The week in review.

The political jokes are writing themselves at this point. We are watching this presidency unravel in real time. For the love of all good things, let's talk about something else. 

The toy drive is picking up steam. We have got a pretty nice selection of stuff, and I get a rush of joy every time I walk into that storage area. We had a little work bee last week, sorting and cleaning, and I really have to say that the five people there are a perfect team. Once again, this is something that seems to be taking on a life of its own. I love that.

My cousin, Father Tim is out of the hospital but staying at a guest house. He looks great and is walking a mile and more. He is pushing himself. I told him that he would be home for Christmas. He is determined to be home for Thanksgiving. The first time he is back in the pulpit, we will be there to celebrate that with him and Noreen.

All those pre-midterm jitters have wrought good things. I am nearly done with Christmas shopping. I mean seriously done. I have Tim's gift to order. A couple sets of pajamas. A gift certificate. A bottle of vodka. I have even got quite a lot of wrapping done. 

The Amish Christmas is done as well. I have a joke box to put together and I am still picking up books as I see them for the tote. But, other than that, they are done. They all love to read, and they are all over that tote to see what books are inside. None of their things are wrapped yet. The kids are already getting excited. It is such a fun night. Last year, there was a major snowstorm. We made our way there but we were late enough that the kids thought we were not coming. Boy, were they pleased to see us pulling in!

There was a barn fire in the community on Tuesday. The barn burned to the ground, and set brush and trees on fire, but the house was saved. Levi has a huge order for the saw mill. He said, "They'll clean up the site. They will pour concrete on Saturday. The frame will go up Monday. The roof on Tuesday. They will finish it all up on Wednesday." Harder to replace will be the winter's worth of hay that was stored inside. We have been invited to watch.

We had quite a mystery here, one that we still have not managed to solve. Tim had an early bit of work. I had a meeting later in the morning. When he backed out, he heard a little 'thu-thump' at the back wheel. He stopped the car to see what he hit, but saw nothing. He continued on.

Much to his shock, when he got to town, he saw a spray of blood at the back fender. He called me to say he thought he must have hit a cat. 'No,' I said. 'Houdi and Fred are inside.' He worried about the outdoor cats. "I just gave Possum breakfast. We still have six chickens." We decided it must have been Phantom, but we would not know until when/if he showed up on the porch for supper. 

That night, we waited, filled with dread. We were gratified to see him  trotting up on the porch that evening just as usual. It looks like we will never know what Tim hit in the driveway. 

I went to a murder mystery dinner with my sister tonight which was a lot of fun. Our tablemates were great fun.

Her granddaughter had her first accident. A deer jumped out in front of her car. The car is likely totaled, but the important thing is that she and her brother were not injured.

So...that is life since election day. I will get around to all your blogs. I have some major catching up to do.

The midterms

 Democrats took both the Senate AND the House. Mike Johnson is no longer Speaker of the House. 

This is huge. 

Trump tweeted that he had 'tremendous power' if the Democrats won. 

It will be very interesting to see what happens next. I am headed for bed. I will sleep better tonight than I have slept in a while.

Late edit:

Trump says he accepts the results of the elections and also says he thinks he can work with Democrats. Quite a change from last night's defiant vow to 'veto everything and there is nothing they will be able to do about it'. 

Makes one almost wonder if Republicans would have shown some backbone he would have backed down months ago. 

The best news I have heard? The promise that the first order of business will be to impeach Hegseth.

Final thoughts? Look at this collection! Diversity is back, baby!

Right Now.

Contrary to anonymous' claims, I do not think voting blue is going to change everything. We are not going to wake up Wednesday morning, expecting sunshine and roses, and everything righted in this world. 

All I know is that you don't fix the car until you get it out of the ditch. 

 Vote. 

It means everything.

Explainin'

 Sorry for the absence. 

All is well. Well...as well as it can be at this point. I am awfully preoccupied with these midterms. Although it looks promising, I cannot bring myself to write those words. At the same time, I can't bring myself to not think/write about it.

So...I wait with bated breath. 

This made me laugh:

Dutch investigative reporters are claiming the have linked Jared Kushner to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. How deep does this rot go?

Elon Musk is helping Russia develop their satellite security. Isn't this treason? 

 This situation in Alaska 

Not sure why i can't link, but try this: 

Dan Sullivans: Alaska Senate race roiled by spoiler reporting : NPR https://share.google/8wzZQWvHXCAcIxIXR

This gives the Republicans a great opportunity to freak out about cheating Democrats. If she did this, it was stupid, and it lends an aura of illegitimacy to the election that we did not need.

But...the election is Tuesday. 5 days away. 

This exchange sums it up:

Man, election day is coming up soon and I still don't know who to vote for. I just wish there was some way to decide easier. Maybe if a candidate would just send me an unsolicited text, spam phone call, run a TV ad or even blow up social media and tell me how terrible and corrupt the other candidate is it would help me make up my mind . . . Holy crap the election can't get over quick enough.

So what have we been doing? We got the house in town sided. I tried to find a before picture, but it is in my drafts and I can't quite bring myself to hunt it up. But take my word for it, it is a big improvement.

26 windows in that house, all replaced. Roof replaced maybe 5 years ago. I hope that there is still a market for houses next year. 

My cousin, Father Tim is on track to be released from the hospital. He can't go home, but he and his wife will be at a hospital owned Family House to recuperate. It will be his first time out of the hospital in 5 months. I sent him a Christmas card to remind him that we believe he will be home for Christmas.

In my effort to not think about politics, I am pleased to say that I have most of our Christmas shopping done. I can't quite believe it myself, but here we are. I need to start wrapping.

Measles were reintroduced to the Amish community through a wedding. Someone not of the community didn't know they were getting sick. 

Mattie said, "I don't know if the children will ever have school again."

People are deliberately exposing themselves to measles for immunity. 

Levi mused, 'our elders talk about measles like it was nothing, but this seems worse. People are getting this and winding up in the hospital."

I know they both worry about this a lot. I am glad they are all vaccinated. 

That is about it for here. At least all my mind can come up with, right now. 

KELLY S.

 Hey Kelly, I received an email from you that contained a link and nothing else. I did not click on the link of course, but wanted to let you know you may have been hacked.

We the People

 Well, fall is here. We are getting hard frosts in the morning. 

As the midterms get closer we are seeing some interesting things. The Tommy exchange:

Tommy is a staffer for Josh Hawley. A plant, in other words.

That exchange is getting a lot of airplay. CBS tried to reframe this:

 Jan Crawford tweet: 

 "Tommy, Thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr Abdul El-Sayed's nanosecond "yeah, absolutely" response. His subsequent uninterrupted three minute diatribe proving your exact point is the exact self own most people only dream of triggering. Congrats."

She is a CBS legal analysist. The resulting social media backlash saw her removing her tweet and apologizing.

WE DID THAT.

Trump has put the kibosh on the livestreamed execution due to the outrage. 

THAT OUTRAGE IS US

(Sorry that link did not work. Try this: 

15 more days before the midterms.

I have a strategy meeting for the toy giveaway due to some rumblings from people who want to be involved but want to turn it into something else (a church trying to play an oversized role to 'own' the event.)  Another offer of help is a disguise of a group with an ax to grind with the venue.  

I am lucky enough to have two people working with me on this who are very adept at sidestepping controversy. We will meet, we will discuss, we will write the article for the newspaper and organize our volunteers. 

We are having the house in town sided, a big project that is keeping Tim busy. It is a $12,000 project (so far) but will add considerably to the value of it, assuming we have an economy left next fall and can sell it.

I have used the last of the venison from last year, so we are ready for this year's harvest. Hunting for seniors begins shortly. I guess there should be some benefit to getting old. Regular hunting season isn't until November.

Tim's cousin was killed in a farm accident. 

All that to say posting might be a bit light this week.

Funny anecdote: I took Levi, Mattie and their oldest daughter to pick up their glasses. It is a mutually beneficial trip. Gas is 35 cents cheaper per gallon there. Milk is $2.66 a gallon compared to $4.80+ a gallon locally. There is a produce store there that has bulk produce deals. Long story short, when we go up to New York State, we come back with a well packed car and a full tank of gas, so, no I don't mind hauling them. 

On the way hame, Levi asked where one of his purchases was. Distracted by driving, I said, 'I stuck that on the top in the trunk.'

Levi stared, shocked. I was confused. He had asked the question in Pennsylvania Dutch. I am not sure how I understood or how I didn't even notice the difference. 

Satisfying Day

Kacey Musgraves bites back at Kristi Noem after Talarico concert appearance:

 https://share.google/ZPjSlE3VOCpYgrTgy

Ukraine destroyed 2 Russian Data Centers, badly damaged a third. They were Bot farms. 

The internet got real quiet, real fast.

It's not all sunshine and roses:

Ukraine is not stopping.

Kimberly Giulfoyle is out. 

She still owes that Amex bill, poor dear.

 

The new press secretary is having some issues:

China said that their bar exam is not administered to foreigners. 

This was a good movie:

 

My cousin Tim Is out of ICU and doing physical therapy 3 weeks post transplant. He is on day 138 in the hospital, but I bet he's home for the holidays.

Husband Tim asked me to troubleshoot his trail cam. I couldn't link it to the phone. I spent an hour on the phone with customer service. I was starting to get frustrated because we logged in and out so many times. I removed the battery pack, antenna and SD card over and over. Nothing. It went to the sync screen and no further. 

I was a bit shocked when the woman finally told me they were sending him a new camera. The camera coming is an upgrade, since they don't make the 2 year old model he has now. 

Leaving on a laugh: