Happy Anniversary to US!

I can't believe that it's been a year since Michael and I headed West to get married! This time last year, we were checking into the Roosevelt Hotel in LA. We got a free upgrade to a luxury hotel room, overlooking Hollywood Blvd. Our wedding ceremony was held the following day-- shortly after we had our picture taken with a couple of Marilyn Monroe impersonators outside the Chinese Theater. The ceremony was very simple-- money was tight and we couldn't afford the cliff side or beach ceremony. We opted for the wedding chapel venue. It was just the two of us, a Pastor and the world's worst photographer. There was ONE invited guest-- my former roommate, Christian. He was a no show & later claimed that he was sick.

The wedding chapel was as tacky as I expected. We stood with the Pastor under an indoor trellis covered in silk pink roses. We told the Pastor that we had written our own vows, but he ignored that request and went on with the ceremony as usual using prewritten vows. The vows we spoke to each other were probably better in hindsight.. they were dead on, and both of us cried as we attempted to repeat them. It was a totally moving ceremony, but we both regretted that we didn't get to say the things that we had spent weeks working on. We did read our personal vows to each other on the way to the car, and we ended up crying again and holding each other in the wedding chapel parking lot.

After the ceremony, we headed to Redondo Beach. We walked the pier and stopped for a drink in the local tavern. We watched the sun set over the ocean and relished in the fact that we were legally married. Just as legal as our parents had been. Who would have known that we were one of the last gay couple that could enjoy this right? A month later, gay marriages were outlawed due to Prop 8. Our marriage status was in limbo for the next several months. Sometime around February or March it was announced that marriages performed prior to November 3rd, 2008 were grandfathered in-- our marriage was still valid!

Since then, life has been a rocky road. Both of our work situations changed, money is tighter than ever and the "happily -ever-after" dream I had of marriage hasn't panned out. It's been a year, and we've settled into our roles as husbands and fathers (did I mention that we are raising a baby?). In the past year, we've gone through the "richer or poorer, sickness and in health" routine. Everything bad has been thrown at us, but we're still together and things are getting better. I'd walk through fire for that man, and I know he'd do the same for me. We are a family-- as strange as it may sound.

Happy Anniversary, Baby. I warned you that this was a life sentence with no chance of parole, and I meant it! Thank you for always being there for me, for encouraging me and supporting me. You are my knight in shining armor and I love you! I look forward to growing old with you and continuing to love you to the nth degree!

Below are the vows that we personally wrote to each other. Enjoy a private look at our inner-most thoughts:

Michael's vow to me:

It has been written that love is its own country that the world invades. It has also been written to love someone is to fly with the angels and if you are lucky your hands and hearts are connected, your body, you soul. I can only thank God that I have been able find the one person with whom all of this becomes manifest.
Brian, before you came into my life I was very much adrift. Now, I find a complement to my strength, am enhancement where I am weak. And, I am very blessed to do the same in return and have you love me…in return.
Brian, I pledge that you will always have my love. That you will always have me to lean upon and me upon you, our love is and always will be complete and perpetual.
This I promise today, tomorrow, and always.

*******************************************************************

My vow to Michael:

I, Brian, choose you, Michael, to be my soul mate and husband. In sickness, I will nurse you back to health. In health, I will encourage you on your path. In sadness, I will help you to remember. In happiness, I will be there to make memories with you. In poverty, I will do all that I can to make our love rich. And in wealth, I will never let our love grow poor.

When you need someone to talk to, I will be there for you. When you need a helping hand, you’ve got mine. When you need someone to laugh with, turn to me.

I promise to you a life time of happiness and I am so grateful to God that you entered my life.

Through the good and the bad, I will be beside you to protect you and love you as long as we both shall live.

Children's Museum, Etc.

We took Grayson to the Children's Museum this weekend and he had a blast! I brought the camera with me, but forgot to bring the memory card, so I didn't get any pictures. You'll have to imagine about 1000 pictures of a kid smiling non-stop! He was able to climb ropes to get into a tree fort... he got to tap dance in a mirror with Sophie... he went fishing in a pond (wearing a fireman's raincoat)... and he got to ride on a John Deere tractor!

I try my best to fill every weekend with memories that I hope he will never forget. I know he's young; probably too young to remember any of this. Maybe I'm preserving these memories for myself.

We dropped him off at his mother's house today. As usual, I broke down when it was time to take him home. I gave him a bath and dressed him-- tears flowing the entire time. I try not to get emotional like that in front of him, but sometimes I can't help it. After he was dressed and ready to go, I took him to my bed and we read an Elmo book. He is so smart- he turns the pages of the book for me until I get to the end. So, I'm reading and tearing up and he looks at me and says "I love you". That little guy knows how to worm his way into my heart.

I know that I am silly. I know that I'll see him in a few days and there is nothing to worry about. I just imagine everytime that the weekend is over: "what if this is the last one?". His mother could decide at any minute that she no longer wants to "share" custody with us. DFACS is all over her, too. They could take him away in a heartbeat and place him with new parents. As long as he is in my house, I feel safe. Dropping him off at his mother's house worries me to death.

I wish I could press the fast forward button and get to the time when he is with us permanently.

A Week in Paradise!

Once again, I am sorry that I haven't posted more regularly. I have a new virus protection on my computer that prevents me from posting pictures on the Blog. What's the point of posting a blog without pictures??? In a desperate effort, I will try posting this blog using my laptop and hope that it works!

To catch you up.... nothing has changed since we last spoke. We took our annual family trip to Hilton Head a couple of weeks ago. Grayson LOVED the beach and the pool. He even swam alone for a few minutes! I am sure that he's trying to figure out what happened to his daily routine-- for 7 days he joined us for coffee at Java Joe's... played in the kiddie pool and then played on the beach and made sand castles. Since we got home, there is no pool, ocean or sand. We do let him play in the sprinkler, but it's not the same.

Anyway... here are a few pics of the highlights from the trip. Enjoy!

More Hilton Head Pics

A Wonderful Weekend

Michael and I really took on a lot of responsabilities this week! Grayson came to stay with us on Wednesday. We had a great couple of days spending time with him. He has a crazy new hair style-- his Momma got his hair twisted. It only lasted a couple of days-- all of the rubberbands that held it in place fell out this morning-- well, that's our story and we're sticking to it!

On Friday, Andrea called with an SOS-- she had to work and didn't have a sitter, so Sophie came to spend the night with us. Of course, we had the worst rainstorm that night and the power was off until about 4am the next morning. She was a little scared... Grayson slept through the whole thing and never even noticed that it was raining!

On Saturday morning we picked up Grayson's brother, Jordan. He spent the night with us and got to spend some time with his little brother. We had a great time playing in the yard and going to the park. We went to PetSmart and got two new fish for the pond. The kids got to name their new fish (they named them Little Jordan and Nemo).

We went to Lowe's and got some new flowers for the garden. We planted the flowers while Michael cooked a delicious spaghetti dinner for us and we ate on the patio. After dinner we went for a long walk-- we even took our dog, Lady with us. We taught Sophie how to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in a round. As it got darker, Jordan began to get a little scared and swore that we were being followed by a ghost. We tried to assure him that there were no ghosts following us and then he told us the story of a ghost named Jehovah that lived in his old neighborhood. Classic! After our walk, we got the kids tucked into bed- then we washed three loads of laundry, so the kids would all go home the next day with clean clothes.

This morning, I went to Lowe's and got a new pump for the pond. The kids helped me tear the pond apart to get the old pump out. Then we installed the new pump and rebuilt the stones around the pond. The fish seemed much happier afterwards. Michael served us breakfast on the patio-- scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. After breakfast, the kids had a dance contest (Jordan can really outdance Beyonce to the tune of "Single Ladies")... they made paper flowers and butterflies and stapled them to sticks to plant around the pond. We went for another long walk, and dropped Sophie off at her house. Grayson got dropped off at his Mom's afterwards, and Aunt Sue picked up Jordan from our house an hour later to take him to a pool party.

It was so much fun having a house full of kids for a few days. It's amazing how domestic we can be at times. If you drove by our house the last couple of days, you would've seen a yard full of happy kids, toys, strollers, etc. You'd also see a couple of old guys sitting under the umbrella-- stressed to the hilt and smiling the biggest smiles you've ever seen. The house had life in it-- there was laughter and kids creating art and telling stories. A couple of the kids were in desperate need for attention and love. They got it. And they gave it back to us in return.

The house is quiet now, except for the hum of the dishwasher and the tumbling of the dryer. The dogs are taking a well-deserved nap. Nemo and Little Jordan are happy in their pond. All is well with the world, and Michael and I are still smiling! We survived the weekend and look forward to many more weekends like this!

Who Would I Be....

...if it weren't for the Biscuit. To tell the truth, I feel as if my entire life has revolved around the Biscuit for the past 7 years. My name has become synonymous with the Biscuit. At the gym, in the stores... pretty much wherever I am, people call me "Mr. Biscuit". Maybe it's because I drive the Biscuit car. Maybe it's because I am never caught without a Biscuit logo on my shirt. Maybe it's because all I ever do is talk about/ promote/ sing the praises of the Biscuit 24/7.

I feel like these days are coming to an end. Starting on Monday, my job will be so drastically different. They have already replaced me. Someone else will be calling the shots-- sitting at my desk-- answering my emails and phone calls. Someone else will be unlocking the doors in the morning- brewing the coffee, cooking the biscuits.

I haven't lost my job (yet). I'm still on the payroll-- forced to watch someone else do my job. It'll be hard to witness. I know that I am just being used as a safety net-- someone to turn to when things aren't going right. A disposable safety net.

The Biscuit has been very good to me over the years. I've worked hard and learned plenty. If it's over, it's over and I am better for having had the experiences that I have had. I've learned every facet of the restaurant business-- I've bussed tables, waited tables, washed dishes and taken out the garbage. I've done the accounting, the marketing, the scheduling, the inventory and the payroll. I've taken a catering dept from under $30k/year to over $200k/year, doubling sales each year single-handedly. My resume will be impressive.

It's hard to see it all come to an end. I don't want to say goodbye. Not yet.

More Flower Pics!

New Friends...

We had a great time this weekend! We met the new neighbor's-- they have a son that is 15 months old-- his name is Wilson. Grayson and Wilson hit it off! They formed a friendship without words. Both of the boys gestured to each other.... Wilson tried to hug Grayson a couple of times, but ended up just giving him a pat on the back each time. Wilson threw a baseball and Grayson chased after it. It was so sweet and innocent... I can't wait for Wilson to move in so they can play together often. I regret that I didn't have my camera with me when the kids were playing, but I did have it this morning when I was giving Grayson a bath!

We Need Something To Cheer Us Up...

Some pictures of the new flower garden! The tulips are starting to bloom, and the pansies are finally in their prime! Enjoy!