Some good, some bad, and some hard work

 Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary...well, the first one.  There's another coming up on July 4.  We didn't have a plan to get married.  We went to see what was going on at the registrars office the day they made it legal and we took a number and sat with hundreds of people and the crowd kept getting bigger.  People in suits and fancy dresses and people in uniform and people like us, in street clothes and all of us looking a little shell-shocked.  We were offered an unofficial marriage, which is like registered common law but not recognized in all states, and an official marriage that had a waiting period.  We took them both and a very nice and friendly clerk married us on the spot while Sydney watched.  And, on July 4, we were "officially" married in a group ceremony on the grounds of the state capital.  And, no matter what happens, nobody can take those two events away from us.  No matter how much people try to pretend it didn't happen or it wasn't real, let me guarantee you, it was real.  I know.  I was there.  I have pictures and a piece of paper to prove it.  

Yesterday afternoon, I put Rob's shirt back together.  It went from a 2XL to an L.  The only awkward thing about it is a button about two inches from the front hem.  Nobody will ever notice.  

I have one to put back together for me and one to make for Syd and the fabric for new drapes for the front room and....uhm, I'm gonna stop there or this will be a very long list.  

Only a few new flowers.  

The red echinacea are still going strong.  The pinks are done, but these bloomed later.  

The last Gladiolus, and maybe my favorite one so far.  

This yellow lantana has been patient for years.  It was in too much shade until we cut a tree, and now it's getting plenty of sun.  It always gave a few blooms each year, but this year, it's really going to bloom.  

Work has gotten really hard and sometimes I feel like I can't keep up.  Last week, I had a little jealousy for my peers that complain about being bored and not having enough to do.  (you get name recognition for that, too)  I kept thinking I can't, I can't, I can't, until Friday at 5 when I realized I'd done it all.  I worked a couple hours on Saturday to give myself a little buffer going into this week.  I have two new mentees and I spent about 6 hours with them last week, in addition to my own job.  It's not just how I do what I do, but how I look at the job and what I put into the job and what I get out of it.  I talk to them about doing the job instead of how to follow all the rules, because sometimes doing the job means making an exception to the rules.  And, I talk about being flexible and prioritizing work.  Not things I'm uniquely qualified to offer, but it feels like I'm the only one offering them.   

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We saw the Roe opinion last week.  The suppression of human rights as a power grab.  And, the Thomas opinion on contraception and gay marriage.  

F*cking a$$holes.  (emphasis on the $)

If someone voted for a man that bragged about grabbing women by the genitals and was caught paying off prostitutes while his wife was recovering from having his son, then I don't care what their moral opinion is about anything.  I don't care about their interpretation of the Bible, which is supposed to be about love and not judgment.  I don't care what insignificant opinion they have about anything.  This is about the end of that kind of thinking and the beginning of a new way of thinking that's based on actual love and acceptance.  

If they think we're going quietly into the night, they're out of their minds.  All of us, men and women, gay and straight, fought too long and too hard for what we enjoy now to let a bunch of men take it away from us.  We will not go silently into that night.  And, I don't quite think they understand how ugly that's going to get.  

Everybody have a great week!  Find a positive message, make it part of all you do, and pass it on to others.  

Lane