Stay tuned...I'm sure it will only get more interesting LOL (*memo to me...fix the damn smilies!*)

till l8r

According to a press release from Equality Forum, 463 of the 2007 Fortune 500 companies voluntarily include sexual orientation in their employment nondiscrimination policies.

There is currently no federal workplace protection based on sexual orientation, and only 20 states include sexual orientation nondiscrimination in their workplace statutes.

There are 37 Fortune 500 companies that are non compliant, and 15 of them are based in Texas. However, of the 55 companies total that are headquartered in Texas, 41 do provide sexual orientation workplace equality.

My Thoughts...
I wonder where the other 17 are?
and people wonder why I don't want to live in TX?
In FL, the laws are just as bad, but peoples attitudes are better! In TX people seem proud to discriminate against gays, where in FL people don't realize the laws are what they are...not that ignorance is an excuse, but at least you can educate ignorance!

Moving on, as some of you might have noticed (the 2 or 3 that might still come here) redeaglespirit.com has undergone a facelift and upgrade...not all of which was planned, but what the heck!
facelift came because they suspended my account due to a spam attack...had to install a few plugins and such, and they didn't want to play nice with the old templates
So as usual, my site was the guinea pig (since I post so often LOL) to figure out how to use these new templates to get some of the old looks back (some of the people I host are very attached to their templates! ) it's definitely been a learning process, since with the new templates, all the tags have changed...and I can't just use the old stylesheet like I used to (ok, well, I could, but would be more of a headache!)

so, off to work on getting everyone else back up to speed, I promise I will return shortly

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Yes, I am still working two jobs, and will be for some time I'm afraid, The PTJ usually consists of overnights Fri. and Sat. and a couple evenings a week 6-whenever I manage to get out of there! (or about 30 hours a week)

I am going to see my kids after X-mas, they are less than thrilled about it however :walk_sad Dude just want's to know what we'll be doing, and they're all afraid they may miss out on something else (no idea why they would think that /sarcasm )

I don't really have much else to write about...I'm sure none of you want to hear about work...though if things keep going as they are, I'm sure to be posting a few humorous things about it (drunk runs can be interesting :hum , though I may need to figure out how to incorporate that so I don't get fired!)

I do promise the next update will be much sooner!!

BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

I'll take Thanksgiving.

You can have Halloween, New Year's, Christmas, Fourth of July, Easter, Hanukkah and any day dedicated to presidents.
You can stack them all up on one side, and the turkey and I will stand on the other.
I'll take Thanksgiving.
It is, to me, exactly what a holiday should be.
For one thing, there are no gifts. You never have to worry about what to get someone for Thanksgiving or how much to spend. There are no lectures about "greed" or "commercialization" or how we're "forgetting the spirit" of Thanksgiving. No way. The spirit of Thanksgiving is eating.
Who could forget that?
Second, it comes with football. What other holiday does that? New Year's Day? At least with Thanksgiving, you don't have a hangover.
Also, there is no "right" place to go on Thanksgiving -- except home. There is no church or synagogue. No graves that must be visited. No trekking out to watch fireworks.
You just sit on the couch, or sit at the table, and you laugh and eat and laugh and burp and -- ta-da! -- you are credited with knowing the "true meaning" of the holiday.
Also, it comes with a parade.

No history lesson needed
Did I mention the dressing? Not the turkey dressing. The human dressing. There isn't any! Oh, sure, maybe you put on a nice pair of pants. Maybe. But who really dresses up for Thanksgiving? You can celebrate in a sweatshirt. Can you say that about New Year's Eve? Not unless you're a lonely, pathetic loser.
And Thanksgiving doesn't require some smarty-pants history known only by your geeky cousin from Baltimore. Uh-uh. There's no quoting Lincoln or Washington. No reading from the Declaration of Independence.
What do you need to know about Thanksgiving? The Pilgrims and the Indians had dinner. Pass the gravy.
Thanksgiving never moves. It is always on a Thursday, strategically placed so that you might as well take off Friday as well, since Saturday and Sunday are next, and, while you're at it, maybe half of Wednesday just to pick up everyone from the airport. Thanksgiving gets you half a week off.
What does Labor Day get you? Monday?
And there is no shopping on Thanksgiving, unlike Memorial Day or Presidents' Day. Sure, there are Thanksgiving sales, but you do them on FRIDAY! How cool is that?
Also, there are no masks. You don't beg for candy from strangers. And nobody eggs your house.
Have I mentioned stuffing?

And plenty of time to nap
There is no more celebratory food -- short of dessert -- than stuffing. Be honest. When you were young, you couldn't get enough of it, right? Maybe you hated cranberry sauce, but all kids loved stuffing. It was everything great about bread and pudding and hot, mushy food wrapped into one.
Tell me you don't still feel that.
Tell me there's anything better than a meal that goes all night, that doesn't have an event tied to it, that doesn't come with a bill at the end.
Tell me there's anything better than only having to catch up with your aunts, uncles and cousins to feel as if you did the holiday proud. Tell me there's anything easier than passing plates. Tell me there's a better place to appreciate what you have than in a kitchen filled with good smells.
Tell me there's a better invention than "the kids' table."
And what holiday not only condones but pretty much expects you to fall asleep on the couch?
So let's sum up. No costumes, no presents, no services, no tuxedos, no time limit, no guilt trips, and all the food, naps and football you want.
I'll take Thanksgiving. After all, no one tries to sit on the turkey's lap and ask for an Xbox.

my 'to do' list is growing quite long...I have a network to set up, 2 computers to fix, and a site that needs designed...not to mention the computer I've had for the better part of a year that I still haven't gotten the parts to fix (its either the motherboard or processor, neither of which are cheap to go pick up), and several upgrades on current sites that I run (including my own)
if I could just figure out how to live without sleep I might get it all done...as it stands now, people are just gonna have to wait! (and no, it's not like they're paying me for it...so the jobs that make money come first)

I've discovered that working this much makes me very bitchy...I get very irritated over little things that wouldn't have bothered me much before. I also tend to get very frustrated with those closest to me, so it's probably a good thing I don't see them much these days.

I honestly don't know what else to post about...unless you want to hear about a 'typical day' in my life (only helpful in case of insomnia) I don't really have much else worth posting...
maybe I'll be back when I do...:shrug

anway...in other news...while they were here I got myself a new-to-me car :eyes
Not sure what I was thinking there...except for the one I bought just 5 months before was costing me a fortune in repairs, and I was constantly worried it was going to break down and leave afoot (since the assholes that stole the van smashed the stearing column and it's pretty much undrivable)
so...with the new car comes something I've never had before....
a car payment
yes, you read that right, I've never in my almost 37 years on this earth had a car payment :shakehead
And while things are a bit tight due to having to move, and the kids being here, and gas prices being what they are...I don't have 2 pennies to rub together, much less spare.
so...I have another job now...yes, I still have the job I love, and hope to never leave there....but now 3-4 nights a week, you can find me at the Village Inn resturant waiting tables :scared
mind you, I haven't waited tables in over 18 years...so take it easy on me if you come out! :lol
Other than this, not much to report...I've been playing around with the new version of MT (the one where they finally decided to go back to unlimited blogs and users for FREE) so we may have an upgrade here before to long...:group_smile

As some of you know, and yes, I'm going to post this out there for the world to see...I sent a letter of intent to exercise visitation to my ex.
Suddenly, the two younger ones, who went back and forth between wanting to come down and not being sure (depending on the day of the week, and mind you, this is what they said to me) suddenly were saying they didn't want to come, but could not give me a reason :crystal
Yea, I'm stupid :rofl
So apparently, the ex decides that the laws don't apply to him, and he's going to take me back to court so the boys don't have to come down. :asshole
Yes, I did say to him I thought it was very sad that he didn't think the kids spending time with their mother was important, or that them having a relationship with her was either.
He must be afraid I'll teach them how to like and RESPECT women :shrug...something he seems to have an issue with, as I can certainly attest to.
So, it looks like once again, it's up to the wisdom of the courts to decide if I can spend time with my kids or not...I just hope the judge isn't sucked in by him like so many others seem to be :walk_sad

So, I found, signed up, and have been thinking ever since about the "Blogging for LGBT Families Day"...of course, now that it's here, I'm not really sure what I want to write about.
I could write about being a lesbian mom...but that is a bit to raw and painful right now.
You see, as most of you know, I'm the mom of 3 wonderful boys. The painful part, is that they still live in Oklahoma with their father.
I'm sure some people think I wanted it that way, that it was a decision that we made, etc....well, if you know me, you know nothing could be further from the truth.
The raw part, is that I'm supposed to get them for visits...you know the routine, I'm sure...well, they're saying they don't want to come now...although, 2 of them can't even tell me why...I'm not stupid, I know why. (and yes, it has a lot to do with the parent they live with!)

I could write about being a lesbian daughter...about the family I was raised in...but that would be a very short story.

So...I think I can write about a different type of family...the one you make yourself.
As a very dear friend said to me on my wedding day, when I was upset that only one member of my family was there (my uncle, who I still don't think realizes what it meant to me that he was there) told me "T, your family is right here" (she was right, in so many ways)

In some respects, that which I call my family is very unique. We have 4 people in our household, my wife, myself, our 'daughter' and her daughter.
I would challenge anyone to tell me that we are not a family...we laugh together, cry together, feel each others pain, help one another. Everything any other 'family' does that is recognized by our government.

However...My wife and I have to file 'single' on our income taxes...it would cost a small fortune for us to draw up the papers that give the other one the right to visit the other in the hospital, to make medical decisions, and over 1,049 other rights and benefits (federal, we're not even counting state here) rights that other 'families' take for granted.

Does this make me mad? oh hell yes! How dare the government try to legislate what I can and cannot do in the privacy of my own home, how dare they try to tell me that my family is not 'valid', that as far as they're concerned, I don't exist!
Last I checked, my tax dollars still payed their salary...I bet if I stopped paying those they'd sure say I exist! I'm not hurting anyone, I'm not breaking any laws, yet, I don't have the same rights and privileges as other Americans (and before you say 'yes you do, you could marry a man', been there, done that, no way in hell!!)

Well...I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant...but I can't help that it upsets me the way they treat our families...and I guess, when it comes down to it, that's what this is all about.