So last weekend, my Awesome Guy and my Biggest Guy (my oldest son) and I were at the local mall. There was an antique show going on and plus, this mall had a pet store and we wanted to look at the puppies and kitties so we decided to go.
We stopped at a table where the lady who was the dealer had set up row after row of antique rings. She deals with antique jewelry of all kinds, but especially rings and so we spent some time looking.
After taking my Awesome Guy's budget into account, I tried on a few rings. We narrowed it down to two rings: a 19th century rose gold ring that was a delicate wonder and a 1940's gold ring with some serious flash to it.
At that point, I was told to take a walk and so I did, going to look at puppies and kitties and my Awesome Guy and my Biggest Guy made the final decision.
I, of ocurse, didn't know which one they chose. My Biggest Guy had a huge grin on his face the rest of the day. He knew, of course, but he wasn't going to tell me.
Which was fine with me. The ring needed to be resized and so my Awesome Guy would go pick it up sometime this past week.
Instead, she mailed it to him and he being the sweetheart he is, couldn't wait. He proposed to me right then and there and put the ring on my finger. I cried, yes, I did...and said, "yes."
Because my Awesome Guy is so wonderful and I Love him immensely. He's a fellow geek and I'd be stupid to let someone so great walk away...no, I'm not a fool. :)
So now I'm engaged to this wonderful man and his family is great and his mom and dad were so happy for us and our mutual friends are thrilled and all of that cool stuff.
I swear to God, when I changed the relationship status on Facebook, my inbox about imploded with comments from my friends who were squeeeing over the goodness.
So my one thought is: Would it be too much geek goodness to have the Star Wars theme playing as we walked out after being married???
K.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
What's wrong with people??
I was amused by this lil' snippet of info:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/22/super-heroes-vs-the-westboro-baptist-church/
As some of you know, Fred Phelps is a dangerous man who has, for years, preached his own version of Christianity. What's sad is that he has followers of his church also drinking the kool-aid.
I understand that people may be threatened by GLBT folk. I understand that sometimes, people act out on their fears and do and say stuff that is hurtful to others.
But this man has gone way way too far.
It makes me happy to see fellow geeks more than happy to stand up to his nonsense.
I have a friend who uses a wheelchair. She is beautiful, funny, vibrant, intelligent, and a fellow geek girl. She's been going on dates and some of them have been good, some of them have been blah...and yet, once again, because of her wheelchair, the possibility of a long term relationship isn't a possibility.
Yeah, OK. She's in a wheelchair and yeah, that entails day to day care. But my friend is an independent chick who is more than happy to take care of herself as much as she can. It's not like she's expecting someone to wait on her hand and foot.
I guess I should be happy that the wheelchair definitely divides the can's vs. the cannot's. But I think it's unfair. Set the wheelchair aside for a moment and LOOK at the woman. Gah.
Myself, I deal with bipolar illness. I have ever since I was a pre teen and it really flared when I was 17 and going from there, it's been a continuous battle. It isn't as readily apparent as being in a wheelchair because it's a "hidden illness" but sooner or later, my Illness flares and unless I want to be a total liar (which I don't), people will see parts of what I struggle with.
I'm honest enough to say that I'm having a hard day. And if I am really close to you, I will be willing to talk about what's going on inside.
I write in another Journal a lot more bluntly about my Illness. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or that it's something I can't talk about here. I can. I will. There just hasn't been the moment to talk about it until now. God knows I'm not going to hide and be someone I'm not. That's just stupid.
My point being is that there are going to be people who will say that I am faking it. That it's all in my head and all I need to do is pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with it. That I'm feeling sorry for myself because I don't have it as bad as other people do and I need to quit the pity party.
Trust me, I tell myself the same thing, too...but that's not going to help when I'm in the depths of a depression.
I'm learning to accept the fact that this Illness is like having diabetes or high blood pressure or cancer. I am on medication to control it. So far, so good. But I have to keep taking the medication and I have to keep on top of my reactions and I have to rewire my thinking as much as I can so that I won't fall into that pit.
It's...exhausting.
The last thing I need is someone telling me to get over myself.
I find that the quicker I open my mouth without really knowing what's going on or who the person is, I make a bigger fool of myself. I find that it's much much smarter to get to know a person, get to know what's going on before saying anything. If I even do, that is. Sometimes, it's just wisest to keep my mouth shut.
And sometimes, sometimes it's time to roll that one in diplomacy and tell the Fred Phelps of this world the following:
Feck off.
K.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/22/super-heroes-vs-the-westboro-baptist-church/
As some of you know, Fred Phelps is a dangerous man who has, for years, preached his own version of Christianity. What's sad is that he has followers of his church also drinking the kool-aid.
I understand that people may be threatened by GLBT folk. I understand that sometimes, people act out on their fears and do and say stuff that is hurtful to others.
But this man has gone way way too far.
It makes me happy to see fellow geeks more than happy to stand up to his nonsense.
I have a friend who uses a wheelchair. She is beautiful, funny, vibrant, intelligent, and a fellow geek girl. She's been going on dates and some of them have been good, some of them have been blah...and yet, once again, because of her wheelchair, the possibility of a long term relationship isn't a possibility.
Yeah, OK. She's in a wheelchair and yeah, that entails day to day care. But my friend is an independent chick who is more than happy to take care of herself as much as she can. It's not like she's expecting someone to wait on her hand and foot.
I guess I should be happy that the wheelchair definitely divides the can's vs. the cannot's. But I think it's unfair. Set the wheelchair aside for a moment and LOOK at the woman. Gah.
Myself, I deal with bipolar illness. I have ever since I was a pre teen and it really flared when I was 17 and going from there, it's been a continuous battle. It isn't as readily apparent as being in a wheelchair because it's a "hidden illness" but sooner or later, my Illness flares and unless I want to be a total liar (which I don't), people will see parts of what I struggle with.
I'm honest enough to say that I'm having a hard day. And if I am really close to you, I will be willing to talk about what's going on inside.
I write in another Journal a lot more bluntly about my Illness. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or that it's something I can't talk about here. I can. I will. There just hasn't been the moment to talk about it until now. God knows I'm not going to hide and be someone I'm not. That's just stupid.
My point being is that there are going to be people who will say that I am faking it. That it's all in my head and all I need to do is pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with it. That I'm feeling sorry for myself because I don't have it as bad as other people do and I need to quit the pity party.
Trust me, I tell myself the same thing, too...but that's not going to help when I'm in the depths of a depression.
I'm learning to accept the fact that this Illness is like having diabetes or high blood pressure or cancer. I am on medication to control it. So far, so good. But I have to keep taking the medication and I have to keep on top of my reactions and I have to rewire my thinking as much as I can so that I won't fall into that pit.
It's...exhausting.
The last thing I need is someone telling me to get over myself.
I find that the quicker I open my mouth without really knowing what's going on or who the person is, I make a bigger fool of myself. I find that it's much much smarter to get to know a person, get to know what's going on before saying anything. If I even do, that is. Sometimes, it's just wisest to keep my mouth shut.
And sometimes, sometimes it's time to roll that one in diplomacy and tell the Fred Phelps of this world the following:
Feck off.
K.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
This is why.
So a couple of weekends ago, I attended my local PRIDE celebration.
My fair city has a HUGE PRIDE weekend that has events running from Friday through Sunday. It is a lot of fun and has something for everyone, whether it's dancing to the hottest music, seeing a drag show, going on a cruise on the lake, watching the parade, or simply walking through the park.
I chose to walk through the park, stopping at various booths to look at the goods and to see who was there church wise and corporate/work wise.
It was a lot of fun. There were plenty of people out and about and while there were a couple of outfits that had me raising my eyebrows a bit, mostly, these folks who were enjoying the beautiful day looked like, well, like anyone you might find in the every day walk of life.
One of the tents I stopped at was for Human Rights (I Love their organization) and I asked for a sticker that they had (stickers were all over the place...I normally don't get any but this sticker, I wanted).
It had on it DADT and asked that it be repealed. Today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. NOW, damn it.
And I wanted that sticker because I whole heartedly support that decision.
This is the way I look at it. Don't Ask Don't Tell was an asinine decision in the first place. And furthermore, let's be blunt. These soldiers of our armed forces are willing to give their lives to defend liberty and justice. To uphold the defense of our country and come to aid for those in other countries who need us.
Willing to give up their lives.
That is more than enough validation for me and I don't see where their sexual orientation is part of it. If I'm lying in no man's land and my foxhole buddy is risking his/her life to drag me to safety...is my first thought going to be, "oh, I hope he isn't gay/she isn't a lesbian..??" I doubt it. If I'm bleeding from injuries and a medic comes to stop the bleeding and get me to a hospital, am I going to worry about that person's sexuality?
Please.
I find it embarrassing that some people are hung up over this.
So I asked for the sticker. I have it up where I can see it.
Yes, I am GLBT supportive in all things healthy. Most of the Community simply wants the same rights the rest of us take for granted. Stuff like wills and hospital visits and even marriage. Hey, even *gasp*, adopting children or having a child through a surrogate mother/invitro.
I understand that people are afraid. I understand that people are misinformed. When I've talked to some people who are virulently opposed to gay rights, they often don't even know any "real" gay people. They go by these tired old stereotypes that should have lost their juice a long, long time ago.
I've heard it said that gay rights is the last thing to be fought for. After all, we had the civil rights movement, we've had feminist rights, we've had minority rights....even immigrant rights.
I'd say that it's an ongoing process. There are always those few bad apples in the barrel who make it hard for the rest of us....but people need to remember that most of us, whoever we are, however we identify, just want a happy life. A life without fear or hate or disgust. A life where it doesn't matter what colour one's skin is. What sexual orientation one is. Whether they are a man or a woman. Or if they were born here or were naturalized.
Fear is understandable....but reach out. Get to know people that you are afraid of. Often times, you'll find that the very thing you feared was merely a shadow, a cipher of your mind.
There are plenty of good folks to reach back and help you over that fear, help you get to know them....so that in time, you would also add your voice to everyone else's.
Enough. Repeal DADT. Break down these other barriers.
Then we can definitely, proudly, say that our nation is "for all".
K.
My fair city has a HUGE PRIDE weekend that has events running from Friday through Sunday. It is a lot of fun and has something for everyone, whether it's dancing to the hottest music, seeing a drag show, going on a cruise on the lake, watching the parade, or simply walking through the park.
I chose to walk through the park, stopping at various booths to look at the goods and to see who was there church wise and corporate/work wise.
It was a lot of fun. There were plenty of people out and about and while there were a couple of outfits that had me raising my eyebrows a bit, mostly, these folks who were enjoying the beautiful day looked like, well, like anyone you might find in the every day walk of life.
One of the tents I stopped at was for Human Rights (I Love their organization) and I asked for a sticker that they had (stickers were all over the place...I normally don't get any but this sticker, I wanted).
It had on it DADT and asked that it be repealed. Today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. NOW, damn it.
And I wanted that sticker because I whole heartedly support that decision.
This is the way I look at it. Don't Ask Don't Tell was an asinine decision in the first place. And furthermore, let's be blunt. These soldiers of our armed forces are willing to give their lives to defend liberty and justice. To uphold the defense of our country and come to aid for those in other countries who need us.
Willing to give up their lives.
That is more than enough validation for me and I don't see where their sexual orientation is part of it. If I'm lying in no man's land and my foxhole buddy is risking his/her life to drag me to safety...is my first thought going to be, "oh, I hope he isn't gay/she isn't a lesbian..??" I doubt it. If I'm bleeding from injuries and a medic comes to stop the bleeding and get me to a hospital, am I going to worry about that person's sexuality?
Please.
I find it embarrassing that some people are hung up over this.
So I asked for the sticker. I have it up where I can see it.
Yes, I am GLBT supportive in all things healthy. Most of the Community simply wants the same rights the rest of us take for granted. Stuff like wills and hospital visits and even marriage. Hey, even *gasp*, adopting children or having a child through a surrogate mother/invitro.
I understand that people are afraid. I understand that people are misinformed. When I've talked to some people who are virulently opposed to gay rights, they often don't even know any "real" gay people. They go by these tired old stereotypes that should have lost their juice a long, long time ago.
I've heard it said that gay rights is the last thing to be fought for. After all, we had the civil rights movement, we've had feminist rights, we've had minority rights....even immigrant rights.
I'd say that it's an ongoing process. There are always those few bad apples in the barrel who make it hard for the rest of us....but people need to remember that most of us, whoever we are, however we identify, just want a happy life. A life without fear or hate or disgust. A life where it doesn't matter what colour one's skin is. What sexual orientation one is. Whether they are a man or a woman. Or if they were born here or were naturalized.
Fear is understandable....but reach out. Get to know people that you are afraid of. Often times, you'll find that the very thing you feared was merely a shadow, a cipher of your mind.
There are plenty of good folks to reach back and help you over that fear, help you get to know them....so that in time, you would also add your voice to everyone else's.
Enough. Repeal DADT. Break down these other barriers.
Then we can definitely, proudly, say that our nation is "for all".
K.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
I likes this.
This has been going around on the Journals so I thought I would do this...
And this is my result.
I think it's pretty cool!
And this is my result.
I think it's pretty cool!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Gimme gimme gimme....
I saw an ipad.
This is what sucks about being a geek girl. I love that stuff. Shiny stuff. Good stuff. *Expensive* stuff.
Yeah. So I won't be getting an ipad anytime soon but it's just so...so yummy.
In other news, my cell phone company is releasing a new phone that's supposed to be super awesome.
I just checked it out and I'm like....mmmmm...ok.
It has a touch screen typing pad. I hate those things.
I know, I know....it's supposed to be really easy but I always end up typing pornographic words without my permission. Or something. And I really like MY phone that has a slide out keypad and I can type away on it like a REAL keyboard (uh, because it basically is, only way smaller) and I'm happy with it.
It's also a first generation touch phone and that makes me feel old, somehow.
What I really want is a digital camera. A small one with some really cool features so I can take pictures and zoom in and all that good stuff. Oh, and it has a flash. (well, duh). That would be cool. I keep telling myself I should buy a fricking camera but the money tree never has any money on it when I need it. So no camera.
Sides, I'd much rather have a laptop. I have my priorities. Although, you can't take a photo with a laptop...at least, not without cheating.
Speaking of laptops, there is one that I've been lusting over for some time now. It's RED. (my favourite colour EVAH) and it has a blu ray player in it. And that's good enough for me. I'm not a hard core gamer so I don't need something that would support, say, SIMS 3 on it. I DO love my multi media, however, and knowing I could pop a blu ray movie into my laptop and watch it makes me get the warm fuzzies.
We shall see.
In the meantime, I slobber over ipads and smart phones and blue tooth speakerphone hook ups for a car (I seriously want one of those) and the other day, I saw a Lotus and I about died.
Although, I wonder, if one's driving a Lotus, don't they feel like their butt is hitting the pavement? Seriously.
Gah. All these technological goodies and right now, I can't even afford a jump drive. What the hell. Something is very very wrong with this picture. :)
K.
This is what sucks about being a geek girl. I love that stuff. Shiny stuff. Good stuff. *Expensive* stuff.
Yeah. So I won't be getting an ipad anytime soon but it's just so...so yummy.
In other news, my cell phone company is releasing a new phone that's supposed to be super awesome.
I just checked it out and I'm like....mmmmm...ok.
It has a touch screen typing pad. I hate those things.
I know, I know....it's supposed to be really easy but I always end up typing pornographic words without my permission. Or something. And I really like MY phone that has a slide out keypad and I can type away on it like a REAL keyboard (uh, because it basically is, only way smaller) and I'm happy with it.
It's also a first generation touch phone and that makes me feel old, somehow.
What I really want is a digital camera. A small one with some really cool features so I can take pictures and zoom in and all that good stuff. Oh, and it has a flash. (well, duh). That would be cool. I keep telling myself I should buy a fricking camera but the money tree never has any money on it when I need it. So no camera.
Sides, I'd much rather have a laptop. I have my priorities. Although, you can't take a photo with a laptop...at least, not without cheating.
Speaking of laptops, there is one that I've been lusting over for some time now. It's RED. (my favourite colour EVAH) and it has a blu ray player in it. And that's good enough for me. I'm not a hard core gamer so I don't need something that would support, say, SIMS 3 on it. I DO love my multi media, however, and knowing I could pop a blu ray movie into my laptop and watch it makes me get the warm fuzzies.
We shall see.
In the meantime, I slobber over ipads and smart phones and blue tooth speakerphone hook ups for a car (I seriously want one of those) and the other day, I saw a Lotus and I about died.
Although, I wonder, if one's driving a Lotus, don't they feel like their butt is hitting the pavement? Seriously.
Gah. All these technological goodies and right now, I can't even afford a jump drive. What the hell. Something is very very wrong with this picture. :)
K.
Monday, July 5, 2010
You aren't ready for this jelly....
Ah, Beyonce.
Ok. So it's been a few days since I last posted and I apologize.
There is a really good reason, though.
It's called being so sick, I thought I was going to die.
(I was going to capitalize all of that but that sounded even too dramatic to ME).
See, I was going to go to CONvergence with my Awesome Guy and my sons and we were going to hang out and have a great time and since this would have been my boys' first CON EVER, I wanted to be there.
Well, I kind of was.
I was sick Wednesday morning. By Wednesday night, my temperature had gone up even higher. I had friends come over and stay overnight and I was taking ibuprofen and sitting around, all miserable, but wanting to talk to them and finally I went back to bed.
Thursday morning came and I felt a little bit better....but I still had a fever so my Awesome Guy took my sons to CON to register and hang out for a bit and then one of my bestest friends took them under her wing and my other friends helped and they ended up staying there late that night.
I was very happy for them but very sad. And my fever was still climbing.
Friday morning, I was at 102. And the aches were killing me. I thought it was the flu but the medicine I was taking wasn't even touching the fever and when I took a shower, my skin was so hot, the water evaporated from it. I didn't need to towel down my legs....they were all ready dry.
I think I can safely say that I don't want to experience THAT ever again.
So my Awesome Guy took me to a clinic where I thought Urgent Care opened up at 9 am but I thought it was Saturday and it was really Friday and it didn't open until 11 am and I wanted to cry but the nice lady found me an appointment at my other clinic with a doctor I know and so we went to the other clinic where my temperature peaked at 102.9. And I was light headed. And achy.
My nurse was very concerned. She swabbed me for a strep test. If you've never had one of those before, it's usually uncomfortable. They take long wooden q tips (basically) and stick them down your throat to the choke part (where you feel like you're getting choked by these fuzzy sticks of death) and then they swab your throat.
This is how sick I was: it felt good. She pulled the sticks up and it was like...ewwwww....she said, "I think you have strep." I was like, "yeah...that would explain it."
So the test was positive for strep and I got medicine that I could take because I'm allergic to most everything under the sun, including penicillin and by late afternoon on Friday, I started to feel better.
My Awesome Guy was excited. He wanted to know if I wanted to go that night but I was still contagious and I told him, "no way....but possibly tomorrow." And he was all excited about that, too.
By the next day, I was feeling pretty perky (whereas before, I was feeling not so perky) and was able to go to CON with him and my sons and had a fab time and everything.
And now, today, I feel much better. I have to study for my last ASL test because I was too sick on Thursday to go to school and take it but that's OK because my teacher is very awesome and I can take it this Wednesday morning. I'm all excited.
But please. I do not want to get this sick again for a very very long time. Because it really wasn't my idea of fun at all.
K.
Ok. So it's been a few days since I last posted and I apologize.
There is a really good reason, though.
It's called being so sick, I thought I was going to die.
(I was going to capitalize all of that but that sounded even too dramatic to ME).
See, I was going to go to CONvergence with my Awesome Guy and my sons and we were going to hang out and have a great time and since this would have been my boys' first CON EVER, I wanted to be there.
Well, I kind of was.
I was sick Wednesday morning. By Wednesday night, my temperature had gone up even higher. I had friends come over and stay overnight and I was taking ibuprofen and sitting around, all miserable, but wanting to talk to them and finally I went back to bed.
Thursday morning came and I felt a little bit better....but I still had a fever so my Awesome Guy took my sons to CON to register and hang out for a bit and then one of my bestest friends took them under her wing and my other friends helped and they ended up staying there late that night.
I was very happy for them but very sad. And my fever was still climbing.
Friday morning, I was at 102. And the aches were killing me. I thought it was the flu but the medicine I was taking wasn't even touching the fever and when I took a shower, my skin was so hot, the water evaporated from it. I didn't need to towel down my legs....they were all ready dry.
I think I can safely say that I don't want to experience THAT ever again.
So my Awesome Guy took me to a clinic where I thought Urgent Care opened up at 9 am but I thought it was Saturday and it was really Friday and it didn't open until 11 am and I wanted to cry but the nice lady found me an appointment at my other clinic with a doctor I know and so we went to the other clinic where my temperature peaked at 102.9. And I was light headed. And achy.
My nurse was very concerned. She swabbed me for a strep test. If you've never had one of those before, it's usually uncomfortable. They take long wooden q tips (basically) and stick them down your throat to the choke part (where you feel like you're getting choked by these fuzzy sticks of death) and then they swab your throat.
This is how sick I was: it felt good. She pulled the sticks up and it was like...ewwwww....she said, "I think you have strep." I was like, "yeah...that would explain it."
So the test was positive for strep and I got medicine that I could take because I'm allergic to most everything under the sun, including penicillin and by late afternoon on Friday, I started to feel better.
My Awesome Guy was excited. He wanted to know if I wanted to go that night but I was still contagious and I told him, "no way....but possibly tomorrow." And he was all excited about that, too.
By the next day, I was feeling pretty perky (whereas before, I was feeling not so perky) and was able to go to CON with him and my sons and had a fab time and everything.
And now, today, I feel much better. I have to study for my last ASL test because I was too sick on Thursday to go to school and take it but that's OK because my teacher is very awesome and I can take it this Wednesday morning. I'm all excited.
But please. I do not want to get this sick again for a very very long time. Because it really wasn't my idea of fun at all.
K.
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