still hot in the southeast yall

you know its sad that you feel like it is "cooling down" when it is just in the lower 90's.
these last two weeks have been busy and, well, hot.
let me tell you a little bit about them.

first of all, last friday (like a week ago) kim, sarah, jes and i packed up kim's fancy new car with way too much stuff and headed down to gulf shores, alabama to a condo on the beach. for the first few nights we met up with kim's baby sitter kelly and kelly's friend jen. here is a picture of jen, kelly and kim on the balcony:



now you might be wondering why the photo is a little foggy? oh, that is b/c as soon as i stepped out of the air conditioned condo the camera lens fogged up due to the 300% humidity. good times. i know its hard to see it, but they are both adorable and they brough all these great dips and fancy wine. it was cool to meet kim's sister too b/c i have only seen pictures and heard stories.

it was real hot at the beach. i mean like 116 heat index every fucking day. so the first day we tried to go to the beach early and we could only handle it from about 10-11am. then we went to the pool, which was a little refreshing, but i started sweating my balls off there too, so i just went up to the room where it was divinely cold. i had a little lunch, watched a little tv and then took a nice long nap. jes joined me after she tired of harry potter 6. the a/c in the place got a little bit cold so we had to use blankets and wear hoodies. here is a picture of sarah and jes kicking it on the couch:



on saturday i also tried out a sangria recipe i got off of food network. the kids seemed to like it pretty much. if you are interested in it, leave me a comment and i will post the recipe. it was pretty strong, so i think in the future i will use a lighter wine. while drinking my sangria, we played apples to apples. the game got going and then kelly and jen needed a smoke break and we never really got back to it. we watched some more tv, talked a bunch, jes read harry potter and so did sarah and i tried to read back issues of the nation from last year. what little heat i was exposed to really wore me out so i think we turned in pretty early.

on sunday we went back down to the beach on the early side and stayed for a while longer. i put my chair right up to the surf and let the waves lap up on my feet. this made me very happy. i went up for lunch and then stayed up there just chillaxin. later, jes went out on the balcony and saw this:



all i can say is "america- FUCK YEAH"

the next morning we packed everything up and headed back to atlanta. we stopped and got a little lunch at the chik fila where everyone stared at us like we had horns and tails (good times!) here is a pic of us on monday morning as we were leaving the condo:



clearly no horns OR tails, and i think the variation in our skin tones is hilarious.

so this week flew by. jes had a few days of orientation for georgia state. she starts classes there TOMORROW! i had orientation on wednesday for my new teaching job. i *seriously* can't wait to get back to teaching. i am very excited to be teaching even if it is only one class. also i made a few new friends at orientation which is always nice. one woman i talked to has a son named azad. isn't that bonkers. who knew there was more than one azad in this world (i am sure there are plenty but really it is kind of weird that i now know of TWO).

last night we went up to see jes's folks for her mom's bday. as usual, her mom made a delicious dinner and i ate too much. after that, we headed to el myr to see emma and kristina and their out of town friend nicco (who was in the movie "boy i am"). he, of course, recognized jes from our times at cattyshack so they busted chats about that. i talked to emma about making syllabi and her and kristina's impending move. she was all worried b/c they have this ikea bookcase and she wasn't sure how they would move it and i told them jes has SKILLS taking apart and putting back together ikea furniture. kristina and emma were thrilled!

this morning jes and i got up and out early. we rode our bikes to georgia state so we could study at the law library (and so jes could clock the bike ride from our house to there). jes says that the distance from here to there is 6 miles but it felt like about 15. i had to stop twice to catch my breath and drink some water b/c i was so fucking tired. it was early enough that it wasn't so hot out, it was more that it was really hilly (lots of up hill) and i had a backpack full of stuff. i told her there was NO WAY i was biking home, so we took the marta to decatur and rode the mile back no problem.

i had hoped to do more work on my class tonight but i am not sure i have it in me. my back is KILLING me and so is my left hip bone. i need to get the chiropractor for rizzle.

ok have a great week yall! and tomorrow is my friend julie's bday (the newlywed). happy bday julie!

lovefest part three

who knew this post would be a threequel?

so jes is chillaxin on the couch with me reading the 6th harry potter book.

i got all my cleaning done and i made a delish dinner. we had some (organic) chicken that i marinaded in a little italian dressing and then we grilled it with a red jalapeno (the only one from our garden). then i put a little of the red sauce i made today *from scratch* on top and covered that with some parmesan- threw it in the broiler and it was divine. on the side we had some green beans from jes's folks garden sauteed with a little butter and garlic. SO GOOD. jes also made homemade lemonade with all the lemons she did not use when she quit her master cleanse. it is very good as well. after i finish posting i am going to take a shower (i need it so bad its shameful) and then we are going to watch The Last King of Scotland. i love me some forest whittaker, so i am excited to see it.

so to finish my lovefest report: jes and i got up pretty early on sunday so we could head back south. we bid our goodbyes to alyson, nicole and rowan (and to kim and dave's lovely house and their horse of a dog named casey) and got in the car. i think we hit some traffic on the way to the brunch in kentucky, but arrived right around 11:30a.m. This brunch was put on by some of jenrose's friends as a way to end the weekend of music and mayhem she organized. her band "jenrose and the kentucky bootleggers" put out a new cd and they had a little jam session with another osu alum kelly and some other local kentucky folks. we couldn't make it to that, but we were able to see some of the people at this brunch.

we were only able to stay for a couple of hours b/c we had to get back on the fucking road and drive another 7 hours (through all kinds of traffic that made me very very sad). but we did get to chat a bit with jenrose, helen, kelly, dave and kim (whose house we stayed at in ohio) and a prof we all had at osu named nancy (she is now at RPI in troy new york). anywho, while i wish i would have had more time to talk with folks, at least i got a picture. here it is:



in the back row is: dave, me, jes, and nancy (can you handle her gorgeous hair?)
in the front row is: kelly, jenrose, helen and kim

it was great to see them all and i can't wait to see them again SOON. like i said our drive from kentucky to atlanta was a bit trying. we had to take a very beautiful but kind of long detour through chattanooga b/c there was some traffic hold up. we stopped at jes's folks house in marietta (north of the city) and picked up all kinds of great veggies from their gardens (many of whom i have written about earlier today).

ok before i go wash the filth off of me, i thought i would post something cool. back when i used to write in a journal (before i started blogging) i liked to look back and one year from when i was writing to see what i was doing and maybe how far i had come in life. i still do this some when i blog, but not as much as i used to with my journal. well here is a "head shot" of me from August 2006 in front of the pea green wall of our bedroom in the brooklyn bat cave:



and now here is a picture from a week or two ago. i am in front of my bookcase. if you look hard you can see layli's "womanist reader" over my right shoulder and "this bridge called my back" over my left. i had to take head shots for my new adjunct teaching gig:



i very rarely like photos of myself, so i won't comment except to say i am glad i am not wearing the same thing in both photos since they are a year apart.

lastly, here is a photo of the most beautiful tomato that came out of our garden. i loved it on my sammie:



ok yall. have a lovely weekend.

lovefest-part two

today has already been an outstanding day. here is why:

1. i woke up on the couch (it was TOO FUCKING HOT upstairs) with emily laying on me. divine.

2. we drove over to sarah and kim's and kim joined us for a wonderful yet somewhat difficult bike ride around peoplestown, grant park, and chosewood. we saw so many cute houses and a few not so cute. we also rode up about twelve million hills. my thighs are going to be hurtin for certain tomorrow morning.

3. after our ride we came home and made a nice big brunch/breakfast. we both had scrambled eggs (hers were real, mine were fake) with cheese and jalapeno, and then we put it on a tortilla (hers flour mine wheat) and covered it in avocado, salsa and spinach. seriously so good. and then we got some "simply potatoes" which are these breakfast potatoes in a bag. these were cubed with onion. jes added a little rosemary from the garden. so good.

4. then while jes did the twelve million dishes including the brita water thing we use AND the cats automatic fountain waterer, i made a homemade red sauce from all the tomatoes jes's folks gave us from their garden. a little olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and onion then add the tomatoes and simmer. then i finished it with a little salt and pepper and some basil and parsley from the garden. it is going to taste so good over our (organic) chicken cutlets tonight.

now i am blogging while jes is looking up prices for Wii. Our friend Glennda got her sweetie and our other friend Kim (suppa club fame) a Wii for her bday. She said her arm hurt so much from playing she couldn't raise it over her head. they have a name for that: Wii-itis. Jes is figuring out how long it will take her to come up with the funds to buy one from babysitting money. fucking hilarious. after i finish blogging i will either clean the bathroom or the litter boxes or both. i also have to clean the kitchen but there are so many dishes drying i sort of can't handle it.

jes just said "i have Wii fever." Thanks Kim, Glennda and Ali. This is what I have to deal with now. Her new obsession.

Ok, enough about me, lemme tell you about the lesbo wedding we attended last week. My friend from OSU (we did drag together) Julie and her partner Liv had a commitment ceremony last week. It was really lovely, and a bit unlike the other lesbo weddings I have been to. They didn't get super dressed up like most weddings-you know like gowns and suits. they both looked gorgeous and happy and comfortable (which is very important to me). and they came in on a fucking vespa scooter. my favorite part was when liv pulled down her skirt after it had been hiked up to ride the scooter. sexy. the food was really good and so were the drinks! jes started us all off on cape cods, which are apparently vodka, cranberry and lime juice. very refreshing. here is an adorable picture of nicole, alyson and jes with their drinks. nicole's, of course, is alcohol free since she is with child:



i cried a lot at this wedding. actually, i cry at most weddings. i sort of hate it b/c it seems so scripted like "you are supposed to cry at weddings" and so i do. but really the part that gets me is the outpouring of love from friends and family. i think the love b/w the two getting married is special too, but to see parents and family (especially at the gay weddings i have been to) support the people getting married, i just get choked up. here is a picture of the blushing brides BEFORE they got married:



and here they are AFTER they got married:



they each had a preacher from their childhood do the service and one of them said this whole thing about how important sex is to a marriage and how his church knows that and is proud of it. then the other one was like "hold up partner, my church knows sex is great too" (that is not what he said, but my INTERPRETATION of what he said). i was like "oh my god, these two preachers just keep talking about sex so now we are all thinking about julie and liv and how they have sex." julie turned about four shades of red during the whole discussion. i also liked when julie's sis homey just kind of gushed with love for her big sis and started crying a little bit during her speech. i cried a lot then too. homey's daugther amore(H?) was a flower girl. look how pretty she is:



don't let the scowl fool you, she is a dollbaby. you might also notice that i don't have any pictures of rowan from the main part of the wedding and that is because she was running around (literally) with her girl posse for most of it. they were moving to fast to capture on film. instead, here is a picture of me and jes:



she looked so handsome and even beckygirl and christie commented on how nice her butt looked in her pants. what can i say? i am in love with a fox.

after dinner we were all kind of sitting around and talking and i was experiencing deep bliss after eating this DIVINE chocolate and raspberry mini cake they had. so good. the baby in nicole's belly was doing a little dance and i was trying to feel it kick. of course whenever i put my hand on nicole's belly, baby would stop, so i was talking to him/her to try and coax it to move around. here is a goofy picture:



soon thereafter, things started to wind down and we were all exhausted so we headed back to kim and dave's house for a wonderful night of sleep. before leaving though i took a picture of this triple cute sandwich of liv, beckygirl and christie:



all in all, we had a great time on saturday. it was so nice to see everyone and to join in the celebration of julie and liv's love. stay tuned for part three- the brunch on sunday morning in kentucky.

lovefest-part one

so i am still trying to recover from our weekend in ohio for julie and liv's commitment ceremony.
it was just an amazing weekend. i got to see so many folks that i love, it was hard to leave.

our drive down on friday was fairly uneventful except for some traffic which made me want to scream a little.

we got to jasmin's house around dinner time. we hung out, drank some wine, ate some dinner and talked.
after dinner we went to graeters and got some delish ice cream. i got peach and jes got raspberry chocolate chip.
i almost couldn't handle how old jasmin is. first of all, she is almost as tall as me, and she just acts so grown up.
she plays soccer and softball, plays the guitar, does this thing called stacking AND writes songs. i mean come on! she is only 11 years old. i just feel so lucky to be able to watch her grow up. here is a picture of the two of us:



and here is a picture of jasmin doing this thing called "stacking." it's basically stacking up and bringing down tall stacks of cups. the point is to do it quickly. i am not sure how fun it is, but i think it could come in handy if she ever wants to work as a bartender.



we got up early the next morning, had a little tea and some toast and bid our goodbyes to jasmin and her folks. next we headed to the arena district to meet my goddaughter alix and her mom (and my friend) laura. I haven't seen either of them in years and alix is now 13 years old. i almost fell over when i saw alix. she, too, is almost as tall as me and has the most beautiful dimples, check out this pic of alix and laura:



aren't they both so beautiful?

we left alix and laura and headed over to the bbq that was taking place before the wedding. here we met up with alyson, nicole, and rowan. the best thing was when we were walking up there was a group of kids, mostly girls, discussing their families. one girl said "i have two daddies and a mommy" and then the other kid said "i have two mommies" and so on and so on. it was like i had died and gone to heaven. maybe some day this will be the discussion you hear on every playground in every city. dare to dream dt. dare to dream.

here is a very cute pic of the brides to be: liv and julie and some baby that was SO GOOD at the entire wedding. seriously.



so all the kids were running around the bbq eating way too many blow pops. they all had purple and red tongues and were bouncing off the walls. it was a good time. here is a picture of the future leaders of the world. amore is on the left (this is julie's niece, homey's baby girl) and then next to her is rowan. i don't know the other girls names. all i know is that they have two gay dads and they are adorable.



one of the gay dads told us two hilarious stories about his girls. a classmate of one of his daugthers found out that they had two dads and they exclaimed "man! they have TWO DAD's shoulders to sit on!" and then the other story had to do with one of the girls needing to pee at the park in new york so she took off her pants "pointed her vagina at the tree and peed" (that last part is a direct quote from the dad). we were all like "ooh teach rowan how to pee on a tree." things started to wind down at the bbq and we headed out to kim and dave's house where we were staying. before we got there, alyson and i wanted to see our old house on forsythe avenue in victorian village. jasmin's mom suzan had told me it was VERY different. for those of you who know what it looked like before, check THIS SHIT out:



after that we run a few errands and then went home and some of us took naps. rowan did the puzzle we got her (with a little help from jes). look how cute she is:



ok that is just a little nibble of what went on this past weekend. stay tuned for some lovely photos of the wedding.
good night.