Nine Years

Nine years ago today we got married.  Legit, for real, with all the paperwork married.

We were a part of an historic moment in this country.  117th in line to get our marriage license in Cambridge, MA at midnight, May 17th 2004.  Amidst a sea of supporters we filed our way into City Hall to apply for our license.  And yep, there were protesters, but man did our supporters outweigh them.

A handful of days later we were back to get married in front of an intimate group of friends and family.  Our friends married alongside us.  Our own trailblazers, the first in our circle to have a baby.  She was witness to her moms' marriage at the ripe old age of 6 weeks.

We got married that day not knowing if Mitt Romney would be successful in trying to stop us, or overturn it just days later.  He argued aggressively against our families - trying to invoke laws from the early 1900s barring black people from marrying white people.  (Chew on that for a moment, will you?)

At the time we knew that Massachusetts would pave the way, but Massachusetts, our plaintiff couples, they uncorked the bottle of wine and progress is flowing.  Nine years later, 12 states (12!) and DC have adopted marriage equality.

There remains a long, long way to go.  Though our marriage is recognized in our state, we still lack more than 1,138 federal rights that straight married couples have.  In other states it is perfectly legal to ban one from seeing the other in the hospital.  We pay more in taxes.  We are not eligible for Social Security Benefits.  Though on Arden's birth certificate for her to legally be mine requires adoption.  And on and on and on.  With any luck, DOMA will be a thing of the past come June, and these inequalities will start to disappear.

For now, we remain forever grateful to our plaintiffs, and GLAD's Mary Bonauto, for changing the course of history.

And in conclusion....

Apparently the last time I posted was the beginning of the fitness challenge.  Perhaps ironically, today is the final day.  I've lost weight...10 lbs (well, .2 ounces away from 10lbs, how irritating is that?).  About 5lbs/month which is, I know, the safe way to lose weight.  It's also slow.  And painstaking.

In the midst of the challenge I did a Whole30, where I cut out dairy (black coffee, what?), sugar, and all processed carbs.  Basically I ate protein, produce and a handful of almonds here and there.  And it didn't kill me.  I discovered some new recipes and we tend to continue to eat along those lines.  I'm back to having cream in my coffee and Gouda with my apples, but for the most part we're all about produce these days.

We got a new dog, who unlike Lucy demands being walked every day of her life.  It's been good for me, the last thing I want to do when I get home after working a full day and picking up the kiddo is exercise, but we do it.

The kiddo and I started Couch to 5K today.  I've done it before but have been off my running game for awhile.  She wants to build her stamina for soccer, so this seemed like a good thing for both of us.  And basically she's a drill sergeant so I won't be able to slack off.  We're planning to run the Boston Color Run in July together.  What better way to run a 5K than to get covered in spray paint?

We've got some exciting stuff happening right now, but I fear writing it down because things aren't finalized so I won't say anything quite yet.  You'll just have to trust me...it's good stuff and blog-worthy...in time. ;)