Read this, if you will.

I know that most of the twelve or so people who read this site are my family and friends, and that most of you are straight. That's why I'm sharing this link. Because without me pointing it out, you probably wouldn't hear about this story. You might not know that things like this happen in this country. That they still happen.

In case you didn't click that link, I'll tell you what it's about. It's about a lesbian couple and their children who were about to go on a cruise when one of the women had a brain aneurysm and died. Before she died, though, the Miami hospital staff treated them pretty badly. They wouldn't allow her partner to make decisions. They wouldn't allow their children in to see her. Can you imagine being in the hospital, about to die, and someone telling your children that they can't say goodbye?

This couple had done what they tell us we need to be legally protected if something like this happens. They jointly-adopted the children, so they were both legal parents. They had granted each other the authority to make legal decisions for the other. They'd done what they could to reasonably expect to be treated with dignity should something tragic like this ever happen. And none of it worked.

I started writing this intending to blast the anti-gay marriage laws, but it's not even about marriage. It's about treating people right.

Still, I can't not point out that if a man and a woman got married after knowing each other for ten minutes, they'd have been allowed to do what this couple was not.

It was another awesome weekend, people. And I'm so lazy with writing updates, so I'm doing it all in one big post.

Thursday was dinner and catching up with Heidi at Acapulco. It had been far too long since we’d mainlined the queso dip, but we made up for it. With her new job (meaning she no longer works in my backyard!) our weekly taco and dip excursion isn’t as convenient anymore, so we’re in the market for a new Regular Hideout. Bonus points if it has good queso dip and chips.

After dinner I joined Katie, Wendy, Jumi, Jenni, and Cindi at Pi for drinks and billiards. I run so hot and cold with pool that I never know how I'm going to do, but I did well against Katie! Then Katie and I retired to the new smoking patio for a while. I don’t smoke, but it’s nice that there is a place other than the front steps for people now.

Friday M and I headed to the Riverview Theater for the Buffy sing-a-long. SO MUCH FUN. If you like Buffy at all, and if this comes to your town, you should definitely check it out. It’s one thing to be able to see Buffy on the big screen, and it’s an even more awesome thing to see it with a bunch of other fans who are singing along to the musical. I dropped M off and headed home, but even though it was something like 3 in the morning when I got there, I couldn’t sleep. I finally fell asleep (on my new! couch!) and didn’t wake up until Sha started cleaning around me at 7. I guess the new couch is comfy!

Saturday I lounged, when I should have been napping. That evening was Jumi’s birthday party, which was a blast, naturally. Fire and s’mores and really awesome burgers and shrimp and a ton of other good food. Oh, and now I have to buy a Wii. My place does not really allow for DDR (I have neighbors below me) but the Wii shouldn't add too much noise. I got home around 2:30 again but smartly went straight to bed this time. I didn’t wake up until noon, which would have been awesome except I had a houseguest who I figured had already been up for approximately five hours. I really didn’t believe the alarm clock when I saw it said 12:00… I kept waiting for it to blink, thinking we’d lost power. Not so much. Fortunately M is resourceful and had kept herself occupied whilst waiting for me to get up.

Sunday we lounged around for a while and watched bad reality TV until I took her home that afternoon. I had a blissful afternoon/evening alone where I planned to nap, but instead watched a whole lot of college softball. I’m still working my way through the rest of the games, so don’t tell me who won the world series, k? I really want to go to Chicago or Rockford to see a pro softball game! Road trip, anyone?

Today was my long-awaited return to therapy. When I’m going through something big I have a habit of suspending counseling in order to get through it alone. I don’t know why, as that’s kind of against the point of counseling, but it works for me. It was a good (though draining) session. It was also my first 1:1 since taking the new job at work, and it went well; he's pretty happy with me so far.

And now I’m off to Shannon’s house for a Pampered Chef party! I have kitchen gadgets that need buying!

I hope you’re all well.

It’s been a long day. My alarm went off at 4 and I was dressed by 4:07. I got to the airport in plenty of time to find that the terror alert was at the orange level. Apparently, it was orange on Friday as well, but the Minneapolis airport did not find it necessary to tell me!

After two gate/plane changes, I got in to Durham an hour or so late. Laura picked me up but we were both exhausted so I just checked into my hotel and said goodnight. Early the next morning, we hit Waffle House for breakfast. Ironically, we had to change tables twice before we could order! Apparently I was not destined to be able to sit still for that 24 hour period.

It was not my best Waffle House meal, but it was good company! And it brought back good memories. I miss the Waffle House. Though, I was excited about how fast the order came out until I realized they achieved that by not cooking my eggs remotely long enough.

After breakfast we had a couple of hours of drama while we tried to locate Laura’s daughter, and once we found her, it was time to get her ready for prom. Her son Jason wowed me with his card tricks while Laura and her sister did Jess’ hair and makeup and pinned her into her dress. Then it was off to take pictures, where I was designated the person who had to say where the best shots would be. My sister is the photographer, not I! But we got some great shots.

After we finished the prom stuff, Laura and I picked up her friend Lainie and we headed to a seafood place where we had, among other things, THE BEST calamari evar. It’s kind of unnatural how much I’ve thought of it since then. That wasn’t even my dinner… I ordered prime rib and a side of crab legs, but the waitress thought I wanted a whole order of crab legs. Who orders an 8 ounce prime rib and two pounds of crab legs for one dinner? Fortunately, Lainie helped me eat them. It was tough work, but we muddled through.

Sunday was the horsie and driving day. From the hotel to where Cowboy (Laura's horse) lives to make sure he was out, then to Lainie’s to pick her up and go see the baby horse (where we got the bad news that she probably wouldn’t make it), then back to Lainie’s to get the horse trailer, back to where Cowboy lives to get him, back to Lainie’s to get the horses ready for the ride*.

After the ride, we took Cowboy home and headed to Laura’s parents’ house for dinner. It was loud and rowdy and lots of fun. Her parents were adorable and her daddy called me “Sug.”

It was an awesome trip and I can’t wait to go back!

*I did well on the ride! I rode Lainie's horse Peanut. Up on the first try, and though I was nervous to start (I’d forgotten how damned far up you are on a horse!) I got comfortable quickly and didn’t whine or squeal, even when she took off in a short trot. I hope it’s not another 20 years before I ride again!

There are a few more North Carolina pics here.

I present to you the following evidence:

• I’m still waiting on my editing class grade, but my microeconomics one came in this morning and was a B-. I was hoping and praying for a C-, so this would be better.
• I have the day off because I’m packing. Well, mostly. I’m checking emails and available by cell and had a few hours worth of stuff to do.
• I’m packing because I’m going to North Carolina this evening.
• I’m going to North Carolina this evening to see my very good friend Laura! She’s visited me several times in the last few years, but though we’ve been friends almost twelve years, I’ve never been down there. We’re going horseback riding, getting her daughter ready and sent off to her first prom, and hanging out with some of her friends. I. can. not. wait.

Yesterday was a good day, too!

• I got a lot done at work.
• I got to see my cousin Angie.
• I had a good talk with Katie.
• I went to dinner at Pi with M, Melanie and Eric, and Wendy joined us later just in time to kick my ass at pool. Twice. Pi was PACKED because of Dining for Life, which was awesome.

And now, I have a conference call to attend and then I finish packing and get ready to head to the airport.

Oh, and also... my friend Desiree asked me to help her son with his Flat Stanley project. My sister and I spent the day being a tourist in Minneapolis, then took him to a Twins game. You can see pictures of Flat Stanley's adventure here. I may make a separate post later talking about the process, but we'll see!

I don’t know what got in to me last night, but I got it in my head that I needed to redesign my site and I stayed up until 4 a.m. doing it.

Don’t think that didn’t mean I woke up at my normal 7 a.m. to go to the bathroom. And of course I still woke up again at 9 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. I swear I could go to sleep at 6 and still have to get up at 7 to pee!

I’m doing a spectacular job of procrastinating, avoiding my microeconomics textbook. All morning I’ve been tweaking the site template and I think I’m finally done messing with it. I also made a nice breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. Now I’m settling in to watch a couple of episodes of Dark Angel, and then I’m going to take a much-needed nap.

It’s been a tough week, but I’m trying to stay distracted. Later I do need to crack that book, and I should probably make a run to Target. I definitely need to get my hair cut soon! I’ve let it go because I was toying with the idea of growing it out, but that’s never going to work unless I buy a wig for the interim, because damn. My hair does whatever it wants.

Tomorrow I think I’m going to Easter dinner at my aunt Avis’ house, and more studying. I only have two weeks left of this econ class and I’ve slacked off most of the semester. At least I’m doing well in the editing class.

Have a good weekend!