Homo-hating, immigrant fearing Obama supporters

Just because Florida's 27 electoral votes went to Obama last night, don't think by any means that we're a "blue" state. Republicans scored big victories in local and statewide elections and the results for two constitutional amendments can be considered "red" victories.

One amendment was to revert an archaic law that prevents non-citizens from owning property. Most other states have already repealed such laws. Most analysts considered the amendment little more than a formality to bring us up to speed with the rest of the nation. However, Floridians voted against the proposal, thereby reaffirming our anti-immigrant mentality.

The most controversial amendment addressed anti-gay marriage. In years past, numerous states passed such laws and a few have worked their way through various court systems. In our case, we voted YES to define a marriage as only between a man and woman. No other "equivalent" arrangement is constitutional. I'm not going to debate the moral and ethical arguments surrounding gay rights. Quite frankly I don't have the time and I'm not an activist. But personally I don't see how the lifestyles of gay people effect me in any way. Which is why I've always thought any anti-gay initiatives are expensive wastes of time. But apparently I'm in the minority, since the good voters of Florida seem to think differently. Interestingly, for a few years Erin and I lived as "domestic partners," primarily for the insurance benefits offered through her employer. For anyone trying to do so now, GOOD LUCK!

In all, it was undoubtedly an historic election (aren't they all?). And, looking at a map of red vs. blue states, Florida is alone in the southeast with its support of a Democratic president. However, we still have a long way to go before we can be considered a blue state ourselves. There are still strong conservative sentiments and we don't jump to change too quickly. But if the nationwide results are any indication of evolving beliefs and priorities, the next 4 years will be an exciting time. It'll be interesting to see how our collective national psyche tackles this period of change.

belly mold

I know you will all think we are crazy, but yesterday we got a plaster mold of my 37 week pregnant belly. We will decorate it after Baby Gregson arrives.

Erin's Halloween costume

We went to a Halloween party last weekend. Here's Erin's costume.

Baby shower

Alright, finally time for another blog entry. I was just looking at the blog and realized that the last post was over a month ago. How shameful. I started writing this post early last week, but got busy at work and of course didn't have the energy by the time I got home so it had to wait until the weekend to finish. A lot has happened since then, so here goes. The house construction is coming along, but Brian wrote a a nice detailed post about that. He gets to write about the construction since he is doing all of it. I guess I will start with my surprise baby shower. Was I surprised! I thought that Brian and I were meeting his parents at their house and then the four of us would go out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. On the way, he was getting text messages, but he played them off and I wasn’t suspicious at all. We got to the house and he opened the door, I followed him in and everyone was standing there looking at me. At first I just stood there stunned with my mouth open, then I said “Holy Crap!” as I walked the rest of the way into the room. I just wanted everyone to stop looking at me. As if I wasn’t still reelling from shock of my friends and family all in the same room staring at me, my parents walked into the room! I had no idea they were even in Florida, but of course that was the point. They called me the day before on my birthday from the airport on their way to Florida to wish me a happy birthday and then I talked to them again that evening when they were already at my in-laws house. Sneaky devils. Anyway, when I saw them, I cried. A lot of things were working against me at that moment. I was still reeling from the first surprise, my pregnancy hormones were raging in full force, and of course I was happy to see them. I can’t believe that the party had been in the works pretty much from the moment we announced the pregnancy and no one spilled the beans. I was really impressed! The rest of the party was a blast. It was great to see everyone. Brian and I hadn’t seen a lot of our friends in a while. We have kind of been hermits lately. We have been working on the house and I haven’t had a lot of energy for socializing. How lame. Check out the link for horribly unflattering pictures of me at the shower.

Long overdue update

Wow. It's been over a month. OK, I agree that's unacceptable. Actually, a lot has been going on (more the reason for frequent posts) but both Erin and I keep passing the buck to post something. "You, no you, no it's your turn." (Actually, Erin is WAY behind on posting, so really...)

Baby update: Somewhere around 36 weeks. All is well. Approximately 6 pounds in utero with long legs (doctor's words). Don't know where those came from. Maybe the dog? Another ultrasound next week so hopefully Erin can put up another pic. She must now push the coffee table away from her when getting up from the couch. Quite humorous. I'm thinking of installing a hoist.
Room(s) update: Well, there was a problem with the flooring. We had the old carpet and vinyl garbage ripped up in hopes that the underlying pine could be salvaged. Turns out that more than half of it was damaged beyond repair. So, new plywood was laid and horizontal carbonized bamboo was installed. It looks fantastic, but cost more than we planned (isn't that always the case?).

The parasite's room is DONE. Well, mostly. After the floors were finished I painted the baseboards, finalized some touch up painting, re-installed the closet doors and replaced door hardware. I previously replaced the ceiling fan and light fixture. After much nagging, I finally allowed Erin to start cluttering up the room with parasite paraphernalia. It looked so nice all empty and airy... Now the only things left to install are a closet organizer system (maybe next week.) and window blinds. Oh, and a parasite to take it all for granted.


The front soon-to-be-office room is also coming along, albeit at a slower pace than the parasite's room. I laid the track for the multipass doors, so that it is flush with the new flooring. Looks great! The baseboards are in but I haven't yet painted them. I just got some track lighting and will try to install it this weekend. I replaced all the receptacles and switches with decora versions and stainless steel switch plates. I never realized how cool the stainless looks. Such a great accent. I'm going to use them for future projects. Still have a lot left to do in there but it's mostly the boring aesthetic stuff like painting, blinds, etc. Not difficult but time consuming.

One sort of drawback... now that the flooring has gone in, it looks like it's time to fix up the adjacent dining room. SIGH. One room leads to another. So that project will be tackled sooner than planned. Which will in turn lead to the kitchen...

That's all for now. I'm going to nag Erin to post soon, since she's much further behind than I am. And since most of you care more about her and the parasite than my adventures. She's got a good story to tell about her baby shower and other misadventures.

Toodles.

Parasite room almost finished

I finished painting over the weekend. Also replaced the ceiling fan and another light fixture at the entry to the room. Just about done replacing the out-dated (and in some cases, fire hazardy) receptacles and switches (and plates). All that's left is to get the flooring under the carpet refinished. Hopefully within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll shift gears back to the soon-to-be multifunctional office/spare guest room. Sorry, no pics at this time. Maybe later in the week.

Doggie swim

What happens just before they drain a city pool at the end of the season for annual maintenance? They open it up for a doggie free-for-all!! Imagine 100 or so waterlogged energetic dogs tearing around a public pool, jumping off the diving board, splashing all over the place and humping at will. Pure doggie bliss. Pure chaos for owners. Good times for all.