February...Groundhog's Day...Two Weeks in...

 

And it is...

and Spring is on the horizon!

The rodent says More Winter...but today is in the mid-50's and tomorrow promises to be 60 or over.

My Tux-Cat is always on the wrong side of the door now, and I spend inordinate amounts of time on door-opening duties.

I am regaining my strength from being down sick for so long.

Starting to get the house pulled back together...including taking down Christmas Decorations and the tree,  which was nice.

And then there was the Philodendron.

"Phil" and I have a tenacious relationship, anyway.

...It is more like S&M...John helpfully adds...

"Phil" I water....well...when I remember to.

Not often enough.

"Phil" was a rescue, from my friend Ola, several years back.  Cute. In a six inch pot.

When I think of houseplants for inside decor I immediately think of silk or plastic.

 "Phil" is neither.  

And he has grown...from a tiny cute potted plant to taking over half of my coffee table. Where he sits patiently...probably wondering when/if I will ever water him again.

Sometimes he expresses his disappointment with my lackadaisical watering by drooping sadly and dropping yellowing leaves.

Then I was sick...for a long long long time.

When I noticed "Phil" after a month and a half...well

...He's dead, Jim....

Listless, yellow drooping...a bit like me, at that point.

I watered him soundly...but didn't expect much.

Today, he is back to being green, perky...and you would never know.

...and John and I have re-named him Lazarus...

 

A morbid fascination with the last two weeks with Trump...and the EO's...and cabinet confirmation hearings. 

Which is going about how you would expect, at this point.

The first few days spent signing executive orders faster than a Las Vegas hooker turns tricks.

Constitutional/Unconstitutional...he doesn't know or care.

Sign them all...let judges sort them out.

And slapping tariffs on most everyone.

...you know what tariffs are???? Taxes for stupid people...

When all the prices go up...and they will...and inflation rises...and the already  diminishing stock market drops even further...well I want to make sure MAGA knows this is what they voted for....okay??

 

Only 206 weeks left.

Jesus Wept.

Right now, my main concern is this guy...

Doesn't he look like someone who needs to head up our health services???

RFK JR. is an avowed anti-vaxxer...who doesn't trust vaccines...but shot up heroin for 14 years...

...make it make sense...

With bird flu all around us and Marburg killing people in Tanzania...this isn't the time...okay?

For those who need to hear it...Canada is NOT going to be our 51st state...Denmark is NOT going to sell Greenland...and I doubt seriously that we are going to take the Panama Canal...Products are going to get high prices...Inflation is going to increase...the stock market will probably tank...

And the rest of us...we will survive.

We will.

love,

Carla, John and the Cats!

"Just going to hide in here until it is over."

                                                              Gadget

Sisters Day...Eagles-Chiefs SB...and One Week

 

So...Tina did a thing...

Introducing Charlotte!

When she is a little bigger she is going to bring her out to visit Tux.

We had our first official (just us) Sisters Day since Lisa's death.

Got a bottle of the chocolate wine she introduced us to...and drank a toast to her...and talked and worked through some of our feelings of loss. 

Chad bought a flowering crab-apple and planted it.

It will bloom every year on/near her birthday.

We miss her.

Chris brought Lachlan over Sunday.

What a happy baby.

Over 20 pounds now...one tooth started...crawling and pulling up to a stand!

Looks just like his dad at this age.

And John and I watched the Bills-Chiefs Game.

Allen and Mahomes are so well matched...it is always anybody's game.

Last night Josh Allen threw a Hail-Mary pass in the 2 minute zone...and instead of the TE catching it and making a winning TD...

...he dropped the ball...

He. Dropped. The. Fucking. Ball.

Ending The Bills Season, and so we have an Eagles-Chiefs SB!!!

This may be our chance for a three-peat!

So excited!!!

Well...we are one week into Trump's second term...and predictably it's a shit-show.

MAGAts:  "You lost."

Me: "And you lost, too.  You're just too stupid to know it, yet."

~sigh~

We're going to need more popcorn.

Love,

Carla

2025...Healed....The Mess...Rejoining LIFE...And the Playoffs!

 

...and I've survived.

     It is 3 degrees out today. My goals include keeping the house warm...good food...and a nap with Tux.

And maybe work on the clutter and mess that comes from being really sick for a month, because

DAMN!

Feels good to feel good again, though...and making plans with everybody after mid-week (and a bath).

Teams winnowed down to only a handful remaining.

 

The Chiefs

The Bills

The Eagles

and The Commanders.

 

Watched the upset over the Lions...which was unexpected and quite the game.

Also last night as Josh Allen (who just gets better and better) bested The Ravens in a hard won game.

Our match-up with the Bills,as always, has me more than a little nervous.

But here we are...

The goals fairly simple this year.

IF you would have asked a couple weeks ago...it would have been distilled to a single word-

SURVIVE

Today it seems less...er...fatalistic.

And, therefore, replaced with-

THRIVE

Keep everything paid up...continue declutter and downsize...get back to painting...cooking and writing and photography and gardening.

Virtual Travel...I think Greece is calling!!!

...and all that lovely Greek Food....
 

More friend, John, and family time.

Less stress.

That is about it.

Did manage to get indoor plumbin' for the Tux-Cat before the below 0 temps came...which after several accidents he managed to grasp.

"But...I'm not suppose to shit in the house...okay....but only in this sandbox...."

I SEE YOU...

Off soon, to clean house and make lunch and then get a nap with the cat!

Love,

Carla & Tux

President Biden has freed Leonard Peltier!

 

James is 38...I am Closer to Well...and Wildcard is Winding Down

 

With Kansas and Detroit at the top of their divisions...

James turned 38 on the 8th!!!

Although, it may be next week until I can celebrate with him.

Finally starting to beat this respiratory crap and the coughing is lessening...which is nice.

So weak.

Can't even pick my cat up, right now.

Tire out quickly...but know this is temporary.

Tonight finishes off the Wild Cards with the Rams and Vikings.

Some great teams in the playoffs this year!

Right now it is just cleaning up a bit at a time...food and football...sleeping a lot.

But it is getting better, I think.

 

Love,

Carla

(...the recovering...)

2025 and STILL Alive...

 A little bit like this today...

And who is going to clean up this mess????

Rough end to December and beginning of the New Year. Was sick for about 3 weeks with a bit of everything.

Began with congestion and sinusitis...continued with Covid...ran into a brief hospitalization and then acute viral bronchitis...which gave way to the beginnings of what appeared to be bacterial bronchial pneumonia.

Today, I am Covid negative, still coughing like mad but the fever is gone, Z-packed until next Thursday...shaky...in desperate need of a hot bath...but despite my respiratory system's attempts to kill me off...

STILL HERE.

...and there were several days of wondering if this was how it ends...

Slowly getting better.

It's a process.

Hungry, again...

Instacart and Walmart deliveries...and easy one pot soups and meals.

No energy, yet.

Everyone, except the cats, got screwed for Christmas.

I'm sorry. I'll try to make it up during the year.

Slow today...waiting for Walmart to deliver...and so much clean up here to do.

But it feels good to wake up after weeks and even feel slightly better.

Soup and the ball game tonight...and a couple tomorrow...we have snow and bitterly cold weather coming in...so I'll be hibernating with Tux for a while.

Love Everybody!

Carla

...the germy...