What a weekend!

To say it was a "full weekend" or "busy weekend" would be incomplete.  Instead, I'm going to say it was a "GREAT weekend"!

I started my Sat with meeting brand new clients at 9:30 and showing them a number of homes that matched their criteria.  They were very nice and I enjoyed spending time with them.  After lunch they decided to write a very good offer on their favorite home, so I got that all put together for them, went over all the details, and supervised their initialing and signing on the various pages to be sure none were overlooked.  The next day the offer was signed as-is by the seller!

After work I had a quick dinner at home and then met Joe P at the theatre for a 7pm performance of "Lips Together, Teeth Apart", written by Terrence McNally.  

The play features only 4 characters; 2 straight couples who are visiting the Fire Island beach house of one of the woman's deceased gay bother, in 1991.  They are forced to confront questions of tolerance versus acceptance, fears of infidelity, and what happiness really means.  To me this play was a mash-up of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" and "Steel Magnolias".  There were harsh words and tense situations, but always peppered with humorous one-liners and sharp wit.  Joe P and I not only loved the play itself, but also the 4 actors who never 'over-acted' any of the scenes.  We both agreed that this was our favorite of all the plays and musicals we've seen at this local theatre.  Thoroughly enjoyable!

Sun morning Spouse & I met Steven & Thad for breakfast at the Crystal.  A little later I headed to the CAMP Rehoboth Block Party where I was to perform "Philadelphia Freedom" as Elton John, courtesy of the Blue Moon where I have performed as Elton John in the LEGENDS show.  My song went great and the audience was very receptive.  Shortly thereafter I performed a finale song with 2 other singers, 1 of whom was recording artist and 'friend' of the Blue Moon Pamala Stanley.

(Pamala and I will be performing together again this coming Fri & Sat nights during Jazz Fest.)  Then I spent a little 'meet-n-greet' time with the public where I talked with people and posed for photos with them.  

It was a lot of fun!  Back in my 'civilian' clothes, I was about to head home when I ran into Joe P and several of his neighbors/friends, so I decided to hang out at the Block Party a while longer.  In doing so I saw/greeted/talked to so many people I knew, both personally and professionally.  And while I didn't see him, MSNBC host Thomas Roberts and his husband stopped in for a drink at the Blue Moon.  

Joe P met him and had a lovely conversation, which totally made Joe P's day.  It was really fun!  The weather was ideal so there was a great turn-out for the event. That evening I met up with Spouse and Steven & Thad for pizza.  I'm not sure I could have squeezed much more into the weekend.

Weekend highlights

We had a typical Sat morning with me drinking coffee and watching back-to-back episodes of "Sell This House" while Spouse had his personal trainer appointment. After a light lunch on the screened porch we went to the 'Resident Appreciation Day' at Steven's property. He opened the pool (although we didn't swim) and provided food, drinks, a raffle, toy give-aways, face painting, and fake tattoos for the residents of the property he manages. Spouse & I both had a hot dog and soda and I also got a fake tattoo around my bicep. It was a little crooked and began to fade in the shower but it was fun.

Afterward we donned our swimsuits and went to the beach. It was a beautiful day and we decided to go for a long walk on the beach. We ran into Rick & Nick and then Ted & Mark as we walked. Back at home I made my bean and nectarine salad and then we walked across the street to the neighborhood block party. There was lots and lots of great food and drinks and we enjoyed eating and visiting with the neighbors. When the 'Electric Slide' came on, a bunch of us joined in on the dance, although it was a bit difficult to 'slide' on the uneven ground. Afterward Spouse & I watched TV and I actually fell asleep on the couch, which is very unusual for me. Since I was tired I decided not to go to Mandance.

Sun morning we woke up to rain. So we met up with Bryan, Thatcher, PW, Steven, Rick & Nick, and Ted & Mark for breakfast at the Long Neck Diner. They have a great all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. It was fun to relax and talk over breakfast knowing we really didn't have anything else planned for the day. Rick & Nick came home with us so Nick could troubleshoot and fix our wireless router. I had tried to reset the password but only successfully un-secured the darned thing. Within about an hour Nick reset the password and re-secured it and made sure our computers could successfully connect. The rain had stopped so Spouse & I walked the full length of the boardwalk in Rehoboth. It was cool and overcast but it was nice to get some exercise and look out onto the ocean. Back at home we relaxed and browsed online for a while, then met Bryan, Thatcher, PW, and Steven for dinner at Purple Parrot. Spouse & I are not thrilled with the food or prices there, but we joined them anyway since the others like the prime rib special on Sun evenings. Back at home Spouse watched 'Ice Road Truckers' and 'Mad Men' while I watched the MTV VMA awards.

Lady Gaga was there at the VMAs and her "Bad Romance" video won in several categories such as Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography, and Video of the Year. Here's a list of the winners. I was happy but not surprised, as I have been saying all along that this video is f'ing genius! She had on a different outfit/costume each time she took the stage. As she held up her long dress to walk up the stage steps she showed off those infamous Alexander McQueen lobster claw shoes:

The Video of the Year award was presented to Gaga by none other than Cher in a remake of her skimpy 'Turn Back Time' costume. She said she was the 'oldest woman with the biggest hair and the smallest outfit' at the VMAs. That was pretty funny! Overall I enjoyed watching the VMAs this year and Spouse enjoyed the fact that he did not have to watch them with me.

Crush du Jour: Robert Mauro

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

My buddy Jared sent me this.Wow, looks like Mexico is really gonna get it!

On Sat we are having our annual Neighborhood Block Party. Everyone brings a dish and gathers in the empty lot across the street from our house. Jim & Barb generously provide and cook all the meat. There's music, sometimes a little dancing, and lots of eating and visiting with the full-time and part-time neighbors. I'm making a bean and nectarine salad this year.

Sun night is the MTV VMA awards. I tend not to watch them but I think I will this year, as I'm curious to see Lady Gaga.

As usual, we'll have Fri Night Dinner with 'the usual suspects' tonight, which officially kicks off the weekend for me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Crush du Jour: Sean Sullivan

Be careful what you wish for

I guess I shouldn't have sounded so smug last Thurs while talking about our temperatures in the 80s and it not feeling or looking like fall. Thurs high temp was 87.

Fri the temperature dropped about 30 degrees overnight and it became windy. Sat & Sun were more of the same. I put on jeans (long pants) for the 1st time in many months.

We still had our block party, but everyone had on coats. When the sun went down everyone huddled around the fire cages to keep warm. The block party ended much earlier this year than last, due to the cold and wind.

I made sweet potato shuffle and everyone loved it. I'll have to email the recipe to most of the neighbors. Many of them made tasty dishes too. It was fun to eat and socialize with our great neighbors.

This morning at 10am ET it was only 44 degrees. The forecast for this week shows high temps of only 55-60 degrees. It certainly feels like fall now! I'm resisting turning on the heat in the house, hoping that today's bright sunshine will help warm it up a bit. The thermostat on the main floor indicates its 65 degrees inside. I'm occasionally rubbing my hands together to warm them up.

Maybe this sudden cold snap will cause the leaves to finally change color. Pretty much everything is still green here, although I'm noticing that a certain type of tree (don't know which ones) are loosing their small, petal-shaped leaves all over our yard. But these appear to be the only trees that have lost their leaves so far.

So I guess the adage "Be careful what you wish for" still holds true.

Crush du Jour: Michael Fitt

Motivational posters

Remember those motivational posters that were so popular in the workplace back in the 90s? I believe people have 'evolved' beyond motivational posters. I mean, has anyone seen a motivational poster in their workplace in the last 5 years? I believe employers now understand how offensive they were.

There was one in the kitchenette of my office that read something like "Dreams are the difference between good people and great people". I'm sure that's not the exact wording, but you get the picture. I would counter that "Dreams are the difference between sleeping people who never get caught because the boss is their sister-in-law, and hard-working, productive people like me", but I've never seen a poster like that.

Below are some motivational posters you are welcome to print and hang in YOUR workplace. Some of these made me laugh out loud, so I hope you enjoy them. All can be clicked to enlarge.

Tomorrow is the date of our rescheduled block party with the neighbors. It was rescheduled from Sept 27th due to rain. It hasn't rained in 3 weeks, but the forecast for tomorrow is for rain! It appears out block party is doomed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Crush du Jour: John Brotherton

Weekend salvaged

Fri evening Jim & Barb officially rescheduled Saturday's block party due to the weather forecast.
But Fri evening turned out very well because our Fri night dinner with 'the usual suspects' was held at Walt & Tom's house, rather than a restaurant. We didn't know until the birthday cake was brought out for dessert that it was Tom's birthday. So the 'surprise' was on us instead of Tom. We had a nice group show up and a delicious dinner. When we got home Spouse watched the presidential candidates debate while I watched 'Burnt Money' on DVD. It was good.

Sat morning Spouse & I walked over to the Blue Plate Diner for breakfast. Owners Mark and Jim, who are also our friends, were there and we talked with them until our food arrived. Spouse had a large omelet with hash browns and I had Belgian waffles. Then we ran a few errands.

Shortly before the Straight Eights car show was due to start at 2:00, he headed into Rehoboth under sketchy skies. It hadn't rained all day so far so the car show wasn't cancelled. We had a great time looking at all of the lovely vintage beauties. Most were the same as last year, although a few were missing, and there were a few new additions. Just as we had completed viewing at all the cars and were looking around for Rick & Nick, we started feeling rain drops. Suddenly we saw car owners run from their conversations to put up their convertible tops. It was sort of comical. We weren't far from where we'd parked so we just ran to our car and headed home. The rain lasted less than 5 minutes, and Rick & Nick later told us that everyone dried their cars off with towels and the car show resumed.

As Spouse & I were relaxing and channel surfing Spouse stopped on the ShopNBC channel. Lo and behold, they were featuring a fantastic deal on mattresses! We watched the presentation and recalled to each other the prices we'd seen while mattress shopping 2 weeks prior. That day's special was $999. for any size, with FREE shipping, and free set-up of the new bed and free removal of your old bed, so we knew this deal was not to be beat.

So we bought it.

The Serta Bellfield Pillowtop Mattress and Split Foundation should be delivered in about 3 weeks. Its an inner spring mattress with a memory foam pillow top. Its not the TempurPedic mattress I wanted but its less than 1/2 the price. Spouse wasn't as keen on the TempurPedic mattress because he found it difficult to roll over, and also heard from some people that it made them hot at night. So I decided to compromise on the mattress, especially since he compromised on the LCD HD TV.

I also compromised and agreed to 'upgrade' to a king bed. Initially I didn't want to do this because we have 10 sets of queen sheets as well as a queen comforter and bed skirt that I absolutely love. But the king mattress was the same price as the queen, and Spouse really wanted the king, so I agreed. Our queen comforter is oversized so we can probably still use it on the king bed. We have 3 other queens that can use the 10 sets of queen sheets.

Hopefully the king will reduce the motion transfer. On our current bed when Spouse rolls over I bounce all over the place. I tell him I feel as though I'm on a blow-up raft on a stormy ocean.

Sat evening Barb & Jim invited us to join them and a few neighbors for dinner. Jim had made a giant cauldron of Portuguese stew and had grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs. We ate and hung out for a few hours with some of our neighbors and had a really good time.

Sun morning Spouse & I relaxed with our morning coffee and then got started on the house cleaning. I hate doing it, but I always feel so good once its done. A dirty house makes me feel irritated, and a clean house makes me feel happy and carefree.

Then we drove to Dover with the top down to shop at Value City Department Store. We love this place because you can find great name brand merchandise at close-out prices. We had a gift certificate worth $40. so we bought a set of 600 thread count sheets in king size for $39.99. We also picked up a king mattress cover marked $19.99 that rang up at $4.50 - 75% off! Now we'll be ready when our new bed arrives.

Despite the gloomy, rainy forecast, it only rained a few times and for short periods of time, so our weekend wasn't a wash. It turned out much better than I expected. Now, if only we could find a way to make them last longer.

Crush du Jour: Digo Padovan

Weekend cancelled?

For weeks I've been excited by our plans for tomorrow.

First, the annual Straight Eights chapter of the Lambda Car Club's vintage car show from 2:00-5:00.
We've gone the past 2 years and really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful old cars. Click here to see my photos from last year's show.

Second, our neighbor's annual block party from 4:00 until everyone goes home. Jim & Barb grill up a whole bunch of burgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts, ribs, and brats. The rest of the neighbors bring the salads, side dishes, and desserts. Jim plugs his iPod into a couple of huge speakers, and everyone eats, talks, drinks, dances, and enjoys themselves. Last year it was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately it looks like Mother Nature will not be cooperating for either of these 2 outdoor events. Yesterday it rained on and off all day, sometimes hard, and the wind was really fierce.

Today the wind has died down quite a bit and it is not currently raining, but the forecast is for scattered showers today and tomorrow, and thunderstorms on Sun.

I have a feeling the car show will be cancelled. Owners of most restored vintage beauties do not drive them when its wet outside, and with the possibility of showers and/or thunderstorms, I have a feeling many will not show up even if its not cancelled. The car show is held in a tree covered park, and since its been raining since Thurs, the ground will be muddy.

Jim & Barb have already emailed everyone asking for opinions on what folks want to do. It looks like most are leaning toward postponing the block party to another weekend. Even if it isn't raining, the yard will be saturated with rain and the grass will be slippery.

So the weekend I've been looking forward to for weeks appears to be on the verge of cancellation. What should I do to fill my time? Your suggestions are welcomed.

While I'm already down in the dumps about the sure-to-be-cancelled activities, I might as well share with you this video, sent to me by a friend, that really made me feel terrible. I am hoping the driver of that car has some serious mental health issues. I can't fathom anyone with a sane mind acting and speaking like that. But maybe I've just never experienced such hate so I don't know.

Wishing everyone a good weekend. Maybe I can lift everyone's 'spirits' with today's handsome crush.

Crush du Jour: Rocco Dispirito

The Psychic

Fri evening Spouse & I got the house in shape for our friends/guests before joining 'the usual suspects' for dinner at the Miltonian. Not long after we'd returned, Liz & Rob arrived.

I know I've mentioned them before, but don't think I've explained the various connections between us. First I met Liz when she and her mother moved to the area and started going to the church I attended. Then I met Randy at a party. He was visiting from WI. We became friends and Randy moved to the area and became my roommate. Randy convinced me to let Rob move in with us. I was friends with Rob's mother but didn't know Rob well at all. He needed a place badly so I agreed. All of us attended the same church so we all knew each other on some level. Randy and Liz dated, got married, moved to WI and then to GA. We lost touch after a few years. Rob went into the military, got married, and came back to the area when he got out of the military. He and I lost touch for many years.

Then about 4 years ago I got a call from Liz & Rob. They told me Liz & Randy split up, she got in touch with Rob, and now they were dating. They looked up my name in the phone book and called every one until they found me. Shortly thereafter we met for dinner, got reacquainted, and caught up on the last few years. Liz & Rob were later married.

They are both quite busy. They both work full-time, plus they take photography classes and have a part-time photography business shooting weddings. But they made time in their schedule to visit Spouse & I and have a relaxing weekend. Although it has been at least a year since we saw them, we talked and laughed as if it were yesterday.

We had coffee and talked on the screened porch until nearly 11:00, at which time we walked over to the Blue Plate Diner and had breakfast, then walked around downtown a bit. They'd been to our beach place before but we'd not really showed them around downtown. Then we sat in the living room for a while, just relaxing, talking, and laughing. Spouse needed to make a dish for the Block Party, so we relocated to the screened porch (off the kitchen) so he could stay involved in the conversation while he cooked.

Prior to the start of the Block Party the pet psychic arrived. I walked over to our neighbor's porch and listened as she verbalized the pictures the pets sent, and communicated pet owners' comments back to the pets. She's not just a pet psychic, but she also communicates with people who have passed on. During our neighbors Larry & Rob's session with their 3 dogs she interrupted by saying that she had the presence of a friend of Rob's who had passed away recently. Rob looked startled. Then she repeated the friend's name and Rob looked at Larry in disbelief. Indeed his friend by that name had passed away recently! She gave Rob a message from the friend, then returned to facilitating communication between Larry, Rob, and their 3 dogs.

Next it was Jordan's turn! The psychic indicated that Jordan wanted us to know that she was happy living here and enjoyed it more than the other place. That wasn't surprising, since Jordan gets walked at least twice a day here, which she loves, as opposed to simply having time in the backyard at our other house. Jordan also wanted us to know that she was getting enough exercise and water. She said we should be careful when lifting her into the car because sometimes it made her back legs hurt. Okay, I thought to myself, that's not very generic. Indeed, sometimes Jordan yelped when Spouse lifted her into the car. Then she said that although she was being quiet at the moment, she liked being vocal at times. That is her way of expressing her excitement. That was true, she hadn't barked at all with the psychic and she does bark at home, especially when we return from being away. So far, interesting but nothing too surprising.

The psychic said that Jordan was telling her that there was a cat in the house, and that the cat believes he is the boss, and that she didn't mind. Okay, now she had my attention. How could the psychic know we had a cat, just 1 cat, that the cat was a 'he', and that he felt dominant? Pretty interesting!

The psychic asked if there was anything I wanted to find out from Jordan. I felt a little caught off-guard, as I hadn't anticipated asking anything of Jordan, so I told the psychic we were proud of Jordan for learning how to ride in the car without getting sick. She told Jordan what I'd said, and she responded that Jordan said it had taken a little while, but she'd eventually become comfortable with it. Then I asked the psychic to ask Jordan to please not get into the trash can anymore because she could eat something dangerous. The psychic relayed my message and Jordan responded that she would work on that.

When Spouse became available he walked over and joined the session, which was nearly over. As soon as he walked over Jordan went to him and wagged her tail furiously as he petted her. The psychic looked at Spouse and said she felt the presence of 2 males in spirit (passed on) who were related to him, one was his father. She asked if he had died from cancer or something to do with the heart, since she saw a picture indicating pressure in the chest. He replied that no, he'd died of leukemia. Spouse took this as a 'failed guess' but I reminded him that although his father's death was due to leukemia, he also had a stroke. The psychic said his father was not alone in the spirit world, but that next to him was a female whose name began with the letter M. Spouse's father's deceased sister is Margie. Spouse told me he'd heard an expose' on psychics say that the most common names begin with the letter M, so he chalked this up to a 'correct guess'. Then the psychic told Spouse that his father wanted him to know that although they had not had the best or closest relationship, he stilled loved him and was proud of him. I thought this was indeed true, but Spouse (the critic) thought it was another 'correct guess', as the chances are high that gay men often have not-so-close relationships with their fathers.

So, Spouse was far less convinced of the psychic's abilities than I. This led to an interesting conversation between the 2 of us and Rob & Liz about whether psychics use physical clues and people's responses to make 'guesses' about them. Then we joined the Block Party.

Everyone brought a dish to share, and Jim & Barb generously provided all the meat and drinks. We had a nice time talking to the neighbors we already knew as well as meeting some of the neighbors we'd not met before. Jim had his iPod hooked up to big speakers which provided music for the soiree'. It was a lot of fun.

I spoke to our neighbor Brenda, whose dog Molly had also had a session with the psychic. Brenda related that the psychic told her that Molly had indicated she really liked the bandanna with the pumpkins on it and wanted Brenda to put that one on her. Brenda said just that morning she'd taken the pumpkin bandanna off Molly so it could be washed. The psychic also said that Molly enjoyed having that other dog in the house for a while, but did not want Brenda to get another dog permanently. This stumped Brenda, as she had never owned another dog while she'd had Molly. The psychic closed her eyes again to communicate with Molly, then said that it was a small terrier that had stayed with them. Ding ding ding!!! Brenda remembered that she had helped a friend out by taking in a foster dog for 6 weeks - a small terrier! I was sure to relate these two gems to my disbelieving Spouse.

We returned home to feed Jordan, and then the 4 of us took her for a walk. Rob & Liz took some photos of the beautiful church on Second St, which is lit up marvelously at night. Then we sat in the living room and talked for several more hours before going to bed, just before 1:00.

Sun we had coffee on the porch again, followed by blueberry cake and bacon which Spouse had made us for breakfast. After talking for a while, we went to Rehoboth Beach and walked along the boardwalk. Liz & Rob took pictures, and then we had lunch at Cafe Sole'. We returned home, they packed their things and left at 3:00.

Spouse & I changed into our swimsuits and headed back to Rehoboth Beach to meet Rick & Nick, who'd left us a message indicating they were already at the beach. But just after we'd gotten on the road they called to say they were leaving the beach, so we turned around and went home. Spouse said he really wanted to take a nap anyway, so he wasn't disappointed. While he napped I sat out on the screened porch for over 2 hours and read several magazines. The weather was so lovely I just didn't want to stay inside. Sept is my favorite month of the year. Spouse & I had cereal for dinner, then he watched crappy TV downstairs while I watched a crappy DVD (Mulholland Drive) upstairs.

More and more construction equipment returned today, meaning more noise and dirt in the air. I have a feeling I will be writing this many more times in the future.

Drag Queen name of the day: Dee Lourdes Myshepherd

Lots to do

The last few days have been rather busy with my job. Plus we're at the end of the month so I have more than the usual work to do in order to have the billing info ready for Finance.

Our friends Liz & Rob are coming for a visit this weekend, which means we will need to clean the house and make sure everything is presentable before they arrive tonight. I did some of it during my lunch break today, but still need to vacuum make the bed in the guestroom while Spouse cleans all of the bathrooms.

Tomorrow our neighbors are having a Block Party, with food, drinks, music, and a pet psychic! I'm looking forward to this annual extravaganza, as I've heard its the bomb.

Have a great weekend!

Drag Queen name of the day: Amanda Callmyown