Names

of course it could be awhile before we are parents, but we actually decided on names. it seems surprisingly easy that we've agreed and decided already. perhaps, they will change by the time Baby comes.

we're both in the process of changing our last names too. we picked a family name - from my side - so that all three of us will have the same name.

our 2nd homestudy is next week. i believe our petition should be reaching the court about now. i think all the easy stuff, the paperwork, is over. (hard, but easy comparitively speaking) the really hard part is coming, i have no doubt. the waiting, the hoping.

I am not in mourning

Why do I feel infertile? Because almost every book or article on adoption tells me how I should mourn my infertility.

Like almost everything else in life, I have to filter and dissect whatever I take in, so that I can find the part that speaks directly to me and my experience. As a gay man, I've become a pro at this.

More Snow

There are flakes lightly falling as I write this. Over a foot fell last weekend - then we had two days this week with a high of around 55 degrees. It kind of feels like when the villain on General Hospital had a giant weather machine and threatened all of Pine Valley with his meteorological powers ... That, of course, was back in the 80s. In the Luke & Laura and the Dr. Noah Drake (aka Rick Springfield) days.

So I guess I should point out what is probably obvious ... I (Michael) am always writing these entries because Calvin is too consumed with his studies. He's in the midst of his 2nd semester of medical school. Lots of disgusting anatomy stuff on the computer these days. Anyway, if this blog seems one-sided, that's because it is. If Calvin wants to counter anything said here, I'm sure he'll get to it in 2009 sometime.

It stopped snowing already. No blizzard today.

What a week

It's been a long but great week. We have our taxes in order, our petition to send to the court is 99% ready to go and our first homestudy went extremely well. Also, Calvin just celebrated a birthday and we just paid off our final credit card payment.

Wow.

I'm letting it all sink in.

Hard work, finally paying off. Feels really good.

Paperwork is exhausting

so the blizzard wasn't ferocious per se - just bountiful. the city is caked with white icing and its pretty beautiful. at least from my window. the paperwork however is ferocious.

this week, we have meetings with both the taxman and our social worker (for our homestudy). also, we're getting all the paperwork ready for the court petition - which our attorney will submit this week. i've been staring at and sorting through papers all day - i feel as if i've been at work. the only silver lining is that i could watch the project runway marathon today while i worked - instead of just parking it at my cubicle.

now, i have to get working on writing our networking letter, our "dear birthparent(s)" letter and our profile ... i just keep thinking - all this tedious paperwork basically leads to changing poopy diapers. i'll take poopy diapers over paperwork any day.

Majestic

Now there's a fun word. Majestic. I just realized today that the top of the Four Seasons hotel is visible from our living room window. And it is majestic. Especially right now. The sun has just descended behind the skyline and a soft, light snow has begun falling. It is illuminated through the flurried mist like a giant crown.

Tonight, the entire city is bracing itself for what is being called a ferocious blizzard.

Our Wedding Invitation

At about the five year point in our relationship (Summer of 2003) we decided to throw ourselves a party. We planned to have all our favorite people there. We would exchange vows, then rings. And of course there would be our favorite music playing. Lots of dancing and toasting and celebration ... sounded an awful lot like a wedding. So why not call it that? Yep, we wed.


This is what we came up with as our wedding invitation, back in the Spring of 04.

We helped design it but our pal Mel (design whiz!) really deserves credit for making this happen. We set out for a fun, unique and appropriately cheesy look.

It seemed to accurately reflect not only our personalities and our relationship but also what our guests could expect: a fun, unique, informal, romantic wedding. We got hitched on June 12 of that year. Here, in New York. So it is a "paperless" marriage.

10 Favorite Movies from the 80s

in no order ...

Blue Velvet
The Right Stuff
Raging Bull
Tootsie
Broadcast News
Victor Victoria
Another Woman
The Color Purple
Amadeus
Coal Miner's Daughter

Homestudy

Our first homestudy is scheduled next week. I'm excited and looking forward to it. Apparently the social worker will be asking us two hours worth of questions. Imagine if everyone had to go through all this to become parents.

By the way ...

Albondigas (see post 1/28) is a Mexican meatball soup. Highly recommended. Calvin makes his using turkey instead of beef.

East Village, a few years ago ...

Calvin used to wear glasses all the time then. Contact lenses soon came into play.

My top 10 movies of the 90s

(in no particular order):

Goodfellas
Groundhog Day
Fargo
Breaking the Waves
Reservoir Dogs
Safe
All About My Mother
Howard's End
Beauty and the Beast
One False Move

Movin' Along

Things are indeed moving along. This week, we sent in our initial adoption client form to our attorney. Sure to be the first in a long series of paperwork submissions. Hopefully, we filled out everything correctly. Our first homestudy is in a week and a half. Our letters of recommendation are being whipped up. I make an effort not to look at baby stuff. But seriously. Who could resist that tiny t-shirt in the catalog with the big dinosaur on it ...

We attended a gay and lesbian group meeting last night for wanna-be parents. It was a comforting and refreshing social outlet though most of the attendees were less able to enlighten us with practical insight than we expected, as they mostly fell into the i-want-to-be-a-parent-i'm-pretty-sure-but-what-the-heck?-how-do-i-start?? category. Right now, I'd say we're more under the banner: he's-daddy-and-i'm-papa-hand-over-the-kid-and-i'll-start-swaddlin'. Yeah, we're ready for this. It's been about six years since we first talked about starting a family. It's definitely time.

I'm re-reading "The Kid". It's a classic.

I'm so happy Daniel Vosovic won AGAIN on Project Runway. He was one of my "favored few" early on and I think he rocks the designer look better than anyone else on the show.

I wonder what our kid will look like.