Day 83 through 88: Fighting Back

 

I fell into that dark place again, thanks to my digestive issues, but I'm fighting back now. Today is day 6 of no blood in my stool and the abdominal discomfort has resolved. The last couple of days have been what I would call "normal", but today felt the most normal I've experienced in several weeks ! It is clear that the yoga pillow I sit on all day is part of the problem, so I need to figure something else out. I'm not convinced another memory foam pillow would help, so maybe just a plain old pillow ?

So, what's been going on for the past week ? Well. The most exciting news is that Donald Trump was elected our 47h president on Tuesday November 5th ! Honestly, I was shocked. I really didn't think he'd win. He not only won the electoral vote, but he won the popular vote and all 7 swing states ! The Republican party also took the Senate and the House ! You can't say this election won't go down in history. Trump checked every single box on the election bucket list. Win electoral vote: check. Win popular vote: check. Win control of the Senate: check. Win control of the House: check. The media won't call this a landslide but it's close enough for me ! I really, really hope and pray that we made the right choice and that Trump comes through with a host of solutions to help all of the people in this country who have suffered through the past 4 years. Deport the illegals, close the borders, bring down gas prices, decrease food and healthcare costs. All of these things will cement his legacy. I'm a little nervous about Elon Musk's involvement, but I strongly believe he helped Trump win this decisive victory. I don't see my life changing much unless they gut Social Security or allow healthcare costs to soar. I don't spend a ton on gas or food, but any decreases will help me in the long run. A surge in the stock market will help my IRA account grow and that would be awesome ! I do feel bad for President Biden. It is clear he has dementia or Alzheimer's and that his party has tried to hide it for quite some time. I saw the progression in my father and what I've seen in Biden is no different. The minute the diagnosis was known they should have started preparing for a successor. When he was elected he said one term and that leads me to believe they already knew what was coming. So why didn't they spend those 4 years preparing Kamala Harris to run as the candidate in 2024 ?It is clear no effort was made so they decided Biden would run. It is also clear they didn't want to risk a primary. Did they really believe Kamala could win ? Hard to say. I think their initial hope was Biden would hang on long enough to win and then step down, handing the presidency to Kamala. That plan blew up at the June debate when it was clear Biden was not competent to run the country for another 4 years. They were between a rock and a hard place. Keep Biden and lose. Let Kamala run and roll the dice. Well, we all know what happened there. Bottom line is the Democratic party fucked up and the $1B plus that they spent on the campaign was a complete and total waste. I hope all the rich people that couldn't throw enough money at that party are happy.

In other news, this past Sunday was my annual pasta dinner. It had the potential to be a disaster and I have no one to blame but myself. I procrastinated (as usual) and left everything until the last couple of days. House needed a lot of straightening and cleaning. Decorations needed to be put up. Food needed to be bought and prepared. I left it all really until about Wednesday and even then I didn't spend a lot of time on it. I did go out and grocery shop on Friday, with plans to cook on Saturday. I had done little cleaning by then and hadn't even started Christmas decorations. Saturday I made my meatballs, cooked the sausage and made my sauce. I also put my back out while I was vacuuming ! In the end I didn't decorate the porch and I hadn't decorated the tree as my nieces planned to do it, just like they did last year. I had to bag up and hide the dishes I didn't wash. I stuffed everything I could in the closet in my office, which was still a mess. Fortunately I keep my bedroom neat and it didn't take much to clean the 2 bathrooms. I didn't do the laundry room as no one needed to go out there. In the end the dinner went well. Joe put up my lights on the porch and the girls decorated the tree. I was in agony from my back and couldn't even stand up straight, so everyone pitched in. Kim played bartender and everyone helped serve the food. The day after, I was able to stand straight but was still in a fair amount of pain and every time I got up it took a minute to straighten and walk. I took Tylenol Saturday, Sunday and Monday but forgot it last night and don't really think I need it today.

I spent Monday on the couch watching YouTube. I watched a lot of video's about the election and all the Democratic hate being pitched at Trump and everyone who voted for him. This is no different from 2016. They make accusations about Trump and hate speech but the reality is all the hate comes from them. It's going to be a bumpy 4 years but I hope I am here to enjoy all of it ! I also spent the past week or so watching the "Border Security" channel on YouTube. The shows are old but it's fascinating to see the lengths people so to smuggle food and drugs into the US, Canada and Australia. It's also astonishing to see the people that try to sneak in to work. Yesterday was more of the same but I also finally jumped over to Disney+ and Hulu to find some other things to watch. I've wanted to watch the show "Grey's Anatomy" for a while and late yesterday I finally started ! I watched the first 5 episodes and enjoyed them, so I'm going to keep going. There is like 20 seasons, so there are hundreds of episodes to watch. From what I've read, many cast members fell by the wayside so we'll see if the show continues to hold my interest. I also queued up some holiday movies and watched one of those yesterday. It was one I had seen before but I really enjoyed it.

So where am I today ? Well, I feel better. My digestive issues have resolved but I still plan to seek medical care in the new year. 

Below is what I achieved today. I am focusing on what I do each day, and not looking back to what I did or didn't do any other day. I hope that one day soon I won't need a checklist to ensure I do all of these everyday tasks !   

Make the bed - 

feed cats - 

have breakfast - 

get dressed - 

exercise - 

clean litter boxes - 

have morning snack - 

have lunch - 

have afternoon snack - 

have dinner - 

have evening snack - 

shower - 

skincare - 

brush teeth -