So, how are things going?

Life is wonderful. I know we haven't posted because the eventual business of life kicked in hard as the summer ended. But life is good. I never get tired of seeing C2's face. I still get excited when I see him at the door and I still have the biggest crush on him.
We priced out a new roof and some kitchen niceties ( a new countertop, a new cupboard, flooring, etc.) in preparation for selling the house in the Spring. It's not like I have extra money for any of this, but these efforts are towards gaining some benefit in the house price.
And the kids started school this week-AND SO DO I!
Just one class to start, one about Gender and United States History, and then I'll move to more than one starting Winter quarter.
The holidays are coming, too! Whee.

Life is good

I'm so in love with C2. Just thought I'd share that with y'all.

The Obvious, yet Elusive, Choice

Now that we've decided to make it a home wedding (kind of like a home birth) I could smack myself in the head wondering why we hadn't thought of this before! It's so perfect-and considering my distaste for the whole wedding-as-commodity idea. Now I can stop being so afraid and resistant. I was really afraid that we'd be dragged, kicking and screaming, into a whole vortex of table linens and color schemes.
Now, peace and happiness reign.
Ahhh.

Plot twists

We've been checking out our options and mulling over what to do for our ceremony, now that the facts and figures have been trickling in. The more we have investigated booking a place and dealing with the details that come with that kind of a choice, the more impersonal and out of our control the ceremony has become. It's just uncomfortable putting yourself into so many other hands when you are trying to keep it as much about a personal celebration as possible. So, we are heading in a new direction, folks! Here's the broad outline:

First, we want to get our real estate situation settled. That means each of us selling our abodes and buying a house together.
Once we have that done, we will start planning the wedding ceremony in earnest.
Next, we have decided that we will have the ceremony at home, in our newly settled digs. This will be a more intimate affair than originally planned, with just close family and a few friends. Afterwards, we'll open up the place and have a party/reception for everyone we aren't able to fit into the house for the wedding itself.
Doing this way just feels right. Now, of course the downside is that setting a wedding date is in the hands of other forces for the time being. We are still hopeful to do this before summer is out next year. We are optimists at heart, eh?

We would love to hear from anybody what their thoughts on this arrangement are. So, cmon and drop your comments here!

Grief

It's almost a week since the bridge collapse, and most of the dust has settled, both physically and emotionally. My first response was "No, it can't happen here. This isn't real!" Then profound sadness, knowing it could be me, or Cindy or any close friends who live in town. Finally it's anger. Anger that a shortsighted, greedy political philosophy that has somehow infected an otherwise caring and compassionate culture could take hold. Anger that those who make the decisions feel it is better for them to take the easy expediant route (No New Taxes!) rather than understand that they are there to serve the people and do what is best for society as a whole. It's a result of the shift of social priorities over the last twenty years.

I'm off the soapbox now, feeling unbelievably sad........

Travelogue

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to NYC and have sufficiently recovered to talk about it. It was an incredible 3 days. Besides logging at least 30 miles (give or take 20) by foot and seeing the major items of interest (the Met, International Center for Photography, Strawberry Fields and Dakota, etc) we made it to the two galleries where I have photographs hanging. The opening at the Paula Barr chelsea gallery was a blast. My sister Cathy and her guy Nick stopped by, as my brother Mike's sister in law Sheila and her friend. Met a lot of nice people, and got a lot of compliments. This is a pic of us in front of Madison Sq Garden relaxing after a long day....

My best man

So here's a pic of me and my best man, my best friend, the godfather to my son and just all-around way cool guy...Bill Schlatter. And, oh yeah, this was taken by C2 in NYC last week!
: )

Here's a better pic.

I hate that picture. I look huge.

Come on, honey-you know how vain I am. I look like a puffer fish.

Turning Corners

Yes, indeed, it's been a week of Big Stuff. Cindy got her well deserved promotion, and in doing so beat out a crop of very top flight candidates. There is just no stopping this woman when she decides to do something. I am learning so much from her about the power of determination. I'm so proud of ya honey!

I had a very good meeting this week with a book editor in my effort to publish my landscape photos. There is much yet to be done, and we are far from any decisions being made. But it's nice to know that the project is striking a chord with the right people.

Oh, and this wedding thing we've been talking about.......
We are zeroing in on a facility that so far seems like everything we've been looking for. We are going to tour the place on Monday and try to get all of our answers questioned. If we like it, we will then be able to set an OFFICIAL DATE. That will be the first major hurdle of many, I'm sure. So stay tuned for further announcements!