Moving On…
Many of you will be relieved to know that I’m not going to talk about the election for a while. It’s not that I don’t care (I do), or that I’m not still sad (I AM). I just feel like it’s time to lighten up a little. Life goes on, right? Tobia has started a Cool Bloggers Autumn Soup Challenge, and luckily I made one recently that fits perfectly. It’s the Cozy Curry Noodle Soup from Minimalist Baker. It’s cozy! It has noodles! And curry! What’s not to love? If you look at the photo on the website you’ll laugh, because my soup looks nothing like hers. I made it with tofu, and used broccoli instead of bok choy. Also, she knows how to take great food photos and I obviously don’t. But this was delicious, and I’ll make it again. In other news- I’m getting excited about my race on Saturday! To review: last May I recklessly signed up for a 12 hour race. The format is, you run a 4.3 mile loop on a trail, as many times as you can/want to for 12 hours. I had some big hopes and dreams- THEN, I spent the summer battling a mysterious and frustrating calf injury. Sigh. So, I won’t be running for 12 hours. But that’s okay! Here are my new goals for this race: SHOW UP AND HAVE FUN. I should be able to achieve this one. PUSH MYSELF. I’m not going to stop just because it’s hot, or I’m tired. 20 miles seems like a reasonable distance to shoot for. BUT… HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO STOP IF SOMETHING HURTS. This might be the hardest one. I know I won’t want to stop early- but the last thing I need is another injury. Today I stopped at REI for some race fuel, and I got one of these: I’ve never tried this flavor! I feel like it could be super gross, but I just had to get it and see for myself. I AM still the Crazy Pumpkin Lady (although… the December flavors and scents are starting to seem awfully appealing!) Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend? Top photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash
November 6, 2024
Well, it was quite a day. I don’r work on Wednesdays, so I had the luxury to alternate between seeking comfort, trying to distract myself, and crying. I’m still trying to make sense of it all, and I’m still extremely sad. I cried when I saw the election results. I cried when I told my daughter what happened. After I dropped her off at school, I came home, sat on the couch and cried. Then, I got myself together. I made some tea and oatmeal, and sat on the couch with my cat snuggled nearby, reading blogs. Most people (unlike me) had gone ahead with previously scheduled posts, so there wasn’t much talk of the election results, which was very comforting. After a while I took a short nap (because I didn’t sleep much the night before, obviously) and then I sprang into action. On the way to school my daughter had a mini-meltdown, saying she doesn’t have anything to wear. Well- I’m not sure that’s our biggest problem right now, but it IS a problem I can do something about. I headed off to the mall. This was a dangerous excursion, because remember, I live in Florida. It’s not like I’m surrounded by a like-minded community. But I did notice a couple signs I’ve never seen before: Ah, retail therapy. I browsed! I bought crap I didn’t need! I didn’t even bring my own bags. And then I got a Coke Zero from, of all places, Chick Fil-A. I grappled with that for a moment, but they’re the only place in the food court that has it so finally I thought “Just get the damn drink, Jenny. It doesn’t matter.” This was a good diversion- I only had one bad moment. In one of the stores, a woman was talking loudly on her phone. She said ‘Well, we got rid of the democrats, so now we can start fixing things.” Um- did you ever stop to think that maybe not everyone voted the same way you did, and we don’t want to hear that? Oh wait- “Trump supporter” and “compassion” don’t go together (oops, sorry. I’m very sorry! I try to go high when they go low, but I don’t always succeed.) On the way home, I got a text from my son in answer to a message I had sent him earlier: He’s right. Of course, he doesn’t know what will happen during the next four years; no one does. But there are people who this will affect much more than me. I mean, look at me: “Oh no! Trump won the election! Well, I’m off to the mall to buy soap!” I really am privileged (but I’m still extremely sad.) One more thing- I’m so grateful for this blogging community. Of course I have like-minded friends, and I have my sister, but I don’t have a local community to turn to. Thank you, blogger friends! What did you do on Wednesday? Top photo by Simeon Muller on Unsplash
The Sun Will Rise Again
Deep in my heart, I truly didn’t believe this outcome was possible. I’m not even thinking about what the next four year will be like- my brain hasn’t gotten that far: I’m just trying to understand how this happened. Trump is a mean, crude, sexist, racist, bully, and I’m deeply, deeply saddened that so many people voted for him. It makes me feel like an outsider in my own country. Maybe I’m the one who’s not seeing things correctly? I’m confused. Remember what Barack Obama said on election day 2016: “No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning.” On this sad day, look for the sunrise, my friends.
The Cool Bloggers Election Support Group
For Day 5 of NABLOPOMO I thought we should start a Cool Bloggers Election Support Group (inspired by poor Engie’s post yesterday.) You don’t have to be a blogger to join, but if you join, you’re automatically cool. The agenda for our first meeting is: Are you planning to follow the election coverage tonight??? I kind of feel like I can’t bear to watch. But how can I NOT watch? I can’t just go to bed like nothing is happening! My first idea was that I could hide in bed, preferably with a book and a cat, and my sister could text me updates. But she would only be allowed to text me good news, and eventually she would just vaguely assure me that everything would be fine, and I should go to sleep. Strangely, my sister wasn’t really down with this. So my next thought was to watch the coverage from start to finish, with a six pack of beer. If I wake up Wednesday feeling like crap, that’s okay! It’s my day off, so after I take my daughter to school I could just go back to bed. This option is temping, and definitely a valid plan, but I probably won’t do it. My husband came up with a third option, which is to ignore the election coverage entirely and spend the evening watching Seinfeld reruns. Hmm. Maybe we’ll do a combination. We’ll make pizzas and I’ll have ONE beer. We’ll start watching the coverage and go from there. Depending on how things are going, I can keep watching, have another beer, turn on Seinfeld, or go to bed. What will you be doing tonight? Do you think we’ll have a result by Wednesday? By the end of the week? Are you freaking out, or glad the election is finally here so we can get it over with?