Not a creature was stirring...wait, what was that?

Living on the greenbelt has it's perks.  No humans live behind us, we have privacy, and our urban back yard seems a lot bigger than it actually is.  That's the good news.  The bad news... vermin. 

We discovered the day after Thanksgiving that the walls in our basement storage closet were wet.  Thankfully none of the boxes of holiday ornaments nor the wedding dress storage box were impacted but it set off a journey involving emergency plumbers, water removal specialists, emergency plumbers, appointments with pest control people and third emergency plumber visit.  

We are extremely disgusted and horrified by the idea of "friends" in the crawl space and now, almost a month later feel like we might be on the winning side of this eviction.  That's not the right word for what is happening in the down under - it's murder, but the idea of living together peacefully ends when the hobos eat the plumbing lines. 

We found two newly departed mice in the basement bathroom early in the week and as we can't burn down the house had to remove their little bodies.  Congratulating ourselves on our bravery, and acknowledging that there are parts of this process that one or the other of us do better than the other, but that we need each other, we felt superior.   Well, you know that is the moment at which karma slaps you in the face.  A third little fury mouse found its way upstairs into MY OFFICE.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I talked myself out of thinking what I was worried about, so the "friend" got braver and scurried across the floor in plain sight.  It was "just" a mouse, but still.  SO GROSS.

What is a girl to do?  Trap that little bastard in the room, set up glue traps and remove as much stuff from the floor as possible. Again, I'd burn the room down to the studs if I could contain it, but that isn't possible and our insurance company has already said that this whole event isn't covered.  "Vermin exclusion, sorry.  No judgement."  

I'm the judgement. Per the pest people, who must be very tired of telling people that they aren't gross, the warmth of our crawl space is too much of a draw and the small framing error and water cleanout that wasn't meshed in was enough for the little family of rats to ignore.  So, we have rats AND mice.  Great.  

My new office mate did not survive the night and has moved on to the Waste Management dump in the sky, or Skyway - where ever that stuff goes when it leaves the bins.  We haven't heard anything in the walls in two days.  

The pest man just pulled into the driveway for the disgusting job of going under the house, clearing and resetting all the traps.  There's no hiding it from the neighbors... his truck is emblazoned with GotaRat.com in HUGE bright red letters.

Let's hope that by Christmas eve, not a creature will be stirring. 

2021 - The year we waited

 I am impatient.  While I like to plan and anticipate a vacation, I really don't' like waiting on things that don't seem to have a planned conclusion.  

We have a number of things just hanging out in the world waiting to conclude. None of these are life threatening, but all are annoying in their own way.  

The first is the saga with the deck furniture.  In 2020 when we had to cancel our New York and Canadian Cruise trip we turned that vacation money into quality furniture for our deck.  If we couldn't leave home, at least we could be cozy in our yard.  We were quickly the owners of a teak couch and two side chairs that were teak and mesh.  (We wanted the matching chairs to the couch, but were trying to be reasonable with our spending.)

Unfortunately, the mesh chairs had a flaw.  At the back and bottom of the seat the mesh was secured to the frame with screws, but the depth of the screw wasn't really big enough to maintain it's grip.  Moving the chairs, or sitting in them was enough jiggling for the screws to simply drop out.  We replaced one of the chairs but continued to have troubles.  Finally, in May we went back to the retailer who agreed to return the chairs and apply the original purchase price to a new purchase.  (High regards to Summerhouse Furniture for their professionalism.).    We ordered the chair that we originally wanted but couldn't stomach the price.  Somehow splitting the cost over two years made it better.  

So, the order was placed May 12th.  We get monthly phone calls from Summerhouse regarding the delays and at last check-in the chairs are set to arrive by November 15th.    The summer season is obviously over, but the good news is that we didn't have to worry about what to do with the chairs while the deck was being worked on.  See Deck Saga below.

The better, but missing chair

The mesh chair

The Deck Saga

Our house is still really new and we don't need major improvements.  However, the deck that the builder installed at the back of our house was questionable, and we're sure it was to code, we think it barely met the minimum requirements.  After 4 years the stairs were extremely wobbly and didn't feel safe.   So, with a bit of planning we decided to have the deck resurfaced and have the stairs rebuilt. 

We engaged the contactor on March 30, paid a deposit and waited.  We waited some more, and then when we got done with that, we waited again.   The crew finally arrived to start work on July 6th.  They made quick work of removing and replacing the old deck boards.   Of course, the moment the work started our deck and back yard became completely unusable.   We underestimated the amount of time it would take, which is something I blame on HGTV.   I should know better, as the two-week home makeover is just as unrealistic as the dog walker and a yoga mat designer finding a two bedroom apartment in Paris.

The main deck work has been done since early August, but we opted to install a custom metal railing.  As we are NEVER going to stain the deck again. It was supposed to be a three week fabrication and a week or so to schedule the installation.  But, here we are on October 7th with no railing.   Contractor Chris emailed last month and said that they were expecting installation on 10/13.  We haven't heard anything about that since then, so if it happens it will be a pleasant surprise.  

Sadly for Contractor Chris, he doesn't get paid until the job is done.  Our deck payment is sitting in the money market account growing month by month. We offered to make a partial payment, but he never responded. 

The resurfaced deck, still dangerous without a railing.

The deck without boards - super dangerous!

Clothing Saga Canada vs the US

Ok, this one is stupid, but is really irritating.   On September 21 I ordered some items from J.Jill a national retailer in the US.  On September 25th I ordered some clothing from a small shop I found in Victoria British Columbia, Canada.

The international delivery arrived yesterday.  

The package from J.Jill was shipped on the 24th and made it's way from New Hampshire to Chicago by the 27th.  It took it three days to get to the FedEx facility in Kent, which is a 23 minute drive from our house (12 miles).

It has been sitting in the FedEx facility for seven days with no movement.  Eventually, the package will be transferred to the US Postal Service for the "final mile", but who knows when that will be.   It has been so long, that the charge to my credit card for the purchase has already been paid.

I wish I didn't like their clothing so much, because the delay is aggravating.

Finally, 2020 Taxes

Usually I prepare our family taxes but this year when I completed the returns the amount of money that I showed we had to pay was triple the amount that we've ever had to write a check for.  (It's good news, bad news - if you have to pay, you're probably doing pretty good financially.)  So, we decided to find an accountant to check our numbers.   She filed an extension with the IRS to allow the time for her to complete our taxes.

I scanned all the information she wanted, and then... you know it.  WAITING.

July --- wait

August - wait

September - come on... reaching out, any word?  A reply, "just finishing up corporate quarterly returns and then I'll get yours done and we can go over them."

October 7th... these damn things are DUE 10/15!   I pinged her today to see if we can schedule time next week.   The lack of communication is beyond frustrating, and unless she comes back and says "you only owe $3,000"  I'm pretty sure this will be the end of our business relationship.   I'll spend the remainder of the year searching for a new accountant.

Shoulder Twins

 October 1 marks 6 months from my shoulder dislocation and break.   I am still doing physical therapy to gain strength and motion.  It's a slow process that at times is frustrating.

The pain I was feeling on a daily basis has mostly gone away.  It no longer radiates down my arm all day and all night.  However, it is still an issue when I sleep.  I am really only comfortable on my back, probably because it allows the muscles in my shoulders to relax, but I am a side sleeper and when in that state I will roll over and it wakes me up when my hand goes numb.   I'm pinching something in that side position.

I had a meeting with the orthopedic doc last week and I nervously told him about the numbness.  The last thing I want to have is some sort of nerve damage that would need a surgical repair, thus undoing all the work to gain my strength back.    He pulled up my file and read something to me  (paraphrasing):

Patient complains of continuing pain radiating down arm, and numbness in hand when sleeping on her side.

That was the note from the 5 month check-in after the first break on the left side.  OMG!  I totally forgot about that from the last time.  He gave me a wrap to help keep my elbow from folding all the way when I sleep, which should prevent me from pinching the nerve. He said that we'll check back in in two months and if it's still going numb, then he'll do a nerve study, but is confident that it will heal by then.  

He did say that while the breaks were basically identical, that because the right shoulder also experienced a dislocation that the time to heal would be longer because of the additional tissue trauma.  I am continuing to be a good PT patient and working on my stretching at home.

I slept with the bandage on my arm, and it's annoying but does keep me from tucking the arm, which also keeps me on my back.  

One Month In...

In person school has been good on many fronts, Lucy is happy to go each day and we like her teacher.  Lucy is building good habits by completing her daily homework before doing the fun stuff.  

She did push back a little bit last night when solving a word problem in math.  "Why can't Shelly help herself?  Why is she asking me to figure out the age of her sister?"   She's a funny kid.  Thankfully, the delay tactic didn't take too long and soon she solved Shelly's dilemma. 

There have been two kids in her class that tested positive for Covid-19 and my anxiety is now lower than before on that front.   Both students were exposed outside of school, and the school does an assessment of who the student has been in close contact with and then sends them home for two weeks to incubate.   (There is no online option, so they are on their own for keeping up with the class.)    No one is told who tested positive, but a few simple inquiries to the kid and it becomes obvious.  The yellow kids are the ones who were out with the first infection, and the green with the second. 

Kids from the first round have returned to school, and only the center X seems to be experiencing any noticeable issues.  (Keep in mind our information comes from a 10 year old, but she's pretty reliable.)  

Lucy is excited to have her classmates back as the 'yellow' kids were also at her lunch table and she had to eat alone for two weeks.  I wouldn't have thought the distancing that the school mapped out would be effective, but thus far, I'm impressed.

We are anxiously awaiting FDA approval for the kiddo's vaccine.  I feel like we're playing darts.

Back to School

 Here we go again. 

Just as we prepare for school to start, Covid rates are rising again.  Lucy is unvaccinated as are all the kids under 12 at her school.  Employees aren't required to be vaccinated until October 1st, so it's a risky game.  

There are lots of confusing things that the school district is putting in place,  they are "abiding" by the 3 foot distancing rule, but have maximized the number of kids in each class, and are measuring the 3 feet from the center of each desk, so the moment students get up to do anything the "distance" is gone.   They are spreading kids out into their "cohorts" in the lunch rooms, which means they sit with their class, but on the school busses it is 2-3 kids per seat.   They say the windows will be open for ventilation, but it's swiss cheese.

We can only hope that the vaccines will be made available to kids sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, every sniffle, sore throat or cough from anyone sends me into a dark spin - even if only for a second. 

July 30, 2021

The world was opening up again, we went through a phase where it felt weird to wear a mask into a store, as if people would think that we weren't vaccinated. However, anytime we are with the kiddo masks are on, since she can't get the vaccine and must wear a mask, we will do it out of solidarity. There are still plenty of people in the US who have free and easy access to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but won't. To be honest it makes no sense to me. Yes, it's scary, and who can really trust the scientists who managed to come up with these injections after only a year of research, but then again...this pandemic stuff is real. People are dying, we know people who have died. I get that it's hard to trust the "government" when messages keep changing, but this is a new thing, and the longer this virus is studied, the more we will learn. 

 What I predict is that this summer is a bit of a repeat of last summer, people are outside, they feel free, but this pandemic is not over. The Delta variant is bad news, and per the news today, it looks as though vaccinated people can still be carriers/spreaders of it even without being sick. By the fall, I expect that we'll be back to masks 100% of the time, and while school may happen in person, it will still be masks and distancing, and maybe even the half day crap from last year. 

What I don't understand is how the people who are exercising their personal freedom to not get the vaccine still feel it's ok to want to meet up and mingle with the rest of the world. Sure, technically, as a vaccinated person I am less likley to get seriously ill from a C-19 infection, but our unvaccinated child could get seriously ill and that's a frightening scenario. It's awful to say no to meeting with people who we really care about over this, but Lucy's health is more important. 

In shoulder news, I have been given the clearance to lift and do whatever as long as it doesn't hurt. I'm still building strength and range of motion, but am about half-way back to normal. I've been better about doing the home exercises this time and it shows in my progress. Reaching behind my back still hurts like heck and it's my least favorite thing to work on. Naturally it's the least progress I've made. That says a lot about my personality. It hurts, it's hard, I don't do it and there's little progress. DERP.

Summer 2021

It's been weeks and weeks since the "incident" at the mall. I'm still in physical therapy and am progressing well. My range of motion is good, and we're working on muscle and strength. The kiddo is doing well. She talked to a therapist for about 2 months and worked through some things related to the shooting and other things that a modern 10-year-old going through a pandemic would need to deal with. It's a new thing for us, but we never met Ms. Johanna in person, but did all the meetings online. I hope that when the pandemic is really over that conveniences like this never really go away. Not having to pick up a kid from school, drive to the office, park, check in, check out, drive home...is great. If this option moves to the dentist, or the gynecologists' then I will revolt, but initial dr. exams, mental health - it's a strong option. 

Now that we're in July, it's finally time to take the work sabbatical that was scheduled for August 2020. We are currently enjoying a 10 day timeout in a smallish rental house in Seabrook. The weather is not "amazing beach weather" but to be honest, today was brilliant and extremely amazing. It was 67, and not windy. We went to the beach, dipped out toes in the ocean, and probably got too much sun on our little blanket. Our little rental house has a hot tub, which has been fun. Our home is wired and ready for a hot tub, but it's probably better to rent one once a year or so, than clean one on a weekly basis. 

Today, I had an appointment at the local spa for a foot soak and a scalp treatment. I didn't think I could be on the massage table,, but with a bit of effort, I was able to manage the massage table, and get the bliss experience that you can only get when someone spends a crazy amount of time massaging your toes and scalp. The spa lady asked the normal questions of the ladies who spa while at the beach, but it turns out she was from Bay Center, a tiny town near the tiny town from my childhood. Because of the Bay Center connection we figured out that she was the niece of the family that lived next door to us at the beach. Because of the connection and the conversation the massage part of my treatment went on for an extra 30 minutes. It took me a while to come back to earth once it was over. I haven't had a massage since 2019, or earlier and I think this one might have ruined me for the future. This is a good problem to have.

So, that happened...

Our little family had a pair of shoes to return to the local Nordstrom, and opted to go to Southcenter because there was another store in the area we wanted to visit.  

We seldom go to that location because there have been incidents in the past of "problem solving by gunshots" and we're just not into that.  

After the shoes were returned, we opted to make a loop thru the mall to see if there were any interesting stores.  It's still the pandemic and we haven't been anywhere in a while.  We picked up a cute custom shirt for the peanut and she bought an art piece from a vendor.  We decided to stop in one last store for summer clothes and Jason said he would meet us back at Nordstrom.  He went in search of a nice loo.

After finishing up at the short/cheapo summer shirt store Lucy and I were walking towards Nordstrom when we heard the gun shot.  We stopped, then heard a second and saw people running.   My childhood training of "walk don't run" failed to come back to me because my instinct was to grab that kid and RUN.

We made it to the door of the Nordstrom, but I'm not a runner and when my feet hit the marble of the store doorway, down I went.  I dislocated my shoulder in the process, and broke the humorous.   This took x-rays at the ER to confirm, but I was acutely aware that I was hurt. During the fall my purse went flying but my phone was in my line of sight and I was able to scoop it up and drop it in one of the shopping bags.

The really terrible thing was that Lucy and I got separated and she ended up outside the store with strangers, but without her mom or her dad.  These folks had no idea why the store was evacuated and a kind woman let Lucy borrow her phone so she could call her dad.

I was ushered thru the store via the back hallways to the same door that Lucy exited and was there pretty quickly.   Then, as I fished my phone from the shopping bag, I see the text from Jason.  "They are evacuating Nordstrom, see you at the car."   Clearly, the folks inside the Nordies did NOT know what had happened, which I guess is good.  The fewer people running and panicking the better.

Jason thankfully had a set of car keys and kept his cool while he drove a very upset Lucy and a hurt TPgal to the ER.  We opted to go to the one near our house vs. the one near the mall.   I knew I wasn't in a life threatening situation, so I didn't want to be the least hurt person at the nearest ER.  I had no idea how many people might have been hurt.  It was a long drive with me doing lots of breathing to meditate the pain away.

It's been 13 days and I'm still in a sling.  The bruise from the dislocation is rather epic (below) and the doc says that it's expected.  Sleeping is getting easier but it hurts. 

I see the orthopedist again on the 25th and start physical therapy that week.  He says it's almost a mirror image of the break from 2019.  He finds that funny, but the only comfort I take is that that break healed without surgery and other than minor stiffness when I try to hold my arm straight up it feels 100%.   This break is on my non-dominant arm, which makes life easer this go-round, but he said that rehab will be harder because of that, and because of the dislocation complication. 

As for Lucy, we are seeing a therapist to talk about the scary thing that happened to us and she's open to those conversations.  She needs to be able to go back to a mall without it being frightening.  

So, that's where we are.  I'm purple & gold, Lucy hates shopping even more than she did before and Jason is doing all the cooking and cleaning. The Nordies people found my purse and Jason was able to pick it up the next day. I'm still updating the automated credit card payments for the card that was cancelled.

8 days out

13 days

Farts

 My new post is blowing the heck out of all the others!

Testing a new device.

Still as immature as ever!

One year of dinner ideas

 

 Today officially marks one year since the Center for Disease Control identified Covid-19 a pandemic.

We've been home, distanced, careful and cautious, and we will continue to do so.

We haven't had a cold, didn't get the flu, haven't been sick.  Our mental health seems good, no urges to take out frustration on others or ourselves.

We've watched a LOT of tv, I've put together at least 2 puzzles per month, lego sets have been built.  

We've had this dreaded conversation every day:

"What should we make for dinner?"  

Sometimes the question comes before I can finish making lunch...When I don't have an answer it just looms out there like a future failure.  I'm not sure which is worse, having no idea, or having an idea and the other people in this house go "nah..."   

• Tacos? nah
• Lasagna?  nah
• Burgers? nah
• Salad? nah
• Chicken!? nah
• Pork!? nah
• Grilled Cheese? 

WINNER!!!  GC is always a winner with the kid.  I think it's a better lunch than dinner.

I found a recipe for enchiladas, so tonight's meal is managed.  There was a minor tussle over who got to go to the grocery store today, but since I got to leave the house yesterday, to sit in the car while the kid had tap lessons, he gets to go to the grocery store today.  Yes, that is really how it goes.

We don't have a timeline for when we might get vaccinated, but we are hopeful for spring.  We agree that we will probably still wear masks when out in public as  it has been nice not being sick from the regular communicable ailments.  I imagine that they will be required at medical appointments and in large gatherings.   

We have tickets to see John Legend at the Chateau St. Michelle winery (outdoors).  This show has been postponed for a year and is still on the calendar for September.   I'm hopeful that they figure a way to let it happen.  If he were willing to do two shows, they could offer half the people a seat at the second show and let the audience be 50% full.   Or, maybe just not resell the tickets that they refunded.  

When things are 'back to normal" I think I will miss the space between people that we have now.  Sometimes the extra space is downright awesome.  

So, it's been a year, somethings are different in a bad way, some are different in a good way.  All in all, we're ok.

So, this kid has ten circles around the sun under her belt.   She is funny, clever, good at math and had a big heart.   She is teaching herself to write in Japanese and has been enjoying Japanese anime.

She has quite a few friends but during Covid has connected with one gal in particular.  They had a rare in-person play session this weekend and it was really wonderful to hear them running and giggling as they did whatever 10 year old girls do - create TickTocks of them dancing to songs I wouldn't think they knew.

She's learning the value of money, she has a savings account, but today when she and her friends learned that they could dress like their favorite book character this Friday at (remote) school, she was very happy to pay for a costume that is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.  (Thank you Amazon.)

Lucy doesn't like to go shopping and especially hates an outing to Costco, but today is eager to go with her dad.  I think the draw of being able to select her own birthday cake is too much to resist.

I'm extremely proud of how she's handled this covid-lockdown and going to school remotely.  I know she'd rather do it in person, but she's been focused and engaged.  

I'm happy to be her mom.  💓💓

 

the vacation not taken

 Planning and organizing vacations is as much fun as taking the vacation.  Or so I thought until the planned vacations never materialized.  

We cancelled our New York trip and New England / Canada cruise that was scheduled for August 2020.  We turned that trip into a snazzy patio couch and seats plus a twenty-two foot awning which makes being on the deck manageable.   I really love our western facing backyard, but when it's warm outside the deck was unbearable.   The awning has basically created an entire new living space for us during the warm weather months.   The vacation would have been great, but the redirection of those funds will have a longer lasting impact.  

We also had a Disney Cruise on the books for March of 2020.  This was a seven night Mexican Riviera cruise.   Sounds fancy right?  Well, the ports were Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo.  I was feeling a bit "meh" about this one.  I was excited about going with friends and how much fun Lucy would have on a cruise with a buddy; she was so great on the old person Panama Canal trip.   As COVID-19 started to amp up in the news, and cruise ships started to be the focus we began to re-think our plans.

February 5, 2020

Diamond Princess became the epicenter of the virus impact on the cruise industry in February 2020  (Photo via Princess)

2/5/2020

• Diamond Princess is quarantined off the coast of Japan after multiple reports of respiratory illnesses onboard. By February 13, there would be 218 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus onboard. By February 18, the number of confirmed cases would soar to 542.

We called and called and called Costco travel to rebook into a different cruise a year later, and that took a long time to complete.  The Costco Travel people worked incredibly hard during that time to help, basically every person in their programs.   We finally landed on a future cruise out of Miami in April of 2021.  I mean, the virus had to be under control by then right?

This change was a shorter cruise, but with a more appealing itinerary (to me anyway) and we were still meeting our travel friends on the ship.   We also took note that multiple ships had to deny passengers from leaving, and passengers were sequestered into their cabins for the majority of that time.  The idea of being in an inside cabin during a moment like that was not at all a risk I would be willing to take.  If we ended up having to spend extra days on the ship at least we would have fresh air.  Therefore while our trip shortened by two nights, we did select a room with a verandah.     My expectations are not that we would be able to soak in the sun on our luxurious balcony,  but we would have a window to open and an extra 80 square feet or so.   This did increase our trip budget by $2,000 it was worth it.

We tried for a brief moment to book a March 2020 trip to San Diego to enjoy that planned vacation time in a sunny place, but even that was cancelled after the national quarantine was announced.     Our original March 2020 cruise was eventually cancelled by Disney, and they offered every guest a premium for rebooking.   We had already done so, but for some crazy customer focused logic they extended the credit to us as well.   Thank you Mr. Disney.

Summer rolled around like it always does and we spent a week in Seabrook which was really fun, and then at the end of August, the in-laws came for a week.   The back yard inflatable pool isn't as awesome as the Caribbean ocean, but it will do. 

In December, during a fit of boredom I took a look online at future Disney cruise itineraries.   I found our current itinerary but in April of 2022 and saw that for about $200 (LESS) we could book into our same cabin but in the concierge class.  The perks aren't as fancy as a private butler and special restaurants like on the cancelled NY/Canada cruise, but it was less money!  After a frantic conference with the travel companions we are now booked on a ship in April of 2022.

We are still moving air fare credits around and I am hopeful that we will get to use them some day. 

The proactive move to change the Disney cruise proved to be a good one, as the April 2021 cruise has just been cancelled by Disney. 

Looking at the cost of the trip we're now booked on the amount of rooms available are considerably less and the cost of the concierge class has jumped by $2000.  Lucky us.

We have a replacement spring break trip planned to a resort in Palm Springs.  We're hopeful that even with COVID still being an issue that we can go, hang by a pool and get warm.

Fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday!

 HB to my guy.  We have lots of special surprises for today.  💋💋  We are the luckiest to have you.

Now, onto current events.   The inauguration went off without a hitch.  That was a big relief.   There are still lots of warnings about internal terrorists who have plans to disrupt "things", and the nations capitol and the state capitol has lots of extra security.  

What is interesting is that the same people who were going on and on about the election being rigged and stolen were pretty silent on the 6th, and are now bitching about all the extra military at the capitols.   I think they genuinely do NOT see a connection to their (support of) actions and the results.

It has been blissful with the former president not being able to tweet his hate for others, and his 'silence' is like a breath of fresh air.   It doesn't mean that the crazies aren't still crazy, but the news at the end of the day is about progress, rescinding hateful executive actions, and confirmations of  (GASP) qualified people to cabinet positions.   

I knew that with a new president that not everything would calm down, and it hasn't.   There are people who genuinely believe that the main stream media is filled with lies and that the election was faked.   I posted on facebook a story about a rule change that was adopted in late December early January that amongst other things allowed social service agencies to turn people away because of their sexual orientation.     A cousin of J's hopped right into it and attacked my post because my source was CNBC.  After I found and posted the actual rule change from the agency, this person went on with anger and vitriol.   

NBC says it so it must be true..... You are the Brainwashed and the Fascist bullies that want to force people to believe as you do! The media does no research and regurgitates what the AP says. #NotMyPresidentEver #resist

Then later, someone else, who I actually know popped in with this:

Yet you voted for a twice candidate who sold out his country to enrich his son and brother, who authored the crime bill which jailed more blacks than slavery, who eulogized a KKK member, and is beholden to China and is so secure in his "victory" he has 35k troops protecting the inauguration. You support everything you say you hate about Trump. Good luck with Joe.

 When I first read the first post I was taken aback by the missing of the point, but now that I read it again, he pretty clearly states that he doesn't agree that the rule change is wrong.   That's sad.  He has gay family members - maybe not his own kids but pretty close.  I'd bet my soul that Jesus wouldn't say "Feed the poor, except the homos, they are on their own."

As for the other guy, this is a great example of missing connections.   Why would troups be needed if people hadn't stormed the capitol, or weren't planning to do it again?   

I don't excuse past behavior, but I'd rather have a president who acknowledges that decisions made years ago aren't right anymore than one who does those things today and without apology.   

I'm sure someone will read this and rip me a new one or be pissed that I'm airing my opinions in public but I stand by my original point - discrimination based on anything including sexual orientation, gender, race is bad, and a government who is supposed to represent all the citizens should not allow it to happen.

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

 Written by: Heather Cox Richardson

January 6, 2021 (Wednesday)

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

This morning, results from the Georgia senatorial runoff elections showed that Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff had beaten their Republican opponents—both incumbents—by more than the threshold that would require a recount. The Senate is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, so the position of majority leader goes to a Democrat. Mitch McConnell, who has bent the government to his will since he took over the position of majority leader in 2007, will be replaced.

With the Democrats in control of both Congress and the Executive Branch, it is reasonable to expect we will see voting rights legislation, which will doom the current-day Republican Party, depending as it has on voter suppression to stay in power.

Trump Republicans and McConnell Republicans had just begun to blame each other for the debacle when Congress began to count the certified electoral votes from the states to establish that Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The election was not close—Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and the Electoral College by 306 to 232—but Trump contends that he won the election in a landslide and “fraud” made Biden the winner.

Trump has never had a case. His campaign filed and either lost or had dismissed 62 out of 63 lawsuits because it could produce no evidence for any of its wild accusations. Nonetheless, radical lawmakers courted Trump’s base by echoing Trump’s charges, then tried to argue that the fact voters no longer trusted the vote was reason to contest the certified votes.

More than 100 members of the House announced they would object to counting the votes of certain states. About 13 senators, led by Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), agreed to join them. The move would slow down the count as each chamber would have to debate and take a separate vote on whether to accept the state votes, but the objectors never had anywhere near the votes they needed to make their objections stick.

So Trump turned to pressuring Vice President Mike Pence, who would preside over the counting, to throw out the Biden votes. On Monday, Trump tweeted that “the Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” This would throw the blame for the loss onto Pence, but the vice president has no constitutional power to do any such thing, and this morning he made that clear in a statement. Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

It seemed clear that the voting would be heated, but it was also clear that most of the lawmakers opposing the count were posturing to court Trump’s base for future elections. Congress would count Biden’s win.

But Trump had urged his supporters for weeks to descend on Washington, D.C., to stop what he insisted was the stealing of the election. They did so and, this morning, began to congregate near the Capitol, where the counting would take place. As he passed them on the east side of the Capitol, Hawley raised a power fist.

In the middle of the day, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd, telling them: “Let’s have trial by combat.” Trump followed, lying that he had won the election and saying “we are going to have to fight much harder.” He warned that Pence had better “come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.” He warned that Chinese-driven socialists are taking over the country. And he told them to march on Congress to “save our democracy.”

As rioters took Trump at his word, Congress was counting the votes alphabetically by state. When they got to Arizona, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood up to echo the rhetoric radicals had been using to discredit the certified votes, saying that public distrust in the election—created out of thin air by Republicans—justified an investigation.

Within an hour, a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Cruz, along with the rest of the lawmakers, was rushed to safety (four quick-thinking staffers brought along the electoral ballots, in their ceremonial boxes). As the rioters broke in, police shot and killed one of them: Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, QAnon believer, and staunch Trump supporter. The insurrectionists broke into the Senate chamber, where one was photographed on the dais of the Senate, shirtless and wearing a bull costume that revealed a white supremacist tattoo on his abdomen. They roamed the Capitol looking for Pence and other lawmakers they considered enemies. Not finding them, they ransacked offices. One rioter photographed himself sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet on it.

They carried with them the Confederate flag.

Capitol police provided little obstruction, apparently eager to avoid confrontations that could be used as propaganda on social media. The intruders seemed a little surprised at their success, taking selfies and wandering around like tourists. One stole a lectern.

As the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security all remained silent, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke to cameras urging calm and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to go home. But CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins later reported that she spoke to White House officials who were “genuinely freaked… out” that Trump was “borderline enthusiastic” about the storming of the Capitol because “it meant the certification was being derailed.”

At 4:17, Trump issued his own video, reiterating his false claims that he had been cheated of victory. Only then did he conclude with: “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.” Twitter immediately took the video down. By nighttime Trump’s Twitter feed seemed to blame his enemies for the violence the president had incited (although the rhythm of the words did not sound to me like Trump’s own usual cadence): “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Twitter took down the tweet and banned the president for at least twelve hours for inciting violence; Facebook and Instagram followed suit.

As the afternoon wore on, police found two pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., as well as a truck full of weapons and ammunition, and mobs gathered at statehouses across the country, including in Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Georgia.

By 5:00, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller issued a statement saying he had conferred with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and had fully activated the D.C. National Guard.

He did not mention the president.

By late evening, Washington, D.C., police chief Robert J. Contee III announced that at least 52 people had been arrested and 14 law enforcement officers injured. A total of four people died, including one who died of a heart attack and one who tased themself.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged people to stay away from Trump to limit their chances of being prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. By midnight, four staffers had resigned, as well as Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, with other, higher level officials also talking about leaving. Even Trump adviser Stephen Miller admitted it was a bad day. Quickly, pro-Trump media began to insist that the attack was a false-flag operation of “Antifa,” despite the selfies and videos posted by known right-wing agitators, and the fact that Trump had invited, incited, and praised them.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis laid the blame for today’s attack squarely at the feet of Trump himself: “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, and effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”

The attempted coup drew condemnation from all but the radical Trump supporters in government. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement “on insurrection at the Capitol,” saying “it is a sickening and heartbreaking sight.” “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election,” he said, and accused such leaders of enflaming the rioters with lies and false hopes. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was more direct: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

Across the country tonight are calls for Trump’s removal through the 25th amendment, impeachment, or resignation. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus, writing to Pence urging him to invoke the 25th. Angry at Trump’s sabotaging of the Georgia elections in addition to the attack on our democracy, prominent Republicans are rumored to be doing the same.

At 8:00, heavily armed guards escorted the lawmakers back to the Capitol, thoroughly scrubbed by janitors, where the senators and representatives resumed their counting of the certified votes. The events of the afternoon had broken some of the Republicans away from their determination to challenge the votes. Fourteen Republican senators had announced they would object to counting the certified votes from Arizona; in the evening count the number dropped to six: Cruz (R-TX), Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

In the House, 121 Republicans, more than half the Republican caucus, voted to throw out Biden’s electors from Arizona. As in the Senate, they lost when 303 Representatives voted in favor.

Six senators and more than half of the House Republicans backed an attempt to overthrow our government, in favor of a man caught on tape just four days ago trying to strong-arm a state election official into falsifying the election results.

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

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EDIT AT 12:00 on January 7: The symbol on the abdomen of the rioter on the Senate dais is a religious symbol that has been appropriated by white supremacists, not the Ku Klux Klan specifically, as I wrote originally. I apologize for the error.

 

Christmas 2020

 Well, that was a different Christmas.  We enjoyed the break and it feels like we had a vacation.

We did lots of post Christmas organizing, including my office, which at the moment feels spacious and tidy.  

Visiting with our families over the Internet is certainly not the same as being in person, but we managed to make it a festive time. Jason was very proud of his prime rib and I thought we produced a great dinner. 

As per usual, we had too many gifts, but at least we did our part to stimulate the economy.  

Favorite gift... bamboo sheets!  

Elfie is Covid ready

Zooming with Grandma Susie & Papa

Jason gets gifts

Happy Christmas

Visiting with Grandma G!