I am verklempt with joy

After yesterday's historic vote in favor of the Civil Unions bill in the House, today the Illinois Senate also voted to pass the Civil Unions Bill.  So it's a done deal. I am not gay but I am so overjoyed I can hardly sit still!


After Gov. Quinn signs it into law (he lobbied for it in both the House and Senate, and has already said he will sign it) it will become effective July 1, 2011 (no clue why so long) and my gaybees will be able to be civilly unioned.  No it's not marriage, but it's better than not having Civil Unions, and it's freaking wonderful!  I am thrilled and am so proud of my adopted state.

GO ILLINOIS!  And thank you Rep. Harris (openly gay man and sponsor of the original bill) and Sen. Koehler (a minster! and sponsor of the bill in the Senate) for all of your efforts, and for your passion for justice.

So fitting that it happens on World AIDS Day.


"Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice...."  Barack Obama, April 4, 2008


I am verklempt.


http://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/14682400

Christmas came early this year

When my sister was visiting in August for my birthday, I took her to the Garlic Press because I knew it was her kind of store.  When we walked in the door there was this comfy chair sitting in front of the register counter. I sat in it, and never wanted to get out of it.  Betsy said I should have Bob get it for my birthday.  I looked at the price tag and said, "Um yeah, but no."


Last night we were watching television and I was complaining about how uncomfortable the downstairs love seat is for me with all my aches and pains, and wishing we could bring the gravity chair from the deck back inside (I lived in that chair when my back was out in October).  Bob was not excited about bringing outdoor furniture into the house permanently, and suggested we buy a new indoor gravity chair for downstairs. 

As soon as he said that, I had visions of that miracle chair at Garlic Press and wondered if they still had it.  Bob suggested we check after church today which we did, after the Bloody Mary Bar at Medici.  The chair was not where it had been because of the extra Christmas decorations, so we asked if they still had it.  They did, stuffed away in the back of the store to get it out of the way for the holiday goodies.  They got it out for us, I plopped by butt into it, and my butt remembered it, and it was very happy.

They said we could have it for 20% off since it was the display chair.  I told Bob it was too expensive.  Bob said Merry Christmas (after he sat his happy butt in it).  And so now it sits downstairs in front of the television, with an ottoman.  And a pillow they threw in for 50% off.  Bob already got it set up for me, sat down in it, and wondered how hard it would be to get another one.  Probably not too hard, but rather pricey that's for sure.


So um, Mom, remember how you wondered what I wanted for Christmas?  Well, if you'd like to buy me the ottoman, that would work for me!  It's called a "Puff Scroll Rocker" with optional ottoman.  We optioned the ottoman.  I shall sign off with a picture of it for you all and then I shall go return my happy butt to the new chair.  I may never leave it, so this may be my last blog entry.

It's all about justice

The special session of the Illinois General Assembly resumes Monday in the House and Tuesday in the Senate, and will run until December 2.  Back in February, 2009, Rep. Greg Harris introduced the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, which was successfully voted out of committee, and advanced to its third and final reading on March 19, 2009.  The bill was then converted to Senate Bill 1716, which is its current form. The bill awaits a final vote in the Illinois General Assembly, and the hope is that it will come up this week.  

If passed, SB1716 would establish civil unions in Illinois which would offer the same benefits, obligations and responsibilities of marriage. The major benefits include hospital visitation, healthcare decision making, disposition of a deceased loved one’s remains, and probate rights. It would allow LGBT persons equal access to government under the law, while protecting the rights of religious institutions to define marriage as they choose, meaning that the law explicitly protects the rights of all religious institutions to either officiate civil unions or NOT facilitate civil unions based on their faith and traditions. You can find out more about it here.

While civil union is not the same as marriage, many supporters believe this is a positive step forward for Illinois and are hoping it becomes law this week. Bob and I are among them.  This is a matter of justice and equality, pure and simple, and we are confident it’s not a matter of IF it will pass, it is merely a matter of WHEN – of course the sooner justice is served, the better for all of us, gay and straight, single and coupled.

Like Prop Hate in California, the bill is facing opposition both from within Illinois and from the outside.  One example from within was reported in the Chicago Sun Times on Monday when the head of Chicago's Roman Catholic archdiocese portrayed legislation authorizing civil unions between gay and lesbian couples as an initiative that would ''change the nature of marriage'' and urged state lawmakers to reject it.  And from outside the state, the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is targeting Illinois by urging its self-proclaimed "Marriage Protectors" to:  "…stop the civil unions bill (SB1716).  This dangerous bill would create same-sex marriage by another name – extending to same-sex couples all 'the same legal obligations, responsibilities, protections, and benefits of marriage.”

So we've signed on online clergy petition/letter, adding our names to a long list of supporters who love Jesus AND love LGBT's.  And we emailed our state rep and senator, for whatever that will be worth.  And I'm preaching about it tomorrow because it's Advent, and Advent is all about justice and hope.  

Here's hoping!

The girls are fine!

I had my annual mammo last week (Wed.) and less than a week later the letter arrived (today) telling me the girls are fine for another year -- YAY!  While I'm not thrilled (for many reasons) with Carle becoming OSF, I am thrilled with how much more quickly I get my mammo results.  With Carle it took two weeks to get the letter.  If there was a problem you got a phone call within a few days, which I did one year, which of course freaked me the hell out -- it seems my swimming added muscle to my chest, which was a new thing for them and for me, so they needed some more poses for the girls, which were weird and twisty and painful but turned out fine.  Otherwise you'd get the letter in about two weeks.  With OSF this year and last, I got the letter in a week, which is way cool.  


So now I can relax and not worry about the girls for another year, and can concentrate on worrying about my colon, which will be roto-rootered sometime between now and before I turn 51.  When I had my physical last month, and we made appointments for the mammo and blood work, etc. I promised Pat, my NP, that I would make the appointment for my colonoscopy sometime in the new year, before August, and that was good enough for her since most of her patients don't follow through but she knows I will.  I have my skin cancer screening on Monday (add that briefly to the worry list for now), and the mammo last week, and I wanted a few weeks/months off before dealing with my colon.  She understood and agreed.  So, after the first of the year, I'll make that appointment.  It's not the actual procedure I dread.  It's the night before ...


On another note, Bob's last day of work is TODAY and not tomorrow -- YAY!  He couldn't get up today, was almost late, and told me he sooooo did not want to go in.  I said, "Only two more days!"  But since it's supposed to rain tomorrow again, he asked his boss if he needed him and his boss said no, so he's done for now until March (unless his dog biz takes off fabulously and he doesn't need to work -- or we win the lottery).


So he's on his way home -- we'll have lunch, take Kayla to Belly Rubs for her much overdue bath, get the house ready for bug-guy, pick up Kayla from Belly Rubs, pick up my car from Clay Dooley, and then ............ CELEBRATION!

Home for the Holidays

Bob and I are home, in Normal, for the holidays.  Philly left today for her other home, in Anaheim, for the holidays.  She usually stays longer, until around Dec. 20.  But Laura's boyfriend came for Thanksgiving from CT, and she wanted Mom to meet him. Not to mention Penelope -- I call her Baby P -- celebrating her first Thanksgiving.  She was sad to leave her Normal home and her Normal friends -- not to mention missing Advent at NCC and driving around to see the Christmas lights and the first snowfall.  But hopefully some good baby-head-sniffing will make up for what she's missing here.  And maybe we won't get much snow this winter so she won't have to miss out! A girl can dream ...


Going through Zion photos today, trying to pick some for a Christmas-card-photo-thing, which I'm thinking of doing this year.  We took several of the three of us on our last day, but I'm not thrilled with any of them.  This one is nice, but I'm not sure about it.

Bob is outside doing yard work.  When he's done I'll see what he thinks.  I was going to write something else but just totally lost my train of thought.

Bob's last day of work at the golf course is Wednesday.  He is very happy about that, as am I.  We will start going to the gym together on Friday (Gold's is closed on Thursday of course).  On Thursday we'll enjoy our semi-regular Thanksgiving feast with the Fox-Anvick crew (they graciously include us the year's they celebrate in town).  Looking forward to great food and wonderful friends.

Then next week hopefully Bob can devote more time to Pawsitive Transformations.  He already has several clients coming up in the next week or so, and we need to figure out the web site (find a designer, etc.).  Officially we have our Normal business license, LCC status with the state, and business checking account taken care of -- now we just need to get some other things finalized.  For me the web site is the most important so hopefully we'll get it settled soon.

We did finalize the logo ... and the final artwork is complete!

Getting back to Normal

Slowly but surely.


At night when I wake up I still think I'm sleeping in Coleman sometimes.  Only I'm warmer, and more comfortable.  And Bob doesn't have to climb over me to get out of bed.  And there is a flush toilet nearby.  And it doesn't smell like a campfire outside. 


Last night about 12:30am I woke up and noticed some red flashing lights on the wall. I thought maybe the campfire outside Coleman had re-ignited and I needed to go out and douse it.  Turns out a cop had pulled someone over across the street. That will pass soon, I'm sure, which is kind of sad, because I love that my subconscious is still kind of in Zion.  Wish my conscious was too.  And my body.


Bob is preaching this week so I got time to get out from under all of the mail and messages at the office, and do some other officey-things, and send emails, and make phone calls, and otherwise generally ease back into the groove of things, in addition to finishing unpacking and finishing laundry.  We went out to dinner with Mom the night after we got back, and cooked the rest of our meals this in a real kitchen with a big stove and oven, instead of our dutch-oven cooking with coals and our camp stove. And while I enjoy washing dishes in the sink or dishwasher instead of having to heat up water and wash them in a large pan, I do kinda miss the little routines we had at camp.  They were more were but in a beautiful location, so it was worth the trouble.  Here's a shot of Bob getting the coals situated to cook yummy meatloaf in our cast-iron dutch oven.  It's the best tasting meatloaf ever!

Home

We are back from our WONDERFUL Zion vacation, buried in laundry, mail, email, unpacking, etc. -- so not time to write much now, other than to say we had a great time with mostly fabulous weather (gorgeous weather the first week, very warm, then still beautiful but rather chilly the second week but hey, it was November after all!) and we already miss the red rocks that surrounded our "home" for 12 days/nights.  Here is a shot from the front door of Coleman, a view which didn't change much from day to day ...

We had a long and at times scary drive home (in the dark through the Rockies Sunday night during a snow storm that arrived earlier than the Weather Channel indicated it would arrive) and pulled into our driveway before 10pm last night.  When re-entry is achieved and I am less buried I'll write more about it.  In the meantime, another photo to hold you all over until then.  Me, Bob, and Kayla down by the Virgin River while my sister was visiting.