My partner Greg and his family have lost a beloved member, Alexis, their Maine Coon cat. She passed away yesterday on a motorhome trip his mom and dad were taking. Barely two hours into the trip, Alexis experienced an allergic reaction of some kind that caused acute pulmonary edema.

They had Alexis for almost 8 years, after getting her and her sister Xena. I never got to know Alexis the way that Greg and his family did. The only time she really paid any attention to me since I met Greg was to shoot me the “and your little dog too” look - we don’t think she was too fond of the addition of a “filthy dog” Border Collie (our Abbey) to the family, but she was starting to come around with this last trip over Christmas.

She loved Greg and his parents very much and they loved her more than words can express.

To be a pet owner is to live with the knowledge that you will eventually lose them. It is never easy, no matter what level of acceptance of that fact you may have come to. They may just be animals, but they become members of your family and the pain of the loss is real.

She ruled the roost in their house. Greg and his family were her staff. I imagine that wherever Alexis is now, she’s in charge.

Alexis 1997-2004

I wanted to put up a post yesterday, but it would appear I am suffering from a case of blogger’s block. I think my mind is so tired from the last week, it simply refuses to have any complicated thoughts.

I still haven’t wrapped my mind around the devistation and loss of life caused by the Tsunami and other than expressing my sympathy and sorrow, there really isn’t anything I can add to the wonderful and thoughtful things others are saying.

So how do you handle blogger’s block? Halo 2, that’s how!

Greg got me Halo 2 for Christmas and I have been playing quite a bit the last two days. It is just as addictive as the first Halo and the graphics are awesome! The story is very well done and there is a great twist - you don’t just get to be the Master Chief (I don’t want to ruin it for those that haven’t played it, so I will leave it at that). It also helps to play it on a 36″ TV :-).

So if you think I have abandoned the blog, fear not. I am simply playing Halo 2 - mind-cleaning therapy for the blocked blogger.

Well, back into town anyway. The trip to Sonora was a resounding success! Our parents got along great and our moms are new best friends. No drama, no trauma. Just the way we like it. I have to say I am extremely proud of my Dad - he took everything in stride and welcomed Greg into our family with open arms. I couldn’t be happier and more proud of our combined families. This was truly the best Christmas I can remember.

Blogging will be non-existent until at least Tuesday (after we put the Shurbets back on a plane bound for Texas). I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Well, they’re here. Today was a shopping day so I got to spend a little over an hour at the McDonald’s Playland with my three nephews while everyone else went and bought Christmas presents for me. Not a bad deal huh?

My Dad and Greg are getting along great (and the rest of the family is too) so that worry has been put to rest.Tomorrow is a San Francisco day (sight-seeing mostly) then it is off to Sonora on Christmas Eve.

Terrorists attacked one of our bases in Mosul. Up to 20 people were killed, US Military and contractors alike. I think this is only the beginning of brazen attacks of this sort. It is all the terrorists have left and elections are right around the corner.

Arnold has some advice for the GOP:

In an interview with Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Schwarzenegger said that “the Republican Party currently covers only the spectrum from the right wing to the middle, and the Democratic Party covers the spectrum from the left to the middle.”

“I would like the Republican Party to cross this line, move a little further left and place more weight on the center,” he was quoted as saying. “This would immediately give the party 5% more votes without it losing anything elsewhere.”

I have to admit, I like Arnold. I like his policies, I like his views on most social issues, and I REALLY love the fact that he refuses to raise taxes to get California out of this miserable financial situation created by a decade of Democrats ruling state governement.

I hope it is not too disappointing to my readers to learn I am a Guliani/Schwarzenegger style Republican (if you have been paying attention, you probably figured that out). Some call that RINO, I call it moderate.

And I have to agree, a slight move to the left - say an all-out push for Civil Unions, would gain the GOP a lot of votes. If the GOP can soften its image, even a little, it would go a long way with moderate Democrats. Some might ask “Why should we? We just won a huge victory and the American People are with us!” I respond by reminding you that the only person President Bush said could have beat him was Senator Joseph Lieberman. I voted for Bush against Kerry - I am not so sure I would have voted the same way had Lieberman been the Democrats’ nominee. I suspect that the same can be said of a lot of people that voted for Bush this year.

Time really had little choice so I am not heralding this as some kind of victory over the MSM.

What I am heralding this as is the absolute woodshedding the President inflicted on his “critics”. After receiving the most negative media coverage in history, George W. Bush went on to beat the man given the most positive coverage in history. He survived MoveOn.org, Michael Moore, George Sorros, “Babs”, Whoopi, The Sarandons, and hundreds of millions of dollars in negative advertising.

Like a warrior walking through a mine-field, Bush stepped carefully and never took his eye off the ball. He did all this while bringing democracy to Afgahnistan and fighting terrorists in Iraq. He didn’t cave to pressure, he didn’t blink.

DAMN RIGHT he is Person of The Year.

Blogging will be light this weekend as I have 101 things to get done. You see, my parents, my two sisters, one of their husbands, and my three nephews (ages 6, 3 & 3) are all treking out to California from Texas to spend Christmas with brassguy and myself. They arrive Tuesday and I am very excited and very nervous.

You see, this is the first time my parents will meet Greg (brassguy). It is the first time my family have met anyone I have dated because I didn’t want them to meet someone I was just dating - I wanted it to be the person I would be committed to before I went down that road with them. Well, I met that person so here we go. It is hard enough to meet the parents in a hetero relationship - pile on the whole gay thing and you’re popping Tums like a madman.

Oh, did I mention that we are all going to spend Chrismas Eve and day at Greg’s parent’s house? So my family, who has never met Greg, is coming here to spend Christmas with him and his family, whom they have never met either.

I want any liberal that happens upon this entry to understand something: All of the people in these two families are Republicans. My Republican father, who 12 years ago said he could never accept his gay son (and hasn’t said the word “gay” since), is bringing his Republican family halfway across the country to SAN FRANCISCO to meet the Republican parents of his Repulican son’s Republican partner.

I seriously doubt most “progressives” are capable of wrapping their narrow little minds around this one.

Please take a moment to visit Wounded Warrior. This excellent organization helps soldiers veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere with extreme injuries (amputations, disfiguring scars, etc) readjust to life once they come home.

The Wounded Warrior Project was founded to give a voice to this new generation of veterans facing unique issues and problems. The Project fills the vital need for a coordinated, united effort to enable wounded veterans to aid and assist each other and to readjust to civilian life.

If you are going to make a donation to someone this Christmas, this organization is worthy of your consideration.

This makes me want to move back into SF proper and openly defy this stupidity. I mean, why not? After all, Gavin Newsom doesn’t obey laws he doesn’t like - why should anyone else?