Who woke up at 4:15 am, got up, started scrolling Twitter, had a cup of coffee, and then cleaned the bathroom at 6:30 am? Yours truly. Since I absolutely hate cleaning the bathroom, you have to know I was desperate to have something to do.

I went to bed despondent. But now I’m feeling hopeful. We don’t know the outcome of the Senate races yet as Georgia will have run-offs. And it looks like Biden is on track to win from what I’m seeing this morning.

Yes, we have a “two-bit dictator” (quote from Barack Obama) declaring victory and trying to stop the vote counting. Ultimately, that won’t happen.

What is upsetting and troubling and mind-boggling is that so many people voted for OM knowing what we know about him. 230,000 dead from COVID apparently doesn’t matter. All of his crimes apparently don’t matter. His racism. His xenophobia. His crimes. His grift. His misogyny. His treatment of immigrants. Children in cages. None of it matters to these people. It’s shocking, but maybe I shouldn’t be shocked.

We are a divided nation.

Anyway, I’m thinking of all of you, praying that the outcome is what I think it’s going to be. Wisconsin seems like it’s going for Biden. So does Michigan.

Let’s all take a deep breath. Ready? Breathe in, hold, breathe out.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

This morning, I was scrolling through Instagram and came upon the Stories for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, which highlighted their final events yesterday. And I found myself crying. Crying at the enormity of this day, a day I thought would never come. At the goodness of Biden and Harris and all those who have worked tirelessly for them.

I really have nothing more to say or to add to what I’ve already said over the past 5 years. No one who knows me has any question as to how I feel.

Today will be a long, long day. And tomorrow will be as well. I mentioned my mantra to Vicki in a response to one of her comments. At first it was “Please, God. Please, God. Please, God.” But I don’t believe God intervenes in elections. If she did, why did we have Hitler or Stalin or Mussolini or Idi Amin? We have free will. It’s up to us. So “Please, God” was more a plea about goodness prevailing. The goodness that I believe is in all of us. It’s just that in some people, it’s been overwhelmed by fear and ignorance.

So my plea became “Love wins. Love wins. Love wins.” And I have to believe deep down in my very essence that it does.

So we’ll wait together, all of us, hoping and praying and invoking the power of whatever we believe in to guide and support us as we wait to see this corrupt monster removed from office.

I’m thinking of all of you today. May you find pockets of peace today. We’re stocked up on chocolate (sugar-free in my case) and chips and popcorn. Yesterday, I installed new mini blinds in the office. Today, I’ll do the same thing in the living room. It will keep me busy.

Take a walk. Hug your children or significant other or dog or cat.

See you on the other side.

Much love today and always.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday,

We were chatting this morning, reflecting on how quickly all the trees around here have become bare. No leaves. The only trees that still have leaves seem to be the oak trees and with today’s endless wind, that might not be for long. Increasingly, autumn and spring seem to have a shorter span of time than winter and summer. Spring is often late with summer coming too early. Winter seems to drag on forever. But spring and fall? Blips on the horizon.

Anyway, we have a wind advisory today and you know how much I like those. In fact, there’s a snow squall going on at the moment. All of the porch plants are still in the house since it’s going down to freezing tonight and tomorrow night. I’d give up the ghost, but the next 10 days or more after that are predicted to have warmer nighttime temperatures. So, even though pots of plants everywhere are driving me a wee bit nuts, it’s worth it to hang on to them for another week or two weeks.

This is what the windows that came with the dollhouse look like. Not my cup of tea.

Today I’ll do some more sanding on the door and maybe I’ll be able to start painting it. Quite frankly, there’s a lot that needs to be done around the house so if I want to keep busy, and I do, I have my pick of chores.

We started to watch the special coverage on MSNBC last night, with Joy, Rachel, Brian, and Nicolle but it was too much for us. Steve Kornacki, the guy that does all the polling charts, etc., is just too hyped up. He went off on all of the ‘what ifs’ – based on only one poll, mind you – and that’s just the kind of thing we don’t want to see. As Rachel says, “I don’t know who is going to win. And neither do you.” Yet, Steve is making his frenetic predictions, touching one state and turning it red, then touching it again and turning it blue and it only serves to make everyone nervous. Also, as someone who has cast shows, the rolled up sleeves and harried look is a bit too central casting. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but frankly, I’d give anything for someone who didn’t concoct all sorts of scenarios, and was instead, calm and clear headed. Basically, we watched for five minutes and turned it off. That leaves us wondering just where and when we will watch on Tuesday night. I don’t need or want hype. There’s enough of that already.

Okay, my friends. I’m off to keep myself busy and do maybe my last round of text banking this afternoon.

Stay calm. Stay grounded. Sending my love to everyone.

And stay safe.

Happy Monday.