A morning after post for John Gray

John Gray will appreciate what I'm about to say. I woke up this morning, the day after the US election, feeling exactly like Rick in this scene:

Yes, the Orange Apocalypse has begun. And it's terrifying.

Election Day Blues

I don't think I've ever been this terrified of the outcome of a presidential campaign. Or more disgusted with at least half of the people I know.

This election has brought out the very worst in so many people. I've never seen so much racism, misogyny, and intolerance openly on display. It's so....ugly.  People I thought were good, decent people are clearly not good nor decent. I'm not sure how to go forward with people (some in my own family!) who care so little for others, for the welfare of their fellow human beings. Many of the "Christians" I know are some of the worst of the lot. How am I supposed to show respect for people that clearly have none for me or for my values? The outcome of this race will be decided tomorrow, but I'll never forget some of the things I've seen and heard. It makes me despair of ever feeling at home in this country again.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I guess I'll go shower and head to work. I wish I could just call in "depressed" and take the day off, but maybe distraction will be better. I don't even know anymore.

Snuggling a lizard..

We had a big event at work today and a woman from Gregg's pet store brought some animals to talk about. This is a selfie I took of me and a new little buddy of mine!

All in a day's work!

Productive

Today I went in to work at 7am and worked until 11 on what was supposed to be a day off. It was overtime pay, and I could wear jeans and comfortable shoes because I was working at processing return shipments in the stockroom with the funny stock room guys. Getting to be that relaxed at work was a refreshing change of pace! I brought along earbuds and listened to 3 episodes of  This American Life with my cell phone. So for a half work day when I was supposed to be off, it was unexpectedly nice!  Getting off at 11am was pretty great, too. I got a lot of stuff done.

First I ran to Office Depot and got Gregg's main birthday present that I'm super excited about! He's been taking on more and more aquarium design and maintenance jobs....several school and hospital tanks, three nursing homes, the mayor's office, and a couple of individual family aquariums, like at his doctor friend Vinod's house. He still manages the aquarium section at a local pet store, too, and so people regularly approach him there and ask about aquarium services. All of his tanks in public places are beautiful and speak for themselves, and people ask about the person who cares for them. Until now, he's not had any business cards to hand out or leave, and he's mentioned that they would be helpful. So for his birthday, I designed and printed 150 business cards for him! They're a pretty generic template with a little stock drawing of two fish in the upper right hand corner, but I'm still proud of them. I think he's going to really like it that I got that done for him! I'll probably end up buying him an item of clothing or a book as well, but that's his main gift this year.

After getting the cards printed, I went by a store to exchange an item of clothing that didn't fit, then stopped by a little cheap-but-good Mexican restaurant for lunch. They make great taco salads and margaritas, so I had one of each. I really never have a drink at lunchtime on a weekday, so that was a special treat for my productive morning at work and getting the two errands done!

I did one last thing before heading home: I stopped by the voter registration office and did my bit for democracy. I voted early:

I love the sticker. The sticker is very important.

 Funny story: When I stepped up to the smiling young woman behind the counter who had to check my ID she said, "Reason for voting early? Vacation next week?" And I launched into my whole "I'm paranoid there might be trouble on election day" spiel and she was like, "NO, you're on vacation next week" and I was all, "No, seriously, people are being incited to make trouble at polling places next week, it's been on the news, and they're talking about voter intimidation....." and slowly I realized she was trying not to laugh  and nodding to a posted list of acceptable reasons you have to pick from for voting early. She was waiting to make a note in my file.

I felt like a total dumbass.  Ha!

So that was my day. How's your Thursday going?

Costumes

There's always a big turnout of trick or treaters at the mall where I work. It's fun seeing hundreds of little kids and their families dressed up and having fun. Here are some of my favorites from last night!

Queen Bee, Baby Bee, Beekeeper Dad. 

Cleopatra and her parents.

Death came calling!

Baby Unicorn

Coworkers

Micky and Minnie

The scariest sight of the night!!!

100 years

Today would have been my grandfather's 100th birthday. I didn't realize it until my mom posted about it on Facebook.

I was very close to my maternal grandparents. My childhood home wasn't a happy one; my grandma and "Pa" Lewis made my world more secure than it would have been without them. I miss them and will be thinking of them along with the rest of my beloved dead in the next couple of days (All Souls is November 2).

Here is a picture of my grandparents at my parents' wedding in January of 1973.




Left to right: my grandfather Marvin Lewis, my mom, my dad, and my grandmother Ora Lee Lewis.

Happy 100th Birthday, Pa. I love you. I miss you.

Welcoming Grins!

These two guys are hanging out on our front steps, waiting for little ghosts and goblins to come visit.

One more day until Halloween!

Late October weekend

I've been off work for two days. It's so rare for me to have a Friday and a Saturday off that I've tried hard to enjoy it and also to catch up on some rest.

We've hit the worst part of the retail year at work....the dreadful holiday set. One night, I got off work at 3am....the next, 5:30 am...and had to be back at work the next afternoon to do a regular closing shift after that. On the plus side, we're almost done. 90% of the store is set, and all that remains is one more late night on Monday to finish the music and dvd section. It's such a relief.

Yesterday (my first day off) I took the most wonderful nap. I had gotten up early to do errands: Ginger needed to go to the vet,  I had to go up to the tax office and pay taxes on our truck, I had to stop by the post office, and then groceries had to be bought (our fridge was bare after a week when Gregg and I both had to work long hours). When I finished all that, it was just after lunchtime, so I took to my bed with a book. I dropped off into a deep sleep immediately and didn't wake up for three hours. I felt great when I woke up, too. It was clearly a much-needed nap!

Our house is decorated a little bit for Halloween. I have two jack'o lanterns made of plastic lit up on the front steps, there's a sparkly purple witch hat with LED lights on the living room coffee table (you can see it in my last book club party post) and our mantle has miniature pumpkins and gourds on it. I bought a big bag of candy at the grocery store yesterday in case any trick or treaters show up at the house Monday night. Gregg will have to hand it out because I'll be at work. We never get many kids so I don't buy very much. The few that do show up will probably get handfuls of treats just to get rid of them.

I buy stuff we like, just in case of leftovers.

This afternoon I took the dogs for a walk. Gregg is working late tonight, setting up a really big aquarium for a new client, so it's just the three of us right now (and Marco, of course).

The leaves outside have barely started to change color. It's still warm during the day, but pleasantly cool at night. The dogs love walking through the wooded lot behind the church at the corner. See how happy Ginger looks?  A walk before supper is all my dogs need for a blissful afternoon!

Time for my own small supper, a mixed drink or two, and a movie on Netflix. Have a good weekend, everyone!