Gratitude for today

 
(These posts should be called "Gratitude for today/Despite the hellscape that is the USA")

- During my last time at Postcards for Swing States they said - again - that so many of their volunteers' signups have been people saying they saw my posts on social media!

- And given all the horrible things going on (SCOTUS, Republican-controlled states, mass shootings), I have committed to taking at least one action per week. Either volunteering at Postcards to Swing States, or canvassing for Lauren Underwood (I hate canvassing but whatever) or doing something with my local Dems. I've been holding to that so far.

- Also....something interesting. Latest analyses are showing that Sean Casten's seat might be more vulnerable than Lauren Underwood's! That's actually good news for me. I live closer to Casten's district and thus I'd rather spend my time canvassing there. 

- Got the first CSA pickup of the year. It's always great to get that box of vegetables. Even though this time they included 4 bags of cilantro, wtf

- Scrabble date on Saturday with Ann, and at a restaurant that I love! Win win!

- Saturday continued to be awesome. We went to our nephew Ursulo's birthday party. It was fun. Ursulo has a younger, half-brother who we rarely see. He is adorable. So sweet and nice. Also at the party was Doris's brother's first ex-wife Marquessa, who we've always liked. We've been (well, I've been) low-key looking for a country to flee to, and she sold us on her native Uruguay. She said tons of Americans live there and they are welcome there, there's socialized medicine, no guns, and plenty of vegan food for me. :) So we have our backup plan. I need to really sell Doris on this if the country goes to Republicans this year

- Speaking of which....the NYT posted an article today. They said that all signs show the Dems will lose the House, but that recent signs show they might actually pick up seats in the Senate. Which might keep our democracy on life support. 

- I did a small good deed. Someone posted on a vegan group saying that she's been struggling to buy groceries since she relies on her Etsy business for a significant portion of her income. So I bought a few things from her Etsy page. (Perhaps the woman was a shuckster but I don't think so, and anyway I got some great new jewelry now. She didn't even post a link to her Etsy page but others found it and asked if it was hers, and she said yes)

- And Doris was home on the 4th. She cooked soooo much. Vegan chorizo filling for burritos, roasted veggies, two loaves of bread, watermelon popsickles and a watermelon drink. (And oh yeah, there was a mass shooting at a parade 25 miles from us, but whatever I guess. Uruguay, here we come!)

- Fangirl news! One of my favorites, Jarod, has another gig on his IMDB page. It's a sequel to a Hallmark film he made. He had a big role in the original, so I'm glad.