<<<Entry Number One>>>

My two older children weren't here for Christmas. It's a tough gig but it is not insurmountable if you are willing to be flexible.

Easter is a floating holiday as is Thanksgiving. We declared Christmas the same, so we had no celebration until the 27th.

I went to the grocery on the 25th, sort of oblivious to the fact that it was Christmas day. When I got home, I looked at my vape that was sitting between the seats and thought, "I'm done with that now."

And there it has sat for a week. I've had zero impulse to go get it.

Go ahead -- try to tell ME there's not a God.

I love it LG thanks for sharing! Way to go without the vape, more and more freedom awaits!

I can't.

LG so happy to see your beautiful face.

The vape is still history. I thought to look for it the other day and there is was, still charged and I thought "impressive battery" and put it back.

I've never been relieved of my burdens in my whole life like I have been the last 2 years. I've fought the same 20 pounds for 30 years and I've finally won. I've fought nicotine for almost 40 years and I've finally won.

But I don't put something down without picking something up. No mother does.

Hi, LG...

I admire your huge strides. I haven't shaken the vape yet--can't imagine it. It's been 14 months since my last cigarette after 33 years of smoking. I want to be you!

And your flexibility on Christmas. And your weight loss...all of it. Show me how on all of it, please.

LA

LG: How dare you do that? Lose weight? Stop smoking or vaping? Next you are going to tell me you have reconciled with your Mom!

Stop it this instant! You are the female version of me. If you can make positive change in your life, then so can I. That makes it my fault and my responsibility if I don't. I simply refuse to accept that responsibility, so I demand that you reject it as well. Really, the nerve of some people. Moving forward. Making changes. Accepting themselves. Improving themselves and their attitude. What in heck is the world coming to?!?!

Hold yer funny.

LG, so good to see you.

Please tell me how you won that 20 pound battle. I am getting desperate.

Ya know, Hold I was going to say to you that for many years you and I were compadres elsewhere. Neck and neck in the "I can't change myself or my life" camp. We were totally stuck in our fear, and couldn't budge.

And I was gonna ask you what you thought about all the tiny slow changes I've made.

And then ask you about some of the not so tiny ones I have made here recently.

I'm guessing by the way you've reacted to LG, I have my answer. You are not pleased, nor amused!

I am grateful today for alternative facts.

Alternative facts (THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP) mean I'm not responsible for anything I do or say.

Cool.

How can you be responsible for anything? Whatever someone might want to hold you accountable for, it never happened. Or if it did happen, you did not do it. If there is videotape of you doing it, the tape is a hacked phony and a plot by your enemies to undermine you. Even if you did it, it did not have the consequences the person is attaching to it. Or if it did have consequences, they aren't your fault. And if they are, it is really the other person's fault for making you do it to them.

Facts and objective reality are such limiting concepts. Don't we live in a quantum world? There is no one true reality. There are just probabilities of various outcomes. Just because the outcome you believe exists is one of the more likelier outcomes does not mean that dramatically different outcomes aren't also possible. Might occur. Already occurred.

There is so much more freedom is allowing yourself to select which of the infinite potential outcomes you declare to have occurred. Isn't the US the land of the free? Isn't more freedom everywhere and always a good thing? So why not the freedom for each American to decide for themselves which outcome happened? Why do we all have to agree that the same thing happened?

Has anyone else ever gone to marriage counselling with your spouse and fought for an hour over "what really happened"? Has anyone ever had a favorable result from having that argument? Has anyone felt their marriage was improved by having that argument?

LG, I think you are exactly right for viewing this as cool rather than as tragic. Revel in your newfound freedom.

I'm grateful for President Trump too!


But... you were a liberal already... That's pretty much the core philosophy. Not sure how Trump changed that...

My alternative facts are that Trump is not President. I am. Also, chocolate ice cream helps you lose weight.

Mine is that Fibromyalgia is actually a superpower. (I just haven't figured out what it DOES yet)

Yikes! What's in your koolaid?

I am grateful that the majority of folks here want to protect this island from that alternative and flexible reality.


I'm slightly confused as to why the assassination hasn't yet happened? Obviously not as inevitable as I thought it would be.

Not nearly enough to see thousands of people who aren't there.

Yeah, well, last I looked Emperor Trump was butt-nekked. .
but somehow he has the magic to have a lot of folks believing he's sporting Ivanka-Wear. You can fool some of the people all of the time..

Very concerned about the direction of education and governance to be had with our newly elected officials.

Math and civics doesn't seem to be a strong point. What's next? The earth is flat? Art is just a guy? English......wow......paragraphs going to be limited to 146 characters? YIKES!!!!

Also heard that the laws governing the oversight of puppy mills and the record keeping of it has been 'disappeared'. Poof......Y? What's to gain by removing the laws that keep that kind of abuse in check? Now one has to submit a request in writing instead of going on-line and finding an approved and reputable breeder?

Is this post on the wrong thread? Oops.....sorry.

The guy is doing what he said he would do. Tens of millions of people wanted what he was proposing. Some people feel these regulations hurt the economy and cost jobs to an extent that outweighs the benefits they provide. Maybe we can't afford to prevent all of the wrongs and evils and bad things in the world.

I am not a Trump supporter. I did not vote for him. But I want him to succeed, because I live here and intend to continue living here and I want our country to succeed.

If you are outraged by his policies, run for local office. School board. Town council. Get a resume that qualifies you to be a state legislator. Then you can vote for Congressional districts that aren't designed to congregate liberal voters into a small number of districts. If you are not interested in running for office, campaign for someone who is. Collect signatures to get people who share your views onto the ballot. Knock on doors. Help get out the vote. There are lots of things you can do.

None of that will result in Trump ceasing to be president until 4 years form now. But it might take 4 years to do the work to translate outrage into electoral power. So don't bemoan the fact that the next elections are so far away. Be thankful that there is enough time between now and then to organize the resistance.

And if you need a dose of consolation sooner than that, Alec Baldwin is hosting SNL tomorrow.

I'm grateful this board allows this type of discussion about politics where other relationship boards ban it.

Kindly,
Just because this president was elected does not mean I have to lower my moral code or belief simply for the sake of harmony for the next four years. Yes, I know ALL politicians lie - but on some fake 5th dimension the truth matters, rule of law matters.

Many liberals, TRIED to give this administration a chance, but from the onset the cabinet appointments were worse than the "worst case scenario" predicted! To some it's a meme war or cliché battle for giggles. For the people I care about - it's a matter of life and death or daily survival. {threat of Federal School Lunch program being discontinued will really hurt some kids I know. Kids I see everyday.}

I'm grateful that I marched on Washington in a pink hat I was given on the metro.

I'm grateful that due to PDL (pure dumb luck) my hotel was the first stop on the metro line. It was SRO 30 seconds after the doors opened. No one on any stop after that got on the metro for hours.

I'm sad I didn't have a sign. I have never protested anything so I didn't think of a sign.

My personal favorite signs:

Free Melania

I can't believe we are still protesting this shinola.

I'm sad that my husband didn't come with me. We agreed that was a mistake.

I cleaned up my dad's crap off the bathroom floor and EVERYWHERE else (how was that even physically possible) two nights ago.

I'm grateful I didn't throw up.