Wisconsin

Like Nevada, Wisconsin doesn’t get an exclamation point in the post title because it’s going to offer the second-class status of domestic partnerships rather than full gay marriage. But it’s still worth updating the map. Especially because it’s too cold and rainy to go have fun outside, and the longer I play on the computer, the longer I can put off doing chores.

You asked for videos

By popular request, here’s a video of the cat demonstrating his ability to stalk and kill any local wildlife foolish enough to pass through our yard. (Obviously, not a video for the squeamish.) The video does not include us shrieking, because we’re starting to get just a little blase about the fact that we can turn around and there’s the cat with a wriggling varmint hanging from his jaws.

If the cat could tweet

If the cat could tweet, here’s what he’d have to say about last night:

20:31 Ants all over my food bowl. Is mom serving bugs for dinner? #

20:32 Mom took food away. Not good. #

20:45 Mom spraying stinky stuff all over the floor. I just want food. #

20:46 Other mom washing food dishes. Not refilling them. Very bad. #

20:53 I ate a bug in the garage. Yum. #

21:17 Finally more food from mom. In wrong dishes and wrong place. But it’s food. #

21:32 Mom took away my empty dish. What if I need late night snack? #

21:34 Maybe I’ll go look for more garage bugs. #

Our cat, the mighty hunter (not a tale for the squeamish)

S here; on Friday afternoon, I took the cat out in the yard for a little excursion. (He’s an indoor cat who goes outside only under close supervision.) We were hanging out near one of the bushes, when suddenly something moved in the garden just inches away from the cat. Instantly alert, he chased a garter snake up to the edge of the house. When the snake tried to slither up behind the siding to get away, the cat neatly caught the snake in his mouth and carried it back out to the lawn to play with his prey further.

I was, of course, leaping around and shrieking at the sight of the cat with a wriggling snake hanging from its jaws.

The cat dropped the snake on the lawn and then batted at it a number of times, trying to get it to wriggle again. But the snake either decided to play dead or really was dead. The cat then looked like he was going to pick it up in his mouth and play with it more that way, but I decided enough was enough, and brought the cat indoors.

Of course, when I told E about it later, she laughed at the image of me being all girly and shrieking in the yard over a snake. Ha. She got her comeuppance this morning, when she had the cat out in the yard, and he made a flying leap into the bushes and caught a bird. Then guess whose turn it was to get all shrieky as the cat tossed his prey into the air over and over again, so he could have the fun of continuing to catch it.

The cat also enjoys chasing after the rabbit who appears to live under our compost pile, but they seem to have a deal: the cat won’t actually chase it into the bushes, so his bun-bun always manages to get away. Thanks goodness. Because I can’t imagine how much shrieking might ensue if we had to dispose of a dead bun-bun. The critter shows up in our yard nearly daily, and we’d be getting rather fond of it if it didn’t eat our flowers quite so often.

Signs of maturity

Last week, M came up to me and asked, “Mom, is there some day that you can either bring me to school early or pick me up if I stay late, so I can make up the Spanish quiz I missed due to the orthodontist appointment?”

This completely blew me away for a number of reasons:

1. He realized he needed to make up the quiz.
2. He asked the teacher what his options were.
3. He was looking into this when there were still a few weeks of school left, so there was ample time to pick a day that fit my schedule.

This is miles ahead of how he was functioning halfway through the year, when he stopped handing in Spanish homework at all, due to general disorganization.

And today there were two more signs of just how responsible he’s becoming. First, he found out ahead of time that his big poster project would be coming home today. So I sent him to school with a giant garbage bag, since rain was predicted. And at the end of the day, he actually remembered to use the bag, and he managed to tuck it very neatly over the project, so it stayed dry on the walk home from the bus stop.

Second, when I got home, I found a note from M that he’d gone to the neighbor’s house to play. (He’s allowed to do this after school, as long as he lets me know that’s where he is.) What was surprising was there was also a message on the answering machine from E. Evidently M had tried to call me at work to tell me he was going to the neighbor’s house, but when I didn’t pick up because I’d already left, he called E at work to tell her. He has never called her at work before, but he consulted the list of numbers by the phone and found her cell phone number and called, just in case I came home and didn’t see the note.

Woohoo! Let’s hear it for maturity.

Technical difficulties with communion

It was a communion Sunday at church today. The pastor intoned the ritual “The bread of life. Take, and eat.”

Well, I don’t know where the bread came from today, but it was stale enough that I couldn’t help but whisper into M’s ear, “The bread of life is very chewy today.”

He then whispered back, “The bread of life is stuck in my palate expander.” He spent the rest of the service with his finger in his mouth, trying to pick a dough ball out of his orthodontia.

It’s a good thing we’re liberal Protestants who don’t believe in the mystical transubstantiation concept.

Gay pride parade

We all went in to the city to the gay pride parade today. M was a little less than thrilled about this, because it meant:

1. He couldn’t spend the day playing with his friends.
2. He couldn’t spend the day surfing the internet.
3. He had to contemplate human sexuality while standing only six inches away from his parents.

However, he eventually warmed up to the whole event; the fact that many of the floats toss out candy or mardi gras beads really helps. It’s like Halloween, only you don’t need to wear a costume or tromp around the neighborhood — all the free junk comes to you! By the end of the day, he had several strings of beads around his neck, and he was waving his lollipop in the air and calling out “Happy Pride” as he boogied to the music from some of the floats. It was pretty darn cute.

And for the record, M is still young enough not to be interested in the free condoms, and old enough to think it was really neat that the governor waved to him as the governor marched by.

Nevada

Nevada doesn’t get an exclamation point in the post title because it’s going to offer the second-class status of domestic partnerships rather than full gay marriage. But it’s still worth cheering them on with an updated map.

New Hampshire!

M has been on a real kick lately reading about “alternative history,” and he has taken to drawing his own alternative history maps. Every time he does, one swath of our country plus a section of eastern Canada is labeled the United States of New England. USNE is definitely supportive of gay marriage.

Things our son has learned over the last year

(For those of you visiting us thanks to Mombian’s “Blogging for LGBT Families Day,” the quick back-story is that almost a year ago, E and her cat moved in with S and S’s preteen son M. It’s the first time M has ever had a second parent.)

In no particular order, here are the things our son seems to have learned over the last year, as he adjusted to life with two moms.

1. When your friends ask, “When did you get a cat?” they’re perfectly happy with the answer “in August.” No need to mention the woman who moved in with it. After all, 90% of your friends have noticed the cat, but only 10% of them have noticed E.
2. It’s much nicer to have E take you to her hairdresser than to have S hack at your hair by herself. Even though S has not once snipped your ear by mistake.
3. E is the parent to go to when you have a major project due at school tomorrow and you still need someone to buy you posterboard for it. E isn’t happy you waited until the last minute, but she doesn’t get as mad as S.
4. S is the parent to go to when you have conjunctivitis, an upset stomach, or weird rashes in embarrassing places.
5. Since your classmates this year have never met S, then they won’t bat an eye if E is the parent who shows up for Project Presentation Day at school.
6. Going to the orthondontist sucks no matter who takes you there.
7. E is willing to cook two pounds of tortellini just for you for dinner. S still thinks you’re her little boy and only cooks one pound.
8. Having a pet cat is way more entertaining than the hamsters ever were.
9. Your best friend really does not care that E has moved in. You didn’t actually need to spend months ahead of time worrying about it. Let’s face it, your friend is more worried about catching the bus on time and texting her friends than who your mom is involved with.
10. If you need help with math homework, ask S. If you get ominous virus warnings on the computer, tell E.
11. Both your moms love you a whole lot.
12. And they both want you to chew with your mouth closed.