#LGBTQfamilies

Hey!  It's been a couple of months since I posted -- oops -- but today is Mombian's 9th Annual Blogging for LGBTQ Families Day!  So let's talk about what's been happening in Big Dyke Mama's Family!

In April, DM and I submitted our application to adopt out of the foster care system.  While they like us (and who wouldn't?  We're adorable), because we hadn't yet been together for a full year, they recommended waiting at least six more months before submitting for the Homestudy. The reason being that when the Homestudy is written, they will state how long we've been together, not the date we got together.  So even if our Homestudy is submitted to a caseworker in 2016, it will still say that we've been together for a year, NOT that we've been together since May of 2013.  Eeek!  So, waiting a bit improves our chances of not having our Homestudy dismissed out of hand.

In the meantime, we are going to work toward being respite care providers for foster kids.  It will require mandatory monthly meetings with the agency, but that's no problem.

In May, DM and I celebrated our one-year anniversary by re-creating our first date.  My co-worker thought that was so romantic she cried when I told her.

Also in May, Marriage Equality came to Oregon!  That's big news!  Will DM and Big Dyke Mama be tying the knot?

It'll make the paperwork easier...

It'll make taxes easier...

And, you know, love and all that mushy stuff...

But no proposals or decisions have been made, so stay tuned.

That's enough excitement for tonight!  Be blessed --Big Dyke Mama

Twue Wuv

Tonight, as we were walking back to our house from dinner (YES! Our new house is dinner-walkable to many places!), DM says to me she says,

"Honey, you're my dream girl.  You're girly and manly all at the same time, and so much more."

Can't ask for much better!

Moving Update!

My feet hurt for the blisters on both heels.
I have multiple bruises on every extremity.
My sore back sends shooting pain down both legs.
My neck and shoulders are full of knots.
Exhaustion has rendered circles under both eyes that give the impression I've been in a fight.

And I still have work to do at the old place.

Not much, though.  I should finish up on Wednesday night.  And that can't come soon enough.

But the new house is fun!  We're still living out of boxes, but I'm determined that I will cook a pasta dinner in our kitchen tomorrow.

I love our patio, and we've already hung out there a bit during the recent rainstorm.

We had our new washer/dryer delivered and installed yesterday, and there is a load just finishing up in the dryer now.  Laundry is one of those things that makes me ridiculously happy.

DM's Spring Break is coming up next week and we'll start building our planter beds.  This is also something that makes me ridiculously happy!  Remember last summer when I couldn't stop talking about my tomatoes?  This year will be even better.  We're starting to price out upright freezers so we can put up more veggies!

There may be a housewarming party in our future.... stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm putting my tired, sore body to bed.  Night-night.

Long Weekend of Joy and Joyness

This weekend, we've been in foster care Foundations training.  It is so much more fun than we thought it would be!  They've really done a bang-up job of keeping everything interesting and thought-provoking over the loooooooong weekend.

We're also starting to make friends with the folks at our table, P & I, and W & M.  I really hope that we maintain contact after the class.  Like, what if they joined Dining Club??

In other news... we get the keys to our new place in just a few days!!  Life is so good!!

Goodwill

Obviously, I've struggled with this for over a year now, but today I put the maternity clothes in the Goodwill pile.

Blessing somebody else and moving on!

We have a house!

We have a house!

We have a house!

Everything was approved for a cute little 3-bedroom in Oak Grove.  Plenty of room in the South-facing backyard for a garden.  A big covered patio so barbeques aren't ruined by surprise rain.  A garage for my studio.  A fireplace for cozy evenings.  A good-size kitchen with lots of counter-space for rolling out pie crust or carving pumpkins.  Walking distance to the farmer's market in the summer.  It's dreamy.

DM is pooping herself she's so happy.  I'm the type who likes to plan everything so I've been doodling floor-plans for days!  We sign the lease on Valentine's Day (how romantical!) and we move in the first week of March!  YAY YAY YAY!!!

(In other news: Foundations Training was cancelled due to weather.  Fine by me since I lost a tire chain and am now probably mostly homebound for the duration of this snowstorm.  They're looking at rescheduling sometime in the next month or so, but worst-case scenario I guess we take the training offered in May.  NBD says BDM.)

Kisses!  --Big Dyke Mama

Foundations, of the Literal and Figurative Senses

House Hunt 2014 is underway!  We saw a house on Saturday and we were both excited about it, so applications are in.  I have no idea when we'll know, but if we move, we're aiming for around Early- to Mid-March.  Fingers crossed, toes crossed, hair braided!

Next up this week is Foundations Training!  It's Friday evening, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday.  Wicked intense -- yikes.  If we took this class (required for adoption) from the State, it would be once a week for eight weeks.  Looking at DM's and my schedules, it made more sense to get it done in a weekend.  But my, what a weekend!  I hope we still like each other at the end of it!  ;)

Lately I keep floating between moments of hope and joy, to moments of sheer terror.  I suppose, though, that's life for ya.

Be well --Big Dyke Mama