They said I do and they're from Vermont*

My license is legal.
Just one of the many reasons you'll never get me to leave here.
High Court Says NonResident Gays Cannot Marry in the State Boston.com
Massachusetts Court Limits Same Sex Marriage New York Times

*Full disclosure. I borrowed this blog title from A. back when she wrote the gay marriage blog for Boston.com.
5.19.04 "THEY SAID 'I DO' AND THEY'RE FROM VERMONT." The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung...he pitted himself, all mutilated, against it. All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, where visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. (Chapter 41)

I'll return later in the day. I have a jam-packed travel schedule today, and I will keep Governor Copy Cop (Romney) informed of my movements. I didn't get a marriage license on Monday and I do live in Massachusetts, but if there's going to be a big chase scene, I want in. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/19/romney_eyes_order_on_licenses/

Please note that this entry was written before Misses E and A became Mrs. E and A.
We waited a whole year to legally tie the knot- no need to rush into anything.

Florence, Italy

A little photo essay on my meter's tour of Florence.

Here's the pump. Ready to go.

Outside the Santa Croce Church. Machiavelli is buried in there. As is Galileo, given a tomb there long after he died, when the church managed to get over his "earth revolves around the sun" thing. The monument to him had to wait. And the official "gee, we're sorry" had to wait even longer.

On the steps of San Lorenzo. This was the family church of the Medicis, the dynasty that ruled Florence formally and informally for an eternity and pretty much funded the Renaissance. The outside looks unfinished because it is. Like most Medici projects, it was Michelangelo's. They had him running all over creation doing their work, and he never got around to applying the marble to the facade.

San Lorenzo is also home to the Chapel of the Medici Princes, and confirmation that there is such a thing as too much marble.

On the Ponte San Trinita.

The testing bag. I get a new one every few months to keep myself interested. This one may last longer, I'm kind of attached to it.

My favorite. Standing on the Ponte San Trinita, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio (lit translation Old Bridge) with a sugar in the 100's. Just.

* A note on the meter pictures. In an effort to work the D into our trip, I came up with a plan. I figured that if A. took pictures of me testing in front of major sites, I wouldn't forget it test. I am easily distracted, and when wondering down streets and among buildings that are 900 years old, the last thing I would want to do is stop and test. By making part of our photo tour- it made it less bothersome- and even fun .

The diabetic travel check list

Just returned from a long overdue vacation. Florence and Venice, 11 days, and two girls who hadn't taken more than a long weekend together in the past few years.

As I worked on my packing list for our trip, I noticed a difference in my diabetic supply list.
300 Test Strips
3 Meters
6 Multiclix lancet drums
2 backup lancet devices, with lancets
5 bottles of Humalog
1 bottle of Lantus
30 needles
45 days worth of Pump Supplies
1 bottle of Ketone strips
100 Alcohol Pads
120 Glucose Tabs
3 bottles of Purell
I split this in between my carry on and my checked luggage. (Just in case something happened to either bag!)

During my trip to Ireland in 2001 - my diabetic list looked like this...
Couple extra bottles of test strips (Enough for a few days)
Extra pump supplies
1 extra bottle of Humalog.

Yup that's it. More interesting to note that I was in a foreign country to run a marathon - 26.2 miles - and I didn't bring glucose tablets, let alone any backup for a pump or meter malfunction.

It's nice to see how far I have come in the past few years.

Next post- the blood glucose meter tour of Italy.