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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Apr. 5 thru Apr. 11

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Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 144 Comments

144 comments

  1. JanF

    It is 42 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 62. Morning showers are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  3. princesspat

    This cold is a bad one…..no voice this morning, so along with aching, sneezing and coughing I’m silently complaining! Ron is going to come home after taking his mom to church today so he’ll be here for the grand kids tomorrow. They’ve gotten used to me not being a full participant in the day’s activities so they will be fine.  But I’m real tired of the view from my sofa 🙁

  4. anotherdemocrat

    I got a pedicure yesterday, so I have green toenails. Easter dress is purple/blue/green, so purple sandals & green hat. Undecided on the sweater (we has a cold front, so I’ll need one) either purple or blue. And a green straw hat.

    Watching Up – they started with (yawn) basketball. Now on the Senate after Harry Reid. And about Jeb Bush. And Tom Cotton, who eats birthday cake nearly every day.

    Church will be really great, we do easter really big. Brass & drums musicians, and there’s always a postlude with a Scott Joplin rag.

  6. bfitzinAR

    Currently at our high for the day – 52 – and still drizzling here in Fay., AR.  Just got back from dinner at my son’s house.  Ham for the boys and salmon for the grownups (actually I had both – but the salmon was lovely), salad mostly from the Farmers’ Market (which opened yesterday), and she made rolls for those who could eat them.  I will admit the strawberries for dessert came from the grocery store – won’t have any at the Market for another 6 weeks or so.

    Got 14.8 KWHs yesterday.  Will be lucky to get 4 today.  This is why I handed the solar panel guy a credit card check to start the process of adding 6 more panels yesterday.  I want at least 6 KWHs daily this time of year and I need more panels to do it.

    Hope everybody’s having fun at whatever they are doing today.  {{{HUGS}}}

  7. JanF

    It is 32 degrees in Madison on its way up to 61. Mostly cloudy skies in the forecast.

    A quick scan of the news this morning shows that the grifting pizza place in Indiana now has $840,000 in donations. These donations are not because they were harmed in any way by being forced to cater a gay wedding or being fined for NOT catering a gay wedding but because some reporter asked them if they would deliver pizza to a gay wedding and they said no. Criminy!! Or maybe just “crime”. GoFundBigots gets 8% for promoting Big Hate and it has spawned a spate of copy-cat haters and chumps. Hey, chumps!! Spend your money lining the pockets of an online company and the CPA who is going to have fun sorting out the Indiana pizza place’s taxes. I hope some of the money collected in taxes goes towards helping Hoosiers who are part of the HIV epidemic get health care.

    President Obama is making his case for the Iran deal and it appears that Senate Republicans are taking a wait and see attitude (they will not kill the nascent deal but will wait until June when they will pretend to look at it seriously and then try to kill it). It sounds like Bob Corker does not have the 67 votes to override the veto of new sanctions because the Senate Democrats he had signed up are holding their fire. This screen cap from HuffPo that someone Tweeted made me laugh out loud!



    The highlighted areas says “Benjamin Netanyahu (R) delivers a statement”. Indeed!!

    Busy morning … see all y’alls later!!

  8. Diana in NoVa

    Hope Goddess in Her infinite wisdom sees fit to keep the wind to Herself. It has done nothing but blow and bluster the past week, felling several sizable 100-year-old trees in the process.

    Easter was great! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was blissful to have my aunt and cousin from Seattle at dinner. We don’t get to see the relatives from my late father’s side of the family very often. The pink dog wearing the white Easer outfit was chased by Monty Beagle; both were unharmed and it’s to be hoped Monty lost an ounce or two.

    Miss PInk Cheeks will be here today. I’m planning to spend the morning putting the finishing touches on Political Granddaughter’s birthday story and the afternoon taking Miss Pink Cheeks with me on errands. Also hope to catch up on all the posts I didn’t get to read yesterday because I was so busy.

    The news is as awful as it always is. It would be great to get some good news for a change. Wishing a good day to Meese everywhere!

  9. Portlaw

    Yesterday was good with a festive lunch and everybody got along!

    As for  getting along, am worried about the Iran deal. Will write my senators but the never answer and Schumer is always tricky. Why is it easier to deal with Iran than with Republicans?

    Will look for some good news and will check back. Have a good day. Peace to our planet.

  10. anotherdemocrat

    My eyes were open at 4am but I refuse to get out of bed till just before 5. Got in my walk – shorter than usual, but still over a mile. I really, really hope people are merciful today.

    Playing bouncy, happy Someone new, to try & keep myself upright.

  12. DeniseVelez

    followed by a cold snap for the next three days.

    Having some back problems – need to see my doctor. Other than that – just getting ready for school.  

    Hope everyone had a good weekend.

  13. princesspat

    I have a worried heart and mind this morning as son #1 is in the hospital with a suspected blood clot. He has the same clotting disorder I do and nearly died from a pulmonary embolism in 2008 so this very scary. The ER was really busy last night so they will do more testing today.

    Fortunately RonK is back home. He is a very calming presence in ER and hospital settings. My cold is better today, but the fun day we had planned with the grand kids has certainly been turned upside down.

  14. bfitzinAR

    Should get into the mid 70s today.  Not sure about seeing the sun but I hope so.  I saw the moon going into full eclipse Saturday morning but haven’t seen it since.  (Dropped below the horizon before the eclipse started passing off and it’s been overcast since just about the time it would have risen Saturday evening.)  If I were superstitious that would freak me out! 🙂

    Priority enrollment started at 6 am but everything’s quiet so far.  The 1st batch to get appointments are special needs, law students, and about 10% of the graduating seniors so we shouldn’t start seeing action for another couple of days.

    Hope everyone’s Easter – presupposing you celebrate it – was fun, or at least pleasant.  {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Portlaw

    “This is a very serious issue that deserves careful consideration, and I expect to have a classified briefing in the near future. I strongly believe Congress should have the right to disapprove any agreement and I support the Corker bill which would allow that to occur,” Schumer said in an emailed statement to POLITICO

    http://www.politico.com/story/…

    And this is one of the leaders of our party.  

  16. JanF

    It is 38 degrees in Madison on its way up to 50. Afternoon showers in the forecast.

    Voting day in Wisconsin. We have various local elections and two extremely important statewide races. One of the minority left-leaning justices on the Supreme Court is up for re-election to another 10 year term and if she loses to the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce paid stooge, it will make it less likely that we will ever get the majority back anytime soon. Two seats down with staggered 10 year terms might be insurmountable. Also related to the court, the Republicans, as they often do, have decided that it is not enough to have a legislative majority to make laws, they also have to change all the rules to tilt things in their favor. Voter ID, crushing unions and their political power, defunding education to create an uneducated populace. Now, changing the way the Supreme Court works. They passed a constitutional amendment, which the people will vote to approve or disapprove, that demotes the current left-leaning Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and elects a chief from the WMC branch of the court, most likely Justice David “Choke the Uppity Wimmin” Prosser. 🙁

    Rand Paul will announce his presidential run today. One pundit was looking at the failed Paul for President slogans (he decided on the clunky: “Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American dream.”) and found a few fun ones. I once worried about his candidacy because he seemed to be courting the youth vote which we need but he has realized that young people don’t vote in Republican primaries. So he is hoping to convince the fundies and warmongers that he is one of them and then etch-a-sketch that away in time for a general primary. That worked so well for Mitt Romney!

    Have a great day! See all y’all later.  

  17. Portlaw

    the pond.  Wish California were getting this rain.

    Am off to the see the news. Will check in later.

    Hope PrincessPat has some good news to tell us.

  18. DeniseVelez

    45 here and raining – saw doctor – seems I have “lumbago” (didn’t know that word was still used),in other words “low back pain” – now have scrip for anti-inflammatory, and a muscle relaxer.  Have to use heating pad too. Still in a lot of pain walking.  Will drag myself to class and come home and stay in bed.  

    Prayers still being sent for princesspat’s son.  

     

  19. anotherdemocrat

    It’s already 70. This does not bode well for actual summer. Only April & I have to put my hair in a ponytail for a morning walk.

    Got in a mile & a quarter, not bad for 30 minutes. And I plan to walk with the lunch group. Shoulder still not clicking, so that’s good. Not the best night’s sleep ever, but at least I was asleep when the alarm went off.

    I made a new mix to listen to in the car, realized I hadn’t listened to REM in a while. So the last song I listened to, and my earworm now is Driver 8. Just enough energy to keep me awake, really pretty song, could never figure what it’s about.

  20. bfitzinAR

    More like a thick haze than actual clouds – the sun is shining strong enough to hurt the eyes when driving into it.  Not comfortable for the eyes, but the light is good.

    I was foolish enough to sign one of teh Orange’s petitions for diplomacy with Iran.  Remember one of my senator’s is Tom Cotton so I should have known better.  I got a long response from him – which I deleted after reading the first 1-1/2 sentences.  (Iran having a nuclear bomb is the most significant threat we face.  As an Iraqi vet…  DELETE!  And yeah, Hitler was a vet, too.)  I won’t make that mistake again.  (And I really don’t like being on that man’s “list” – you never know what those kinds of people will do with that information.)

    Anyway, glancing at FPs at DK but mostly only going into the Pootie diary, some environmental diaries, and the KIN diaries (kicking in a few bucks if I have it and at least helping to put them on the rec list if I don’t).  Hope everyone is doing well – doing what you can when you can and letting go of what you can’t do anything about.  {{{HUGS}}}

  21. princesspat

    Thanks to all for you kind and caring thoughts. Our son will be released from the hospital today, but exactly what happened remains  puzzling.

    In addition to the blood colt symptoms his kidneys were only working at 1/2 capacity so the exams for a pulmonary embolism  using contrast dyes couldn’t be used. His kidney function has returned to normal, his blood thinning is at a safer level, and all the scary heart function tests are positive so he’ll have another week of being careful and giving himself blood thinner shots. We just don’t know why his kidneys stopped working, or the exact size and location of the PE.

    We talked last night about the pattern of life giving us yet another opportunity for personal growth. Between accepting medical mysteries, learning to better manage life long medical conditions, and being grateful he can, this will be an interesting learning curve for him.

    So our spring break with the grand kids plans have changed. Ryan is here with us but the grand girls were with their Nana yesterday. Today son#2 was able to take the day off from work so he has a long bike ride planned with the kids and Ron and I will help son#1 get back home and then take a nap!    

  22. Diana in NoVa

    Babylicious is asleep,  the little pink-cheeked darling, so I’m trying to catch up. His sister informed me that she woke up at 7:15 this morning, without Daddy waking her. Is she going to inherit Grandma’s passion for exactitude?

    Dispatched Political Granddaughter’s birthday story to her early this morning. She thanked me and said it was possibly her favorite story yet. Told her I thought it was pretty good to get a 6,700-word story out of the little information I had. I did get a chance to mention “intersectionality” at the end, which pleased me very much. I always wonder whether I’m putting ideas into the girl’s head.

    We’re slowly getting the house back to rights after the Easter and floor installation disruptions. Now the only writing projects I have to worry about are catching up on email, working on the novella, and writing the monthly story for the Fiction Cafe. On Friday evening I have to work at the elementary school fundraiser because one of the Daisy mothers shanghaied me into it. She’s an interesting person (very Republican) with a brash personality, so I don’t mind doing it. Might put someone very like her into a short story one day. (Am I a bee-yatch or what?)

    Hope the news today will not be too bad and that the Iran deal, like the ACA, will survive despite everything. Also will keep our ill Meese and Mooselings in my thoughts and prayers. A good day and good health to all!

  23. Portlaw

    politicians thinking that Iran is not reliable and this is what is happening in OUR country. Sadness and shame are mixed with rage.  So much for exceptionalism  


    WASHINGTON – A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man in the back while he ran away.

    The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, had said he feared for his life because the man took his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man – Walter L. Scott, 50 – fled.

    The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

     http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04…

  25. JanF

    It is 40 degrees in Madison on its way up to 55. Cloudy skies in the forecast. Last night we had our first thunderstorm of the season. We need the rain but not the noise!

    I am sick of the martyrs on the right complaining about having their religious freedom stripped away by having to sell their products to people they don’t like. So I am officially tuning them out. All you need to know is this story to put their complaints into perspective:

    Maurice Bessinger built his fortune serving barbecue. At the half-dozen locations of his Piggie Park restaurants, customers could enjoy meats slathered in the yellow, mustard-based sauce unique to South Carolina. That is, of course, unless they were black, for Bessinger was also a proud racist. As late as the twenty-first century, Piggie Park distributed tracts to its customers claiming that the Bible is a pro-slavery document – one of them claimed that African slaves “blessed the Lord for allowing them to be enslaved and sent to America.” After Congress banned whites-only restaurants in 1964, Bessinger reportedly put up an uncensored version of a sign warning that “[t]he law makes us serve n***ers, but any money we get from them goes to the Ku Klux Klan.”

    And Bessinger wasn’t just an unapologetic racist, he also believed that his right to discriminate flowed from the Lord Almighty himself. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned whites-only lunch counters, “contravenes the will of God,” according to a lawsuit Bessinger brought claiming he should be exempt from the law. The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling 8-0 in Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises that Bessinger’s claim that a religious objection could authorize discrimination was “patently frivolous.“

    South Carolina: Leading the Nation on Racism, Hatred and Starting Civil Wars.

    Rand is In!! Next up … Marco Rubio.

    See all y’alls later!

  26. Diana in NoVa

    Thanks for the updates, Dee and Jan! Not much news here. Just looked at the WaPo and found not much news there either. The front page was all about Rand Paul, who thinks he’s going to “take our country back.” Take it back from whom? A Republican House and Republican Senate?

    Libertarians are usually antichoice, I’ve found, so he’d never get my vote anyway.

    Have been too tired from the weekend to accomplish anything in the evenings, so I’m looking forward to feeling more energetic soon.

    Wishing a good day to all in Moosylvania and the world!

  27. Portlaw

    for better news from PrincessPat and Dee. And, of course, from the world.  Will check in later. This is just a drive by hello.

  28. anotherdemocrat

    Walked 1.5 miles this morning. Muggy again – 69 degrees already. Zero thoughts in my head. I know I should have some, but there’s nothing there. Playing the bouncy, sweet & really deep Someone New in my head. “Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey there is no right way, so – I fall in love just a little bit every day with someone new”

  29. bfitzinAR

    leaving just after lunch as the chimney cleaning/repair guys are coming.  My last fire of the season Sunday I sat down beside the stove instead of in front of it (I like to sit in the “chimney corner” when I’m really cold) and noticed that I could see light at the join between the stove itself and the chimney pipe.  Oops.  So I’m having that addressed right now before I forget – which I would have if I waited until next September when fire season starts again.

    Got my first manual enrolls (consent classes that the students can’t put themselves into) this morning.  We’ve opened extra sections in a couple of classes we were having to make consent just so our people would have seats and so have put them on open enrollment.  We shall see what we shall see on whether that was a good idea or not.  It does mean I didn’t have to manually enroll anybody in anything the 1st two days of Priority Registration.  🙂  Hope everybody is having a lovely day.  I expect to – I’ll be walking home and not only are there too many things blooming to list but the lilacs are out which means the air smells divine!  {{{HUGS}}}

  30. princesspat

    Our son is home, looking and feeling better but he’s very worried. He has appointments scheduled next week to try to learn where the clot originated and how it got past the vena cava screen into his lung……big worries. The good news is that it’s dissolving and he survived.

    I’m just exhausted so a quiet morning with our grand  son will be good for all of us. He will be 14 yrs old this month so sleep and food are high on his priority list. He will sleep in, then we’ll go to the bookstore for lunch, then he’ll spend the night with the grand girls…..son #2 can enjoy the noisy fun!

  31. JanF

    It is 41 degrees in Madison on its way up to 57. Strong storms happening now and expected all day. They started at about 11:30pm and have been hitting in waves since then. I finally gave up trying to sleep at 2:45am.

    Rand Paul, to exactly no one’s surprise, is a prickly guy. This is what happens when you live in a bubble of privilege and, not just any privilege, but Libertarian privilege. When the headlines the day after your Glorious Announcement are filled with “Rand Paul ‘Randsplains’ to TV host” and “Rand won’t answer questions about abortion” and “Rand screeches ‘why aren’t you asking Debbie Wasserman Schultz that question!??!'” you know you have lost the narrative (DWS … really?).

    And Dick “Dick” Cheney is selling a book. How do I know? Because is face and evil disgusting words are all over the Internets again.

    One bit of good news is that GoFundRacists decided that a big pot of money for a cop indicted for first degree murder was a bridge too far, even for their grifting selves, and they shut down the fund for the South Carolina cop who killed Walter Scott in cold blood.

    See all y’all later!  

  32. Diana in NoVa

    Currently 43 F., going up to 57 F. We ought to be having tomorrow’s weather today, because they’re forecasting thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon.

    The racism in this country is gut-roiling. Will it ever end? What makes these white racist men think they’re better than everyone else? Is it their religion? Is it their lives of privilege? And do men join the police force so they can commit murder and get away with it? I wonder.

    Have been falling asleep in the evenings after dinner, so have not been getting anything done. It’s to be hoped that by this weekend we’ll get everything put away. The house is still a mess upstairs because we didn’t have time to put things away after the workmen left and then suddenly Easter was upon us.

    Time to get dressed and head out. Babylicious’ new hobby is moving furniture. He can’t quite walk yet, but he pulls himself up and then moves the nesting tables from one point to the other in the family room. Then, just for kicks, he gets all the DVDs out of the TV stand and strews them around on the floor. I’d stage a riot if he weren’t so cute.

    Hope it’s a good day for all and Jan, hope you get some sleep at some point!

  33. anotherdemocrat

    though I think they’re over-optimistic

    Completely awful, useless night’s “sleep”.  Just not even….. The app that I think massively overestimates my sleep says I slept 4 hours. Otoh, I had a really great walk this morning – 1.6 miles & I even ran down 3 slopes!

    I’m only here for half a day, going out to our circulation facility to help out. They can’t have their usual volunteers because of construction (liability issues) so they’ve gotten behind. So we’re going out there. It’s close to my house, so I may swing by & get some more caffeine.

  34. DeniseVelez

    still in pain – though at least I got a decent nights sleep thanks to the meds.

    Am headed to work in about 2 hours – will then come home and heat/ice my back.

    Tickled to see POTUS at Bob Marley museum

    http://www.nytimes.com/politic…

    Watching his negotiations with Caribbean leaders closely – most will be about energy – US is now playing spoiler for   Venezuela in the energy market – this is going to heighten tensions in his upcoming Summit of the Americas meeting in Panama.

  35. Portlaw

    things are with everyone and catch up on the diaries. But now coffee and the news on the Iran deal., Good health to all.

  36. bfitzinAR

    I wish it would either rain or clear up.  I am sooooooo tired of this overcast but no rain routine!  Chimney guys came yesterday – fixed the issue with the stove (metal chimney I switched to when I got the Jotul had shifted), said it didn’t need cleaning, ‘how about we check again in December?, AND DIDN’T CHARGE ME A CENT!  I like local companies 🙂  I’m a good customer and all that, but I only use them once a year.  I call that above and beyond for customer service.

    Finally reaching the point where students need our help to enroll.  Still just a trickle as only seniors and “special groups” are enrolling right now.  By the end of next week when 90% of the returning student body will have permissions we shall see how well opening our classes to everybody works.

    Hope everybody is having a lovely day – the sun is actually shining at the moment although I can see clouds on the horizon if I go upstairs (can’t see the horizon from the 2nd floor) – so that qualifies, at least for the moment.  The lilacs are going gangbusters – I love the scent but am glad they are across the street as it’s very strong.  (At least it’s not gardenias – I love that scent, too – but only from a block away!)  {{{HUGS}}}

  37. princesspat

    Between the awful cold I have, our son’s medical crisis, our grandson’s visit, and now the start of the garden project I put on hold last fall this is a week for grown ups!

    I hope I can find my deferred creative vision for the native rock out cropping that will replace the ivy covered slope behind the upper patio. Son#1 was helping me with the part involving the hedge, but he can’t do that now so I’ll have to make the pruning decisions without his creative eye. Ryan helped Ron move the furniture and pots and all the ivy we had been digging out so the space is ready and waiting for The Burrowed Ground crew to bring the soil and rocks and do heavy lifting. I’ve always wanted to do this project but life has kept interfering……and still is! But it’s finally going to happen regardless.

    Our project is a very small one for this firm and we’re using left over stone and rocks to make it more affordable. It was planned as a winter fill in project but now it’s moved into their busy season so I expect there will be delays.  

  38. Portlaw

    Lincoln Chafee, a former governor and senator from Rhode Island, says he’s exploring a run for the 2016 Democratic nomination.

    On a new web site, Chafee, who served as an independent as governor and a Republican in the United States Senate, says he’s concerned about “international instability, especially in the Middle East and north Africa.”

     

    http://www.nbcnews.com/politic…

    I don’t think he has a chance since his party allegiance is new and he is from a state with no influence, albeit a state that has contributed great senators. However, he did vote against the aumf and I would seriously consider him. I have never voted for a senator who voted for the aumf and that includes Kerry in his presidential bid. I have, must confess, the luxury of doing the purity thing since I live in a very blue state.  As I said, I don’t think he will go far but it will certainly make things more interesting!

  39. JanF

    It is 36 degrees in Madison on its way up to 53. Light rain in the forecast tonight.

    It was a pretty dramatic weather evening just south of here. I watched the weather events on Twitter and monitored the radar until bedtime. Sounds like a tornado hit in Illinois south of our border. I have not read the reports yet.

    Stick a fork in Randal Paul (apparently he hates being called “Randal” … so I shall!). Headlines: “testy” “prickly” “combative” … with the press! Ted Cruz thinks the press is unfair to him but he embraces it because “not loved by the press” helps burnish his martyr complex for the right wingers he is courting.

    There is good news about our power grid that I will try to post something on. Or maybe I will try to find photos from the president’s trip to Jamaica and go all The Obama Diary on y’all.

    I have some hard deadlines so I better get to it. See you later!!

  40. Portlaw

    coming from Illinois

    Here, there will be thunderstorms and temps rising to the sixties.

    Still watching the Cuba and Iran news.

    Hope it’s a good day for all Meese and Meesekin.

    Will check in later

  41. Diana in NoVa

    Good morning, Moosekind! Wonder what this weather is going to do to the fundraiser (“Movie Night”) at the elementary school tonight. I’m supposed to help with it. In our neighborhood it’s not unknown for thunderstorms to knock out the power, which is why we bought a generator some years ago. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with boiling our electric kettle for tea.

    Jan, I saw on Facebook that Wisconsin has now joined Florida in banning the phrases “climate change” and “global warming.” More sand to bury your head in, climate change deniers?

    The outside world is in such bad shape it makes me want to crawl into my hermit shell and hide. Hope it’s a good day for everyone at the Moose Pond and at least a decent day for everyone else, meaning stable with regard to weather and peaceful with regard to society.

  42. DeniseVelez

    39 here in the Catskills going up to 61 and raining.

    Trying to follow POTUS at the summit in Panama.

    Especially future changes to our relationship with Cuba (fingers crossed).

  43. anotherdemocrat

    and again I’ll believe it when I feel it

    Walked 1.9 miles! Actually ran down ramps 5 times, so yay me. Again, no thoughts, just music. Hozier’s Someone New perfect for walking – bouncy & adorable.

  44. bfitzinAR

    rain came through yesterday afternoon – pretty hard for about 15 minutes then sprinkling for 30 – and brought a cool front with it.  Had to turn the furnace back on this morning and wear a sweater to work!  No more fires though – I cleaned the stove for the season and put the folded hearthrug back on top which is Cloud’s favorite napping place.  He won’t give it back until next September some time when the afternoon/evening temps are low enough I can start a fire without smoking up the house. 🙂

    Hope everyone has a good Friday and weekend.  {{{HUGS}}}

  45. princesspat

    I can’t wake up this morning, and I’ve got ready or not. Our daughter will be here soon to work on the plans for her new business so I need a relatively clearer brain. I started my business when I was her age……but it often seems I was never so young!

  46. Portlaw

    what that feels like.

    Just saw that Pres Obama and Pres Castro shook hands. What a great step forward. The embargo is an embarrassment. Am sure that older Cuban Americans are furious and are gathering in Miami cafes as I type to denounce this. It’s just terrific news. Hope Congress lets the US join the world on this. Also hope congress will be sane on Iran. Will see if I can find more good news. Until then, hope it’s a day of health for all

  47. Diana in NoVa

    object in the sky. I believe it’s called “the sun.” Welcome back, sweetie. Missed you for the last three days of seemingly unending grey drippy drizzle and gloom.

    Glad to see President Obama at the Caribbean nations meeting. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice if all the old bumpuses in Congress would retire and we could get a new, forward-looking group of people in? We should be friends with Cuba, not enemies.

    Have received an invitation to join something called “BooksGoSocial.” It’s a marketing outfit for books. I’m seriously tempted, as marketing one’s books, if done properly, would take up so much time that writing more books would be impossible. I’ll look it up on Yelp.

    Yesterday I reread what I’ve written so far on the novella, decided that it is A Good Thing, and wrote a little outline for the rest of it.

    Looking forward to a weekend of fair skies, lots of writing, no child care duties, and just general enjoyment! Wish all at the Moose Pond a good day also!

  48. Portlaw

    affair? I was in Australia when the brouhaha started and it was big news even in Alice Springs. What a nightmare for that child,

  49. JanF

    That’s what I get for trying to do 10 things at once.

    I will repeat it here and link because I “tricked” Dee into replying to it. Don’t follow me … I am untrustworthy!! 😉

    Greetings, massive!! Saturday …

    It is 38 degrees in Madison on its way up to 64. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    The NRA convention is running this weekend and all the Republican presidential hopefuls are there brandishing firearms and speaking out of both sides of their mouth. The party that once screamed about keeping big government out of their bidness … state and local control, state and local control … are now passing preemption laws taking the local control away. The hypocrisy is on view in Pennsylvania:

    In November, the Pennsylvania state legislature, under intense lobbying by the National Rifle Association, passed Act 192, allowing organizations like the NRA to sue cities and towns over any local gun restrictions. It also would require the city to cover the gun advocates’ legal fees.

    Under threat of litigation, at least 20 municipalities in Pennsylvania have moved to repeal local firearms ordinances. One of them was the quiet community of Jenkintown, which had passed a measure in 2010 requiring gun owners to report a lost or stolen gun to the police within 72 hours.

    What went down in Jenkintown is happening across the country, as industry groups and corporations push states to pass so-called pre-emption laws in order to dismantle city ordinances that they dislike.

    “Why would a freedom-loving, conservative Republican say, ‘Lets take away all local power?’ There’s no philosophical or ideological basis for that,” said Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change, which fights against the pre-emption of public health laws. “It’s about the money”.

    National control by lobbying organizations, that is the new Republican Party’s mantra.

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will formally announce her candidacy on Sunday via social media. The Republican National Committee will launch a 6 state ad-buy unveiling their 2016 platform “Stop Hillary!!!”. Wayne LaPierre calls her possible presidency a “permanent darkness of deceit and despair”. I wonder how effective demonizing a grandmother who talks about adding “new blocks to the quilt of her life” will be. I guess we will find out! It will be a long and ugly campaign as the national Republican Party works on the smearing of our candidates while diverting attention from the current crop of GOP crazies, one of whom will be carrying their banner into November 2016.

    Catch up day here … time to get to it. See all y’alls later!!

    Dee said this:

    I think the demonizing may work

    in Hillary’s favor.

    Sunny skies here!

    yay!

  50. princesspat

    I’m so sleepy I need to read things twice, so thanks Jan!

    So yesterday was a productive business building day with our daughter and we’ll do some more today. It’s going to be exciting to see her plans become real. Her WP site, Northwest Frame of Mind, is her starting point for a business selling items with the same “point of view.” For example, she loves the out doors but has had several precancerous growths removed so her first selections are stylish scarves and shawls made from soft fabrics woven for UV protection. Her dermatologist has been very encouraging for this idea.

    She and Ron are visiting the Tulip Fields with their coffee and camera’s this morning while Ryan and I sleep in. Then we’ll finish the 15 scarves we cut yesterday and she’ll go home with some finished goods. I’ve always wanted to teach my girls to sew but life was too busy when they were young. It still is, but the opportunity is here now so we’re taking it regardless!

  51. anotherdemocrat

    Watched Up & Melissa Harris Perry. About to go pick up my race packet. Seriously thinking about skipping the race tomorrow to have a Sunday at church to find people & hit them up for Ride donations. I can walk 10K by myself this afternoon — I’ve actually mapped out a 10K route in my neighborhood. Anyway, I have till tomorrow morning to decide. But if I can leave church with a couple of checks for the Ride…. and there’s one woman who always donates by check not online.

    Ok, off to pick up my packet. Anyone with an opinion on skipping the actual race part. let me know.

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