ski poles, singing bowls, and rainy beach weekends

long time no post! what can i say, sometimes its hard to figure out what exactly would be interesting! but i thought it high time i post some pics from the last month or so! several weeks ago, patrice and i visited gracie and her roomate for some skiing fun at Blue Mountain in Palmerton, PA. we had such a great time! i rocked the pie piece/wedge alot that day, seeing as i hadnt skiied in...erm...about 10 years. its a toss up as to which was the most challenging, relearning how to ski or surviving the ski lift dismount with patrice :-D (which for the record was fall free!). grace was kind enough to allow us to stay in her dorm. she lives on a beautiful campus at Cedar Crest.

i also just finished taking a photography class. no masterpieces were created, but i enjoying refreshing some of the basics, and also learning a few photo shop tricks. eastern market serves as a great location to get some interesting shots! here are a few that i really liked :)

and certainly last but not least, i spent a wonderful bday weekend in va beach last weekend with my sweetheart and with my unc friends. we celebrated erin's bday and kara's vicariously :) although it rained, literally, for the entire weekend, we had a good time! it made my heart very happy to see my dear ones from near and far! cant wait for the next time!

puzzle mania

sushi making fun!

yummy guate breakfast :)

patrice and i, right before we tried to to hustle ;)

its beginning to look alot like christmas!

happy holidays dear ones!



christmas officially began for me last weekend when patrice and i attended the annapolis boat parade as well as picked up our charlie brown christmas tree :) this has been our tradition for the past couple of years and i really love it. but first, lets talk about the funniest thing i did all weekend: four words - high school wrestling tournament. parker has decided to join the wrestling team, which i love because it really makes him happy. so when patrice asked if i wanted to check it out last friday night i said of course i do! so off i went with the supplies she instructed me to bring (after her grueling 13 hour inaugural wrestling meet), which included cushions, an mp3 player, and lots of reading material. lemme just say, nothing prepares you for the alarming/aweful headlocks, grabbing, contortions, and sweaty gym smell that is immediately recognizeable once you step within 50 feet. not to mention the singlets. my favorites were the tall lanky guys stuck with the terribly short jv singlets that required them to wear biking shorts underneath. parker was kind enough to explain all of the rules and even let me try on his headgear! needless to say, he walked off after we snapped this pic ;)



after a couple of hours i decided i might like to do a little reading - i looked in my bag that i always keep random reading materials in and realized it was chocked full of back issues of the advocate and out traveler. needless to say, given the environment, i decided to forego the magazines and just continue to chat to patrice. we had a good chuckle about that to say the least! but it was great to see park so happy and part of a team he is getting to know. before the next time i gotta get some old mill hs gear...its better than showing up with duct tape letters on my shirt ;)



on saturday patrice and i headed down to annapolis for their annual holiday boat parade. for two hours sail boats, yachts, motorboats, dingies and even jet skis parade between the annapolis and eastport areas. we usually stand on the eastport bridge so we can see the boats coming from each side. poor patrice was such a good sport as i darted like a ping pong ball from side to side trying to get pictures. thank god they closed off the street or my little A.D.D. self would've gotten us run over :) the funniest part is when some of our friends on a boat called "shortbus" began shouting on a megaphone "laura and patrice....the shortbus is missing part of its crew"...we just laughed and waived while people next to us looked and said, "friends of yours?" ;) below are some of my favorite pics...some where taken from the easport bridge then others taken up close in ego alley...


clifford the big red dog :)


the navy had this amazing snowman display


this little man in his dingy is out there every year


you cant see, but everyone on the boat was dressed as charlie brown characters! it was sooo flippin cute!!


me and patriceypants!


everyone loves a mer-angel :)


let me tell you, this was a serious christmas train!


next up, dr suess' thing one and thing two!


this was the mother of all boats - it was decorated with santa and his sleigh, a baltimore skyline, and a manger hangin off the back

the next day patrice and i went to pick out our real tree. it was so tiny it fit in the back of the camry :) which was great b/c now my car smells like christmas! below you can see how we became a tree family and then the final product :) its such a happy little tree!







big holiday hugs and kisses!! xoxo

So on Saturday afternoon Patrice and I decided to head down to the Capitol Building to participate in the protest against Prop 8. What we had not predicted were the intense traffic baracades due to the G20 summit taking place this weekend. We wandered aimlessly trying to find an open cross walk only to stumble into the dead center of a Tibetan protest against the Chinese President. P and I were proud to lend our voices to "Shame on China" chants. We felt lucky to be able to witness their protest on the way to ours. Although, after 45 mins, and one broken up fight, we were over the whole 20 nation motorcade.

A few blocks down we found a large group obviously headed to the Prop 8 protest, now an hour underway. Just as we were finally starting to cross the street the beautiful skies turned deep purple and monsoon rains started coming down. At this point we were drenched but still determined. We eventually caught the group past the Washington Monument and walked to the back of the White House. It was incredibly moving to say the least - thousands of protestors - straight and gay - horns honking from passerbyers - families of all shapes. It was all of the good and all of the hard emotions wrapped up into one. I was glad Patrice was there holding my hand...for alot of reasons.

I forgot my camera (DOH!) so I tracked down a few photos via the web. The one straight couple with the sign was walking directly behind us. It was a memorable experience to say the least.

the thing i thought i'd never do here

im going to rant. seems strange to rant on a day that i believe brings the country so much joy - the day after the country voted Barack Obama into office. im relieved this actually happened and excited to see what the next steps will bring. i think this is an amazing new direction for our country to take, and i look forward to the changes.

however, someone's thrown a wrench in my totterin'. amongst all of this joy, im upset with the negative changes that are happening today across america. it looks like proposition 8 is going to pass in california. in june, same sex couples were granted the right to begin marrying in CA, to make their relationship official and to enjoy the rights of any two people in love who want to spend the rest of their lives together. although i dont live in CA, it gave us all so much hope that one day we too could enjoy the same. straight americans have no idea how powerful that is. all of the progress in CA is about to be erased, and i feel incredibly sad about that. anti-LGBT measures were also passed in florida, arkansas, and arizona. although i am overjoyed with Obama's victory, i am still disappointed on his stance as well. he's taking the safe road, which probably helped him get elected, but i hope in the future he chooses the higher road, which is equal rights in all areas. i can understand his opinion that marriage is a religious institution - if that is true though, why do we allow marriages to be performed in a courtroom instead of a church? why are so many rights tied to a marriage license and not a civil union? why can any man and woman apply for a marriage license even if they have never stepped foot in a church or synagogue? as p says, marriage has long been synonymously used as a contract between two people entering a life together. the logic is all very fuzzy and underattended. i think i just made that word up. thats what happens when you are fussy.

on a somewhat related note, ABC decided to fire actress Brooke Smith (Dr. Erica Hahn) from Grey's Anatomy because they didnt like where her lesbian storyline (which they wrote) was going with Dr. Callie Torrez. *slapping hand to forehead*. the only thing that was unfortunate about the storyline is that they chose to have Dr. Torrez getting explicit sex advice from a man (Dr. Eric Sloane), and having her cheat on Dr. Hahn to prove her sexuality one way or another. on a positive note, Grey's had done an incredibly realistic job of showing a variety of reactions, from "I'm so gay" to "I'm not sure where I fall on the spectrum", and how that plays out into a budding relationship that is ultimately about loving a specific person. if ABC was so uncomfortable, why couldnt they change their romantic storylines as they have done a million times with their heterosexual counterparts? or marginalize the importance of their relationship like they have done with all of the other minority characters on the show? oy vay people. dumb dumb dumb.

sometimes i feel like we could all learn a lesson from kids. kids who havent yet been filled with hate, but who are truly just getting to know the world and experience it as honestly as possible. there is so much potential, hope, and openness through those eyes, and i envy it.

lets hope over the next few years we see progress, even if in baby steps. obama has alot on his plate, and im ready to get started.

punkin chunkin'

so patrice and fam have discovered this fabulous thing called Punkin' Chunkin' on the eastern shore - a three day event dedicated to creatively launching pumpkins into the air as far as possible, coupled with libations and harley davidson tshirts (if you bring in canned goods). just to give you a taste some of the categories include: "Adult Air", "Adult Centrifugal", "Adult Catapult", "Adult Human Power", "Youth 11-17 Catapult", "Youth 10 & Under Human Power", and "Theatrical" just to name a few. unfortunately, we cant make it this weekend, however, i for one want to be first in line for "Theatrical" 2009. seriously, what more do you need?! :)

in the meantime, i made my contribution to the halloween spirit - you'll see, its all fun and games until the group decides my hands are the best fit for the pumpkin. perhaps i could be a hand model? sharpies, quivering arms and pumpkin carving ensues! :)

on the move....

i wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who donated to patrice and i for the Alzheimer's Association 2008 Memory Walk here in dc. we participated last saturday and overall the organization raised over $700,000. it was a very touching day to say the least. thanks again for the donations $5 on up!