Iver's First Election

Tomorrow, Iver turns 8 weeks old.  It's hard to believe that it's only been two months.  It's also impossible to believe that it's already been two months.  I've always heard that time often feels strange once you have a newborn, and it's certainly true for me.  It's like Iver has always been here and I can't imagine our lives without him.

The past couple of weeks have included a subtle shift of routines and one important legal event. First, the subtle shift: I've started officially working 1-2 hours a day.  This actually isn't that big of a change because I've been checking email basically my entire maternity leave.  I wasn't doing anything (other than occasionally forwarding something or quickly replying), but at least I was reading what was happening.  Now, I am a little more accountable for producing some stuff, but obviously not at the rate I would if were full time.  By easing back into work like this, I can extend my vacation hours I'm using to be on leave and get paid in full.

The other major event happened on Wednesday, and, no, I'm not talking about Halloween.  On the 31st, KLC, the kids and I went to the King County Courthouse and KLC was legally allowed to adopt Iver (see photos on KLC's blog).  Even though we are domestic partners and married (in Canada), we still had to take this extra and expensive legal step to ensure that KLC is recognized as Iver's parent in every way.

Those of you who know me have no doubt about my Democratic loyalties, but things are a little more personal for me in this election.  In Washington state, we have Referendum 74 that would legalize same-sex marriage.  Along with a few other states, this is an opportunity to have this right voted into law, as opposed to being judicially mandated as in states like Massachusetts and others.

Of course, things won't change on a federal level until the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is overturned.  For those of you who might think that domestic partnerships are good enough, I can offer this personal account: KLC have to pay taxes on our health care, can't be guaranteed our relationship and family are protected in all 50 states, and are denied a myriad of other rights that heterosexual couples enjoy.  All of this creates lots of stress and expense to deal with.

I don't know if Obama will be able to overturn DOMA, but I am 100% that Romney won't.  For this and a thousand other reasons, I think it's obvious who I will be voting for in the first election Iver will experience.  I just hope that 50.1% of the country agrees with me (and has their votes counted as such).