Way too much fun!

Since it's the middle of our very busy Pride weekend. . .this entry will be short, sweet, and to the point. (I seriously need to get some sleep!)

We had a lovely 16th floor room at the Hyatt (there was a TV screen in the bathroom mirror!) and really enjoyed our yummy breakfast buffet this morning.


We headed over to Lollipop at 525 Howard; the club was bumpin, the girls were groovin, and we had a BLAST!




After Tamara managed to drag me outta bed at 10 for breakfast, we met up with Jackie & Bernie and headed down to the festival at Civic Center. My wifey had to get herself all decked out; she even climbed up through the Barefoot Bubbly giant wedding cake so she could check out their slide. I bought a new hat (cuz I'd left mine at home--oops!), a rainbow necktie, and a giant lesbian rainbow flag for the window in our spare room on the front of the house.



After catching our breath on the ride home, we headed to Mark and Charles's house for a backyard BBQ--so yummy--so relaxing! We left them getting ready for their WILD night in the Castro and made a beeline for our pool. The water was so invigorating! We capped off the evening with Johnsonville Brats on the grill (as requested by Fe, Shak, & LJ), a chocolate cake making session, and a partial viewing of Bolt which was very cute and entertaining.

Lil bit of everything day. . .including surreal

Today was hmmm. . . I'm not even sure how to describe it.

When I finally greeted the day sometime after 11 by rubbing the sleep outta my eyes and turning on the TV, I was saddened to hear about Farrah's passing. I wasn't a huge fan or anything, but her battle with cancer had been brutal.

Since the wifey was going straight from work to a hair appointment, I decided to go have lunch with her. It was sweet to sit outside on the Costco pillars eating our food court lunch together--I definitely haven't had enough time with her lately; we're pretty excited about both our upcoming anniversary and the Pride events this weekend. When she had to punch back in, I wandered over to the optical department to select some new specs. Picked out a new "all the time" pair with Transitions lenses and 2 pairs of shades for driving. (Transitions don't darken into sunglasses when you are in a car because they are not in direct sunlight.) Tamara approved of both of my frame choices, but she didn't like that she couldn't see my brown eyes through the shades. LOL

Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the wifey has become a pickle FIEND of late? I mean serious pickle fiend--and NO, she is not pregnant! Here's a pic of my pickle crazy wifey. . .


When I stopped by school to pick up some GLAD supplies ordered from Office Depot, Tamara texted me asking if it was true that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson had both died today. I told her yes on FF and that I would check on MJ. Hard to believe he is dead--but so many things about him were hard to comprehend, why should his death be any different, I guess. I've had mixed feelings about him for a while--such a talented artist, such a tormented soul, such a strange being, such creepy relationships with young boys, such an unbelievable transition from talented black teen to something hard to describe . In recent years, I'd decided that I sadly could not be a fan of his any longer due to his twistedness (even if it did stem from mental illness or his life experiences), but I can't deny the huge role he played in the music world. His music, his dancing, and his ability to innovate will long outlast his legacy of strangeness likely.

Of course, his death dominated the news channels as I hung out with a few fab friends at Me-n-Ed's. Hearing so many of his songs reminded me of how much I enjoyed his music and admired his talent. My very conservative parents had just broken down and installed cable (so my mom could watch the Weather Channel) when I discovered MTV; the video on at the time? Thriller! I couldn't wait for my parents to leave the house so I could turn the channel to watch some evil music videos. (Back in the day when homes only had 1 tv!) It's surreal to see an icon pass; flawed as he was, Michael Jackson was truly an iconic figure of our day.

The wifey and I talked about him when she got home from the salon with her new twisties; she was in love with Michael as a lil girl growing up in the 80's--she was so jealous of Brooke Shields--his posters graced the walls of the bedroom she shared with her older sister, Nicole. I really wish I'd had the chance to know Nicole; she passed away suddenly on her 18th bday leaving a devastated 10 yr old sis behind. I know she would've loved to talk to Nicole today. . .

Here she is sporting her cute new twisties:) I love her way too much!

Mmm, pico de gallo, relaxation, and Dexter jewelry!

So let's just jump to the highlight of the day, a gigantic vat (okay styrofoam container) of some of the yummiest pico de gallo in the Bay Area. After my eye exam (new Rx so I can get new glasses--woohoo!) at UC Kaiser, I decided to cruise on up to Tennyson to snag some yumminess (& a couple of burritos) for dinner. This put a smile on the wifey's face as we avoided the dreaded "what are we having for dinner?" saga for the third night in a row!

Other than that, it was a highly uneventful day--yes! After a crazy year including the world's best combo class and 36 units of grad school, I really really really really really need some quiet, uneventful calm days at home! I crawled outta bed at 11:30 :) A couple more days like this and I might start feeling like a living being again; I'm pretty sure my wifey will appreciate that!

Speaking of my wifey, her anniversary present came in the mail today. She's already trying to pry outta me what it is, but she is shit out of luck cuz I'm not telling. It's driving her crazy cuz she claims she has no idea what to get for me. She's been threatening to just give me a Borders card--not that I would mind that. Actually, I think she might be waiting for me to go shopping and send her cell phone pix of the items I want. Hey, it worked perfectly for me before--sent her a pic of the r/c FJCruiser I wanted for Xmas 2007 and politely set it as her phone's wallpaper to gently remind her of the perfect gift--my FJCruiser rules! I wonder if it would work for a Kindle. . .

Anyone else watch Dexter on Showtime? Tamara & I love the show; it's so deliciously twisted! The company (loveandpride.com) that made our wedding bands sent us an email today announcing their new Dexter inspired jewelry line. We have been thinking about replacing our bands. . . I love that it has both of our colors on it! Hmmm. . .

RAFT and Pride Plans!

So it seems that summer vacay agrees with me; hell, last summer at this time I was frantically trying to get everything together for our lil marriage ceremony at the county clerk's office. I'm just grateful we managed to get hitched during the 4.5 month window of equality afforded us; hey, it was nice to be a full-fledged member of society while it lasted. . .anyway, this too shall pass.

My wifey was quite surprised to see me fully dressed sitting on the couch when she returned from the gym at 9:30 am; knowing me, she assumed I insisted that our RAFT excursion wouldn't start until at least 1pm. By 10:30, Sue, Berdine, and I were rolling down 880 in Diana's van discussing our former students who had spend the year in Berdine's world history class--fun, fun, fun!

RAFT is such a mind-boggling place--so many strange things to ponder--as in, what in the hell could I use that for in my classroom? Or WOW! who thinks up all these clever uses for such strange items! I did manage to find plenty of things to load into my cart though, I'll take a pic or 2 so you can see some of my cool finds--like 12-sided dice!



Lunch at Panera was delicious and entertaining, of course, picking on Berdine is always entertaining! I truly enjoyed my RAFT adventure, especially when Kelly & Jane saw the monkeys we brought them! (way to go, Minion!)

After setting up my Goodreads account and taking a nap, my wifey and I watched episodes 3&4 of TrueBlood season 1; such a trippy series! I think I have vampires on the brain lately between TrueBlood and reading the House of Night series by the Casts. I think I can feel my fangs coming in; so you might wanna be careful if I look like I might bite ya. LOL

Just for the record, planning for Pride weekend is never really that easy--too many contingencies to consider--plans to meet up with friends--arrangements to take the kids to the parade--where will we park--which day are we going to the festival--what to wear to the club--yikes! I think our plans are about half-baked at this point: Friday night check into Hyatt, go to Lollipop, get some Zzzzzs. Saturday, breakfast, hook up with J&B to hit the festival, head to Mark's partay, drive to San Ramon to pick up the kids, get some Zzzzzs. Sunday, BART to Embarcadero, Starbucks, watch the parade with the kids, traditional post-parade lunch at Chevy's, BART to East Bay, watch Transformers with the kids, take said kids home, collapse on couch!

It's only Tuesday, and I'm already tired thinking about the weekend! LOL Pride weekend RULES!

Popping my Blogging Cherry!

So, it's official, I am no longer a blogging virgin! Woohoo! (I think)

My 1st Monday of summer vacay was an interesting day; I don't think you can beat staying up til 3am and then sleeping til nearly noon--ahhh--I LOVE summer vacation!

The mammogram (surely a process devised by a man, a sadistic one at that) was not that fun especially when the tech had to redo 2 of the images, but I am grateful that I have health insurance and access to the miracles of modern medicine. Was supposed to get an eye exam, but my fab doc was running behind so I canceled to help out all the poor suckers on a tight schedule. I need to reschedule so I can get new glasses--or better yet laser surgery so I can ditch my glasses and make my wifey happy.

Stopped by Target to clue the very nice manager in to her "customer service manager's" less than stellar customer service; then spent $30 on very random stuff (damn, their alluring Dollar Spot filled with impulse buys galore!). Guess it all wasn't a waste as my wifey appreciated the sundry items I picked up for her; plus, I got her anniversary card for next Tuesday:)

The rest of the day was spent at home napping, watching a Yankees Classics game from the 96 World Series, cleaning the kitchen and putting dinner on the table, and chilling on the couch while my wifey watched an inane show and I finished reading Marked from the House of Night series by the Casts. (it's way, way better than Twilight!!)

Tomorrow, I'm off to RAFT with my teaching compadres! Woohoo!