Momomama
I had a lovely holiday, I really did. We ate and talked and laughed and ate some more.
Then I got serious about Christmas decor. On Friday morning Bill and I drove over to Camp, where I cut loads of pine boughs for the railings of the porch. Then we tromped around in the snowy woods, looking for the perfect tree, preferably one that was actually on our property. We even debated the merits of cutting down a thirty foot tree and then just taking the top. We had all but decided to do that when we left. But as we drove home we passed a family farm that was selling trees for $15 each. I am pretty sure we will return there to get one.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Here's why: lots of food, no presents.
Last year my mother-in-law and I were in some unspoken competition for alpha bitch. (if by alpha bitch you just mean in control of cooking and not at all bitchy.) This year though, we are working together against the greater enemy...the sloth which overtakes my husband. Yesterday, our combined powers resulted in the installation of a pot rack, two shelves and a bathroom organizing system. Who knows what might accomplished today.
We have planned our menu and are starting in on the cooking tonight. I will be making the ginger cranberry sauce. She's doing the stuffing. But first I have to replace the loaf of sourdough we hid away from the males of the family. I thought Bill was the threat to it, but as it turns out Mo beat him to the punch. I came out of the shower this morning to find the dog lying blissfully in a pile of crumbs. I also spent $15 on cheeses at lunch time. Not a great move considering that my budget is a little strapped due to the impending season (heating oil and snow tires and presents.) But CHEESE! I love cheese. Especially five year old cheddar from a Vermont cow and fleur de somethinggoaty with the herb crust. Just the thing to eat whilst the turkey sputters in the vat of hot oil.
Enjoy your holiday!
It seems that everyone has a "work plan." Complicated charts and graphs that set the course for their work over the next year or three years. This is all new to me. I like to plan, but I don't see how I could ever find the time to stick to those goals when I'm always getting sidetracked by the crisis du jour.
This is the week I will create a work plan. Or at least I will pretend that I am going to in order to bide my time until my two days off.
I am the queen of the short post lately. I am queen of the short attention span. I am utterly exhausted. I even thought , when i opened the blogger window, that I'd have a long old post to put here, but I've got nothing. I'll tell you why. My mind is consumed with getting pregnant and why I should and why I shouldn't. I am trying to write an article about our accreditation process and Title X reviews and all I can think of is my chart. I try to listen in a meeting about free mammograms, and I can only stare across the table at the ballooning curve of the facilitators pregnant self. I think about health insurance. The woman next to me is wearing clothes that look very old and I suddenly imagine myself in the same outfit in ten years and someone to take to a sports practice after work.
So that's it. I think we are trying. Only, not again until February or March.
Well, so long bottom freezer...I barely knew ye. Bill says you are too small for us. I know he's right, but I loved you so. Sniff.
I bought a new fridge this afternoon...the ticking noise and pools of water coming from the old one were causing too much worry, expecially with Thanksgiving approaching.
So I sucked it up and bought the bottom freezer model, even though it is smaller than some of the other fridges I looked at, which were less. I just find those mesh drawers undeniable..
I just realized that my oldest friend, whom I have known since we were 9, turned thirty a few days ago.
How is that possible if she is just a year older than I am and I am still 16?
Last night Bill and I followed each other home from a talk in Plattsburgh. We took turns leading, and would switch after every time we stopped to take in the Northern Lights. They were all green - I'd love to see the other colors, but we only seem to get the one.
It was very cold by the time we were settled in at home..12 degrees.
This morning there was ice on the still waters in swamps, and a slight crust on the edge of the rivers and streams.
PS Foreign readers...we ARE sorry!
http://www.sorryeverybody.com/
Turns out, Nancy Reagan WAS right...we should
JUST SAY NO! Of course, she was talking about something else, but who cares! It felt good to give a piece of my mind...
In other news, reading young adult fisction for book club, and watched the OC. Life does go on, I guess.
Dinner and a glass of wine helped me out a lot. I'm not less upset, but more focused, more angry, less helpless.
I'd like to offer my version of what went wrong. The Dems and progressive supporters, including the political arm of my organization, thought we had cornered the market on mobilizing voters. We did not. 11.7 MILLION people voted for the first time ever. 68% of them voted for Bush. They got turned out by gay marriage intiatives. We should have seen it coming, and we didn't. We failed.
But that knowledge doesn't make me feel any different about the following: I feel betrayed and denied. According to the spin and exit polls, it was all about values and morals. I am sick and tired of being told that my opinions aren't moral. In fact, they are. I feel the way I do about abortion, gay marriage, healthcare, and war BECAUSE of my spiritual values and my faith. And it HURTS me deeply that the right acts as if this is impossible.
So there you go. What to do? I am writing a letter to the editor proclaiming my morals, and how they fit with my views. Do the same.
My blood pressure is still through the roof after the arrival of 25 anti-choice protestors outside of our health center this morning. They prayed at the top of their lungs...'Hail Mary, full of grace..." It was the most UNGRACIOUS UNCHRISTIAN act I have ever witnessed. And I mean that.
First you cry.
I am waiting for someone to tell me what to do.
This morning, Bill said to me, "You can be mad, but you can't let it get to you. You have to move on."
I admit I responded in an unpleasant way to me dear husband.
As an American, I am upset that the election did not go my way.
As a woman, I am a little worried about the future of my reproductive rights.
As an employee of that nationally known reproductive healthcare provider, I am terrified that our federal family planning dollars will be gagged, just like Bush did with international family funds. That means that the money we use for providing family planning services (birth control, educations, testing and treatment for STIs) would disappear UNLESS we agreed to not only stop providing abortions but also to stop MENTIONING abortion as an option. That means we'd lose half of our budget.
As an activist, I am terrified that Roe v Wade will be overturned.
And right now, I am not sure how I can stop any of this from happening. But I'm starting to think about it.
I've voted. Before I left for work, I made sure that my map of the US with its donkey and elephant stickers (that came in the New Yorker, courtesy of CNN) was on the coffee table. I made sure my wine glass was washed and ready to go for me as soon as I get home from book club. (No use REALLY settling in until the polls are closed.) Bring it on.
There a small stream at the bottom of our driveway and the refrigerator is leaking water and ticking like a time bomb. My car also needs snow tires.
This will be an expensive month.
Last night we sat on the couch eating halloween candy and fighting over the remote until we stumbled to bed at 8:30pm. Damn daylight savings time and duck hunting.
At 4:45 in the morning, we were in the truck, headed to Lake Champlain. I sat in the woods for three hours, and never fired a shot. So far so good. Over lunch (served at 10:48am) I explained to Bill that I must be a very good hunter, because I have not missed a single bird yet. Then we went shopping.
What a day.
