Andrea

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...

06:20 pm: One week after
Wedding was wonderful! Everyone had a good time. (or they were at least polite enough to lie about it if they didn't like it)

Ceremony came off with only one minor problem. (a slight mishap with one of the wedding rings) The officiant did a great job balancing humor and seriousness. Short sweet and to the point. Just what we wanted.

Reception seemed to go quickly. Pictures. Cocktail hour. Cake cutting. Toasts. Food was decent. DJ did a nice job of mixing slow and fast songs. An the piano player was perfect - my mom even liked it!

All in all, it was exhausting, fun and exciting all wrapped into a single event.

Brooke got sick right after the wedding - a head cold. And now I've got it. The honeymoon starts this Thursday - so I'm doing everything I can think of to blast this cold out of my system. Heading to Barbados for a cruise of the lower Caribbean islands. It's the rainy season, but we don't care, it will be an adventure for both of us!

10:07 am: Wedding day
Today is my wedding! 4:00pm the ceremony starts. I'm nervous and excited. We start in with the getting ready at 11:00am, and from there it's just a flurry of activity leading up to the limo ride over to the venue. Then right into the walk down the aisle, ceremony and reception.

The fun part is having my family meet my friends! A very diverse crowd. We've got most every combination of GLBTQ type person in attendance. A gay liberal Catholic Priest is doing the ceremony. The piano player is a cross dresser. The maids of honor are both TS - one is done with transition, one isn't going to fully transition. Good stuff!

Time to run to the mall - we forgot a couple of things. I'll let everyone know how it goes after the fact!

Avani...

06:56 am: Wedding jitters
Final day before the wedding. Parents are here. Melanie made it over from the UK. 99.9% of the details are finalized. Today all the rest of the out of town folks arrive. Brooke and I move our stuff to the hotel - where we are pre-staging everything for tomorrow's flurry of activity.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. It's to the stage where very soon, things will start running on their own. The big slide towards the wedding event itself. Exciting, but scary. Getting married, that's easy. It's the loss of control over the activity that I find frightening!

Avanti...

01:07 pm: Welcome to the world
I'm an Aunt!

My brother just called. My sister-in-law gave birth to my niece at 12:29am, on 10/11/2008. Sophia Ann weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz., was 19 and 1/2 inches tall and is healthy. All are doing well. Exhausted and still at the hospital (delivered with an emergency C section). I'm flying to LA on business tomorrow and will drive down from there to see them all Tuesday evening! I'm very excited about meeting Sophia!

05:48 pm: Diane Schroer won her discrimination case!
Diane Schroer won her discrimination case!

http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/transgender/36872prs20080919.html

"In a groundbreaking decision, the court ruled that discriminating against someone for changing genders is sex discrimination under federal law."

I love it!

09:13 pm: Busy
Things are starting to get seriously busy and stressful.

This week/weekend we...

Arranged a special weekend rate at the Marriott for the wedding guests. Registered for gifts at Crate & Barrel. Bought Brooke's wedding dress, shoes, and veil. Order the Maid of Honor dress and shoes. Arranged for travel for the maid of honor (from the UK). Ordered favors. And got the maid of honor list of who to invite to the bridal shower (she's decided we need a bridal shower).

Because there isn't enough stress in our lives, we're starting to get serious about selling our place and buying a new place. Which means we're redoing the kitchen appliances and upgrading to granite counter tops. And we've been looking at places that are for sale.

Of course we've still got SCC to get ready for. The TGEA holiday Gala to help plan. The NCTE 4 year anniversary dinner to help with. And the IFGE 2009 conference to plan.

Oh yeah, to keep things extra interesting, Brooke and I are both doing a lot of travel for work in the next month of so.

I'm not sure how to juggle it all, but so far I'm managing to not screw anything up. I figure with all the other stuff going on, I won't get obsessed with the wedding plans!

09:18 am: Wedding status
Venue is booked. Piano player on contract, and her travel logistics in work. Cake ordered. Photographer almost on contract. Got my dress - going for alterations on Thursday. Favors in work. Maid of honor dresses ordered. Invitations ordered.

Still to be done - Hotel for out of town guests to stay in. Officiant. Brooke's dress. Hair. Makeup. Flowers. Decorations. etc...

Busy, busy with it all!