Today's blog brought to you by the number 27...

As in the total number of states that now allow same sex couples to marry.  What a difference a week makes.  On this past Sunday, the total was 19 plus the District of Columbia.  On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear circuit court appeals for states that had same sex marriage bans in their constitution;  effectively legalizing gay marriage in all 5 of those states AS WELL AS eventually allowing the practice in other states that fall under those circuit courts' jurisdiction.  Most legal experts say we should be up to 32-35 states by the end of the year.  To quote a cigarette commercial from the 70's, "We've come a long way baby!"

Equality rocks!

Happy Sperm Donor Day!!

Yep...Father's Day is coming up on Sunday.  My godson and his mom plan to cook dinner for James and me at our house.  I'm looking forward to seeing them both.

Speaking of my godson, he graduated high school on June 3rd and I'm very proud of him!!

It was good to see him walk across that stage and get his diploma.  We may have him a job at my company soon so he can put some money aside for a new car and make some decisions about college.

James and I both bought new cars in the last two months.  He found a 2001 Chevy Impala with 60,000 miles on it.  It runs and looks great!  I bought a 2007 Lexus ES 350 and I fell in love with it.

It runs and drives like a dream!  It is definitely the nicest car I've ever owned.

Work is still crazy...honestly, too crazy.  But, it pays the bills and I am very thankful for the opportunities afforded to me here.

I am still playing for the Loomis First United Methodist Church and am thrilled to be a part of such a loving and warm congregation.  

We've been redecorating around the house.  James finally got his disability back pay and he promptly went out and bought new furniture for the living room.

I think he made great choices.  I was in North Carolina for Mom's 75th birthday when he sent me several pics of furniture in the store and we made the decision basically via text message.

I finally went to see Wicked with the lovely Anne-Marie Trout.  It was a wonderful show and I'm glad that I can scratch that off my 'to do' list before someone repossessed my gay card.

Of course, we had to take the obligatory selfie prior to the show.

More coming later.  Gotta run to choir rehearsal soon!

Ray

The Walking Dead

That seems to describe me a lot lately.  I am eating much much healthier these days and have dropped a couple of pounds, but my schedule is so crazy that I don't seem to get enough sleep.  Don't get me wrong; I sleep a good 8 hours every night.  But, my days are jam packed from the time I hit my office at 6am until I leave...which is usually around 4 or 5pm these days.

The reason I'm so busy now is because I have taken over IT Program Management responsibilities for three sites in the US.  I was specific to Roseville, CA until December.  Now I'm covering Roseville, Dallas, TX, and Harrisburg, PA due to layoffs in mid-December.

So, between work and choir rehearsal on Thursday nights and Sunday services at Loomis First United Methodist Church, I don't have a great deal of time.  I love playing for the choir, so I don't want to give it up.  And there is a light at the end of the tunnel at work once we complete a couple of projects; however, it's a snail's pace to get there.

Enough of that crap.

I'm looking forward to surprising my mother for her 75th birthday in March.  I'm flying to my home state of North Carolina for 5 days.  I'll also be traveling back to Dallas (my third business trip there since December) to interview a couple of business analyst candidates sometime in March once we whittle down the list to do final interviews.

I did have an opportunity to go camping during Presidents' Day weekend this month.  I had a great time with my friend and fruit fly, Anne-Marie Trout.  It was a marvelous time back at Doran Beach.

Unfortunately, we ran across this poor guy on our first morning walk on the beach.  It was very sad.  We reported it to the park rangers, but they said they let nature take care of these things.

I was also introduced to moonshine soaked cherries on this trip.  All I can say is they pack quite a punch and I loved them.

And of course, my baby girl, Willow, and I got to bond a lot on this trip.  She has become so well-behaved on these little excursions and I love taking her a long.

Finally, I'm going to share a picture of my husband and me at Benihana's for my birthday in November.  I don't have a lot of pictures of us together because he is so introverted and rarely goes out with me anywhere.  But I love this one.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  I hope to be better about it this year.

Smooches and hugs!

Ray

Fall is in the air...

Happy Friday, one and all!

It's been a few months since my last entry here.  Things have been going fairly well.  The church gig is amazing.  I love these people and I love playing for the choir.  So many loving and caring people who are very supportive.  We also found a wonderful new choir director, Andrew Hudson, who is doing a great job so far.  If you're looking for a new church home, First United Methodist Church of Loomis is a wonderful place to start.

James finally had his appearance before the judge related to his disability case.  He received a fully favorable decision and we're awaiting news of what he may qualify for.  He has to meet with the SSA folks on the 14th in West Sacramento near our home.

We finally have adjusted to our move from Citrus Heights to West Sac.  The old house has finally sold and we're looking forward to the future.  We've discussed moving in the next 6-7 years to get out of the Sacramento area.  I personally would love to move to Eureka, CA but there are very few jobs there.  James would like to live near Seattle since his family is there.  We've got some time to think about it and do some long-term planning and reflection to make sure we're making the right decision.

My job is crazy right now.  We're implementing a new agile development methodology, but we can't get a budget approved for training...so, we're stuck researching books and websites to get more information.  I actually job-shadowed some friends of mine at another company for a day to get more information on how they manage their Scrum methodology.  It's shaky right now in the middle of our first development sprint, but we're learning a lot.  I guess that accounts for something.

I have been playing for a few rehearsals over at Davis Musical Theater Company for their production of Oliver which opens tonight.  Sending big hugs and best wishes to them for a great opening night tonight.

I heard that Arlon Carlson was killed in a car accident a couple of nights ago.  I only met him once or twice, but he seemed very nice.  He was a fellow thespian in the area and was on his way from rehearsal when the accident occurred.  Very tragic and my heart goes out to his friends and family.

My congratulations to our friends Dave and Kara Lack on the birth of their daughter, Zoey, a couple of weeks ago.  James and I are making our plans to go welcome her to the world.

I have several friends who are out of work at the moment and I am sending out positive energy to the universe in hopes that they will find meaningful and productive work soon.  I have been in that position several times over the last 9 years and I'm blessed to have been working at Teleplan a little over 5 years now.

I have discovered camping this year and have been on 3 trips so far.  I'm already looking forward to my next one.  My favorite spot so far is near Bodega Bay and I look forward to getting out there again early in 2014.  I went from a small 9x7 tent that was only about 4 1/2 feet tall to a huge 18x10 tent that is 76 inches tall in the center.  It is HUGE!  I have had apartments smaller than that thing!  I've taken my chihuhua, Willow, with me on all three trips this year and it has been a wonderful bonding time for us.

Hard to believe 2013 is coming to a close.  The holidays are already here and I've got to get my Christmas shopping done in the next couple of weeks.  James is all ready to start decorating for the Yule season, but I asked him to wait until Thanksgiving weekend.  It'll get here soon enough.  I really wish my mom and Aunt Sandra would come out this year, but I think it's not going to happen this year.  I am planning a North Carolina trip in March to surprise Mom for her 75th birthday.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday with loving family and friends surrounding you this year!  Be blessed!