It's Over........

Well, the election is over and I'm recovering from a long night.  It took Mitt a while to concede and once I'd heard his speech I had to hang in until the President spoke. While there was lots of tension at the beginning of the evening, things finally opened up and began falling into place.  It was a solid win for Obama and many Democrats seeking House or Senate seats.......all in all a much better outcome than expected.  There will be 20 women in the Senate, including a war veteran who lost both legs in Iraq (I think), the first Asian-American female Senator, the first openly gay female Senator, etc.  While things are not as good as we would like, the President has had a lot to deal with AND very little help from the opposition party.......despicable behavior at a time when our country needed everyone pulling together.  There were also lots of shenanigans going on to restrict voting rights, and my faith in mankind was restored by all those people who stood in lines for hours, jumped through the manufactured hoops and did whatever was necessary to vote.  They were truly impressive......and I'm thinking some of those nasty tactics may have backfired in a big way. Anyway, don't get me started.......but it was a sweet victory.

Our weather continues to be cool as another storm hits the northeast.  It's hard to imagine the devastation the people up there are dealing with, and they are hit again.  Even so, many of us have traveled to places where there would not be the immediate support and safety nets provided here, though I know if you're the one affected, things can't happen fast enough.  I do hope the weather holds off long enough for relief and rebuilding to happen.

We're trying to get ready to go to NC for the weekend.......my mother needs to pick up some winter clothes and it will be a chance for her to visit relatives and friends.  She mentioned taking Smokey (her cat) with us, but I immediately nixed that.  I've  given up trying to do anything with/around her house, so we'll use the time there however she wishes.  I'm getting better at choosing my battles!  Wish us luck!

My hope and enthusiasm after the election were dashed the morning after when the following comments were issued on Facebook - one by a relative and the other by a "friend" of a relative:

•  "Load your guns and sharpen your knives!"

•   "Anyone feeling the sudden unexplained urge to start stockpiling handguns, rifles and ammo?  Just saying.  I got this.....itch.

•  "I remember when America was......      Fill in the blank.  You've got four years to think about it.  Oh and there's probably more then one right answer!"

These people really are living in a parallel universe. It's so hard to understand what makes their American experience so different from mine.  That kind of response to an election absolutely stuns me!  They are the same ones who want "to take their country back" from those of us who won the majority in the last election.  It wasn't a revolution, it was an election!  Get a grip,

Well, my response was this:

I very rarely post anything on Facebook but decided to do so through the political season after another relative began posting lots of anti-Obama stuff.  My theory was that 1) if she was going to do that, she should be prepared to get the other perspective AND, 2) they all tend to think alike and zealously reinforce that thinking and I thought it might be "enlightening" for her/them to discover that not everyone thinks the way they do AND they actually know some of those people!!  I alerted my liberal FB friends, telling them my plan and asking for backup if needed.......but also asking them to be gentle, because any comeback would likely be from relatives!  I mostly used cartoons or slogans, with no personal commentary, and there really was no problem (that I know of....we'll see when we go up this weekend!).......and it did actually flush out a young cousin who was also for Obama.....and feeling very isolated!  She emailed me privately for a little discussion.  So, unless someone really ticks me off, that will be my last post for a while. 

I'm sure everyone is happy the election is over (no one more so than Democrats!), so I'll leave you with some final laughs.....and I'm glad we feel like laughing!

And looking ahead.....texting Hillary.