Cray Cray

 I cannot even wrap my head around these 'proposed changes'. Who comes up with these things? Let me tell you who. Rich people who need workers, and are completely willing to break your children to do it. End meal breaks? 14 year olds working overnights? What about school? MAGA, my ass. 

Today we worked in our kitchen doing the tiling. We got the long wall done while listening to the live updates on the stock market. After a long morning, Tim said, "What was it he said yesterday? This is the Golden Age of America?" 

Yeah. That's what he said while he was gleefully making his announcements. 

Nuts!

To quote a sage, "Nobody can believe it!" 

He has a new book out.

But enough about this sad state of affairs. 

Did I ever show you this? It's right inside the front door. My brother in law made the hat rack.  

I came home and repotted three plants. I'm sure they'll be fine, although they appear a bit bedraggled right this moment. Plants aren't the most grateful life forms I've ever known. 

I broiled a chicken breast and sliced it up and made a grilled chicken salad for supper, which hit the spot for both of us. 

We figure that we will spend a half day up at the new house tomorrow and be able to finish the tiling. We'll come home, clean up, and head out to see Lou Gramm in Erie. 

Then: 

Now: 

Wonder if, all these years later, it still feels like the first time? 

Anyways...the old fogeys are headed out...and yes. I have earplugs. 

Let's end on a laugh: 

Oh gees. I forgot one: 

Today

 This morning was an odd morning. I woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep to save my soul. I had a tiny headache, but it didn't seem like enough to keep me awake, and then my mind started wandering from one thing to another like it does. I finally got up and took something for my headache, came back to bed, and managed to fall asleep, only to be jolted awake by my cell phone alarm. I shut it off. Why it was set? How did it get set? Who set it? I assumed that it was for something, so I got up and logged into my computer portal to check for appointments. I had none. I had one for tomorrow, but nothing today. 

I finally decided to go back to bed, but I couldn't fall back asleep because I kept thinking that there had to be something that I was missing. By the time it was actually time to get up, I was bleary eyed and short sleeped. 

Tim wants to build a shed to store his 'stuff'. He'll drive me crazy, the pack rat, but I figured I'd just let him go build his shed. 

That's the nice thing about working on only one project. If I want to take a day to do laundry and get groceries and the like, I don't feel like a terrible person. I absolutely did not feel the slightest bit guilty about not helping him build a shed for stuff he really should be thinking of getting rid of anyway. IMHO. 

So I got up when I felt like it, and had my coffee and breakfast in front of the computer. 

A memory popped up on facebook from this day back in 2017: 

I woke up to Tim standing beside the bed in holding his work gloves, saying, 'I can't believe that I overslept today, of ALL days...' Half asleep, I looked at the clock and it was 2 AM. I sat up in bed, confused and realized that Tim was sound asleep in bed, snoring gently.  

Eight years later, it made me laugh again. 

Anyways, so it was one of those days where there is nothing to report. Laundry is done. I got out and got a few groceries. The cat is tickled that I bought cat food. I stopped at Goodwill because I need a couple planters to repot a pothos that is surely rootbound and in need of dividing. They didn't have any planters, but that didn't stop me from having a bit of a nosey. I found a pile of plates, those collector type plates. Probably a dozen of them. They were painted with birds of all different kinds. One with cardinals. Another with blue jays. Blue birds. Robins. Chickadees. Gold finches. Birds I didn't know. And they were really beautiful. $1.49 each. They had the hangers. I picked them up, looking through and I was so tempted. Sooooooo tempted. Except we're downsizing. And where would I put them? I stood there holding the plates. 

I turned to a woman standing nearby. "Do me a favor, will you?" 

She looked surprised but said, "If I can..." 

I said, "Look me in the eye and tell me that I do NOT need these plates. Say it in a firm voice, like you really, really mean it." 

She said, "YOU. DO. NOT. NEED. THOSE. PLATES." She sounded like she really truly did mean it. 

I put the plates back and said, "You're absolutely right. Thank you for pointing that out." 

She was laughing as I walked away.

I ran my errands in a downpour. In the west, the lightning seemed to jag straight down to some unfortunate piece of ground far away behind the mountains and the thunder echoed across their peaks. It was a doozy of a storm, and I do love a good thunderstorm.

I found two planters, nice ones. Ceramic, and on clearance for $5.49. I consoled myself that $11.00 was not too much to spend on something that I really did need, especially since I had been so brave about not getting the decorative plates. 

I felt quite virtuous by the time that I explained this all to Tim when I got home. 

He did not look convinced. 

"And look! I got you Twizzlers!" I said. "The big bag!"

Anyways. 

I put together a nice supper. I had a half pound of sausage that I needed to finish off. I browned it with onion and peppers and mushrooms and some rosemary and thyme and a dash of cayenne. I added chicken broth, some diced tomatoes and simmered it together with lentils. 

It was one of those 'no recipe' hits. 

So that was today. Tim ran out later on his daily trip to Lowe's. 

They are really getting to know us there. 

He's still talking.

 And this is what we need to see, right here. 

It's not only that he's talking, but that he's speaking eloquently. He has not had a bathroom break. 

I'm not sure why the link I shared yesterday changed to private. He has held the floor for 23 hours and 50 minutes. If he holds it for another half hour, he will hold the record for the longest speech, beating out Strom Thurmond at 24 hours and 18 minutes.  (Late Edit: He has done it!)

But it is not about that. It's not about records. It is about galvanizing our government to stand up and resist the unconstitutional activity we are seeing unfold before our very eyes. 

I sent another e-mail to John Fetterman and Glenn Thompson, suggesting that they see Cory Booker as the role model. This was what they were elected and sent to Washington to do. 

I am watching this now, and I know that I am witnessing history. I know also that when these awful days are done, Cory Booker's name will be writ in the history of our country. 

Today, we met at the lawyer's office. Bless the man, we expected to go there and tell him what we wanted, and go back next week to sign a contract. He had it all laid out on his desk. He wrote in a few pertinent details, asked his questions, and wrote the contract out today. Mia was not prepared for it. Neither were we, but we walked out of there with the signed papers. 

She said, "I was so sure that I was going to get here and find out that this was an April Fool's joke." It wasn't, of course. Her family is meeting up at her house to celebrate with pizza today.