We mowed the lawn yesterday, probably for the last time this year. Because we finally got a lot of rain, it’s pretty lush and long. But it was exhausting – maybe because we’re out of practice, maybe because we’re both exhausted from too little sleep this week. I’ve been running on less than 5 hours a night and that isn’t enough for me. I need something close to 7 hours a night. So I’m wiped out, my eyes sting, and I look at Twitter too much, waiting for the electoral vote to officially hit 270.

I will be so, so happy when I don’t have to live with constant stress anymore. I can barely remember what that feels like. I bet you feel the same way, right? It wears you down. I’m pretty good at self-care, but my heavens, this has been a slog.

Even though we understand why the count is slow, we’ve started to yell at the television, “Call the election!!!” I know Joe has it. I know he’s President-elect. But I want it to be official.

I’m so tired that I can’t concentrate on anything. I’d do some work on the dollhouse but I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake.

Next week – on Thursday – we have a big dumpster (is that the right word?) arriving. It will be here for a week as we finally clean out the shed which is full of stuff we put in there 15 years ago and have never used, much of it ruined by mice. Yuck. It has to be cleared. I don’t want anyone else to have to deal with it someday and it will be great to have it free of crap so that we can use it more effectively. We’ll do a little each day. Cannot wait! I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time!

We also have outdoor projects to do before winter arrives. All of that will keep us busy, thank goodness.

I miss Paris. I’m so aware that we were there in October last year and the year before and I get sad, knowing we couldn’t be there this year. To be perfectly honest, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it, but knowing you aren’t allowed in the country, that there isn’t even a possibility of going is depressing.

And I find myself yearning for a Christmas tree. WAY too early, of course, but I think it’s because 2020 has been such a nightmare that I need pretty lights and ornaments and the smell of pine. Someone on IG or Twitter said they were going to put up their outdoor Christmas lights when Joe Biden clinches the presidency. I think I’ll do that, too.

Okay. Hang in there, my friends. I’m thinking of all of you.

Added: I’m leaving a comment on today’s post up until tomorrow. Please read Terri L. Crider’s comment. She defines the word ‘deplorable.’ It’s vicious. By tomorrow, I’ll delete it and block her from the blog.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

I was wondering what photo I should quickly take to insert in this post when Don took a picture of what we were doing exactly 10 minutes ago during our morning cup of coffee and I realized that this was the perfect photo.

This.

Thanks, husband.

We were up quite late watching MSNBC. We were up quite early doing the same. We wait.

An extraordinary bubble of joy has started to percolate in my solar plexus.

It’s coming.

And I want to take back my thoughts on Steve Kornacki. I think the hyper quality we saw was pre-election. Since then, he’s been extraordinarily steady and smart and thank goodness he’s there. He is terrific at his job. Wow.

It’s coming, my friends. I won’t talk about what OM said last night. We didn’t watch him. But I know what he said. He will be assigned to the dustbin of history, that place where fascists and dictators and liars and evil men go. He is now a blithering idiot who cannot accept that he has lost. Unlike other times in his sorry life, there is no one to rescue him. He can bring as many lawsuits as he wants. It won’t change a thing.

If necessary, he will be yanked out of the Oval Office on January 20th. He will be prosecuted by New York State, by the NYC DA, by others. His carefully built up web of lies, lies he has told all of his life in order to create a persona that never was the reality, will be crushed. He will, as I have said since 2015, be exposed as the Emperor with no clothes.

I’m also going to give myself a little wee pat on the back. Don can attest to this: I have said since the beginning that Joe Biden is the only candidate who could win this election, that he was and is the man who can help us start to heal. When everyone else was cheering on other candidates (all good people) I took the somewhat unpopular view at the time that it had to be Joe Biden.

I was right.

That’s all I’ll say about that because, as a rule, I am not comfortable blowing my own horn.

First woman Vice-President. First woman of color. My god, hallelujah!

Let’s get ready to celebrate.

(I also vowed to dance in the street when Trump is defeated. And I will.)

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Is anyone else as exhausted as I am?

After my crazed cleaning of the bathroom yesterday, I removed all the hardware from our now-defunct mini blinds and installed all of the new hardware – with a 30+ year old drill and an old-fashioned screwdriver. Note to self: ask for new drill that all drives in screws for Christmas. I’m not kidding, my hands are so sore from using a screwdriver to secure all of the hardware on five windows. And I messed up on one of them, had to remove the screws, reposition it, and do it all over again – twice. But they’re up and they work beautifully. I got them online from Select Blinds and I’m very happy with them. (You can’t see them, they’re under the shades.) We still have to order blinds for our bedroom and the bathroom, but they’re hanging in there, so I’m going to wait.

Meanwhile, Don was trying to deal with some issues with his car and also had to replace the handle on the downstairs toilet. I know that all of that crazed energy came from lack of sleep and waiting for the election results. By the end of the day we had crashed. I’m really sore from contorting my body in order to reach the windows and having to kneel on the sideboard (pictured above) because it’s too heavy to move. (Kneeling hurts my knees these days.) Don is sore, too. So we’re taking it easy today but I woke up too early – again – and couldn’t turn my brain off.

Meredith arrived at the house of one of the children she treats to find a big sign on their fence with OM photoshopped to look like Rambo. They’re Trumpers, of course. OM was a draft dodger, for heaven’s sake. He can’t even lift a glass of water with one hand.

These people are deluded and sad cult members.

Let’s get back to basic facts:

If a deadly virus is airborne, you wear a mask.

If an election has just occurred, you count all the votes.

Simple.

And so we wait. And wait. OM is doing exactly what was predicted, filing frivolous lawsuits trying to stop the counting of votes. The spineless GOP is finally starting to edge away from him. Too little, too late, traitors – we won’t forget.

But it’s getting warmer here and it’s sunny! I moved the porch plants back outside yesterday and seeing the sun surely helps during all of this.

Thinking of all of you. Hang in there.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.