Hope

There's nothing to say but that.  After worrying about our country for four years, maybe I can relax a little.  But very little, because the hate and discord that the former president has fostered will permeate to some of his loyal followers.  Hopefully, there will be some that will see the benefits of putting aside the animosity and pulling for our country.

I have no idea how things will unfold.  I know the present regime will make it very difficult for anything good to happen.  I don't remember such enmity between the two parties in my lifetime, and I've seen presidents come and go.  Disagreement always, but this level of hatred is something I never thought I would experience.  Conspiracy theories, misinformation, hate organizations, crazy stuff.

I feel more comfortable knowing there is someone in charge who is at least going to work with people to try to get Covid under control.   I hope the opposing party will show some integrity and maturity and work for the good of the people.

I'm drained with emotion and just sadness lately.  It's been a hard few months, and I'm looking for ways to overcome it.

If Trump had won, I had my concession speech all ready and was going to immerse myself in internet scandals with Lily James and her lover and maybe take up woodworking or learn a foreign language.

I still might do the first one.  This actress played Rose in Downton Abbey and was not one of the characters I remember well, a distant cousin to the family, I believe.

Her latest movie is Rebecca, and I just watched it on Netflix.  It took two days because it was intense at times, but the two leads, Lily and Armie Hammer, are both nice to look at and good at their jobs.  The movie didn't follow the book exactly, but the photography was beautiful and Manderley sufficiently spooky.  

Here is a little preview.

Distractions that have made me happy-er lately.

1.  Discussions with Debby on cooking with our new air fryers.  She's taking it seriously, and I'm playing around but have turned out some pretty good stuff.  

The Brussels sprouts were a little bit of a disaster, being a little chewy with charred edges (which I actually like a lot).  The chicken sausage was excellent though.  I'm not sure I would have bought chicken sausage myself, but Emily and Ryan went to Costco last week and brought it along with some other groceries.  I think they are called Sugarhouse Maple and naturally tasted a little sweet.  It was good for something different.  The sauce is just tzatziki that I bought in a container at Safeway.  Too labor intense to make myself and really good for dipping those little bits in..  

I was pretty impressed with one of Debby's first ventures.  That looks out of this world. She doesn't mess around!   I feel like we exchanged some more pictures, but I can't find them right now.

2.  Entertaining my lonely boy Bowie.  Since he lost his best friend, he is coming to me for comfort.  Not lap-sitting or petting comfort which I would be glad to give, but laser-chasing entertainment.  He's never happy to stop and expects me to sit there and make patterns to make him run and climb the walls.

This has worked pretty well to keep him interested if I can find ones without ads.  He doesn't know how to click "Skip Ad."

I do feel for him though and try to give him a lot of attention.  He rewards me by sleeping next to my legs at night, and that's comforting for both of us.

3.  I just learned to play Mah-Jong last summer, I think, and already I'm going to be in a tournament.  Yay for me.  It's not REALLY a tournament as such but a fund-raiser.  Our foursome plays just like we ordinarily do on Tuesday mornings, except we play 4 games in the morning and 4 in the afternoon for two days.  That's going to be exhausting.  We make a contribution, and I believe there are prizes.  At least I can hold my own with the more experienced players and actually win some games.

This is one of my typical hands on first draw.  No jokers!

4.  Sewing:  The backing is on the way for the girls' quilts from Hancocks of Paducah.  It was out of stock for a while, but we got the notice that it should be here soon.  I need to finish them by Christmas!

When I was digging in a box in the garage, I uncovered Elise's quilt that I made several years ago.  I don't even know if she still likes it, although she did pick out the pattern and many of the fabrics.  I'll have to see if she wants it finished.

5.  Making time for the girls:  It's so hard.  They're busy all week and they do a lot of family things on weekends.  I am invited over there sometimes, but we kind of want to stay apart a little bit longer.  Or not want to - but feel like we should.  I feel lucky to have not had even a sniffle this fall.  

Emily texted last night and said they were surprising the girls with ice cream from their favorite little pharmacy across the way.  She said they just drove up and pretended to be looking at the pretty lights decorating the outside, and Ryan went in and picked up pre-ordered cones.

It seems like a long time since we sat on "our" bench and tried to keep our mint chocolate chip from melting.  It has been a long time.

That's maybe enough to keep me busy and distracted a while.  I'm thankful for the ones who called and texted and otherwise did their best to lift my spirits during my dreary days.

It's about to be fireplace time and maybe snow time soon.  I think I'll be fine now.  Emily sent me a link for 150 comedies after I asked her for a funny movie to watch.  I'm going to watch a few of those, no matter how silly, or at least as long as I can tolerate them.  I sent the link to Debby, and we're going to try to coordinate watching one at the same time.  It will almost be like going to the movies together.  

It's been so long since I've written that I feel like I'm repeating myself or posting the same pictures.  Maybe soon there will be some interesting things happening.