Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues

I’ve been pondering many things lately – probably the result of having a lot of time to myself.

First – President Trump got shot, narrowly missed getting killed, and we’re supposed to believe that a 20 year old kid somehow managed this all by himself.

Second – the Resident resigned his position as a contender for the Presidency, and anointed Kamala-Ding-Dong as his successor. I have many questions about this. Is this legal? Shouldn’t there be another primary? Who gave him the right to do this? What about the people who voted for him in the primaries? Just because they voted for HIM, doesn’t mean they want HER, does it? I would be royally pissed if my vote was basically just thrown out and someone said, “oh, by the way, this is who you’re getting because we don’t care what you want.”

I don’t like Joe Biden. I’ve never made a secret of that. I’ve also never wished him harm. I believe he’s suffering from dementia and I totally blame his family for pushing him to stay in politics, stay in the race, even stay in the White House. It’s been very sad to watch this frail old man paraded out and it’s veen infuriating to be asked to ignore what was obvious and pretend he was completely fine. Had anyone treated my father like that, they would have seriously wished they had never met me. If there was anything left when my mother got finished with them. (Never a violent family, but we can cut you to the bone with words alone)

I don’t like Kamala-Ding-Dong, also for many reasons. The first one is that she slept with a married man. It’s been well documented, so I’m pretty certain it’s true. I take my marriage vows very seriously. I actually take any vow seriously – if you’re making a promise to God, you better be prepared to keep that promise. Also, as a witch (and not a Wiccan, by the way, the two are not the same) I understand the very real repercussions to breaking a vow. You just don’t do it. Not only that, you respect the vows of others. I blame the guy, yes, he was an equal partner. But she did it to advance her career. We’re telling young women they can compete with a man as an equal – sort of doesn’t seem to me that we want a role model who competed by dropping her drawers.

I watched the debate and tried to be unbiased, even though I really hate DingDong’s voice. It was pretty apparent that the moderators favored her. it was very apparent when she got fact checked once and Trump got nailed on stuff we all know is true.

Are they really eating pets in Ohio? I don’t know, but I think it should be investigated. I think someone should actually talk to the people there and find out what’s going on instead of just taking the word of someone who may not want the truth to be known.

I think it would be great if there was a way for ordinary people to send in questions that anyone running for office has to answer. Don’t tell me WHAT you’re going to do, without telling me HOW you’re going to do it. I can tell you I’m going to Ireland next year – and you might believe me – but I have no real plan to go to Ireland next year, Bear would never fly that far so that’s not even a question. But I could tell you I’m going to – would you believe me?

I’m heartily sick of campaign commercials. If you really want my vote, quit it with the relentless ads. Unless they’re funny. Then you can run them a few times a day. I’m almost missing the damned Jardiance commercials. (That’s a lie, I HATE those! And Wegovy. Just go away with the dancing and singing over a damned drug)

I’m about to make a batch of peanut butter fudge. I thought I’d end this on a good note. 🙂

On Sunday night, I went to the basement to peruse what we had in the freezer. Note the word “had.” Everything was fine, I brought up some tuna noodle casserole, which, by the way, does not freeze well, and that was that.

Monday morning, I went for my usual walk, then went upstairs to do my back exercises. I was lying on the bedroom floor when Bear yelled, “Susan, come help me!” I flew down the stairs, he was leaning over a chair in the kitchen and my heart stopped. I was about to dial 911 while asking what was wrong. He said, “The freezer. The green light on the bottom is flashing and the warning alarm is going off and stuff is starting to thaw.” Well. That’s not good. Better than Bear needing an ambulance, though!

We commenced calling around for freezer space – good friend had plenty, thank God. Loaded up stuff and took it up to her, then came home. Meanwhile the repairman called and he can’t come till tomorrow. Yep, a whole week. Oh well. At least the food is hopefully saved.

So Bear went to work an hour late, I went to get food for Maverick. I decided to bring up a baggie of frozen pumpkin that I had left in the freezer and use it instead of letting it just thaw and tossing it – we had run out of patience while loading up all the food and I said screw that stuff, it’s been there forever. So I went to the basement.

Let me remind you that there are frequently spiders in the basement. It is not somewhere I like to go on a regular basis. There is a large broom at the bottom of the stairs and I am not afraid to beat a spider to death with it, since Bear says I’m not allowed to shoot them in the house. I think that’s a stupid rule but since he so rarely tells me no, I suppose the broom will have to do.

Shock and awe ensued. The light was no longer blinking, the alarm was no longer blasting. The pumpkin was feeling pretty darned solid. What the actual F***? I messaged Bear. His reply was “What the F***?” (We curse too much. Deal with it)

I went for dog food, and when i got home, put a bowl of water in the freezer. On a side note, no spiders dared make an appearance, it was not the day for that nonsense! Later we checked, water was frozen. We’re having the repair guy come anyway and not bringing home the food till we know the bloody thing is definitely working correctly.

On Tuesday, Bear went to the doctor – Maverick took him down about a month ago, he landed on his left arm and the next day his hand looked like a cartoon balloon. He came home from the doctor wearing a brace. Well. That’s nice. Apparently it’s some weirdness and he has the brace for a few months along with Voltaren and prednisone and will be re-evaluated when he goes back

Wednesday I took my neighbor to a meeting of the Friends of the Library. She’s 89 and hasn’t been to a meeting in ages, so that was a lot of fun, she was the definite star of that show. However, on the way in, another lady fell and broke a rib.
CFSS, I tell you!

Thursday was actually calm,

On Friday, I posted a picture of a wall hanging I made on the Nextdoor Neighbor app in an attempt to sell it. I got a hit really fast, super excited! This person wanted to pay through Zelle. I checked it out, my bank participates, so I thought okay. I sent her my name and phone number and she said she had sent the money. I checked. I had a message saying they couldn’t complete the transfer because it was less than $150. Hunh? So I told her this and said, just meet me in town with cash. Nope, she wanted to do it this way. She would send me $100 and I could then send that back. Seriously? I don’t think so. I said no, blocked her, called the bank, set alerts on all my accounts and thought, “get a real job, bitch.”

Yesterday, I took Maverick for a long walk in the morning. It was all good – we’ve been working VERY hard on that loose leash thing and making progress, I’m proud to say. Later, I decided a second walk was a good idea. We got maybe 1/4 mile in and he started limping. We went home. I watched him like a hawk all evening. He seems fine today – interestingly, he always visits every tree and bush at the park, all of which are surrounded by mulch, and he always kicks the mulch around. Today, he avoided all of those spots. I realized that he started limping right after he visited one of the trees yesterday. I’m wondering if he got a piece of mulch between his pads and now associates that with his paw hurting.

At any rate. I’m praying that the CFSS is over. I have a baby quilt to sew for my BFF’s new grandbaby and it needs to get done before she goes to Iowa to visit for the first time!

*For anyone who doesn’t know, CFSS stands for “cluster fucking shit show!”

*** just for the likes 😂

I admit to being confused about this, I’m not sure who is taking away anyone’s right to reproduce.

I’m old enough to remember when there were only a few methods of birth control. Rhythm – which we joked about. “You know what they call people who use the rhythm method? Parents.” or the guy pulling out – and that one didn’t work any better than the other one. And then in the 70’s along came IUD’s and the pill and holy cow, no one really had to get pregnant if she didn’t want to.

(Please don’t think I don’t realize there are moronic men who want their women barefoot and pregnant, and there are cases of rape, and there are cases where it is indeed a health issue. These cases are a totally different thing from using abortion as birth control)

I’m from a generation who viewed getting pregnant outside of marriage as something not very desirable. Most of the time, and no, I don’t have statistics, but my experience showed that most of the time, the guy and the girl got married. If the girl had a reputation, then maybe she went away for a few months and came back a bit thinner, and no one really talked about that – except in whispers. Getting pregnant unmarried was definitely not something to be celebrated.

Birth control gave women the ability to have sex any old time and not have to worry about getting pregnant. It also gave guys the ability to screw ’em and walk away. Somehow, women got the idea that having multiple partners with no consequences to anyone was a really great idea. Young men, who essentially think with their dicks, also thought it was a great idea.

This was the “freedom” that came with birth control

Yes, people made mistakes. Women, girls, got pregnant. I went to college with a girl with got drunk, slept with a couple of guys in the same night, and ended up pregnant. Abortion was a new thing – well, not new, but newly legal in NY. We sent her off to the City to get this done, and she was honestly devasted by the whole experience. There was no “shout your abortion” or celebrities extolling the virtues of sleeping around and damn the consequences.

I don’t think sex is something to view with shame. I think it’s something that should be a loving expression of committment to your partner – the one you share your life with, not the one you share the evening with.

Call me old fashioned but I miss the days when people didn’t tell you who they wanted to screw before they told you their names.

1. Tampons. Can we please go back to a time when such things were not discussed in polite company? No woman, and I swear by that statement, wants to make it public that she has her period. No woman. And I don’t mean someone who “identifies as” a woman, trust me, if you’re a guy who thinks you want to have periods – I had cramps that would put me in bed for a couple of days, so you’re welcome to that shit.

2. I was not aware that one could choose to stop menstruating. (Yes, I know, I don’t want to talk about this but I’m doing it anyway because…..) Apparently one can take endless birth control pills and never have a period. Is this possibly healthy

3. Wegovy commercials. They are right up there with Jardiance commercials. Maybe spend money on teaching people how to lose weight in a healthy manner instead of having them dance around singing an obnoxious song?

4. Why in the heck are the soaps so dumb? Really, is it necessary to turn Hope into a Brooke Jr? And why is Katy being such a snit about Poppy? geesh!

5. Why in the heck would someone who served 24 years in the military – something to be proud of – choose to lie and embellish that record, knowing full well that the truth was bound to come out?

6. Why the heck can’t I get a straight answer about my future at the college? Sent one last email today and hopefully I’ll get an answer. And then I can plan for the rest of my life.

7. Why are people starting to talk about Fall and Halloween already? Can we please enjoy the Summer while it lasts?

8. Can we bring back public shaming? Blue hair looks stupid. Nose rings make you look like an animal that needs to be led around. Stop it, you look ridiculous.

9. Can we get back to basics in school and stop all the nonsense? We really don’t need drag shows in kindergarten, and if you want to take your child to one, you should be visited by CPS. Or some old fashioned grandmothers.

10. Why am I so bloody shy that I really hate trying anything new or doing anything new and my default is to say no. (Peachy will laugh at this one but it’s really true, I have to make myself say yes to things)

11 Why is it so difficult to decide what to have for lunch?

12. Why are there so many books and so little time? And so little room in my house for more? Why do I have so much yarn?

13. Why do people cancel stuff on the threat of bad weather – when it’s 24 hours or more away? Maverick is home today, mostly because no one else was coming for daycare so if he has no friends to play with, he may as well stay home. And we’re meant to get thunderstorms so he’ll be hiding upstairs with me.

14 why do so many things annoy me? 🙂

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And catching up

Where to start? I’m in NY for my annual pilgrimage to see old friends and visit dead relatives. This trip has been planned for months and almost canceled several times. The first “I’m not going” occured when I discovered that I haven’t been assigned any classes for Fall. While I’ve been planning on retiring at some point, that point was meant to be a few years from now, when our mortgage was paid off. The motel where I stay has raised prices – hasn’t everything gone up? (Let’s go Brandon) and I didn’t think I could justify spending the money when I will soon not have an income aside from Social Security. (Yes, I’m that old)

Bear chose to differ with that decision. He has assured me that although we will have to tighten our belts a bit – translated to “no more random shopping trips for shit I don’t need” – we will be fine with the money he makes. I’m thinking about what I’d like to do. I’m honestly tired of teaching. No, that’s not true. I love teaching, I’m tired of students who need to be bottle fed and have their hands held through every step and are incapable of figuring anything out on their own. I’m tired of academic politics and having to bite my tongue for fear of offending someone with koolaid dyed hair. I’m tired of being afraid to post that because I might lose my job. So I’m thinking about going private – private tutoring pays well and I wouldn’t have to deal with anyone I don’t like. We’ll see, nothing will be decided till I get back from NY

The second almost cancellation occured when I got out of bed on Thursdy morning and couldn’t put weight on my right leg without screaming in pain. I have a low pain threshold but this was excruciating – on a scale of 1-10, this was a 15. This was “I’ve been kicked in the crotch and then set on fire” level of pain. I somehow managed to get Maverick to daycare, then fell on the floor and tried my back exercises, after messaging my chiropractor for an emergency adjustment. He asked if I could be there at 2:30. I could have been there in 5 minutes! By the time 2:30 rolled around, a shower and a few ibuprofen had eased the pain back to manageable, I could walk upright although with a noticeable limp, He said something about twisted vertebrae, beat me up and sent me off.

I babied myself for the rest of the day. Bear packed the car and let me nap. I went to bed at 10 pm – my normal is 1 am. Got up in the morning and was able to walk relatively pain free so I headed out at 10. And for some reason, although i know how to get from my house to this motel, I chose to follow Siri’s directions and ended up adding an hour to the drive. It was an adventure! I went through towns I’d never visited in all the years I lived here!

That evening was pizza was one nephew, the next day was a birthday party for another nephew. Sunday was lunch with the oldest nephew, and Monday I spend the day with an old friend, who sent me off with several designer handbags that her deceased daughter had collected over the years – she could have sold them for a good chunk of money but wanted to give them to someone who would use them. She also gave me a really cute hat that had belonged to the same daughter. We laughed and talked all afternoon, I came home with a heart overflowing and a smile that wouldn’t quit.

Tuesday was a visit to my sister, office hour, late lunch, and class this evening. I’m tired! Something is planned for every day and I’m not used to being so on the go. I’m giving myself the evenings to decompress. Netflix and crochet, totally necessary.

Wednesday was a search for my cousin’s grave – we didn’t find it but we did find my aunt and uncle, so that was mostly a success. Thursday was a 150 mile drive to have lunch with a friend, give her a ton of yarn, and then drive 150 miles back to the motel. I hadn;t slept well, so that was followed by a two hour nap.,

Friday was lunch with a favorite cousin, then a trip to Walmart for socks – because apparently I can’t count.

Today I visited the rest of the cemeteries, had a good talk with my parents, and my grandparents, and got seriously annoyed at the state of my maternal parents’ graves. One cousin chose to plant a bunch of crap around their headstone, it badly needs weeding and I didn’t bring tools with me to take care of that. There are a plethora of cousins in this area, someone could get off their ass and do it. Then I had dinner with a favorite nephew and said “see you next year.”

Tomorrow is a visit with an old friend, my annual tarot reading from a dear friend, and finally home on Monday. I am so ready. While it’s been nice to have a break from daily stuff, I’m ready for home. A good cup of coffee, a shower in my own bahroom and a good night’s sleep in my own bed – sounds like a slice of Heaven.

I am so very grateful for the blessings in my life – my friends and family here, and my friends and family at home. I have more than I deserve and I am well and truly blessed