Andrea

09:45 pm: Thinking about this and that
Watched the Kentucky Derby at a friends house yesterday. Some of those in attendance - a government science adviser for the Navy, an Emmy award winning CNN employee, a mental health professional, a legislative aid to a member of congress, a mathematician with a PhD, and an acupuncturist! Makes me realize how diverse a social network I have.

Stress is still high - but slowly being reduced. Grandmother died. Father-in-law died, and we survived the funeral (with bulk coming out to family for Brooke). House is sold. Conference is over. Work is still insanely stressful and we still need to find a place to live, but we're making progress.

I'm a stress eater and I've gained 15 lbs in the past year! Time to start making a few adjustment to get back into a healthier place. Feet still give me problems almost constantly which makes exercise somewhat of a problem. Going to try the elliptical machine as soon as I get some gym clothes out of storage.

Two year anniversary of being married to Brooke will be on May 12th (the date we got hitched legally - not our wedding date which was in October following the legal marriage). So far we're going strong. A few minor communications problems that we've worked through are about the worst issue we've had to deal with - pretty smooth sailing!

Heading to Austin at the end of the week to attend the Revival Festival. I'm finally going to see the Blasters! Life is too short not to pursue a few of those longstanding goals.

That's it for now...

10:20 pm: Ugh
So, time for an update...

My father in law has pancreatic cancer. There isn't much of anything they can do so he's under the care of a hospice nurse. Fading quickly. Spouse is probably going out to see him next week.

My mom has inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), stage 3. Going to start radiation and chemo in the next couple of weeks. Small probability of her going into remission. We're going to visit for Christmas.

My grandmother turns 90 tomorrow. Her dementia and Alzheimers has advanced to the point she doesn't remember things from day to day. My aunt is going to take notes from all the kids and grandkids to read to her as her birthday present. She'll enjoy the attention, but won't remember what the notes say the next day.

Made an offer on a bigger house (townhouse really) - so that means we're trying to get our current place ready to sell. Boxes everywhere as we de-clutter.

And of course we're doing the normal - work, work travel, and activities for various trans organizations. Often so busy all the regular stuff of life seems to get shoved to the bottom of the priority list (replying to email, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc...).

Anyhow, never a dull moment!

09:15 pm: Sadness.
Crap. Heather Ramsey died in a car crash this past weekend.

10:36 pm: Good, bad, ugly
Good - Passed the married one year milestone. So far so good!

Bad - Brooke's dad is being tested for pancreatic cancer. My mom was just found to have lung cancer.

Ugly - Mountains of stress in our lives. Aging parents. Work and heavy amount of work travel. Selling our house. Buying a new house. Brooke's transition. Trying to stay engaged in community activities. Working on the IFGE conference. Feels overwhelming most of the time.

09:22 am: Atlanta
Road trip to Atlanta was fine. A bit soggy the last 100 miles, but nothing too insane. We're on the outer ring and so avoided most of the bad flooding area. Hotel is pretty much the same. Arriving on Monday - it was surprising to see just how many people are already here!

Went out to dinner. Stopped into the liquor store for supplies, and then popped over to Walmart. Brooke got the call while in Walmart - she won an Emmy award for her work on the Presidential Election coverage "OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN A CRAFT: LIGHTING DIRECTION & SCENIC DESIGN". I was jumping up and down like a crazy girl in the middle of the Walmart. Too exciting! We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel bar, celebrating and watching all the congratulatory notes roll in. Very cool way to start a vacation!

Today we are going to wander around at the mall and maybe get our nails done. Other than that, it's just relax and do whatever comes up.

Avanti!

07:36 pm: Aarrr
I nearly missed that it was Talk Like a Pirate Day! I've got to add these sorts of holiday events to my calendar.

09:46 am: Back to it
No posting since April. My bad, life just gets away from me sometimes.

Normal swirl of life. Son graduated High School and is now attending community college. Daughter on to the next grade. She's ready to get her permit, so I'm sure a car is somewhere in her near future. Spouse is well into being full time, her transition has had no major problems. My work is pretty much the same old stuff - lots of travel to Denver. (I know, I know, how unexciting - we're just not exciting people by most standards)

My involvement with the T community keeps growing. I'm working to plan the IFGE 2010 conference. Way outside my normal sort of thing, but I'm learning a whole lot. Also getting plugged in with the various organizations and personalities on the national level - lots of churning under the surface. People holding grudges, people lying to each other, all the games that come with groups looking out for their own interests, but all claiming to be helping the T community. I'm pretty naive - so it's all been eye opening!

Heading to Southern Comfort for my 6th consecutive conference. I love catching up with everyone, and making new friends and connections! Should be the usual good time. (anyone going? Want to try having a LJ meet up while there?)

Avanti Tutta!

09:20 pm: Perfect

09:47 pm: Brilliant
Excellent video...

10:01 pm: IFGE 2009 conference
Elected to the board of IFGE this morning. I'm now the Vice Chair. Continuation of the board meeting tomorrow, I'll most likely be elected to be the Chair of the 2010 Conference.

Enjoyed today, my first day at the 2009 conference here in Alexandria VA. Quiet air about it. Got to chat with Mara Keisling and Thomas a wee bit, which is always nice. Goodly number of TGEA people in attendance, and working to help staff various positions. Overall attendance is about half of last year, due to the economy and confusion about the Liberty Conference (some folks thought that it was the IFGE conference, which it isn't). Focus is on trying to make it a quality experience for those folks who are in attendance. Many lessons learned are being taken. Next year should be greatly improved with a small shift in effort and organization.

More of the conference tomorrow. Should be good!

09:15 pm: It continues
I just saw Stevie Wonder, live and up close...this is so cool!

*edit* And he smells really nice too!

08:49 pm: Cool
Just saw Larry King in the hall. And I'm listening to Ashford and Simpson rehearse the song "Solid". Hoping to catch a glimpse of Stevie Wonder later on. Turning into a very interesting evening! lol.

07:30 pm: Wow
Wow what a day! I attended the opening ceremony down by the Lincoln memorial. I had a "yellow" ticket to the reserved standing area. It was great! Amazingly large crowd. The metro was insanely busy. Hard to capture it all in words. The people. The entertainers. The speeches. The crowds reaction. It was overwhelming in a good way. Inspiring to see such positive energy from everyone!

I took a bunch of pictures, hopefully a few of them will turn out reasonably.

08:09 pm: Preparing for Tuesday
Just got back from shopping. I was on the hunt for warm weather gear. Specifically long undies, mittens and a hat. Pretty much all of northern Virgina was, of course, also out looking for those same exact items, so it was a bit of a challenge. First stop was REI. It looked as if a plague of locusts had descended on the place - a few ragged pairs of gloves, no long under ware, no hats, no hand warmers, it was cleaned out pretty good. I did pick up some wool socks, and I lucked out and found a pair of serious mittens - toasty warm. Swung by Target - thinking I might be able to pick up a hat in sporting goods. Since it was close to REI, everyone had the same idea, Target was cleaned out by the time I got there. On to Springfield mall, Sports Authority! It was picked over, but not everything was gone. I found long under ware that fit, a hat - which is dorky looking but warm. Then I hit up best buy and got a tiny portable radio (they've been encouraging people to have a radio to hear the inauguration speeches and all that). So, all in all it was frustrating, but successful. I will look like a mutant fashion reject with my miss matched outfit, but I'll be warm!

Now all I have to finalize is the details of how I'm going to get into DC on Tuesday morning - bus or metro. Leaning towards using metro, but getting up in time to catch the 4:00am train in doesn't sound like very fun! Something to decide on tomorrow or Monday. I'm getting excited just thinking that I'm going to be part of such a historic event!

05:00 pm: Excited!
I'm now the proud holder of one purple ticket to the inauguration! I feel like Charlie, of the chocolate factory fame. I'll be in the West Front standing area. Time to go buy some cold weather gear and extra batteries for the camera. Very exciting to be part of such a historical event!

04:14 pm: Input?
My tenure on the board of TGEA as President, is coming to an end. In looking for my next challenge, I find myself getting more involved with IFGE. So, I've decided to run for election to a board position with them. It's a larger, national level, group - which is a step up from the local/regional focus of TGEA. My knowledge on the history of IFGE is limited, so if anyone has advice - I'd love to hear it.

10:03 pm: Thinking
Cartoon, http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=374, that made me think of Zelda for some reason. lol.

01:33 pm: Honeymoon
My honeymoon pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/avonk1/

Barbados and a cruise on the Royal Clipper, around the lower islands of the West Indies. Sun, warmth and tropical goodness!

09:20 pm: Honeymoon
Heading out tomorrow for our honeymoon. Going to Barbados, then taking a cruise around the local islands for a week. On the Royal Clipper (part of the Star Clippers line), a 227 passenger clipper ship, powered by 42 sails! The weather isn't so great down there this time of the year, but even a bad weather day there has to be better than a great weather day here at work! I'm planning on doing nothing but lounging around, going snorkeling and maybe trying a day trip or two (mountain biking to a waterfall sounds like fun). Brooke is already talking about taking advantage of the spa they have on the ship - I'm guessing there will be massages for both of us some where in our do nothing schedule. Should be a good time no matter what we eventually decide to do. More in a couple of weeks when we get back.

01:55 pm: Voting
Voted. Thought I'd be smart and go a little later. I got in a several hundred person long line at 9:30am. Apparently everyone else thought they'd be smart and go a little later! Took about an hour to actually get in to vote. I checked the line when I left and it was just as long as when I started! This election is going to have some amazing turn out numbers. Should be exciting to watch the different state report in this evening...