Thursday Thoughts - So happy Christmas

The publishing houses were giving this week. I got surprise packages from St. Martins Press - Maame by Jessica George, publishing February 7, 2023 (according to this copy, I have January 31, 2023 marked on Netgalley?) - and from Macmillan Red Queen (Antonia Scott #1) by Juan Gomez-Jurado with a bonus puzzle. This was originally published in 2018 and is the basis for an Amazon streaming series that's coming in 2023. I had Maame from Netgalley already, but prefer the physical book any day so will happily add both to my winter store of books I always start amassing in December. 

I'm also going to share books on Instagram that I'll mail for the cost of postage or a donation to Mighty Writers (which has pivoted to ALSO provide food donation in the face of food insecurity beginning in Covid and beyond in our communities as well as encouraging kids to be writers) or Room to Read. So keep an eye out for that, probably will do that next week in stories? I'm not sure yet. 

Jim has been the anchor of Action News since I was just over two months old. I cried a little on his last broadcast last night. I hope he has a terrific retirement.

Zelinskyy was amazing in front of Congress. 

All the motherfucking windows at the shore house save one have finally been replaced. It just took a little small claims court prodding for the last four. 

Billy Hicks has taken the guest room over as his room. There's a double bed and a single in the room, and they're pushed together so it's like an extra large bed. He sleeps on every part of it, under the comforter and under the sheets. Over the last week Ben has been joining him. They are sun animals. Yesterday they got evicted because humans need to use the room and we had to wash all the bedding. Billy lay outside and bitch meowed all day

I swear Shit MFD Says is coming back one day. Until then the fucking toenail clippers again.

Fantastic energy around the Winter Solstice last night. I was happy and clear setting my intentions for this new season. I hope you are at peace and ready for winter. 

Speaking of, the forecasted temperatures this weekend are rude. Really very rude. 

Mom dropped our Christmas Cookies off this week! I was very happy. As was Bruce.

Billy sat with me this week, which is not a thing. And other pet things.

Big love and hugs to anyone having a hard time with anything right now, big or small. This season is shiny and bright but it's also hard as fuck for a lot of people, sometimes for reasons they can't put into words. 

 
What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Fairytale of New York by The Pogues

Thursday Thoughts - merry Christmas time come and find you happy and there by your fire

1. In case you don't know what to get me for Christmas.

via The Sweet Feminist

2. Witness my camera getting shittier as apple wants me to update my phone.

3. I still have a cold and fatigue which makes it hard to get things done at home and I'm tired of a lot of shit right now including tired of being physically tired, blowing my nose, and coughing. Also, why can I smell nothing except urine in the street and my own sweaty feet after walking all over the city in velvet Toms? Like if you have to not be able to smell things, let’s not be able to smell those things for sure.

4. All I've managed to do consistently this week is work because everything is hurtling forward toward next Friday when many people are peacing out. I've worn Doc Martens twice and someone asked me if they still sold them. LOL forever. Yes. Yes they do.

5.  I am in the process of updating like over 500 blog posts that dropped the signatures off of them. One of them contains the recipes my mom uses for Christmas cookies which I share every year. I can't find it, so here they are again:

Granny’s Sugar Cookies

1C butter

2C sugar

2 eggs

4C flour

4TSP baking powder

1TSP salt

1TSP vanilla

Combine. Refrigerate. Roll and cut out. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Mom’s Molasses Cookies

3&3/4C flour

1TSP baking soda

1/2TSP salt

4TBS unsweetened cocoa powder

3TSP cinnamon

2TSP allspice

2 sticks butter, softened

1C sugar

1 egg

1/2C molasses

Sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg. Add molasses and stir well.  Combine with dry ingredients. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. Roll and cut out. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Can be iced with sugar icing or topped with sprinkles. 

6. I’m working from home today and at lunch I’m hoping to get my dining room table cleared of the shit that has been strewn across it for what feels like months.

7. Right about now is when I start thinking I don’t have everything for Christmas.

8. Kudos to Finland, and Megan Rapinoe, and Greta Thunberg, and the USWNT. Fuck yeah, ladies. No kudos to the bully in chief who cyber shit on Greta before and after this cover. He'll go away at some point, but the people who support his behavior will remain and that's the real problem - don't lose sight of that. Double down on rooting misogyny, racism, and hypocrisy out of your personal life - there's no place for it means there's no fucking place for it, period - and triple down on Senate races in 2020. You don't win those, nothing matters. Vote and talk about voting and drive people to vote and you get the picture.

9. Reminder:

10. Ecards. 

Happy birthday to Meem, yesterday. And today would be my Gamma's birthday!

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is Christmas All Over Again by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers