Merry Christmas

We had a pretty low-key holiday this year. There was vegetarian paella for Christmas Eve ...

And there were gifts ...

Some socks, some toys and some books ...

Some mittens too ...

In the morning I made waffles and the children watched another movie (we watched The Grinch on Christmas Eve, and Love Actually after the children went to bed).

I received crayons with my name on them:

Girl-child made this awesome piece using my grandmother's recipes (I'll try to snap a better pic later):

And I got a CD mix with new music :D

I'm all set to go to Tampa for work tomorrow ... plenty of music, reading material and knitting packed.   

Nautical Knitting 2016

Rose the Gypsy and I went on another Nautical Knitting cruise with Melissa Leapman.

Here are our fearless teachers on opening night:

It was party, party, party ... so then we had to relax on the terrace to recuperate :)

There were three ports of call - St Thomas, USVI was first:

The food and drink on the ship was great, including but not limited to a tapas restaurant:

Keeping with the Spanish theme, my drink was called "Tie Me Up Tie Me Down"

We also stopped in Tortola, BVI:

The ship was the Norwegian Escape.  It is kind of big:

There was an obstacle course on the top of the ship which I successfully completed (thankyouverymuch).

Last stop was Nassau, Bahamas.

And then back to the harsh reality of the port of Miami:

I came home to snow, though, which makes me very happy.

'Twas a good time ... relaxing, good company, knitting classes and great service ... all while floating through the tropics!

Fighting Back

I am constantly looking for positive and productive activity as I continue to bounce back and forth between rage and despair.

Yesterday I found the Pussyhat Project.

So I dove into The Yarn Cabinet to see what kind of pink yarn I might have in stock.

Score!  The Yarn Cabinet provides :)

I have to work on a positive energy focus as I knit.  Perhaps something like a prayer shawl but with a positive mantra since I'm not big on prayer.  I fear I could fall into Piglet's state of mind as I knit:

Image found on Tumblr by a co-worker.  I don't have the original Tumblr URL but I was able to find the image here.  Honestly, I have no idea how to credit the image.

Rage or How to Create a Radical

After enjoying a wonderful long weekend with Rose the Gypsy I find myself cycling in and out of the stages of grief again.  Little things send me into a state of rage.  Frequently.

The debacle of the election last week seems to have put me over the edge.  I understand losing; I have lost before.  But we have elected a misogynistic sociopath to the White House.

Yes, I really do look at it that way.

I haven't been ranting the way I did during the 2008 election because restraint has been in short supply this time around.  I have been trying to behave myself.  But I still have opinions, so here are a few thoughts.

I vacillate between staying to fight and fleeing.  I will likely make a trip to San Jose, Costa Rica in February or March to do some reconnaissance.  In the meantime I have upped my contribution to the Southern Poverty Law Center and I am registered for volunteer orientation at Planned Parenthood in January.

I try to stay away from the news but I really can't help myself.  I am a headline junkie.  I don't want to bury my head in the sand, so I can't totally ignore the news, but I will have to find a healthier approach to keeping up with current events.  I have started to change my go-to news sources to avoid shrill (read: upsetting) headlines (HuffPo, I'm talking to you).

Perhaps I should find a shrink.  I know a lot of women were traumatized during the campaign and even more are now.  I guess this might be in the next DSM.

My children can vouch for the fact that I was never super-enthusiastic about Hillary.  That said, I think that she did a lot of good things over her life in public service.  No doubt she worked the system to her advantage as well ... there aren't many who haven't.

Of course, women are held to a different standard in most situations ... this one is new to us since a woman hasn't run for president before.  Different standards still apply.

When I'm feeling rage-filled my mind falls to various topics:

• My country hates women.
• The people who voted for Trump will probably be hurt by his administration more than I will.
• When Trumpists are gleefully celebrating that they stopped "Crooked Hillary" they should look at their own guy.  They should look at him very carefully.
• You may not be faced with discrimination or persecution now, but give it time. 

But I will try to think of positive things instead:

• It'll possibly be a single term administration.  Four years isn't that long.
• There is a system of checks and balances.  Hopefully the system will work.
• I will take action by volunteering for and donating to worthy causes.
• Civil discourse has been lost.  I will do what I can to raise the bar.
• If I shelter and stay in place I will be protecting my daughter and grand-daughter.
• If I flee I will be providing my daughter and grand-daughter with options (in case they decide to leave too, and join me).

Keep wearing the safety pins.  Fight for your rights and for the rights of others.  Be mindful of kindness.

More Art and Family

We celebrated Girl-child's birthday early this year. The activity was a trip to the Weisman Art Museum at the U of MN.

I really enjoyed this part of the exhibit.  Each had a recording to go with it but I didn't care much for those ;)

This cracks me up.  It's a member of the Weisman family in 1970s mode.  Reminds me of when I used to work downtown in the 70s.

There is tons of great art to see.

This watch from the museum store was the birthday gift.  We picked up Punch pizza and joined the rest of the family when we were done at the museum.  It was a fun outing.

Happy birthday, Little One!  27 years old next week!!!