Big news coming out of Iowa on Friday.  No, Sarah and Brian are not expecting another baby (???–haha).  The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to issue it’s ruling on Same Sex Marriage in that state.  Not much has been said about this case except that initially things were going in favor of ruling their Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.  If Iowa were to legalize SSM, it would be the first mid-western state to do so and the 4th state in the country to do so.  I’m not getting my hopes up however it would be nice to know that even amidst the miles of corn fields, there are at least a few people who get it.  If they rule in favor of SSM, you can expect all hell to break lose, the dead will rise, the sky will fall, and the Earth will cease to exist….at least that’s what the fundies have predicted.  If they rule against it, it will simply be another setback that we will have to overcome.

In related news, the Vermont legislature has passed a gay marriage bill that will legalize gay marriage in Vermont.  You’ll recall that Vermont was the first state in the country to pass a comprehensive “in all but name” bill to give gays and lesbians all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of marriage but just not called marriage nearly 10 years ago.  The current bill moves their domestic partner program to marriage in what is logically the next step.  There is of course an issue here as well.  While this would be the fist legislature in the country to pass this sort of thing through the legislature (meaning this is not a court ordered change but a legislative change), the Governor has threatened to veto the bill.  The State House needed 99 votes to pass a veto-proof bill.  They got 95 votes.  The big question is whether or not the Governor will actually veto the bill or if he will realize that by doing so he is on the wrong side of history.  We should know the answer soon.

Not much else going on up here in the northwoods.  Easter is approaching quickly as I witnessed a bunny shitting in my garden this morning.  He’s apparently been living under my house…something I’ll have to correct rather soon.  Gavin chased him out of the yard this morning, sadly, he didn’t kill it.  Work is going well but the days are getting longer.  We are switching hours again starting on Sunday so we will be open now until 10pm at night which means I’ve just added 5 hours to my already long week.  We’ve entered a vacation black out period as well.  I get my regular days off but I can’t take any vacation days now until the end of May.  Oh well, that is what I signed up for I guess.

Anyhow, enjoy the picture below that was taken today.

Today marks 1 full week of NO SMOKING!  This little adventure has actually been easier than I thought it would be.  Work has actually helped a great deal.  My team members (most of them) are ex-smokers so they have been very helpful and encouraging to me with the quitting process.  I’ve been using the Nicotine patch and that has significantly lessened the withdraw symptoms and I’m using my health insurance web site that has a smoking cessation program on line with articles and interactive tools to keep myself busy.  I’ve quit before (for about a year) but I don’t think I really had the same motivation to quit as I do now.  The reasons to quit are many but I think for me one of the most important reasons is realizing the amount of money I was sucking away each week.  Figure an average of $5 a pack and generally I was smoking 6 packs a week.  That translates to $30 a week or $1560.00 a year I was spending just to support an unhealthy habit!  There are SO many other things I would rather spend my money on right now!  This week, just to congratulate myself, I went out and spent $30 on a new pair of jeans.  I NEVER buy things for myself because I never had the extra money to do it.  When open enrollment comes around this fall for my retirement 401K program at work, I have decided that I will contribute the $30 I would have spent on smoking to my 401K.  I’ve got some catching up to do with the retirement program…this will help!

I took the dog for a hike up to Pyramid Point yesterday.  It was just beautiful.  The colors are starting to come out and there is a little chill in the air.  That hike is no joke!  Steep grade and not a great trail.  The payoff is great though, you can see for miles up there.  Check out the picture!

Jirar comes home tomorrow for a couple days.  He’s found his groove now as a flight attendant and seems to really like his new job.  I’m glad he’s found something now that he really enjoys.  I hated seeing him just get pissed off dealing with dip-shits at Meijer.  That’s one thing about retail, your job will only ever be as good as the people you have to work with every day.  If they don’t want to be there, it can be awfully hard to find the motivation to succeed yourself.

Anyhow, now I’m off to split wood.  I will be trying to write as much as possible as I continue my efforts to quit smoking.  When I have something to do all the time, the urges are less and I get a LOT more done!