... marching to the beat of a different drummer results in getting lost,

or the journey down the road less traveled results in a dead end,

and although the unexamined life is not worth living, it's probably less stressful.

just a thought.........

Current Mood: contemplative

Three years ago, November 11, 2006, bjarvis and kent4str asked if I'd be willing to join their family - to become a third partner in their relationship.  My immediate response was "Oh Fu**"! Seriously, I was totally caught off guard. See,  I had been silently pining over them for months - sappy, I know, but I knew in August of '06 that I had fallen in love with both of them, but I also felt that there was no way they were interested in adding a third to their family. It wasn't something that had ever come up in conversation, so when the question was verbalized OUT LOUD, I was stunned. Once I realized they were serious, I mean no one was laughing or teasing, I immediately said yes. Thankfully, my life hasn't been the same since and yes, I can honestly say, it's been the best three years of my life so far. Oh, we've had some adjustments to make, and I have to admit, it hasn't been totally drama free, but we've always been there for each other and we've always been able to depend on each other to get through whatever life throws at us including three family weddings and a grandchild. If that ain't love, I don't know what is.

So, Happy Anniversary to my two husbands. I love you to bits, even when I haven't had my morning caffeine and I'm still grumpy!

PS - yes, this icon picture was taken that weekend.

Two more wedding guests have been positively diagnosed with H1N1, including the bride's mother who has been hospitalized with a 104 degree temperature.

Also, the bride and her eight month old son, as in my grandson, both have bronchitis, and both are on tamaflu as a precaution.

Everyone was fine on Saturday, absolutely no indication of any impending illness whatsoever. Evidently, this thing hits you FAST!

Addendum to wedding festivities:
One of the wedding guests has been positively diagnosed with H1N1 - severe H1N1. They are requiring morphine because of the pain.
This guest sat next to me at the reception, even while I was holding my grandchild and while we were all talking with my husbands.

Since one of my husbands is severely asthmatic, we have a call in to the doctors.

The bride's mother and grandfather - the one with COPD - have been feeling a bit "off". They've been told to see their doctors first thing in the morning.

My grandson and two of his stepsisters have also been feeling a bit "off", so, as a precaution, my son and his wife took them into the pediatric clinic at their local hospital. All had their nasal passages swabbed, all came back negative. Mom however, is also severely asthmatic. She's going to be put on Theraflue as a precaution.  Oh, all of the kids, as well as my son and his wife were vaccinated against both the flu and H1N1 a week ago Sunday - October 25, so even if they do get ill, it shouldn't be too severe, except for the asthmatic - she could have serious issues.

We have tried to contact as many of the guests as possible - as a precaution, as well as others that we had contact with - our hosts as well as dinner companions.

Today was one of those days that I really didn't want to go to the gym. As a matter of fact, I was still trying to talk myself out of it as I was walking into the building. Of course, my better (???) sense won out and I hit the treadmill for a short run (Thank God). As I've mentioned before, I usually do my best thinking/reflecting while I'm running and today was no exception. While running, I realized that six years ago today (October 22, 2003) was the day that I had my last cigarette. I have to thank the American Lung Association in Cleveland for offering their hypnosis program to the gay community because they realized that a large percentage of homosexuals are smokers. Well, it worked for me. I must admit, that this was the second time I was hypnotized. The first time was in April of 2003, but then my dad got sick and died in August, so I was pretty much back on the cigs all throughout that summer. You see, as an addict, I can't smoke just one. So,  by October 22, 2003, I was ready to try it again, and it has carried me thus far.

( Because I'm about to get maudlin... )
My reward:
While I was getting changed in the locker room after my workout, an elderly gentleman approached and and said:
"Excuse me, but do you run marathons?"
Having never done so, I just chuckled and said "No, never." With a startled look on his face, he said "Really??, by the way you run when you're here, most of us think you're a professional." That floored me and left me speechless. He then added that he and his friends have always watched me when I was running (no, they're not cruising - get your minds out of the gutter) and commented about my "form" and "pace" and they all figured that I had to be a professional marathon runner. That made me laugh and I just said, "No, I've never run a marathon. I'm just addicted to running." He said "Well, it shows, and a lot of us admire you for your ability to run so much. Keep it up"
Wow, that made me feel good. You see, I've hardly said two words to anybody at the gym. Most of them are much older than me and speak a foreign language - literally and figuratively. So this whole conversation really caught me by surprise and it made me realize that I probably wouldn't be here today, able to perform the way I do (even on a slow day) if I hadn't quit smoking six years ago today.

Current Mood: contemplative

They may not be mine.......
Okay, so they're not my face....

I'm a sucker for a furry face....

I don't know what I was thinking of, but obviously, I wasn't thinking of my camera because it wasn't until we were already in West Virginia that I realized that I had forgotten my camera at home - doh! bjarvis broke his, but kent4str remembered his and a second one that has been left unclaimed since the DCDC Convention. So I used that to take some pictures of some fall colors at Roseland. It was challenging though, and the pictures were not nearly as sharp, the zoom not nearly as crisp, but some of them came out pretty good, if I say so myself:

I haven't been to Outback in a long time and I don't remember their dark bread, but my daughter suggested this very easy recipe to me and it turned out pretty good. It's a combination of Rye and White Bread Flour so it's not really rye, and it's not really white. It looks like pumpernickel but without the pumpernickel taste. I also added golden raisins to one of the loaves.... yummmm..............

... to go along with the homemade harvest vegetable stew - homemade bread.



The loaf shaped bread is gluten free, but the other two are definitely gluten filled.