Memorial Day Weekend

My good friend Collin invited me to a cookout at the home of two of his good friends. I was a little uneasy with the idea of going to the home of perfect strangers, not knowing anyone... but Collin didn't exactly give me a choice. haha! Later I found out one of my co-workers and his fiance were also to be in attendance, so I did as I was told and showed up with my wine and my appetite.

I had a really great time at the cookout, and met some great people. Collin and I were the last to leave the party, which meant we got to spend some quality time with our host and hostess. What nice people!! The weather was great, the food was fantastic and Collin's friends were amazing.

Today a few of us met up at a local sports bar/restaurant to bid farewell to one of our own, Venus. Her last day with us will be Tuesday, and then she and her family are moving to Rochester. I enjoyed working with her so much... she has a wonderful sense of humor and has a great work ethic. People like that are VERY hard to find.. especially for where I work!

Our store is grossly understaffed, especially in my department.. and with all the changes in management going on now, it is very unlikely we will be getting any new associates to fill the gap. So, not only will I be losing an excellent friend and co-worker but it means I (we) will have even more staffing shortages to deal with. Whoop-dee-do.

Staffing woe's aside... the 5 of us had a great time together over drinks and food. As you can see from the picture, my friend Adam and I got into a small knife fight over the left overs... but thankfully, no one was hurt. :)

Wedding Date

My friend and co-worker, Sarah, is getting married June 18th. A few friends from work and I will be attending, each bringing a spouse or a date. I was determined to find a "plus one" to bring with me instead of going stag, or bringing a girl with me like I always have for these occasions (last wedding I went with my sister). I've been to two proms, numerous weddings and parties, and have yet to be able to slow dance with.. well... a boyfriend. Most people have done that by the time the graduate High School... I get my Masters degree in September.. go figure. I wasn't going to let this chance pass me by.

I refused to play the heterosexual couple.. even if it was just for companionship. I'm so tired of doing that for events. I guess that's always been my way of promoting equal right.. simply living, speaking and acting just as anyone else does. A few of my gay friends offered to go with me, but that could be touchy... I didn't want any confusion over what the evening would be.. I didn't want to end the night thinking it was just a wedding dinner, and them thinking it was a first date. Naw.. too tricky... I wasn't going there.

I'm actually not a fan of attending weddings. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not anti-wedding... they just depress me a little. "We" still don't have the legal right to marry in New York state and a gay wedding would never be blessed in the faith I believe and participate in. So naturally, weddings stir up a lot of emotions for me.

I've always figured that if I wanted to meet someone, I had to make the effort. The saying "you'll get someone when you're not looking" has never made sense to me. He's not going to ring my door bell and ask me out.. I have to mingle, meet people, start conversations.. you know... like everyone else does. I've done the online thing... and it's the same people every day... I've gone to the bars, but always unsuccessful. It's pretty damn frustrating. I think we should go back to caveman days -- if you saw someone you liked, you hit them over the head and took them home. Where's my baseball bat??

I thought perhaps I have overly high standards. I like a guy who is secure in himself and his identity, has goals and can carry a conversation. Physically, I not looking for perfection.. just the guy next door.... the geeky cute, pasty white guy, who is a little on the larger side.. like myself. Oddly enough, these guys are hard to find.. and even harder to land a date with. I've tried hanging out with the quiet ones, the fixer-uppers and the ones that are cute if I squint hard enough... but I learned when buying my first car never to settle... you'll be miserable if you do... so I've taken that advice to heart when looking for a relationship.

With the wedding fast approaching, and my response card due back.. I have decided to indicate that I will be going alone. I'll still have a good time with my friends, but at the end of the day, it's just another event where there was no one there just for me.

This & That

Yesterday my good friend Collin and I decided to get together and have a mini Golden Girls marathon at his apartment. Collin and I became good friends via the Internet, and some how formed a bond over "the girls" as we call them. He purchased the first two seasons of the The Golden Girls on DVD, and we picked some of our favorite episodes to watch... I brought the cheesecake.

It was fun just kicking back, quoting lines from the show, and having side conversations. We noticed little bloopers in the shows that we had never noticed before watching them on tv. Only nerds like us would notice such things.. only nerds like us we even get together for a night of this.. but we are who we are, and we are ok with that. :)

When I came home around 10:45 that night, there was a car in the middle of my street. The running lights were on, but the car was motionless. I thought perhaps the driver was talking to someone standing on the sidewalk whom I couldn't see. As my car approached, this vehicle stayed put. I had to maneuver around it to try and get by without scraping the curb.. since it was diagonal across the road. In passing, I could see no one in the car.

When I got in the house I told my father about the empty car with the lights on. He decided to walk down and have a look. He has more guts that I do... I watch from a distance. 15 minutes later he called the house to say someone was passed out in the car, and he had called the police. I then decided to go and join him so he didn't have to wait for the police alone.. on the sidewalk.. at night.. with a passed out driver.. in a car.. in the middle of the street.

We kept out distance from the car.. preferring to let the police take over. In addition to the driver, there was a little dog in the car. My Dad said the driver must have just passed out... but I pointed out it had to have been a somewhat conscious decision since the car was in park, and the seat was reclined.

The cops finally showed up and woke the driver. We were expecting to see a teenager pop his/her head up, instead it was a late 50's woman... whom I nicknamed "Aunt Fran". She looked like she just came back from Bingo and had a few too many Bud Lights. The officer asked her if she had been drinking, to which she responded, "Are you blind?!?"

She insisted she hadn't had too much to drink, and was not aware she was parked in the middle of the street, blocking traffic. She insisted she had pulled over to the curb, despite the fact that she and the police officer were standing next to her car... in the middle of the road.

I admit, we did stand there on the side walk watching most of this... like typical nosey neighbors. I was more interested in the young policemen (who doesn't love a man in uniform??), while my Dad was too busy getting a laugh out of "Aunt Fran". Finally I decided it was time to go when the real questioning of "Aunt Fran" began. Even if she was a drunk, she deserved her privacy... this wasn't an episode of "COPS" after all.

Since know one was hurt, I can say this was all hilarious to witness... but there certainly was potential for disaster. I guess it just goes to show that you never know what will happen in your neck of the woods.. even in the "quiet" suburbs.

The Approach of a New Season

One of the many things I love about living in Buffalo is that we get to experience the different types of seasons. Though our spring and fall may seem relatively short, even they have a distinct feel about them.

As we approach Memorial Day and the unofficial start to summer, my senses are telling me of the coming changes more than the calendar. I can SMELL summer approaching. The cut grass, the crisp air, the smell of rain showers... the SOUNDS of the lawn mowers, the crickets and many birds chirping. Pretty soon it will be off to the local nursery to get our summer flowers.

Though I am not a fan of the heat... anything above 60 and the sweat starts to pour... I do enjoy the summer months. I've already sat out on my patio to do some reading and have tried to keep the windows open as much as possible.

I can't imagine living in a place that didn't have the change of seasons. It's Mother Nature's way of making sure life doesn't get too boring. By the time you have had it with one season, a new season begins arriving, bringing with it a fresh excitement and a new look to life.

Poor CofE

The Church of England is now dealing with the problem of allowing female "priests" and "bishops". One has to feel sorry for the Anglican Communion. They seem to have lost any sense of identity, tradition and heritage they once had. It seems like every other week there is a new trend in their style of worship or the structure of their Church that is a complete reversal from centuries of established tradition and approved prayer life

How often can the faithful be pelted with more changes and be expected to accept them? I'm getting a headache just watching them, and I'm not Anglican.

I wish someone would explain to me what the core beliefs of the Anglican/Episcopal Church are, because at this point I'm lost. It seems every country... diocese... church... has their own sets of beliefs and ways of doing things. Truth is apparently only in the eyes of the beholder.

While I believe in the inherent equality of men and women, I don't think being treated equal means being identical. A father can never be a mother.. no matter how hard he tries. Only a woman can give birth. There are differences between men and women... why not celebrate them and embrace them?

I applauded the Women's Rights Movement until they started burning bras and dressing like men. Don't forget those women professors "back in the day" who refused to admit males to their classes... because that is a sign of acceptance and equality right?

I thought Christian worship was supposed to be Christ centered... not gender centered. The Anglican Communion seems to have forgotten that... putting gender first (women for the sake of having women up there), politics second (having gays up there for the sake of having gays there) and Christ third (Oh yea, we're Christian too).

I have no business telling people what to believe.. and if the Church of England wants women "priests" and "bishops", that's their business. But could they at least dress the part?? What's with all the "vestments" that look like they were assembled from a JoAnn Fabric's clearance sale??? I would think the office and title these women have been fighting for for so long would deserve a little more dignity.... or maybe the mitre has to match one's shoes. I don't know.