Thursday Thoughts - there's a pale moon in the sky the kind you make your wishes on

1. The Olympics and sports leagues are having a time. As FeministaFabulous said on Instagram in two separate posts, "Are the Olympics okay?" and "Alternately, we could just let women live" in regards to attire. The racism, sexism, and ableism on display in the Olympics and various sports boards or whatever in leagues wherever is straight fucking trash. Not to mention disqualifying a track woman for marijuana, which has never made anyone faster at anything or enhanced performance regarding speed in anything. Can we fucking do away with archaic "laws" that are just there to oppress people? Man alive.

2. Hard agree. Me yesterday.

3. I'm letting my toenails breathe, which I never ever do in the summer. They're always polished. It's quite liberating and also feels like something has been left undone, been overlooked, got lost in translation.

4. Through work from home life, I started working at the dining room table, then eventually I moved to a room in the basement, made MFD give me his big desk, set myself up nice, then decided I wanted to move my office to the top floor. So this is in progress. The pink cabinet was brought home from the shore a few years ago. The chair is from the basement. I'm building out a gallery wall the way I like to do it which is not measure jack shit and just assemble things I like which is eclectic and also loud. My pink desk is coming in a little over a week. The second desk we had in the basement that I made MFD take is over 10 years old and is about to collapse. 

5. Yes, that's a new dog bed for the new office too. MFD was like, "Can we stop buying new dog beds? We have so many." No. We cannot. Go on about your business and worry about your own self. 

6. I am trying to build a routine where I go into the office once every other week at least with the goal possibly being once a week by the end of the year. I need a day out of work from home life and I miss a lot about the city. There's a lot I don't miss too, but I do miss some.

7. I will never understand not getting this vaccine if you are able to get this vaccine. Imagine your children or grandchildren getting Covid because of you. Imagine them having long-haul health issues because of you that negatively impact their whole lives. Hell, not even kids related to you closely, just kids you pass by in the store because I know for shit sure people who are not vaccinated are going to stores and out in public and not wearing a mask or maintaining distance. Going mask-free and closing up the distance is for people who are vaccinated. Not people who refuse to get the vaccine. Imagine in general thinking 600,000+ dead from a virus is not a big deal. 

8. Co-sign this. In my world this time of day is good for absolutely nothing except laying around, reading, or doing other things that don't require serious brain power. 

9. Reminder: We have a tendency as humans to count small things piling on each other - or more typically a big thing piled on by smaller things. Sometimes, unfortunately, a few big things in succession that feel like knock outs. Most of us still have so much going right for us and it's good to remind myself (and you, in the process) of that. 

10. Ecards: can't hurt to give yourself a leg up.

Happy birthday to Mr. Chris yesterday!

And you?

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to or most recently heard when I'm starting this - this week is I don't wanna fight by Tina Turner

Thursday Thoughts - We may find it out on the street tonight, baby or we may walk until the daylight, maybe

1. What my dogs are eating this week (high priced meat from a farm in Texas along with ground turkey, butternut squash, peas, and rice)...

2. Looks better than what we are eating, which last night was Trader Joe's veggie fried rice with eggs added in of course.

3. I don't even want to mention Tuesday night's dinner, in which MFD was put in charge and served pot pies and soggy sweet potato fries after asking me what he should make. Literally one of the main points of not making dinner is not having to decide. Do I love those things? No. Will I eat them because I didn't have to make them and be happy about it? Yes. He served those things at 7:20 after me sending a "where is dinner" text. He deposited my food on the ottoman in the apartment and said, "here's your food, Tina" like Napoleon Dynamite. I was cracking the fuck up. Sir, we eat at 4:15 during the coronavirus pandemic, like seniors. Act right. MFD is sober seven years today. What an insanely different life than I could even imagine 7.5 years ago.

4. Coworkers out there killing it this week.

5. I'm out there killing it too, and it's pitch black by 5:15, which makes for a lot of this coupled with about 50 pages of reading and never moving from the couch to the bed. 

6. I am trying to be outside at least twice a day for a good chunk of time. On workdays that means either before, during lunch, or after, with the caveat now being "after" means go outside from 4-5 and then work from like 5:15-6:30. I did the before, during, and after this week. 

7. Because every day is Groundhog Day in that I do the same things, but not like Groundhog Day in that I try to do them in a different order. It's called Pandemic Innovation, Sally. Look it up.

8. I still don't have it in me to write about the Election, either MFD's or the presidential, aside from saying that I’m happy both are over, and yes, the presidential one is fucking over and there are a lot of traitors out there. Also the best thing of anything is the Four Seasons Total Landscaping and the fact that Philadelphia has organized a Fraud Street Run surrounding the snafu, as Philadelphia does. I love it. 

9. Reminder

10. Ecards - listen...tomorrow's Friday Five is a foray into lounge pants. You'll want to be around for that given the winter we all have ahead of us.

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Incident on 57th Street by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

TWTW - the one with the excessive heat

Thursday I had company in the passenger seat because some dog threw up on the way to the shore and Ben and Gus were in the non-puke spots. We arrived to glorious skies and I nearly had a hanger meltdown in the grocery store but everyone made it out alive. 

Friday Work, overseen by dog bosses. MFD went to see his mom and then went home for a showing so after work I moseyed around to see what was in bloom, picked up holds from the library, painted my nails (Essie Penny Talk & OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini), and when MFD got back we went up to the boards for a stroll and ice cream. We ran into Jen & Neil & the girls and it was great to see them. It was a breezy, comfortable night, and I was surprised. 

Saturday dawned neither breezy nor comfortable. I made egg salad and after doing turnover in the house upstairs, MFD braved the beach to fish but I said fuck that and the surface of the sun heat and dicked around reading a book halfway through that I should have put down hours ago. I started a new one right before bed and it hit the spot. 

Sunday Just another morning living on the surface of the MFing sun. Do you see my pics getting less and less as it gets hotter and hotter? If it's too hot for me to go to the beach or take photos, you know there's a problem. I finished a book, dropped MFD off to fish, spent a few hours with Kim and my goddaughter and her fam, and came home to eat tomato sandwiches and start a new book. I spent the entire day as a sweaty, disgusting pig mess and I'm over it. 

Weekly food prep: My schedule is up in the air this week and so is my food. Bet on fruits & veggies and I'm definitely making macaroni salad at some point. 

And Mister Chris's birthday was yesterday. 

I'm looking forward to being able to breathe outside again. 

Thursday Thoughts - I don’t need to fight to prove I’m right, I don’t need to be forgiven

1. This is late and lame - late yesterday I was like shit tomorrow is Thursday and I should have Thoughts. MFD was supposed to come home from the shore Monday but didn't get home until Tuesday so I left work early Monday to finish out the day at home and worked from home Tuesday as well. I'm all confused. Plus I'm off tomorrow, my first day off since March 15. I am thrilled. Confused on days, but thrilled. Almost as thrilled as the dogs are when I work at home.

2. Confused on how to leave the house to run errands too, apparently. 

3. Someone finally diagnosed what's wrong with my oven and the part is on order. Praise Jesus and Hallelujah. It only took three freaking visits over a 31 day period. It's the goddamn igniter. It's not that hard. 

4. At the shore MFD painted the ceiling and someone came out to replace a disappeared screen on the fourth floor, which were two of the remaining big three things that need to be done before Memorial Day. The third is power washing and that will happen Sunday. I updated the About the House and Around Town shit and I always feel like we're stealing home base heading into Memorial Day. It comes up quickly. Also who the hell has ever heard of screens just disappearing out of fourth floor windows? 

5. I won a cookbook from Gina. I freaking love Ina. Do you guys follow Gina's blog? Go check her out at Ciao Bella.

6. Nails: OPI My Private Jet.

7. Let's see, what else: reading netgalley books and fucking up my goodreads tracking over the past week, wearing my Divine Badass shirt from Gena, putting the rest of the year's vacation days into my calendar, keeping up with picking up around the house, scheduling a Vietnam Vets pickup, perusing thrift stores and online yard sale sites for a chair, raging over the carnies causing chaos on my street this week,

8. I am ready to set the world on absolute fire. I can barely scroll through social media. I want to drop everything and act. I feel like a never ending scream is caught in my throat and I'm not even a child bearing person in one of these states, someone of color, someone without means. It is infinitely harder for all of those womxn. Solidarity. This is the hill I will die on. There should be ZERO abortion laws on the books, anywhere. It is a womxn's choice made in consultation with her doctor and if she has one, her higher power. It is certainly not my business, or yours, or any government official's. It is not your right to impose your beliefs and your higher power on someone else. PERIOD. What you personally would or would not do, what you believe in according to your faith has zero bearing on the bodily autonomy of other people. The country is not ruled by your religion, and women you don't know aren't either. Fuck the patriarchy, fuck the white men making these laws, fuck the women who are their foot soldiers, and fuck you if you agree with any of it.

9. Reminder: As long as you need, whenever you need.

10. Ecards.

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 Baba O'Riley by The Who

Thursday Thoughts - let's tighten it up now

1. I am a child of the moon, and it cast a magnificent glow Monday night.

2. My attitude was shit Monday, bolstered by a long, hot, thirsty, standing train ride into the city. By Tuesday I was fully settled into my February snarkiness that hits every year this week. I need more light and time outdoors. Bring me spring.

3. Given my attitude, I didn't mind making my work from home day Wednesday, especially with the snow. Working from home wardrobe > in office wardrobe.

4. Other working from home scenes because. Because. Bruce refuses to come in when it snows. He prefers to stay outside and eat it like it's a grand delicacy.

5. I won these masks from Gina at Ciao Bella! (she's a new blogger and doesn't do social media, which I love, so please go say hey) and Pam sent me these cute towels for sending her some books! Thanks ladies.

6. My wasteful paper cupcake things are finally done. I got these from Target - washable, freezable, no waste. Silicone, not my favorite, but they'll do in lieu of throwing out paper every time. Some of my muffins won't freeze and come out okay if I don't use something that's not just the pan. 

7. I have spent a shit ton of money on dog treats through the years. Geege always turned his nose up at simple biscuits so I got used to buying other stuff. You know what these dogs like? The $1.45 box of made in the USA biscuits from Aldi. I'm not complaining. Do you know how many treats four dogs go through?

8. What else about this week? It feels draggy and blah. I've eaten a lot of carrot cake Oreos and they are delicious. I've been killing it for weeks with my night skincare routine, I usually dick out one or two nights but it's been strong. Although there is an under the skin Kilimanjaro size pimple threatening to distort my chin line. I dragged through reading the fourth Tracy Crosswhite novel. I kept not making an acupuncture appointment and my entire pinched nerve affected side is killing me so I desperately need one and it's finally today at 3. I miss the shore. 

9. Reminder:

10. Ecard of the week:

Well? 

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 Tighten Up by Archie Bell & The Drells

Thursday Thoughts - you try and change me you can go to hell 'cause I don't want to be nobody else

1. I fucking love a riot of color. These trees by my house always make me stop and stare.

2. MFD finally scored a point in this season's Thermostat Wars by freaking out and putting the heat on Monday night. He came in at 73 right out of the gate and quickly fell behind in the game when it was immediately knocked back and then knocked back further when the house warmed up.

3. Philly looking lovely this week on my library walk and at the rally for Trans rights even though people should not have to rally to protect their existence. I am fucking over this bullshit. And any mealy mouth people out there going well they don't HAVE to just, shut up. Shut up. And the people saying nothing but who know trans is a thing - say something. Out loud. Shit or get off the pot. We belong to each other as human beings and we need to stand with people who are having their existence attacked.

4.  The Holocaust Memorial Plaza is finally complete. Swing by and have a look. The statue remains, this is just the addition.

5. About the attempted bombings, I'll share the statement from the Women's March team: "We are witnessing a coordinated effort to enact mass violence against political leaders and staunch critics of the administration in the United States. It is not a coincidence that these escalated acts of violence have followed verbal attacks from Donald Trump on the very people targeted, from Trump’s political opponents to a Holocaust survivor who has long been the fixation of anti-semitic conspiracy theories.

Death threats and rape threats — not to mention actual violence and murder — have become routine for far too many high-profile figures of the resistance, including every woman of color on the Women’s March leadership team. Just months ago, Vermont’s only black state legislator stepped down in a desperate attempt to stop the mounting death threats against her family.

These attempted bombings are part of an ongoing pattern of violence from right-wing extremists. The president’s rhetoric, and the right-wing extremist acts of violence that he himself has stoked, will not keep the majority of people who believe in democracy from exercising our right to free speech and taking action to defend our rights."

6. I worked from home yesterday and at lunch I ran some errands, including picking some stuff up at my mom's before mailing out SUYB prize mugs. Lola took some selfies of us.

7. Signs are in! And a little campaign life humor for you. Local friends, if you're not busy tonight come to the last fundraiser for MFD before Election Day - Thursday, 10/25 from 5:30 - 7:30 at Fergie's pub. Tickets are $35, get them here. Sign up to doorknock Saturday here and Sunday here - I'm pumped because Debbie will be down for the weekend to help, Angie and Rachael will be there, my mom is making lunch, and there will be three fierce progressive women out knocking for Mike Saturday as well - Liz Fiedler, Sara Innamorato, and Kerri Evelyn Harris.

8. When you work from home, you can wear the best clothes, mow the lawn and pick up dog poop while it's still light out, and make an actual dinner on the day you're going to eat it. I also put five bags/boxes out for Vietnam Vets to pick up this morning and started my third book this week. That hasn't happened in a while.

9.  Reminder: stay human. I see a lot of comments out there that let me know too many people are not choosing to keep their humanity. It kills me.

10. E-card of the week: and because of the above...

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 America's Sweetheart by Elle King.