Pooper Friday!!!

Sexiest Male Blogger!?!?

It's true, I've been nominated for Sexiest Male Blogger, and in the spirit of competition, I'm going to shamelessly promote myself. I'm doing this not because I feel that I really am sexy, on the contrary, but because how fun would it be to win? What better affirmation for someone who just had a birthday, to win something this fun? (Not that I will)

Cast Your Vote!!!

it's my birthday

I'm sitting here looking out the window, thinking about the fact that it's my Birthday and that I did nothing to plan or arrange for it at all this year. It's a tradition for me to take this day off, spend the day on my own doing things that I like to do. I missed so much work last week with my back being out, I just couldn't justify missing any more.

Nick and I are going to dinner on Saturday though, a nice Italian restaurant that I really like. Looking forward to that. Other than that, I think this is about it for this year. I plan on talking to Dad and Mom later tonight as promised by them. I got a terrific card from them yesterday. The following is what was printed:

To Be a Man
The man of greatest strength is also one of gentleness.
The most accomplished man learns both from failure and success.
The man of strongest leadership knows how to follow, too-
And that asking help can sometimes be the best thing he can do...
The wisest man of all is one who takes a look within-
To embrace what he's becoming, and to learn from where he's been.
If a man attempts all this (and only someone special can),
Then he truly has the heart and soul it takes to be a man.

You're everything parents could ever hope for, so be proud of who you are
and of the way you live your life.

The following is what was written:
We will call you on your birthday. We want you to know we love you so very much.
Love Dad and Mom

My eyes...ya, they got a little moist (blink, blink, blink).

I got another card yesterday too. This one from my biological mom. Some of you know the scoop on that, and if you read my blog or have been for the last year, you know that things in that department are strained and non-communicative. We don't talk or exchange email, letters, cards or anything. I saw the card in the mail and I swear, I rolled my eyes and groaned. The following is what was printed:

May your days be blessed with happiness,
May you always have good friends to laugh with...
...and may you always know how much you're thought of and loved.

The following is what was written:
Your Grandma is failing fast. We do not think she will make it through the summer. I just thought you would want to know.
Your Mother by Birth

Sigh....

There are so many thoughts and feelings running through me right now. I've kind of hit a stopping point here. Someone said to let them know how it feels to be 38, and while I feel blessed (for lack of a better word), loved, grateful, fortunate, and strong, I am most certainly weary, conflicted, heavy, searching. What I don't feel is old. I'm at a completely different place in my life than I have ever been before, and grateful for my insight and understanding of my past. My present is filled with love and laughter, and I'm constantly searching for the keys to understanding and acceptance of where I'm at now. I think very little of the future, for I know that nothing is as important as right now.



The sun is shining, spring is starting and things are becoming fresh and new. It is my favorite time of year and when I feel the most energy. Please go out and enjoy the renewal today and smile at it's splendor. What an amazing event it is, with bloom, and color, so much energy pulsing through living things all around. Is is not incredible the wonders and sights that we have to enjoy from nature alone? Enjoy the moment and soak up the gift of spring.

Until next time...

Sending you Greenie love.

Lucy Fur

We've taken to calling her Lucy Fur, because she is a bit of a demon gurl. We love her all the same and are going through all the growing pains of having a little one in the house. Lord how she is growing though. Her legs and body are getting longer and longer and I swear those ears are getting bigger too.

Yesterday she spent the entire day outside with Harlow and I, with a couple of timeouts in the crate. She puts everything in her mouth. She's a bit of a rock hound too. She ate pieces of gravel and I would constantly harp on her to knock it off. Well, towards the end of the day her tummy had about as much as it could take. She started puking and up came all the food and gravel. To my surprise this morning, I found a piece of brick in her poop. I'm not kidding, she was shitting brick pieces. No more unsupervised time in the yard for her. Maybe a muzzle?



Blogging has been on the back burner for me lately. I spent the better part of a week with my back out and then when I did try and blog on Friday, Blogger said I didn't have rights to access that server. Apparently my blog was on a server that went belly up. I'm not sure what's going to happen here. I'm a bit ambivelant at the moment when it comes to this site. I'll blog when I feel like it I guess. I've noticed some others have slowed down too. A lot is going on for me right now, but I can't blog about any of it here. I'm sorry. Maybe if it was an anonymous blog where I was not a son or partner or personal friend I could blog naked for a change. But not so much anymore. I fear I've lost my ability to do that here.

Rest assured, that no matter what is going on, I'm okay, really. I'm doing what needs to be done to take care of what ever is going on. This is not an SOS so please don't panic.

This week is my 38th birthday. CRAZY!!! I'll be sure to post that day, mmmkay? So check back later.

Sending out the Greenie Love to you all. I know there is a lot going on everywhere right now. I'm thinking of you.

The Mormons are Here

Last week, or some time the week before, the Mormons found me...Again. We were sitting in the living room waiting for our pizza delivery, which was insanely late and I had started Prairie Dogging (referencing the second definition of the term here) on the couch to see who had just arrived only to be disappointed that it was someone turning the corner or going by. When a car arrived, I was coming out of the kitchen and started to announce that dinner had arrived, when I recognized the configuration of the driving unit and it's occupants.

I told Nick, "it's the church."

"How do you know?" he asks.

"Oh, I know, trust me, I know."

It's a common practice to send locally placed missionaries out with the congregation on what is known as splits. Missionaries spend the majority of their time together and this allows two things, time apart and an opportunity to cover more ground by going out with members. When the dome light came on, I could see the Elder's distinctive black and white ensemble in sharp contrast to the drivers more civilian attire. I could of been two houses over and told you that it was the Mormons, that's just how obvious they are, at least to me anyway. Remember, I used to be a missionary.

They seemed to be taking their time in the car, but they clearly saw me standing in the living room window looking down on them from my house. As they started to exit their car, I decided to meet them on the front porch. They came up and greeted me and acknowledged that they were from the local ward and were out looking up member records they had on file. I used to do this too, find local members that were not attending, see if they were interested in coming back or if they had any eligible children that could be baptized. You can chide me all you want, but one thing that is certain, a big part of the plan for missionaries every month is to meet your baptismal goal. It's pure and simple, numbers. That is not to discount their motivation, it's also pure and simple, for the most part. Join our church and live a happier fuller life together, forever.

Reading that makes me sound a bit jaded and bitter. I guess I am. I think that came across on my front porch that night too. I met them eye to eye and told them that I was not interested in the church anymore, nor was I interested in them sending people from the church to visit me from time to time. When asked why not, I told them that the church doesn't recognize my relationship. When asked what kind of relationship, I said a gay one. I'm gay and the church will not acknowledge me or my partner, so I won't be interested in having the church come around, to which they replied, "You can have your name removed from the records, it's much simpler", and they left.

Several things have been going through my mind since that night and feelings too. For one, I totally missed out on a great opportunity for them to come into my home and meet Nick and I. What better way for them to experience the evil nature of our lifestyle than to expose them to our home and it's normality. Instead, I was a bit bullish and cold. I don't know if it was because I was cold and hungry from my day at work or if it was that my dinner was 45 minutes late. I just know that I missed an opportunity for them to meet 'ME'.

As for the removal of my name option, that one stings a little. While I'm not the ideal member of the church anymore, I am technically still a member as long as my name is on the records. Even though it may appear that I am bitter and a bit angry at the church by my words above, there is still a part of me that loves it too and always will. It represents a significant part of my life and development, both good and bad. I went for several years mourning my faith and my departure. I guess I'm in the anger stage right now and hopefully the acceptance is not far away. I know it would be easy to notify them to remove my name, but I just can't bring myself to do it, even though I know they would just as soon hold church court on my ass and have me excommunicated. Doesn't that sound ten times more heinous than sending them a letter?

I think what keeps me from doing it more than anything, is my parents. I live my life never wanting to disappoint them or cause them pain. (I fear that I've done a considerable amount of both on occaision as it is.) I tell people to not appologize for who they are, I wish I could say that I lived my life the same way. I am proud of who I am today, but I often feel the route taken was a bit careless when it came to others. You can't go back, so I endeavor to go forward and not make the same mistakes. God, that sounds so noble doesn't it? Half the battle is knowing the problems, the rest is just practice until you get it right, even if it takes your whole life. Mind if I take baby steps?

Pooper Friday!!!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Checking In

I have been missing in action for days and days now. My will to blog has been sapped away by Lucy Fur (that's what we call her now). Okay, so maybe not entirely her fault. My nights are disrupted quite a bit at the moment and a good nights sleep is something of a myth at the moment. Added to that, the trucks at the nursery keep on coming and will continue to do so for the next few months. It's a lot of physical work that I love, I truly do, but it leaves me with little or no energy once I'm fed and watered at home. Nick is tired of me saying I'm tired, so I've started to say I'm sleepy.



There is literally nothing of note to report to you all. Life is a bit focused on Lucy at the moment. Things in the Puppy Department are progressing. She grows like a weed, I kid you not. She is already asking to go outside to potty (praise be) and that's before she's 8 weeks old people. She must be a Puppy Prodigy. Harlow and Lucy are getting on better and better with each day.



Sorry I've not been around to any blogs lately, I just haven't had the time or the energy. Things will settle down soon, right?

Pooper Friday!!!

I promise, this isn't going to become a non-stop ad for LUCY!!! But let's face it, we're all a bit twitterpated over her right now and it's just taking a while for the new to wear off. As for that last post, well, Harlow has always been a bit over dramatic about things. I can assure you that we are all doing just fine with the little one in the house. Even Harlow.

We have to keep a close watch since Lucy is so small, but Harlow is getting better and better at being gentle and enticing Lucy to play with toys. Lucy however, is a bit of a sass and is always getting out of hand. Unfortunately, or not, the only one that understands when I say easy or enough is Harlow. As soon as she responds and walks away, that little stinker does a sneak attack. Her favorite thing to do of late is too get Harlow to chase her and then jump into the red bed above and be all like, "SAFE, neeneer, neeneer, neeneeer!!!" Ya right? Like that works.

Puppies are time consuming. You don't get anything accomplished when she is awake. When she's sleeping, I put her in her crate. If I'm lucky, I get about an hour to two hours to work on other things. Fortunately, right now the bursts of energy last about half an hour right now and then it's down for the count. Eat. Poop. Play. Sleep. Ah the life.

Lucy goes to work everyday with Nick and lives under his desk in her crate while she sleeps. So far, it's working, but I know that this is probably short lived. With any luck though, the routine will prove solid and she'll just go into work mode at some point. Eventually, she'll stay home during the day, but it's not feasible right now. I'm just glad that it's working right now, this routine that is. Harlow gets a nice break and we get some one on one time in the mornings to cuddle and play.

Having a puppy has done nothing but accentuate the obvious things about Harlow that I love. Her form, her personality, how good she is and what an overall great dog she has turned into. As you can see from the picture below, her shoulder is looking excellent. That's the area that was shaved before. It's growing back nicely. You can still make out the scar, but just barely. The upper one is still a bit puckered and I have a feeling that it's going to always be that way. If she would stand still long enough I would confirm it, but even as I type we are playing ball.

Okay gang, gotta get ready for work. It's gorgeous and blue here right now, but very chilly. I like it! Have a great weekend everyone. Sorry I don't get around to visit mucy online, but I appreciate the visits here always. Greenie Out!!!