Hello My Friends

Thank you to all those who reached on here or directly to give me your support. It means the world to me.

I am having a good day so far and I’m enjoying my coffee while not watching the news or TikTok or doom-scrolling of any kind, at least for the moment. I’ve missed writing but I really did need the break. I don’t believe I’ll be able to go back to daily blogs but hope that I’ll be able to write a few blogs a week.

It’s the first really cold day we’ve had since I moved here–we won’t even get out of the 50s today. The leaves are changing up on the mountain, according to a friend, and you can see the leaves here are on the verge. I’ve heard it’s really pretty here when they change so I’m looking forward to it.

The only sounds I hear are the birds, the neighborhood dogs, and my washing machine. I got a bit behind on that chore, so I’ve been actively working on it for the past few days.

Part of the reason I’m feeling emotionally pretty good today is that yesterday I was able to let go of and share something that was troubling me with someone important to me. I feel a wee bit guilty having unloaded on them but so very grateful they were so gracious about helping me by sharing that burden. It was way heavier than I thought.

Everything is not all roses and rainbows again, but I do feel lighter. I’m still struggling with my health issues, but I’ve been able to put a few things into place that are helping.

One of the things I still need to work on is to stop the aforementioned doom scrolling. When my mental health tanks the worst thing I can do is binge-watch the news and TikTok. That is unfortunately what I tend to do anyway.

And it’s so hard not to with the world being such a mess right now. The atrocities in the Middle East, the idiocy in the House of Representatives, the neo-Nazi running for mayor in Franklin, and a murder here in Dunlap.

How can I not be glued to the screen?

That line between staying informed and drowning in the cesspool really isn’t that fine and I blur it way too often. There is absolutely nothing I can do about making any of those happenings better.

The latest war in the Middle East and the neo-Nazi in Franklin don’t even affect my life at all except in the butterfly wings aspect.

The debacle in D.C. isn’t actively affecting my life at the moment, but if it doesn’t get resolved in the next 32 days it will because I’ll be furloughed without knowing how long it’ll be before I get paid after the funding runs out.

The only thing I can really say on the matter is wouldn’t it be a hoot if Jefferies became the Speaker?!?

As for the murder…that has really kind of freaked me out and I am not really sure why. I don’t know the people involved nor does anyone I know. It was a domestic violence incident where the husband shot his wife then called 911 himself and was sitting on his porch waiting for them to come arrest him.

Having come from a suburb where multiple mass shootings have happened and where there were more than 50 murders last year, why would I be bothered by this one single murder? Probably because like many city folks I think of small towns as safe.

But in a place where there are so many entries in the local paper detailing drug-related crimes every week, I’m not sure why I’m surprised. This week’s Tribune had 22 court proceedings listed and 11 of them were drug related. There’s a pretty big step between minor drug possession and murder, however.

It has me a little on edge. Last week I heard a gunshot, and I wigged a little. Tennessee said it was probably just hunters.

It is hunting season here–deer, turkey, elk, and bear are all fair game right now. If it hadn’t been for the murder I might not have paid much attention.

So I say to myself, you have enough things causing you anxiety that you don’t have any control over do you really need to add fear of a stray bullet or getting murdered to it?

The answer is no. Logically, any sane person would say no.

I’m going to be that sane person and try and focus on the things I can control. Doing a load of laundry, emptying the dishwasher, looming a cap, organizing the kitchen cupboards, and making our next Blue Apron meal with Tennessee.

By the way, last night’s meal was BBQ pulled pork with mac ‘n cheese… OMG, it was so good!

Tonight’s meal was supposed to be Panko Crusted Cod and Romescu Mayo, but Tennessee is not feeling great so I’m going to make her some potato soup instead. I need to put in a quick delivery order from Wallyworld for a few of the fixings, so I’d better get moving.

It’s been good writing this and thinking about you all. I missed you. Take care of yourselves, my friends.