. I'm so thankful to have had both experiences.


So now we've been married twice. Once in the eyes of our friends, family and any higher ups who may be watching then again in the eyes of the state of Connecticut. I can only hope and pray that someday it'll spread. The queers will take over and eventually our marriage will be legal everywhere, without question or exception. Until then, we'll busy ourselves with wills, power of attorney documents and name changes.

Honeymoon

I lived in Maryland from age 15-18. I wasn't thrilled with moving or being on the other side of the country from everything and everyone I've ever known. But one thing I did love about this part of the country was autumn. We're back here now, in DC, for our honeymoon. Strangely, we're here not just because we'd wanted to visit DC together, but also because I have a professional conference at the end of this week which makes this trip financially possible. The trees are incredible, the weather is beautiful. I couldn't imagine a better time to visit this part of the country (except possibly when the cherry trees bloom). Tomorrow we head to Connecticut for wedding #2 - the legal version.

As for wedding #1, I'm still wading through amazing pictures and trying to put it all into words.

[picture by me]

Hitched

We got married Saturday. It was perfect and amazing so that I can hardly stand to write about it. I will though, soon, so I don't forget a single moment (as if I could).

Photos by Mary Sledd...certainly more to come.

Almost There

We're mostly moved in. Most of our furniture and boxes are at least in the proper room. Most of the discarded packing paper has been bagged up and tossed in the garage. Most of the blinds have been hung. I'm mostly happy with our new house. There's almost enough cabinet space and almost enough natural light.

Everyone warned me of buyers remorse. And sure enough, after a few days of this is our house euphoria, remorse has set in. I drive by blocks and blocks of old houses on my new commute and they make me a little sad. Even the ones that are a bit run down have enormous trees and countless windows. They probably have original wood floors, weird nooks in the kitchen and cabinets and telephone shelves built into the hall. Of course that's along with their cast iron pipes and shifting East Austin foundations.

Then I remember that our house doesn't require fixing. The yard is great big and Dog already loves it. Dog and Little Cat also love thundering up and down the stairs. We've met our friendly neighbors across the street who told us about the farm we can walk to for fresh veggies, eggs and milk. I'm quite sure the remorse will fade as we get everything unpacked and all the empty boxes go the way of craigslist. I'm a certified nester and when my nest is in disarray I am too.

Picture: Big Cat feels about the same way about moving as I do. She spent almost 2 days in that cabinet.