Saturday, December 31, 2016

Favourite Photos of 2016

With my mate Sue and her son Noah in the Hall of Mirrors
Best PTA in the USA
The original dinner club friends. Two have moved away, two have passed way, one has joined.
Jack and his cello
This man won an award for his hard work for the Cub Scouts
The pop-up camper. We love this thing!
In 2016 we celebrated 20 years of marriage
Little rebels at Mohican State Park

Sun kissed and happy 

A great holiday with Leanne & Dean

My dear friend Darian, who died much too young
My cousin Kay with Danny. They are kindred spirits.
Danny playing soccer
Hiking in December
Hiking in December
2nd Grade Picture
5th Grade Picture
My lovely cousin Julie, in Birmingham.
Dad, Jen, Sheila and me in Southport
My lovely mum. 
Annual picture with Santa
Char & Jan
Visiting Linda
Walking Ben
Cub Scouts has been a great experience
Braces!
My handsome boys



Thursday, December 15, 2016

Living with people I don't agree with

I was dreading going to my work conference last week because I knew it was going to be a Trump love-fest.  My industry is 97% men, 3% woman. Of the 97% men I would bet that 99.9% of them are white and conservative (this year, the only black man there was the keynote speaker). This is how bad it is - I met a woman who's job is to introduce woman to the industry and when I asked about minorities she looked completely blank.... **crickets**  Our industry has a LOT of work to do.
I can literally count on one hand my secret allies I've met over the years that are liberal.

As I've said on here, since Nov 9th I have completely separated myself from people who voted from Trump. It's been a self preservation thing. If I hear one more GODAMN uninformed nasty thing about immigration, women, Mexicans, abortion and gay rights I mights just lose my mind.

So back to my conference, which I have loved for 17 years and I consider these people (white men) my "family".  I was dreading it. I didn't want any of these men getting in my face.

The first day I could see in one of my friend's eyes that it was a big elephant in the room. I saw it in his eyes. He knew I was mad, I knew he voted Trump. Eyes are the window's to your soul!  What brought us together was our friend that died, Darian. He was going to give an award in Darian's name the following day and he knew he'd cry and was worried. We talked, we both cried. I laughed with his fabulous wife, like I always do. I was reminded that I love these two people. I have no bloody idea why they voted for a moron, but they did, and it's not going to stop me loving them.

Next up, a longtime friend who confided that after 17 years of marriage he's separated. Heartbroken, missing his kids, at the lowest point of his life. I'd do anything for this friend. He voted Trump.
Tonight I sent him a message asking how he is and we chatted. I consider this guy one of my closest friends and feel like we can put politics aside.

So my conference was cathartic. I felt like I ran headlong into a wolf den and came out realizing that most of these wolves are still my friends. Yes, there are a handful that are NOT my friends, but they have always been that way.

I learned 2 things about the experience:

  • I still like most of my friends, even though they voted for him
  • I got my courage back, and did not let anyone there tell me bullshit

Friday, December 09, 2016

Still Grieving but Mad

I don't hate Trump, I really don't. He's a celebrity, a thin-skinned ass, he's never lived in our world and doesn't know how it works. I don't like him AT ALL,  but I don't hate him. He saw an opportunity and he took it. I consider him a tangerine ass.  Not kind, not educated, not liked.

What I'm still grieving about, still mooching, still sad about - is that Americans voted for the tangerine ass.

Senator John Glenn died today - what a class act.
President & First Lady Michelle will leave the White House - what a class act
All the Presidents from 1789 until 2016 -  what a class act

How did we, as people, elect a reality TV star with no experience, to the greatest job in the world