Okay, here's the link! I didn't do much for cropping or commentary, but I
think I got the relevant info. in there.

http://community.webshots.com/album/373693972oucofS?202

Kelly C.

great pics kelly
thanks

Thanks, Kelly.  It was fun seeing the pics.

DeeTee
________________________________
DeeTee and Bob Taggart
http://www.marykay.com/dtaggart3
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8fwov/
________________________________

Cool pictures, but there goes any hope of me appearing taller and
thinner on the Internet!

Karen

I love how that picture of Tish makes her look like she's terrified of the
camera, which she is. I hope everyone else posts their pics soon too!!

Here is what I wrote up for my journal. It's a bit long, and I will try to
edit it a bit ...

We went to the Gimpfest this weekend in Portland. Met up with a lot of old
friends I haven't seen in a number of years, and met some new ones. Tish
had been a bit worried she wasn't going to fit in, but she quickly
realized that in a group of gimps, the acceptance level is incredibly
high. Everyone is perfect just as they are, and we simply have a good
time. We all know that we have limits and that is ok.

On Saturday everyone wanted to go to the zoo. I wasn't so interested in
the zoo, I was tired and so was Tish, and we were planning on hanging out
at the hotel a bit, maybe swimming and seeing a bit of downtown. But
someone said "well then you should go to Pride - it's just a couple blocks
away!" WHAT!?!?!?! YEAH, we're there! We had no idea it was this weekend!
So off we went, and took Kate with us who also wasn't so interested in the
zoo. Saturday at Pride is always the day for exploring booths and just
hangin out. It was great fun! Tish even found Love Makes A Family (
http://www.lmfamily.org/ ) who agreed to hand out her business cards to
anyone who wanted to adopt kiddoes. YAY! (The handing out of the business
cards also meant her company paid our mileage for driving there, but not
the hotel. S'ok, it was enough mileage to cover one night in the hotel!
And the hotel gave us a free upgrade to a GORGEOUS suite with a water view
out over the river!!!)

We got new rings. The Band of Infinity rings were there, and we loved them
and got them. T is a number lower than me. They look like this, with an
infinity sign engraved on the side opposite the number.
http://www.lambdashopping.com/shopping/ImageLarge/157-1.jpg Their official
website is http://www.bandofinfinity.com 

By the way... the rings are not engagement rings. They are hmmm... "don't
hit on me, I'm taken" rings. hee! Erf. Or something. No, they're a sign of
our commitment, but they are not a sign of a ceremony. That won't be
happening till we are both ready, and neither of us is yet. Maybe a couple
of years down the road!  :)

Got back Saturday and had a lovely evening visiting with everyone in Party
Central. We laughed, we ate, we spilled wine. Er, I spilled wine. On
Kelly. Then T and I went for a hot tub and a swim. She actually got into a
bathing suit, which is a feat in and of itself. Shorts for her are a big
deal, much less a form-fitting second skin that shows her shape.

Sunday we got up and had breakfast, and said our goodbyes.

After we checked out, we went to the Pride Parade before leaving town.
Both of us cried a lot. This has been such a hard year, it feels like so
many setbacks in acceptance for us, and so much attitude of "it's ok to be
hateful" is being legislated around the country. Gay veterans came by, and
we cried. The one that got us the worst of course was PFLAG (
http://www.pflag.org ). They always do. We all cry, everyone in the crowd
with tears streaming down faces, for those who don't have families who
love them, or who have families who have kicked them out or refuse to
allow their partners into the house, or whatever other hateful things. We
all cry, because we all know the pain. And then come the drag queens, and
the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and the girls who do Burlesque, and
we all laugh and are entertained for awhile. They are the ones the news
will show. Because they are the stereotypes, the ones they like to imagine
we all are like, the so-called "freaks."

And the churches come by and say they welcome us, and there is a group of
gay Mormons and the crowd is amazed and we hear the murmur, "wow, have you
ever met a gay practicing Mormon? Me neither! How hard it must be!" And
the UU church, who accepts everyone, and the Catholic church, and Jews,
and others... everyone seems to be represented this year. And again, we're
misty. Who knew we were such saps, but this is what Pride is. It's not the
Drag Queen dance party they always show, though that is a small piece,
it's a rollercoaster. And it's beautiful.

The only sad, and I mean truly sad part, at the beginning, are the "you
will burn in hell" sign-holders who precede the parade, telling us to
repent now. We ignore them mostly. But one woman calls from the crowd,
"God loves you, even if you hate." And the man returns with "yes, he does,
but he doesn't love YOU!" I pity him. I feel sorry for him that he's so
small and closed-minded and full of hate that he'll never see the beauty
in this world until he drops that hatred, because that kind of hatred will
eat you alive from the inside, and turn you into a rotting thing, and it
makes me feel sad for him. If you are filled with hate, how will you ever
truly know any love, especially that of whichever god in which you
believe? My hope for him is that someday he will.

And this amazing storm happened shortly after we left.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/06/319869.shtml  Scroll down, and
keep on scrolling. It's absolutely astounding, a double rainbow after a
tornado - and an eerie luminescense inside the arch. I've seen some
weather in my life, but never this. I almost wish we'd stayed another day
just to have seen it...

It was a long long drive home, and we're both still exhausted. I took
today off work, and am sitting around doing a lot of nothing. Tish had to
go in to finalize an adoption, but is on her way home now. It's nap time.

Love and hugs to all,

Aim

respond to me at: aimnews at comcastdotnet

Finally... I'm home now too!

Damn, it was good to finally put some names and faces together. What a great
bunch.

Hey, cuz... thanx for ratting me out!

Picked up a Portland paper on the way out of town and read the coverage of
the Pride parade... had no idea such a big event was happening that weekend.
Sounds like it was HUGE.

Hope everyone got home safely and without hangovers :-)

We had a great race weekend (the sun actually came out), but the trip home
was WAY too hot.

On the down side, my cell phone rang off the hook while I was there...
floods in Calgary, potential floods in Edmonton (I live in the river
valley), and my DIL in hospital.  Floods have abated, but my DIL was still
quite ill when I visited her in the hospital on the way through Calgary
today.  If you could say a prayer for her I know it would help.

Got to sleep...

Janet N.

Great pics Kelly.  Thanks for all the hard work so we could view all
the fun you had.

debbie m.

Great pics Kelly.  Thanks for posting them.  It always makes you feel a
little like you were there.

debbie m.