A Little Update Since I Last Posted

We finally hit the peak in fall foliage in my neck of the woods and it has been really pretty.

This is the tree in my front yard...

It is so pretty.

 

I will do a full recap of the 2nd half of November soon, but I just wanted to pop in with a quick update.

 

My girl is HOME!

 

She had all sorts of appointments the first week she was home - doctor, hair, etc. 

She is happy to be home. Doug and I are so happy that she is home. I know she is tired. The first quarter of college was definitely a huge adjustment and a learning experience. She went from being an only child - never having to share a tight space with anyone - to living with three other people who aren't the easiest to live with. And she had to adjust to all of it while taking classes (she aced all 3 by the way!) Hopefully this long break will give her the rejuvenation she needs for round two of higher education.

As for me, I walked with the walking boot for two weeks. Each day got easier on the bottom of my foot, but lugging around the heavy boot was really difficult. I already was weak from lack of activity and my calf had definitely lost muscle mass from lack of use. So - let's stick a heavy boot on all that and try to move around now! Which I did - but my knees and back are paying a heavy price now. It is going to take me a long time recover from this.

But...I am finally allowed to walk in sneakers! I got the ok from my doctor yesterday. I can go back to my boot at times for longer excursions or if I feel I need some support. I'm trying to walk normally, but I am hobbling a bit because of the compensation the rest of my body had to do to function during my recovery...

I have so much I need to do for the holidays. My mind is ready to go. My body - not so much.

Last night, Doug, Bri and I went to our favorite Cuban restaurant to celebrate my graduation to a shoe. I consumed a strawberry daiquiri - and it tasted so good. I had not had an alcoholic drink since before my surgery...

 

And with everything going on in the world right now - it was much needed.

Just an FYI - I am still pretty exasperated about what happened on November 5th.

I have stated this before and I will reiterate it again - I will continue on living my life, I will find happiness whenever and wherever I can and I will put a smile on my face, but I will always remember that half of this nation said it is perfectly ok to have a morally corrupt person running this country. I cannot understand it and I am not going to try. People can try to spin it or justify it, but the truth is the person who was voted in is a nefarious individual and he surrounds himself with the same kind of people. 

 

These next four years will be difficult for me - and even more difficult for a lot of other people. I will try to avoid as much press about the transition and future administration as I can. I have said many times before that m@ga is not the traditional Republican party. It is a whole other vessel now - one that enveloped the true Republican party (which is why a number of Republicans crossed the party line). It is a vessel that operates in cruelty and hate. Voting it out was really the only way to squash it in order to hopefully rebuild the right for the better, but that didn't happen. So now the m@ga talons will grow and sharpen. The first transgender congressperson is already being bullied by m@ga and she hasn't even been sworn in yet. This is just the beginning. So many marginalized groups are going to be hurt by this upcoming presidency. It breaks my heart. Bullish intentions with both words and actions have been already been fully and openly revealed. 

 

Going forward, if anyone has difficulty coping with me knowing that I think and feel this way and that I will always think and feel this way, then you do what you have to do in regards to me. I will respect your decision...

Moving on from that...

Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner so I am trying to look forward to that though I am a little overwhelmed by it all. It is difficult trying to get back to "real life" when I had to take myself out of it for a while. But if I can get back to it after a full-blown pandemic, then I can do it now.

Here is a sneak peek of my downstairs Christmas tree (I will post about that soon)...

Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving and I'll be back soon!

First Half Of November (Including Briana Update)

What a roller coaster November has been so far. Ups and downs and all arounds. Seriously.

 

This is a picture of me and Bri (yes, the photo has a filter - I was not camera ready) cuddling up together on a Saturday evening during a visit home - chatting about everything and even looking at my blog a bit.

Let me start by saying that my girl is coming home tomorrow! Home for the holidays! I will be so happy to have her back in the nest. She won't go back to school until the first weekend in January. I love the quarter system for this reason - though the next stretch will only contain one week of spring break between 2 ten week quarters. That will be kind of tough. But, she will then have a very long summer break and that makes me happy.

 So, Briana came home on November 1st to see me and Doug (and Mei) and to pick up a few things that she needed for school. I could tell she's a little homesick. She really loved spending time with me and Doug during the visit. The honeymoon period of college has officially now passed. Her suite mates are driving her a bit crazy. Friendships are shifting around a little. Basically, everyone is truly getting to know one another and the kids are figuring out if they are compatible or not. And, Briana really misses her bed/bedroom and her privacy - I don't blame her. She has been working her tush off in her classes and it's definitely time for her to have a break.

While Bri was here visiting, Doug put away all the Halloween decorations and pulled out the Thanksgiving/fall ones. Bri helped and I actually did too a little. It feels very festive...

I bought myself this light up garland to replace the light up eyes Doug had for me at Halloween...

And Doug bought me these cute guys...

 

Before Briana got home, she did have a field trip (to get extra credit) to the High Museum with her drawing class...

We pulled out one of our Mr Mac's mac n cheeses (taco inspired) and of course ate it with tacos...

So yummy!

It felt like we blinked and the weekend was over. We were sad, but happy knowing the quarter would be wrapping up soon. Mei didn't want her to leave...

After Briana left, Doug put up the outside decorations for Thanksgiving...

While Briana has been back at school, I have been on the struggle bus. The election left me grief-stricken and I was still dealing with pain in my heel. I am healing slower than what was hoped for, but I am still on the right path according to my doctor. 

 

This is my view when I look out my window...

I see the fall leaves, but it has been too difficult to go outside and enjoy any of it with a knee scooter and a very heavy boot. And I don't think the color of the leaves has been as vivid as in years past.

Doug did take me out to a bbq lunch one day to try to lift my spirits...

As I have been plodding through life in November, Briana has been living the college life. I am so grateful she likes to send us pictures of herself. Here she is in class, working on schoolwork and coming back to school after getting some needed TP from Target for the suite (adulting time)...

She also had an assignment for her design class where she had to create a quilt design. She went black, white and gray with it. She used adoption pictures from my blog and her piece was so heartwarming...

 

Saturday morning, Briana's school hosted a fall-inspired brunch event. She wasn't sure she was going to go, but she ended up going with two of her good friends...

 

There were two pancake stations where artists made the pancakes and one station that the students could make their own pancakes. Bri made the Instagram page for the school and also made the FB and Instagram pages for the company that provided the pancake stations...

 Something that also lifted my spirits was driving down to SCAD on Sunday with Doug to take Briana to lunch. She had a big group presentation to give and needed some business casual clothes to wear. So, I told her we would pick her up on a Sunday morning, take her to lunch and bring her what she needed.

I had heard about a place called Sugar Factory - which has an insane menu - and made a reservation there...

 

 I went in there knee scooter and all. I navigated it all pretty well. The place was basically empty. The food was really good, but it came out with mistakes. Doug ordered a Lucky Charms latte and it was basically warm blue milk that he had to pour coffee into with a ton of marshmallows. There were no charms to be found - LOL! Bri's peanut butter shake was really good, but it wasn't super large and the biggest part of it was the ginormous piece of cake on top. The service was pretty slow for the number of people there, but I am still glad we went. We had a really nice time. My burger was delish, but it was missing crispy onions.

The next day, Bri did her presentation in business class (that went well) and she was looking very professional...

I was kind of down last week, so I didn't blog about regular life stuff. Yesterday, I got back on my desktop computer and Mei accompanied me...

And no, she should absolutely not be on the dining room table. She knows better. But, I gave her a pass and let her stay.

And today, Briana texted me that her design teacher gave her a "leveling up" pin - it is for students who go "above and beyond" in her class...

And finally, I took my first steps with the boot yesterday...

It was awful. So incredibly painful on the bottom of my foot. The doctor did not advise me to use a walker or crutches to get started, so I just started to take steps with Doug's help. It was so bad. So, I grabbed my crutches and it did work better. My foot hurts still today, but not like yesterday. This whole situation is definitely a marathon. I pray that with some more time, I will be able to walk pain free. I hope. I pray.

 

Today was nice, gray, chilly day - so the fireplace was on...

 

So that is the first half of November in a nutshell. My college girl will be home tomorrow. I am "walking" now - a little. And I am going to try to get into the holiday mood, though I'm not feeling it all that much right now.

I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading!

Gaining Clarity

I have calmed down since last week, but I still feel very betrayed. It will take a very, very long time for me to get past this - if I ever do. Honestly, I never truly got over the covid crisis. This feels even worse.

 

I really tried to have hope that somehow people would see the light, but deep down, I knew it probably wouldn't happen. Misogyny, racism, misinformation, disinformation and bad behavior sadly won the day last week. It is what it is. I thought an insurrection could be (and should have been) the nail in the coffin for its citizens. But, people will only see what they want to see, will look away if they can't face hard truths or will twist the story to fit their narrative - even when the facts (with receipts) are staring them in the face. 

 

I have to look at my daughter now and say we probably won't see a female president/leader in our lifetimes. Maybe not ever. Not in this country.

I'm seeing a number of memes floating around about being mature and agreeing to disagree. Well, I don't see the left screaming voter fraud, spreading a big lie and supporting an insurrection. Just saying.

So, I have clarity now. A lot of it. We will see what happens over the next four years. I pray Doug, Bri and I will get through it safely. I am grateful my daughter is at the college she attends. I have to hope my parents don't lose their medicare and social security. I think it may be an eye opening four years for some people who don't understand what could possibly be coming their way. I guess we will see how it all unfolds...

It has been difficult staying away from the news and anything to do with this returning administration, but I am trying hard. I am hearing things of course. I am so used to being on the pulse of everything current events - and I kind of feel like my arms have been cut off. I'll somehow learn to adapt.

 

 So once I am back on my feet (which will still take a while), I will have to assess some things and figure out next steps in my life. And speaking of steps, I take my first steps in a boot since my surgery tomorrow.

 I will go back to my "regular programming" in my next post - if you still want to follow me. I may have lost some followers, but I won't censor myself in my own space. 

 

My girl will be back home on Friday, and I cannot wait to have her home for the holidays. She won't go back to school until January.

 

So, I'll be back soon. Hopefully in a happier frame of mind.

Grieving and Traumatized

  I am traumatized and grieving pretty hard right now. Between what happened on Tuesday mixed with trying to recover from this really tough surgery and also learning to live daily life without my child in my home every day - I feel like I am drowning a bit. And the thought of having that vile lunatic back in the presidency in January with absolutely no guardrails makes my stomach turn every time I think about it. I pray he doesn't completely dismantle our democracy, and it saddens me that over half of the country seems perfectly ok with autocratic rule. Who knew? I feel frozen in so many ways. I can't even go outside and take a walk because of my physical situation. So, I am literally forced to sit with all this. I always try to say that "next year will be better," but in this instance, I truly can't. I am living in a country that I'm not proud of right now. And I'm not sure how long it will take me to completely recover from this surgery. I obviously have no choice to continue forward, but I'm letting everyone know it will be with a heavy heart for a very long time.

Heartbroken and Numb

I need some time to grieve what happened last night. I need a cooling off period. I need to wrap my head around the fact that a majority of the country voted this narcissistic, misogynistic, racist, raping, evil, lying, insurrection-leading felon back into the oval office. This country is so misguided. And if you say you voted for the policies and not the man - just keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Just know, you cannot separate the two. You voted for a very bad man - a man who caused so many deaths during his presidency - to get what you want. Just own it.

 Tr@mp is not a Bush, a Reagan, a Romney or a McCain. We let a dangerous fascist back into this sacred office and now we all have to live with that decision. 

I am worried for minority groups (which includes my daughter). I am worried for women (which also includes my daughter). I am just worried.

 I will keep my head down the next four years. I hope we actually get to vote again in four years.

I want absolutely nothing to do with him. I will turn tvs off, social media off, anything to do with his face in my sight. He will be in charge, but I don't have to actively engage - and I won't. I will have to live with his policies (or concepts of plans), but I'll do it very reluctantly.

 Other free countries are in shock learning what happened. Other free countries are looking down on us. Other free countries are laughing at us right now. It is embarrassing.

I will blog again soon. Hopefully when I am in a better headspace.

 I need time. Lots of time. 

Election Day 2024

*** UPDATE ***

 

Looks like we lost. I am so devastated. I am terrified for my daughter. I'm terrified about a lot of things. Say hello to fascism.

 

 ****************************

 

I am actually quite proud of myself for keeping politics off my blog during this election cycle. But, today is an important day and I want to document it. SO much has happened since my one and only political post this cycle, and believe me, I have had a lot of feelings during all this hoopla. But I felt I had said my piece at the time, and this wasn't the place to keep making my point over and over again.

 I posted A LOT about politics in 2020/2021 between the horrifying way the Covid crisis was handled and craziness of the 2020 election. I still stand by every single post I wrote at that time. Every. Single. One. And I don't regret blogging about it because Briana can now look back and see how vocal I was for democracy at the time (and I still am).

This election cycle, I have been pretty vocal on FB, but I try to share articles and information rather than just posting nasty, character-bashing memes.

This election is SO important. It is the difference between positivity/unity and hatred/revenge. A difference between people keeping rights or losing them. Women have already lost the right to make decisions for their own bodies and lives - it was such a devastating blow. I just don't understand how this race is even close.

In my well-being post, I was pretty down because though I approve of B!den's performance during his first term, I just knew he wasn't up for another four years at his age. I actually went into his first term thinking it would most likely be for just one term. But when he was trying to go for a second one, I was nervous and extremely hesitant.

 When the shake up happened, I was elated. And things have gone even better regarding the Harr!s campaign than I could have imagined. I have real hope that this will go the way I'm anticipating. But anything can happen, so I am not going to count any chickens before they hatch. I'm never going to be overconfident about anything ever.

  Doug, Bri and I voted absentee ballot weeks ago, so now we just sit and wait. It will be a long day. I'm so ready for this to be over. Election fatigue is real. And I already have surgery recuperation and "kid going to college for the first time" exhaustion. And now I am getting smacked in the face with the holidays. I feel like a walking zombie. 

 So, I'm hoping and praying for what I perceive as the best outcome.

Let's see what happens...

All About Halloween 2024

Here is my Halloween recap post!

Obviously, our sweet girl was at college this year on Halloween, so it was just Doug and me keeping up the Halloween spirit in our house.

 When Briana visited us at the beginning of October, Doug surprised us by decorating the inside of the house for Halloween (which is something I usually do for the holidays) because he knows Bri and I love it and that I couldn't do it this year. I have to say that looking at the decorations throughout October did lift my spirits (and he did a great job!)...

 

I have had to spend so much time in the guest room, Doug put some light up eyes on my window to cheer me up...

 

And then he decorated the outside of the house too...

He decided to add purple lights a few day later for an even cooler effect...

Doug and I watched both The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and Garfield...

Briana celebrated Halloween at school...

I did buy one pumpkin in Elljay to carve, and I used all my colored light power on it...

My brother in law and sister in law sent me this adorable fruit basket as a get well gift and a Halloween treat! 

Doug and I sent Briana a fun/cute Halloween gift (orange meowchi)...

Halloween day rolled around. We watched the season finale of Agatha All Along (such a good series)...

Our Halloween lunch and dinner...

When the trick or treaters started arriving (they started coming around 6pm), poor Doug was responsible for all the doorbell rings. We had around 80 kids come to our door that night! I am so happy that we have a ring camera because I got to see all the trick or treaters - I don't feel like I missed too much!

This special needs boy came to our door twice for candy (our house is pretty cool!) and he was more than welcome to do so. He gave Doug a fist bump after the second visit. So sweet...

So that was our Halloween season. We definitely missed Briana, but we made the most of it - even with my lame foot! I will be happy to be on my feet next year at Halloween time so I don't have to watch everything from the sidelines!