Geeking out with the US Postal Service

OMG! Check out this sweet website where you can vote for your favorite Star Wars stamp!

http://www.uspsjedimaster.com/main/vote/view_stamps.html?route=vote.s&source=SWUSPS07

My choice is obvious - Boba Fett Forever!

I'm a total geek! LOL :o)

For a good cause...

I wanted to post some information about upcoming fundraisers for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation...Brandon is having a tough time lately with his glucose numbers being way too high (I think his pancreas has finally stopped producing insulin...this means his "honeymoon phase" is over.) I've been very worried and feeling helpless. Maybe posting this will help:

JDRF Fundraisers!

Phi-Trotters 5-on-5 Basketball Tournament to benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research

Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority at The Ohio State University will once again hit the hardwoods to raise money for a cure. The “Phi-Trotters” annual event is a five-on-five men’s basketball tournament open to anyone who wishes to play. On average, AEPhi earns over $1000 each year, of which 100% is donated to JDRF research, through the Mid-Ohio chapter

This year’s event is being held at The Ohio State Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC) on April 21st. AEPhi hopes to raise more money this year by collecting donations, pre-selling raffle tickets and many other exciting events.

For additional information, please direct questions to Jessica Zuckerman at zuckerman.14@osu.edu


Lend a Hand Program to Benefit JDRF

Tax season is here! Jackson Hewitt Tax Service is once again offering the “Lend a Hand Program” to benefit JDRF research. Coupons are available for $20 discount on tax preparation. With every coupon redeemed at one of the participating Jackson Hewitt Service offices in the JDRF’s name, Jackson Hewitt will donate $20 to JDRF!

To obtain a coupon, visit the JDRF Mid-Ohio website at: http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=102690

Discover Card – dedicated to finding a cure!

Apply for a Discover Card at apply.Discovercard.com (or call 800-470-7952) and enter (or mention) code #FDET and Discover Card will donate $50 to JDRF after you make $250 in purchases within 3 months of being approved. This offer expires June 4, 2007.

You can also donate your Cashback Bonus to JDRF and Discover Card will match your donation by 20%.

Finally - a new post

(I wrote this about a week back...)

I cannot believe that I have been such a slacker! It’s not as if I haven’t had the opportunity to write lately – instead it’s more like I’ve just not felt inspired to write. That might be because I have been suffering with the flu/cold/allergies for almost two weeks now. I’ve been pumping myself full of pills trying in vain to find the right combo to make me feel better. I am starting to feel better, but I still have a nasty (sounding) cough. Gatsby (our cat) is shedding too – so that kicks off my allergies. At any rate, I almost opted to not sit down and write up a quick update once again…but I knew if I didn’t that I would be mad at myself tomorrow. Sooo…here I am.

Brian and I did go see Zodiac, as I mentioned we might in my last post. It was a good movie. It was very long, and it could have used some further editing, but it was one of those movies where you don’t really mind the length for the most part. The cast was excellent and I enjoyed Jake and Robert’s performances as I knew I would. If you like true crime stories, you’ll enjoy this movie. I recommend it as long as you don’t care about getting closure. (Everyone knows the Zodiac was never caught…so there’s the ending of the movie.)

I haven’t been up to too much these days. I spoke at the Columbus Alternative High School a week back. Their GSA asked me to come in and talk about being an ally. It was the first time I’ve spoken to a high school group. It went really well and I enjoyed being able to connect with the students there. I’ve also lined up another opportunity to screen “Tying the Knot” with our panel. This time we will be going to Capital Law as part of the Law Association’s Marriage Equality Day on April 16th. I’m looking forward to that – and to hearing from other schools. Looks like we’ve added another member to our group – a straight girl! Yippee! I started to worry we couldn’t attract heterosexuals anymore. LOL

This week is Spring Break for the kids. We took them up to Newark to the Cherry Valley Lodge. It was a nice two-day break from Columbus. The hotel was very nice and Brian and I were able to even sneak in a drink alone in the lobby bar. The kids loved the hotel’s new indoor water resort (Co Co Keys). We all zipped around on inner tubes and water slides. We visited nearby Dennison University. I actually considered going there once – but the price is steep. We ate near the campus at this place which sells 200 different types of beers. Brian loved that! LOL We also took the kids to see the Longaberger Basket headquarters which looks like is a six-story picnic basket! I was very amused by that.

I’ll have a car tomorrow, so I am thinking of taking the kids to see a matinee or something. Friday I have to go get some stitches out of my back – but I’m actually looking forward to that. I had a mole removed at my annual exam and it came back with cancer cells. They had to remove a larger portion and I ended up with two rows of stitches in the center of my back. I swear it looks like I got stabbed with a butcher knife! (I call it my Zodiac Scar.) It hurts and is in a suck-ass place position wise. I’ve not been able to lie on my back or sit comfortably for over a week. I can’t wait to get these bastards removed!

So that’s been my life over the past week or two. Thrilling, huh? I’m still pondering what to do about this collection summons I received and I’m also on the fence about making SpeakOUT a 501c3. I know I need to make a decision on both of them sooner than later. I never thought I was a procrastinator – but I guess I can be.

Until next time…

Put on a happy face...

(This was written on Wednesday...)
You’ve got to love that sunny weather out there! I wish it would last, but I hear that rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week. I just came in from finishing off the shoveling of the sidewalks in front of our house and our neighbors. There were still some sections that had about a ¼” of ice or more hiding under all that slush. Too bad I just can’t morph into my alter ego and use my “control elements” to melt it. LOL That would ROCK! Oh well, I needed the work out anyway!

So some good news to share – remember that visit I mentioned regarding the sheriff from the civil division department? Well, he returned and as it turns out he wasn’t interested in me at all! He was looking for the guy who used to live here. Oh my God! What a relief. It was the very best news ever. I know that doesn’t mean that those assholes from the collection agency still won’t eventually decide to contact me, but at least I know that I can still hope**.

Monday was a great day. Brian took a mental health day and we got to spend the whole day alone! After I got the kids off to school, I snuck back under the covers and we slept in as late as we wanted. We tackled the house chores as a team and finished in record time. We even managed to sneak in some, er, adult recreation time! :o) Then we went up to Polaris to exchange some shirts at Brooks Brothers. Brian’s brother works there and he gave us shirts as presents over the holidays, but they were the wrong size. It was sort of fun because we would never in a million years shop there otherwise. My button down oxford shirt cost $79 (before the employee discount)! What a ridiculous waste of money…

It was just so awesome to be alone for the whole day. I love my kids, but they just suck every last ounce of energy from me. Being at the mall alone with Brian was a real treat. We visited stores we like and I even got to play the new Nintendo Wii at EB Games. It was actually quite hard. It takes a big learning curve to figure out how to maneuver with the two “joy sticks”. Just when I thought I had my sword out, it turns out that I suddenly had my bow instead. I also had a hard time getting the character on screen to “look” where I wanted him too. It was different though and fun. I liked the fishing game – it was easy to figure out. LOL

Brian and I had lunch together and just walked around holding hands and being disgustingly cute. It is times like these that I know our relationship is actually good and strong – we just have to figure out how to keep those feelings around when we are overstressed about money, the kids and everything else life throws our way.

Friday night we took the kids to see the final OSU men’s hockey game. (Thanks to the free tickets we got from Brian’s work!) They were playing Michigan so of course the stakes were high for us to beat them. It was an awesome game. With less than 2 minutes left in the game we scored and won 6-5. There was a huge fight after the game ended – both benches cleared and goalies even got into it. Coaches from both teams had to go fetch their players because the refs were basically useless. Sweet! I really enjoy the team spirit of the college games. The band is there and the crowd really gets worked up. It reminds me of the good old days of The Chill.

I ran into my old boss from Wasserstrom, Mike T., at the game. Wow! He looked so much older to me. He even had little tufts of grey hair on the sides of his head. LOL Still, it was so great to see him again. I used to have lunch with him every now and then and keep in touch, but I hadn’t emailed him in a while. It is so hard to believe it has been at least 4 years since I worked with him. Mike was a great boss but an even better friend. I really miss seeing him every day.

I’ve been bitten by the spring cleaning bug this week. I actually feel motivated to tackle things…and I’m writing my “to do” lists again. I think the stress of the last part of 2006 and early 2007, has finally lifted. I feel better – more optimistic. I’m looking forward to our mini-vacation in a few weeks. We are taking the kids to one of those indoor water parks. We will only be gone two nights, but it will be really nice to not be in Columbus.


This weekend we are using some free movie passes to go see Zodiac. Brian loves true crime movies/books and he has read many regarding the Zodiac killings. I just really love Jake Gyllenhaal and that was enough of an excuse for me to agree to go see it. (Did you see the February GQ? Jake is looking all sorts of fine on the cover and inside!) Oh, Robert Downey Jr. is in the movie too – and despite his bad boy rep, I still love him. We are going to have an early dinner and go to the show this Sunday…no kids! I think I see a reoccurring theme here…





Talk to you all soon!





**Not even an hour after I wrote this yesterday, I went out to get my mail. Guess what was inside my mailbox?! Another fucking summons from the credit collectors! Bastards! It is the same summons they sent me in November 07. Grrrrrrrrrrr