OK, All Together Now: "Awww..."

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Day Off

Nick gave me one of my Christmas presents early today. That's Right! It is a Christmas count-down clock! I absolutely love it! He said he could have waited until Christmas to give it to me, but what fun would that be? So I got to open it today and I was totally floored. I saw one a couple of years ago and have wanted one since. Now I have one! Nick is such a sweetie!


I have finished one-third of the stained glass sun catchers I am making for my coworkers. It takes me about an hour to get one out. Right now, I think the green one is my favorite. I find myself mentally thinking who should get which one. Of course, I want to give the best ones to the people I like!



It was snowing this afternoon. As I was driving to go work on glass, I drove over the Red Cedar river. It looked so pretty I decided to take some pictures. (Yes, I know the first picture is upside down but I like it better that way!)

I also went jewelry shopping today. For my piercing. (No, Nick and I are not planning a trip to Connecticut.) I was wearing a Jesus Christmas sweatshirt. I had so much fun going into Hot Topic with a Jesus shirt on and seeing if someone is going to wait on a 40's Christian. Then to ask them about 10 gauge captive bead body jewelry and watch the puzzled look on their face is priceless!

Hope your day is going great!

Bridge Fail

(h/t to Failblog)

Anything She Can Do...

This is a photo from a fake ad campaign. The campaign is "What if gays really did try to recruit straight people." I linked the photo because even though it is not technically NSFW, it certainly looks like it should be!

Just A Bunch Of Photos

This was a house in Charlotte MI that I thought was pretty cool. Nicely painted.

This was an urn out in front of the house pictured above.

This was an interesting wedding "dress" that I saw in Bronner's Christmas Store. Now, I like Christmas a whole lot, but this is just too much!

And a rainbow just now out in the sky. And remember: Everytime you see a rainbow, God is having gay sex!

Whats Been Happening

Hey folks,

I haven't written much of substance lately. Maybe the trauma of being an international criminal has just been too much for me.

Well, things have been happening here, 20 Minutes North of Hell. I finally found out what I am doing at work. I am going to be working with the remodel team. This would be doing things like putting stuff on shelves and getting the new departments ready. I will have Sundays off which would be a good thing.

I also heard that I may be able to get a Starbucks job in another store. What was odd about this is we got a call from the other store asking if we had someone who could cover a shift there. Then the person said, "and we are supposed to be getting one of you working over here, right?" Well, I had talked to the supervisor over there, but that was the last I heard. So now they are going to talk to me tomorrow about starting over there.

Truthfully, I don't know if I want to continue to do the Starbucks thing.

I also have a lead on another job. One of the "usuals" at Starbucks gave me some information on a job. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun. A lot of traveling, but also a lot of fun.

I have been dealing with collection agencies. I think there should be a separate ring of Hell (and not the one 20 minutes south of here) for people who work there. They have to be some of the most manipulative people I have encountered. How can they sleep at night? By the time I was done dealing with them, I just wanted to do anything to make them hang up.

I finally got a chance to call my credit counselor and she told me that putting $1300 on a credit card to get the collections folks off of my back was NOT a good idea. Nick seconded her suggestion.

Church went well this morning. The people seemed to get a lot out of the sermon. This is probably one of the hardest scriptures to preach on. The only other one I can think of is the divorce scripture.

Nick and I spent the after noon at the Melon Festival before he had to go to work. The boy asleep on the hill was probably the most interesting thing we saw. Kind of a yawn actually. (Get it? Sleeping boy...yawn?)

Now I am just sitting here pondering the pros and cons of keeping a job with Starbucks. If I get the other job, taking that would be a no brainer. But I don't know if I want to do something else or stay with the coffee job. If I stay with the coffee job, I could continue to post the Starbucks Speedo guy!

Nick's Going To Kill Me For This!

Aren't they cute?

Nick's Birthday

Yesterday was Nick's 60th Birthday!

He posted some of the events on his blog, so you can look there.

I had a fun time planning for his birthday. Sixty is something to celebrate! I would have liked to do more, but finances did not allow. Oh well.

In some ways, it was kind of a comedy of errors. You know, those "best laid plans" kind of things.


I felt bad waking Nick yesterday morning. But I had bought a French Press coffee pot for him since he had mentioned he would like one. I had to be at work early, so if I wanted to give him the pot, it would have to be somewhat early. But I think he did not mind.

Then there was the plans for dinner. I had planned to take Nick to /'Aut/ for dinner. This is a VERY gay friendly restaurant and bar in Ann Arbor. I made reservations for Friday night. Then I bought a cake and was going to take it to the restaurant so it could be brought to our table. I called to make sure this was ok, and was told that they would supply a cake, but they would not deliver a cake bought elsewhere. Then the guy on the phone checked for the reservation and realizied we were not in his book. So he again took our reservation and decided that they would deliver the cake. (I think he was embarrassed that reservation got lost.)

I got off work early and picked up the cake from the store where I worked. As I turned around after paying for the cake, Nick was standing behind me! (Now, remember, the cake was sitting right there, in a clear case, with "Happy 60th Birthday" written bigger than life.

Well, it saved me a trip to Ann Arbor to take the cake to the restaurant! (Nick, I know you will be reading this: I was never upset! I find the whole situation to be quite funny!) We also got to spend the afternoon together. (I was supposed to work until 5, but got off early to run to Ann Arbor.)

We made it to Ann Arbor and had a wonderful dinner. Then we killed a little time around town and went to the local dance club called Necto. Friday night is "Pride Night" so we hung out with the local college crowd. They also had $2 Long Island Iced Teas until 11 pm. We also got in free because we "Old Farts" got there early. So, with cheap drinks and no cover, I plied Nick with alcohol and proceeded to show those young bucks that Sexy Gay Men come in all shapes, sizes, and ages!

Well, we headed home and had a piece. (Of the CAKE! You sick puppies! ) BUT!!! After the cake...

Oh well, it was a wonderful day. I got to spend time with my sweetie and got to celebrate a milestone in his life.

Life is good.

Weekend Things

This is the current state of the piece of glass I am making. I lovingly call her "DeVinci Chic." This is where the whole thing gets fun. The cutting and the grinding is done. Now the taping and soldering. It is at this point that the piece comes alive. I am very excited.

Church went well. I liked this sermon. You can read it here. The new congregation seems nice and I am excited about it all. I just wish I could be there more. Oh well, maybe with time and God willing.

Work is frustrating because we never get any straight answers. As I have stated before, it looks like they will be putting me in the butcher shop part of the store. Maybe it will be enough impetus to become a vegetarian.

Nick is again working a day from hell. He worked the same schedule last Sunday and it just has to be hard. Leaving the house at 8 am and getting home at 11:30 pm is not a good thing. I worry about him.

I got a phone call from my sister before church this morning. It seems my former BIL died yesterday. They had been divorced for over 10 years, but it still is a bit of a shock. He had HIV and we are assuming that is what got him. I agree with my sister, I just hope he didn't have to die alone. Even though I was not his biggest fan, no one should have to die alone.

I guess that is all for now. Hope you are all having a good weekend and spending time with the ones you love.

For Nick

(Thanks LoL)

Wonder of Wonders

I got an apology from The Coffee Asshole! He came in yesterday and it was the first time since the incident that I had to wait on him. He apologized, he said he was rushed and in the wrong.

I don't know if he was just doing that to get an extra shot or not but I am going to accept that the apology was genuine.

Otherwise, Nick is still gone. It seems weird here without him. I lived alone at the house for a while, so being there alone wasn't too bad. But here, Nick has always been a presence and to have him gone leaves a whole.

He said his first day of work went well, and he has gotten his schedule for the rest of the week. Lots of computer based training for Ol' Nick!

So, it's just me and the critters.

Hope you are all having a great day!

P.S. I just really like the picture of the guy in the white speedos, thats I why I have kept it as my Starbucks picture.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

Unfortunately, I will be doing the coffee thing. (Kind of looks like fireworks on the sleeve, huh?)

Here is a bit of something to light your roman candle!

Michigan Pride

Nick and I went to Michigan Pride today.

It started out cloudy and rainy this morning but by the time of the parade, it was warm and sunny.

It was a lot of fun. We saw a few people we knew and I saw a person whom I work with. I was shocked because he has black hair but as his alter-ego, she has big brown hair! It was fun. We looked at the booths and Amber our dog got a lot of attention. She was resplendent in her new pride collar and leash. In fact, the person who sold it to us at Motor City Pride recognized us and then got to see Amber all gussied up!

I do have to admit that the eye candy was much better at Motor City Pride. No underwear models today. (Bummer.)



I bought a rainbow hot air balloon spinner at a booth. It was cool because I had received a totally unexpected gift from some people that I had never met before. These guys had read my letter in the newsletter from the church I had just left. They were so moved by my story and the parallels with their own live that they gave me a card and a gift with the stipulation that the gift was to be used for something I wanted. I was not to spend it on bills!

Oh, I also bought some body jewelry, but you ain't gonna get any pictures of that!!

But all in all, it was a good time. I think I got a sun burn, but a fun time was had by all!

The Trip So Far

Here is Nick outside of the restroom at the rest area on I-69

Nick was wondering if it wouldn't be better if we used another restroom. But if they wanted us to pee on the other side of the lobby, who were we to argue...

Here is Nick outside of the restroom at the rest area just inside Indiana going south on I-94. We actually got to use the restroom here, we didn't have to pee in the lobby. ;)

Nick is standing outside the lodge at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. We found the restrooms and then we went out and climbed up to the top of Starved Rock.

You can see the lodge here. This is taken from the top of Starved Rock looking back at the lodge. There is a large series of steps down, and then another large series of steps back up. But it was a nice day for a walk.

Now we have Nick outside the restroom at the Ronald Reagan Home in Dixon, IL. Actually, the home is next door. We went to the gift shop where Nick bought a shirt, but we did not go through the home. Actually, I was the one who used the restroom here, but since I had the camera, Nick had to be in the pircutre.

The Wedding 'N Stuff

Here we are at the wedding of Nick's niece. Nick performed the service. I was the doting partner and somewhat style consultant.

It was a nice outdoor wedding and the weather cooperated. We were supposed to have thunderstorms but they held off. What made me happy was at one point, Nick's sister introduced me as her brother-in-law. I gave her a big hug later and told her I was honored.

Tomorrow will be my last Sunday at my current congregation. I will miss them. I have grown a lot while I was there and they were very loving and supportive of me. I preached last Sunday and will be presiding this Sunday. Then, if everything goes well, I will be starting at a new congregation around the beginning of July.

Also tomorrow, after the church stuff, Nick and I are planning on going to Motor City Pride. It should be fun. On the way home from the wedding we stopped in Ferndale and looked around. We did a little shopping and then continued driving home. We tried to find a rainbow jockstrap but it seems there is no such beast. Alas, red had to do.

So, right now we are just relaxing until tomorrow. Nick will do the church thing in Flint, I near Lansing. Then we will meet and head off to pride.

More info tomorrow!!

The Public Has Spoken

Dr. Benton Phillippe

I Quite Like It

Ok, even though there is all kinds of news being made about this picture, I think it is quite tasteful. Nick has posted his feeling here. The photo reminds me of the art of some of the old masters.

Award Winning Artist

I had entered two of my sun catchers in an art show at Delphi Glass. I am happy to say, the Santa won second place in the sun catcher category and Jesus won third place in the sun catcher category.

The only problem with all of this is that there were only three entries in the category. But still, I am proud of them and I can now claim to be an award winning artist!

Welcome To Spring!

OK, it is not this warm yet, but with spring in the air, a (not so) young man's thoughts lightly turn to thoughts of WHITE SPEEDOS!

This Weekend

Well, another weekend has come and gone. All too fast!

Nick and I traveled around south eastern Michigan this weekend. We had to go to the church for Nick and then we went out exploring a bit. We decided to go to Canterbury Village since we had the pamphlet and had never been there. Besides, there was a Christmas store there and anyone who reads this should know that I am a Christmas fanatic.

The store was nice. I liked it better than Bronner's. The building was cool with some of the most incredible woodwork and stained glass. We had some fun while there because there was almost no one in the store.


And we also found something at this store that we would never find at Bronner's...



You see, Wally Bronner, the owner of Bronner's is a Missouri Synod Lutheran. And being a Missouri Synod Lutheran means he is not a big fan of the LGBT community. Therefore, there would NEVER be an ornament that would celebrate a gay relationship found in the store.

Today, we went to Nick's church in the morning and we were supposed to go to an 85th birthday party for his mom this afternoon. But it ended up that his mom spent her birthday in the hospital so we drove to the Detroit area to visit her.

AND IT IS COLD! Right now, it is 0 degrees out. AND WINDY!! You got to love winter in Michigan!