The aftermath

I was just re-reading last week's blog post and I felt sad to remember those days, only a week ago, when I still had hope that Kamala Harris might win the election and we would have happy days ahead. I was nervous, very nervous, but still that was better than the way things are now.

The IT people who work for the NY Times are on strike right now, so I guess you're not supposed to interact with the NY Times online while it's going on. Or something like that. Don't play games, don't look at recipes, not sure what else. I'm FINE with not reading the Times right now, because I'm trying to avoid all articles/discussion about politics and the election. At some point I assume I will go back to paying attention, but I'll see. I might have to do the whole thing from a distance for quite some time. Rocket Boy isn't afraid of the news, so he can tell me anything I really need to know. And I admit that I am reading a little bit of news, because the newspaper keeps being delivered to our house every day. I don't read much of it, but I see headlines and maybe read a couple sentences (and then wish I hadn't).

I don't want news, but I want community, other people who feel as sad as I do, so that we can feel sad together. And one place I find community, bizarrely, is in the comments sections for the NY Times games, particularly Connections. I do Wordle also, of course, but I don't read those comments much anymore. But I really like the Connections comments. There's a guy in New Zealand who always tells us what the weather is like and where he and his dog are going that day. Except that now because of the IT strike, he's staying away. I wonder if he will come back when the strike is over. I wonder when the strike will be over. 

I know I shouldn't play Wordle and Connections while the strike is going on, but I feel like I need them. Maybe that's selfish. The poor IT workers, paid more than almost anyone else at the Times, being forced to go to the office 2 times a week. (What?) I don't feel any sympathy for them. But I should. I'm sounding like a Trumper, not supporting a labor strike.

I don't know what to do anymore.

My cousin forwarded me the piece that Rebecca Solnit wrote, about how we have to go on, that this is nothing like the situation in (fill in the blank with some awful place and time). She's right, of course. And it's helpful to think that it could be so much worse. Sort of helpful. I also find that having some historical perspective, due to having read all those presidential biographies (I'm working on president #31 right now), helps me to not freak out too much. I mean, sometimes it helps. The bottom line is that we've had terrible presidents before and the country goes on, even when terrible laws are passed, etc. And life goes on, and gets better someday, even if maybe not in your lifetime. 

Something for the people in Ukraine to think about, I guess, as they wave goodbye to the remnants of their country. Also Gaza. I read that lots of Arab Americans in Michigan refused to vote for Kamala Harris because they don't like Biden's handling of the Israeli mess. And they think TRUMP is going to be better????? Trump is Netanyahu's biggest fan. If that wasn't a poor decision on those people's part, I don't know what would be.

I keep remembering 2004, also. George W. Bush won reelection over John Kerry even though he was the most terrible president ever (at that point), and Republicans also held the House and Senate. Those were the dreadful "freedom fries" years, when people drove around with flags on their cars. And four years later? Obama. So it can happen. Keep hoping, I guess. But of course, back then, Republicans hadn't turned into the screaming mess of insanity that they are now. There were still people in that party who believed in doing the right thing. They are all gone now.

OK, enough politics. I don't even want to be writing about this stuff.

***

We had a big snowstorm this week, maybe 10 inches or so total, over a couple of days, but it's almost all gone already (see photo at top for what it looked like briefly). I mean, there's still some snow on the lawn, but it'll be gone soon.

It was extremely cold and awful. It felt like February. Fortunately this week it is going to be in the 50s every day. I'm not ready for February. I did get down my winter clothes (long-sleeved shirts, some sweaters) and put away the summer clothes (tank tops, sundresses). I was hoping that some previously too-small clothes would fit this year, but they didn't, really. I haven't changed sizes, despite losing weight. It's odd. The main problem seems to be that my stomach is just as big as ever, so smaller shirts don't fit over it and smaller pants don't fit at all. The one thing that is fitting slightly better is sweaters, because my upper arms seem to be slightly smaller.

I guess this topic means it's time for the Mounjaro report.

• Weight the morning I took my first shot: 254.6
• Weight last Sunday: 231
• Weight this Sunday morning (after 21+ weeks on Mounjaro): 229.8
  

So, I lost another pound, but I was a little disappointed with that, considering how sick I felt this week and how little I ate (no bingeing in response to the election results). I am now down 24.8 lbs in a little over 21 weeks, for an average of 1.18 lbs per week, same as last week. Wouldn't you think an almost 25-pound weight loss would translate into clothes fitting better? Oh well. 

***

When Rocket Boy lived in Missouri, he got out and did something fun almost every weekend (unless he was sick). So he really wanted to do something this weekend. Today seemed to be the best day, halfway through the three-day weekend. I wanted to go to the Denver Art Museum, because we haven't been there in years and they're having a Maurice Sendak exhibit. Rocket Boy wanted to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science so he could see an exhibit about poisons in nature. But he was really hoping a twin would go with us, and Teen B was only willing to come if we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens (Teen A refused to go anywhere). It seemed like an odd choice, with snow on the ground, but I hadn't been there in ages, so I said OK, and RB was open to anything as long as it wasn't in Boulder.

And we had a nice time. It was warm -- you didn't need a coat. They had clearly gotten a LOT of snow, more than we did, and a lot of it was still on the ground. But the paths were mostly clear. A lot of areas were roped off -- maybe because of the snow, maybe because they're getting ready for Blossoms of Light, which starts in 10 days. You could hardly see any of the plants under the snow, just the little signs telling what they were. Teen B thought it looked like a cemetery, with the little signs acting as gravestones. We spent a long time studying a cholla cactus which was next to a sign for a Missouri Foxtail Cactus, looking up photos of the Missouri Foxtail Cactus on my phone and comparing them with the cholla, finally deciding that the Missouri Foxtail Cactus must be buried under the snow. The conservatory was closed for construction, which was disappointing, but the Orangery was open, and anyway, none of this seemed to matter. It was just nice to be out walking around on a warm fall day.

We ate lunch at the little cafe they have, Offshoots, and it was really good, although the prices seemed to have doubled since the last time we were there. And after walking most of the way through whatever gardens were open, we ended up at the pyramidal structure where we found an area they are currently calling the Habitat Lounge (or Eco-Sala, in the oddly translated Spanish). We sat in the sun and looked out at the snow and felt mostly OK, if still depressed. 

Then we looked at a few more things buried in snow, and then we went to the gift shop. I like that gift shop, but I never buy anything because it's all expensive and I don't need anything anyway. Today I bought myself some little flower earrings and a little glass dish (they weren't very expensive). I'm not sure why. I did it almost defiantly. Like, how dare all you Trumpers take away all the joy in the world, I'm going to buy myself something pretty while I still can. I probably could have given that money to a useful cause, that would have been better. But we have a little extra right now and, hm, I don't know. The gift shop was so pretty -- everything in it seemed to be covered with flowers. I wanted to bring some of that beauty home.

I feel as though disaster is going to strike soon and then it will be a long cold winter of my heart. 

For one thing, Trump will undoubtedly cancel all of Biden's attempts to forgive student loans, and then we'll have to start paying off Rocket Boy's again. There will be no more buying of trinkets in gift shops then, that's for sure.

***

So what do we have ahead of us this week? (Other than avoiding/ignoring the news.) Tomorrow is Veterans Day, so the kids have the day off school and Rocket Boy doesn't have to work. Teen A has an eye appointment; he wants to get contact lenses. That'll be interesting. I'm so used to seeing him with glasses. Then four days of school, probably with lots of homework, since after that there's only one week until Fall Break.

Next Friday night we're going to see the fall musical at the other high school. We like to go because our next-door neighbor is involved. They're doing "Bye Bye Birdie," which seems like a really strange, really retro choice. I remember going to see "Bye Bye Birdie" at I think the Children's Theatre in Palo Alto when I was like 10. As I recall there was a scene toward the end when the main characters smoke cigarettes, and they actually lit up on stage (this was a long time ago, obviously). I was horrified. Was that at the Children's Theatre? That seems impossible. Maybe it was somewhere else. Probably the smoking scene will be done differently in Fairview's production, but we'll see.

I'm going to be taking my shot in an hour or so, so I'll feel crappy for the next few days. But it will match my mood. I'll try to get a lot of reading done.