Herstory

So, last night was pretty epic, yes?

I haven't been around in a while, but it feels right to break out the keyboard and write down how I feel about the nomination of a woman for President of the United States.

I know this will sound odd in a post about a history-making woman, but I miss my dad. He was the political junkie in the family. I came to political activism much, much later. I suppose it's a testament to the good governing of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman (dad's heroes) that my childhood was fairly stable. Daddy was born at the beginning of the Great Depression and lived through WWII as a teen-ager.

What must that have been like?

Dad wanted Hillary to be the nominee in 2008. Hindsight's 20/20, and Father Knows Best. (I supported Obama all the way. As soon as he became the nominee, Dad was a hundred percent on board.) Looking at all that's happened over the past few years, we might have been better had Dad's preference prevailed.

But it didn't.

And now it has.

I kept thinking I might get a text from one of the women in my family – I'm the matriarch, so it would have been my daughter, a daughter-in-law, or my granddaughter. But none of them are political or even history buffs. It wouldn't resonate with them the way it would have with my dad or does with me.

So here's how I feel this morning.

Hillary Clinton will and must be the next President of the United States. The stakes are too high for any other outcome. I'll do all I can possibly do to make sure Donald Trump never sees the inside of the Oval Office. It terrifies me that he is now getting security briefings on sensitive issues.

Hillary Clinton is not perfect. No candidate is, but she comes with an extraordinary amount of negatives, courtesy of popular media that feeds on negatives and a populace all too willing to let the media do their thinking for them.

But here's the truth. Hillary Clinton has been under scrutiny for decades. She's always done what she felt was the right and good thing to do, given the circumstances and facts before her. I can say that, even though I don't know her, because the results bear that out. You can watch the many, many speeches from the convention last night and learn more of the quiet, private good she's done in her lifetime.

You can watch Fox News to hear the negatives and, yes, the lies. Because Fox is an entertainment network, they're not bound by the truth.

I don't have stars in my eyes for Hillary Clinton. Neither she nor her pick for vice-president have the charisma of the First Couple or the fire and sizzle of many of the up-and-coming Democrats. (Our bench is deep, and wow are we fortunate for that. Especially considering that the Republicans have majorities in the House and Senate and Donald Trump is the best they could do.)

We live in a time where solid, measured government is necessary. President Obama is so darned good at it. He doesn't let emotion take over, but you know how he feels and where his heart is.

Hillary Clinton is good at it, as well. We will expect more of her, because she's a woman. She will, right or wrong, have to work twice as hard to earn the respect of an equally qualified man. It's astonishing that our country, often called the most powerful in the world, regards women as not good enough for governing, but just fine for accessorizing.

Here's the thing: No one in America – man or woman – is more qualified, more experienced, more committed, or more ready to lead this country than Hillary Clinton is. Whether you like her or not is irrelevant. We're not voting for Homecoming Queen. This is serious.

Hillary Clinton has made tough decisions, run into obstacles, changed course, weathered storms, dealt with private matters in public, and taken public matters to heart day after day after day. She's looked at life from not just both sides, as Judy Collins sang, but from all sides. That's what you do when the stakes are high. And that's what you do when you have to do the best, most-right thing, no matter who's watching.

In the end … for a host of reasons I can't really articulate …

I'm with her.

When last we met …

I think I was bragging about nailing 100+ miles in January.

It's gonna take some serious walking to hit it in February. With three fewer days and a couple bad-weather days already, I've only managed 19 for the first week. No walking today, either, because I'll be in the car and on my butt in a meeting all day. But my attitude is good, and I've already planned to put in some extra (above my usual and customary four/day) miles in the coming weeks. If I don't hit 100, I'll at least come close.

I've been a busy Democrat since the election. You'd think things would slow down some, but nooooo. When your state legislature flips from blue to red, you suddenly pay a lot more attention to what's going on at the Capitol.

So far they want to allow smoking in public buildings, add a religious exemption to the public school vaccination policy, restrict abortions in a variety of ways (11 bills so far!), allow open carry without a license IF your gun was made in West Virginia, repeal the ACA in WV, repeal lemon laws, repeal regulations on above-ground water-storage tanks, repeal prevailing wage … lots of repealing going on … and more.

Also? There's a couple crazy Delegates who just don't get that whole rape thing.

Voter turnout in November was 37 percent. And it looks like some of those voters who stayed home are waking up to the realization that a GOP majority is not in their best interests.

Note to voters: We tried to tell you that.

At any rate, I'm feeling useful and committed to the cause. Being plugged in to a group actively working to turn this state back to blue is both challenging and rewarding. But I'm in it to win it.

Still shell-shocked. But rising.

Went to a little get-together last night, a post-mortem, if you will, with fellow Democrats from our women's group and our county executive committee. Quite a good crowd, not much gnashing of teeth, a good deal of enthusiasm and many questions about what comes next.

Most of West Virginia's politicians are Democrat-Lite. Our state party platform includes language that supports a woman's right to choose, but many-many-many of our Democratic legislators are pro-life. And now that our statehouse is Republican-controlled, you can bet the anti-abortion bills will be flowing like manna from HEAVEN.

(Whatever pro-life is. If you're pro-life, aren't you – or shouldn't you be – also anti-death penalty? Anti-war? Wouldn't you support early childhood education and food stamps and all the other social programs that help disadvantaged people LIVE? Unwanted children already born have LIFE. I'm pro-THEM.)

The opposition loves throwing the term pro-abortion around, which is ridiculous. NO ONE is pro-abortion. Those of us on the pro-choice side, however, believe a safe, legal, medical procedure should be available for those who have decided to end a pregnancy. The reason for such a decision is no one's business but the woman or family involved.

I feel that this and so many other good, solid, for-the-people principles will be gone with the wind coal in very short order.

I can't speak for every Democrat in West Virginia. I can only speak for me. I didn't come easily to this party. I wanted to remain an Independent, and I have voted for Republicans. Now that I'm here, though, I'm here to stay and I'll be damned if I'll let anyone hold me, West Virginia or America back without a fight.

I'm wearing an Obama button everywhere I go, with the exception of the prison. (Volunteers and staff are not permitted to display political icons on the grounds.) My Obama bumper stickers are going to remain on my car until Hillary announces. Our candidates lost because we lost control of the conversation, and I blame both the state and national party leaders for that. No national candidate who distanced him or herself from the President won. (At least I don't think so, I haven't drilled down through all 50 states to know for sure.)

At any rate, I'm a Democrat and I'm going to be a LOUD PROUD one. We have NOTHING to apologize for. We have supported the middle class, helped the disadvantaged, secured the future for the elderly, tried to do the best for the most.

I don't see Republicans caring one whit for anyone or anything except their own best interests.

Big, dark, outside money + racism + GOD/GUNS/GAYS + poor advice = this:

West Virginia's  majestic capitol building, Charleston, WV.
Altered, for the time being.

On my wishlist

I pretty much have everything I need and want. I'm not pining away for any kind of new this or that stuff. But I would like for a few things to happen, preferably without my having to work too hard at it.

First, always first, is to achieve a weight-loss goal and then maintain it.

I was sooooo close last year. Within 12 pounds. And now it's back to 20+. Which is better than 50+, to be sure, and I'm catching it earlier than I did a couple years ago. Those of you who struggle with weight loss know how much easier it is to put it on than to take it off.

I feel like I'm heading in the right direction, and the election season is almost over, which will help free up my time and energy to get back to basics. And to get back to walking daily.

Next … about that election … I really hope the Democrat message has been strong, persistent and positive enough to retain our majority in the state legislature, add a seat in Congress and keep retiring Jay Rockefeller's seat in the blue column.

Could we be doing better? Always. And there's still time, it's 12 days until Election Day. But now that early voting has begun, it feels like time is running out. I noticed a distinct reduction in the number of political commercials while watching Jeopardy last night. Like two instead of 12.

Finally, it would be great if there were some way to block those commercials completely after you've early voted.

We mute them, unless it's a new one we haven't previously seen. And there actually are a couple we really like, so we watch those with the sound turned up. But mostly the commercials this year have been driven by negativity and funded by buckets o'cash from out-of-state billionaires.

I did a commercial for my Congressman, way back in May, that never ran. It was about insurance, and of course anything that smacks of Something Good President Obama Has Done is off the table here in West Virginia. I'm sad about that, in so many ways.

I also wish …

• my commercial had run.
• my fellow citizens could look past the color of his skin and get to the heart of his character.
• God, guns and gays – and coal – weren't the operative campaign issues for Republicans.

November 5 can't come quickly enough.

My passion for politics

Prior to 2008, I probably would have said my vote – in any election – didn't matter. How could one vote possibly make a difference? And who cared about my opinion, anyway?

Oh, I voted, don't get me wrong. My parents both voted (my mother stopped to vote on her way to the hospital to have my little brother), and believed it was important to vote and taught us that voting was not just a right, but a duty.

cnn.com

But my political passion didn't catch fire until six years ago (I'm a late bloomer), bursting into flame on this day in 2008, when Barack Obama became the first African-American nominated for the office of President of the United States.

Hindsight's 20/20, of course. We might have been able to delay the blatant racism we've been living with since his election, had we instead nominated the first woman. But we probably would have been dealing with blatant sexism. I fully expect a racist-to-sexist transformation when Hillary is elected in 2016.

I'm a middle-class white girl, originally from Ohio and now living in southern West Virginia, a state with a minority population in the single digits. But I was born in 1951. I came of age during the civil rights era, a time when a President was assassinated and cities caught fire.

I didn't understand it all back then, being somewhat boy-crazy and not especially concerned with the national struggle for equality and justice. But I knew that my dad and his friends made their way to the edge of town one night to turn away a group of people from a nearby city who wanted to create a disturbance in our little town.

It's been proven that you notice two things first when you meet another person. One sees gender and race before one notices hair color or height or weight or what someone is wearing. But I think I've been pretty color-blind most of my life, and I tried to teach my children that the color of one's skin doesn't matter.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

So. I guess I want to say – again – thanks, Obama, for helping me find my political passion. I'm engaged in the process in a way I never thought possible. Do I wish I'd started earlier in life? Oh, yes. But I try not to spend too much time regretting that which I can't change.

There's too much to do NOW.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now.

~ Barack Obama, August 27, 2008 

Nothing like an Eric Cantor defeat …

to improve your mood.

Yes, I know a Tea Party guy beat him and yes, I know it doesn't look good for the general election in November. That district (VA-07) is heavily Republican and has been gerrymandered to make it, um, mostly white. There's no other way to say it.

So the Democratic challenger – an unknown colleague of Cantor's primary opponent – has his work cut out for him.

Which means Virginia Democrats also have their work cut out for them.

Last night, though, when I first heard the news, I was grinning from ear to ear, and the only thing raining on my parade was rain.

Real rain. Lots of it. Good-for-the-garden rain. More than half an inch!

So the November elections in next-door Virginia just got verrrrry interesting. I'm hoping we'll learn that lots of Democrats crossed over to vote against Cantor and will go back in November to turn VA-07 BLUE. (Virginia voters enjoy open primaries.)

If that's not how it happened, this country is in worse trouble than I thought, because it shows just how polarized we are. And it will be a long time before we come to our senses. When Hillary takes the oath in 2016, all the racists will turn into sexists. If the House is still controlled by Republicans, she will face the same obstructionism my President has had to deal with.

It won't be pretty.

And on Thursday, May 15, she rested. Maybe.

It's going to rain all. day. long. Well, maybe not all day, but when I look at the hourly forecast it's supposed to let up at noon. When I'll be in a meeting.

And so, unless something really inspires me later this afternoon, this will probably be a no-walking day. I'd like to keep the streak going, though – I haven't missed since April 7 – so I wouldn't be surprised if I hit the road later. And you shouldn't be, either! Heh.

The coming week will at least be better for walking temperature-wise than the last few days have been. If you don't get out early on a day when the thermometer rises to nearly 90 (in MAY!), you're going to suffer. Or at least I do. But we have a week of 60s and low 70s coming up – pretty perfect for walking and running and gardening.

I still don't have the fence around the garden, but I've planted the onions, summer squash, tomatoes and peppers. I dumped coffee grounds around the tomatoes and peppers, because I've heard the deer don't like the scent and, well, we have plenty of coffee grounds around here. But no fence. One does what one can.

Primary day is done and dusted. I ran unopposed for a seat on our county's Democratic Executive Committee. I didn't need to campaign, which was nice, but I was still invited to all the meet-the-candidate events, so I got to test my public speaking skills a few times. Not something I've ever been especially comfortable doing, but the older I get the less self-conscious I am. Imagine that.

Republicans don't turn out for the primaries the way Democrats do, which gives us Dems a sense of hope, looking at the numbers. But Democrats don't turn out for the general election the way Republicans do – why is that!?!?! – so we have a lot of work to do. We have some great candidates with good plans and policies, and we'll need to push, push, push to turn Democrats who vote in the primary into Democrats who vote every damned chance they get.

That would be me.

On a sad note, my neighbor died yesterday. He'd been in two different ICU units for the past two weeks, one in West Virginia and one in NC. He was married but had no children. He was a farmer and a railroader and the best neighbor anyone could ever hope for. We talked about sports and politics and weather – always the weather. He gave my grandchildren tractor rides when they visited, unasked – just showed up when they arrived and told them to get in the cab. He made sure our driveway was plowed when it snowed. He let me pick apples and turnip greens from his garden.

I'm sure going to miss him. He was only 57. A hard worker, and a good man with a fatal flaw. Rest in peace, my friend.

Dear Joe

Here's a little political advice from the bottom of the ticket, not that you care or ever would follow it.

You don't have to answer reporters' questions.

Just because someone puts a microphone in front of you doesn't mean you have to provide a quote.

You could be "running late for an appointment." You could be "heading for the airport." You could even offer to "give it a little thought" before you put your foot in your mouth again.

Last week you defended the Koch Brothers. You know, the guys who are singlehandedly destroying our democracy.

Then, the day after the Center for Public Integrity wins a freakin' PULITZER for an investigative piece on a West Virginia law firm withholding evidence in black lung cases, you hand them an attaboy. Of course, they'd already handed you $50K.

You've been quoted many times (too many) as saying you're a "West Virginia Democrat, not a Washington Democrat."

Here's a little breaking news: No West Virginia Democrat I know would defend a law firm that withheld critical evidence in order to deny black-lung benefits to sick miners.

Here's a little more breaking news: I'm a West Virginia Democrat. And I vote. And I usually vote a straight ticket, being the good little Democrat I am.

Next time you're on the ballot, though, I think I'll have to pass. You're hurting Democrats who are trying to get elected. And you're hurting West Virginia. Your predecessor must surely be spinning in his grave.

And with a stroke of the pen …

we don't have to talk about that Pain-Capable Child Protection Act in West Virginia any longer. (Well, we will, and it'll come up again next year, no doubt.)

On the advice of legal experts, who said HB4588 was unconstitutional, and stating passage of the bill would be a "detriment to women's health," West Virginia Gov. Tomblin vetoed it last night.

He's not the best governor we've ever had. He gets lots of things wrong, as far as progressives go. But he got this one right.

And I'm glad he did.

Now if he'd just sign the minimum-wage bill …

Kill. Me. Now.

I realize spring doesn't officially begin for another four days. But seriously? Really? We could get six inches of snow or more between this afternoon and tomorrow morning. REALLY?

Arghhhh.

Since this weather madness isn't supposed to hit us until late this afternoon, and since the temperature will be in the balmy mid-40s later this morning, I plan to get outside for a walk then. Maybe even a walk/run. Vickie suggested stepping up the pace a bit, and that has been somewhat effective in kickstarting my metabolism. Sometimes. Maybe everyone's, but I can only speak for me. And, obviously, I can't count on it. Since I really can't count on anything weight-loss related working consistently for me.

My calendar for the upcoming week is full to overflowing:

Monday we'll be snowed in, most likely, so delivering the elliptical may not happen. We're donating it to an auction which will raise funds for the local Animal Welfare Control Project. If it doesn't make it to the venue on time, they'll just sell it via a photograph and the winning bidder can come pick it up.

Then there's this:

Natalie Tennant is West Virginia's Secretary of State and – oh, how we hope – our next U.S. Senator. TRDW is my shorthand for our local Democratic women's club and stands for Three Rivers Democratic Women. The reception on the 20th is to honor a family friend who holds a high-level position in the Obama administration.

Pretty heady stuff.

(The words highlighted in pink are my photo prompts for those days.)

I'm also heading to North Carolina Friday for a long weekend visit with my son and his family.

So. BUSY! But that's okay. Weeks like this seldom happen and all I have to do is take it one day at a time. I'm ever so grateful to have stuck to the plan and lost all that weight, as in the process I've gained enough energy and self-confidence that I know I can handle these upcoming events. I can only imagine how paralyzed I might have been a year ago.

The Tuesday meeting with my Congressman was arranged upon my initiative – I can guarantee you that wouldn't have happened last year.

And I don't mean for this to be an oh-look-at-me-I'm-so-important post. I really want it to be an oh-wow-I'm-so-grateful-to-be-able-to-do-all-this post. I'm not bragging, honest! I almost didn't put it all out here. But I want to remember it, and I guess I'm hoping that neither of you will mind.

Moving backwards

I guess I've officially taken a paleo break. I'm not happy about it. Paleo worked for me in so many ways. And it will work again, I'm sure of it.

This horrible winter and the dead refrigerator have conspired against me, sending me to the easiest and most comforting sustenance available: saltines and either butter or peanut butter.

Pretty much the opposite of a clean diet.

I'm dizzy this morning, lightheaded and shaky. I've had a banana and the aforementioned crackers. And, probably, too much coffee.

I'm back up a pound this week. At the beginning of the year I needed to lose 12 pounds to reach that magical "normal" BMI. Now it's 17. And that's definitely discouraging.

I'm the only one who can turn it around, though. And I will. I'm confident that lack of daily exercise + not-so-clean eating = crappy mood, extra pounds and, yes, a return of that nagging hip pain.

ALSO moving backwards: the state of West Virginia, where a bill passed the House of Delegates last night that would make it a felony to perform an abortion after 20 weeks. The bill now goes to the state Senate. I've written my Senators, urging them to keep the government out of women's health care.

It's not going to have a big impact on the number of procedures performed here in the Mountain State. It's pretty hard to have an abortion at any time, since we have just two clinics and West Virginia isn't the easiest state in which to get from place to place.

More importantly, women who learn at 20 weeks that there is something wrong with their health or the health of the fetus need to have the option. Women who's carried a fetus that long WANT that baby. They and their families are looking forward to the new addition to the family. They are making a heartbreaking and agonizing decision. It's not the state's business to interfere.

Imagine learning, on the 20th week plus third day, that the child you're carrying has died in utero. Should this bill become law, you would be required to deliver your stillborn child at term.

I've said all this before. I think. Sorry to repeat myself.

Today the House of Delegates will be voting on a bill that will allow security personnel in schools to carry weapons.

Gun rights: AYE!

Women's rights: NAY!

Here we go again

Another round of cold weather settles in this week. Yesterday was soooo lovely – warm enough to walk outdoors (six miles!) in a short-sleeved t-shirt and without a jacket.

It's 24° right now, though, and only supposed to hit the 40s later. I have a meeting this afternoon; waiting to walk until later might not be an option. We'll see.

Over the next few days we will again see the wintry mix and the cold temperatures, along with jackets and mittens and caps, oh my.

We moved the old dead refrigerator out of the kitchen yesterday. My, my, that was a chore. Refrigerators have glides on them and it moved easily across the hard surface of the kitchen and hallway. But the only door on the back of the house wide enough to get it through is the sliding glass door in our bedroom, and that meant pushing the appliance over the carpeting. And the doorway was just wide enough. Maybe an inch to spare.

At any rate, it's now decorating the back patio. We look just like real West Virginians.

For five consecutive years, West Virginia has ranked dead-last in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. In other words, we're the most miserable state in the country. And that makes me feel … miserable.

I'm in quite a blue mood this morning anyway. A restrictive abortion bill is likely to pass the state legislature this week. Another bill which would allow teachers to carry weapons in schools is making its way through the committee process. (The local-ish paper endorsed it, but there's no place I could find to comment on the editorial. Grrr.)

I'm going to a neighboring county Democrat women's meeting tomorrow night and I'm supposed to rally the troops and lead the pep rally and be encouraging about the state of the state.

Ah, well. I have approximately 18 hours to do a 180. I've been known to rally in far less time than that!

All politics is local

So I was watching Jeopardy last night with my husband – it's our after-dinner mental cocktail, I suppose – when the phone rang. On the line was a friend encouraging me to get myself down to the county courthouse before today's deadline to file as a candidate for our county's Democratic Executive Committee.

Signing my life away for my party. Heh.

I've wanted to be a part of this committee for a long time, but these seats are kind of like Green Bay Packers season tickets. I wasn't going to throw my name in the hat and possibly step on someone else's toes.

However – my friend said both women from my district were stepping down. They'd found one replacement. Would I consider being the other one?

PERFECT! It's like winning your age group in a 5K when you're the only one in your age group.

But it's also new blood, and every county committee needs a transfusion once in a while. I hope to learn a lot, contribute what I can and help turn West Virginia BLUE!

An F- bomb(shell)

All of the excitement about Thursday's announcement regarding foreign investment in little old West Virginia was tempered – to say the least – by my Congressman being one of the 39 Democrats who voted with the GOP in the House of Representatives for the "Keep Your Crappy Insurance Plan Act of 2013."

It's not really called that. But it should be.

The bill's not going anywhere and even if it does the President will veto it.

Congressman Rahall will probably have his toughest election race ever next year (although, really, the election cycle nowadays begins on the previous Election Day, right?). Here we are, a year out, and already there are nasty, negative television ads funded by outside money targeting him because he voted for the Affordable Care Act.

After his vote for the KYCIPAof2013 yesterday, he was asked what grade he would give President Obama. His reply? "F-."

I do so wish he'd have sloughed off the question with a harmless remark and a twinkle in his eye. I've seen him do that before, many times. He's smart and he's been in Congress a long time. He could have deflected, rather than falling into the trap of criticizing his Commander in Chief.

I've seen more than a few blog posts and Facebook statuses lately bemoaning this country's decline in civility. It's so easy to whip off a nasty comment or bitter tweet. I doubt if most people writing their vile remarks (and it comes from both sides) would be willing to say such things out loud in polite company.

Then again, we don't have much polite company any more. We're all buried in our devices, with little face-to-face interaction. I'm guilty, although I try to be engaged and engaging when I'm part of a group.

It takes a bit more care to be polite, a touch of thoughtfulness to deflect nastiness. And I submit that this care and thoughtfulness is worth the effort.

That old saw about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar really works.

Or at least it used to.

The (tea) party's over. (Hope springs eternal.)

No more tea, thank you, I've had enough. And I think both of you agree with me.

Not everyone does, of course. I'm just not sure what happened to the ones in the middle. Seems like people are either over here on the left, with me, or waaaaaay over there on the right, waving their Confederate flags and wearing their "Don't Tread on Me" t-shirts.

What's happened to the common good? That's what we should be asking everyone running for Congress next year.

My hope is that this Congressional clusterfuck has woken people up to the idea that we must find the middle again. I'm not going to get everything I want (cough – reduce military spending – cough – end the drug war – cough – protect the environment – cough). But in their quest to dismantle a law they didn't like – a LAW that helps millions of their constituents – the radical right-wing Republicans ended up getting, um, nothing.

[If you are a radical right-wing Republican, riddle me this: How can you be against providing birth control or legal abortions, and also against providing health care and food stamps to underprivileged and/or abused children?]

I just hope voters remember this in November. Congressional representatives are elected every two years. With the 24/7 news cycle these days (/sarcasm font/ thank you, cable news /sarcasm font off/), it seems like they're campaigning all the damned time. Most people aren't as fanatical about politics as am I. (A friend recently asked, puzzled, "Isn't the election in 2014? Not next month?" And of course, she's right.)

Photo credit: Jonathan Tamari, philly.com

Perhaps the tide is turning. Perhaps we truly are ready to take a look at where the country has been going, and where we'd like it to go. Cory Booker was elected to the Senate last night, and a nicer politician you ain't gonna find. The special election cost millions of additional dollars, since New Jersey voters will be electing a governor in just three weeks. But the current Republican Governor decided it would be better to have all those Democrats voting yesterday, hoping they'll stay home November 5.

(Christie enjoys a HUGE lead against his Democratic opponent; he really didn't need to schedule an additional election day. And if he were going to, why didn't he schedule it earlier, so Booker could have voted curing the budget crisis? The questions, oh, the questions.)

A Democrat being elected to fill a Democrat's seat isn't especially news-worthy, but Cory Booker is a newsmaker and a genuinely good guy. He's been ridiculed for his excessive use of social media. I happen to think his tweets and Facebook updates are pretty darned perfect.

But that's just me. Heh.

Yesterday (warning: NO politics ahead) I picked up the second chair at Target. Shopping at Target is truly a wonderful experience for me. Yes, it's a long drive and no, I don't go often, so I don't have much to go on. But I have been consistently impressed with the helpfulness of the staff. My chair was waiting for me in Guest Services. I thought I'd have to hang out while they brought it from the stockroom. I was able to pay for the chair and my other purchases right there in Guest Services. The lines at the regular check-outs were so long that staff members were directing customers (whom they call guests) to the newly opened registers (and shortest available lines).

Seriously. I heart Target. There are only six in all of West Virginia, and the closest one to me is a two-hour drive. "My" Target is Virginia is about an hour and 15 minutes away. And well worth the drive.

There's a TJMaxx near that Target, and I stopped to try on jeans yesterday. Those five pair I've hung on to all these years are already getting a bit baggy. I especially want to replace the single pair of black jeans, which I frequently wear.

I am NOT the skinny-jeans type, and that's what nearly every retailer is pushing now. (I'd already looked at the Gap Outlet.) The one pair I found that I thought might fit just by looking at them on the rack were a size 10 and … too big. SIZE 10! TOO BIG! Whether it's vanity sizing or for-real-for-real sizing, I don't know. (Is Bandolino a pricey brand?)

So I came home jeanless, but I have all the furniture I need to redo the "den." Oh, and I bought a food processor to replace the one that died a couple months ago. And a couple of V-neck knit tops with 3/4 sleeves, one chocolate brown and one black. How boring is that?

Finally … and also having nothing to do with politics … winter's right around the corner. Need a hat? One of my favorite online vendors* has garter-stitch beanies, handknit in Bolivia using baby llama wool, for ONLY $89. Or you could check a knitting book out of the library (or watch a how-to-knit demo on YouTube), pick up a pair of needles and a skein of wool from your local yarn shop and make this one for less than $20. (Or try my beanie pattern, which has a garter-stitch cuff; the top part is stockinette.) And since you have the needles, the next one will cost less than $10. And if you're like me, you've got more time than money. Get those needles clicking and your Christmas gifts will be done while you're watching football games.

*Kauffman Mercantile really is one of my favorite online vendors. But ninety bucks for a garter stitch beanie is, um, ridiculously expensive. They have reasonable prices for Weck jars, though, and a great replacement policy if something is broken in shipment.

Out of the loop yesterday …

and I feel as though I didn't miss a thing.

Republicans in Congress are still shouting and pointing fingers and blaming the other guy President.

The stock market is still going down, down, down, taking our 401Ks with it.

Federal employees are still furloughed, national parks are still closed, essential government services are limping along and why the hell are there any non-essential services, anyway?

I went shopping yesterday. We needed coffee beans and dog food and groceries and I made a day of it, leaving at 9 a.m. and returning home mid-afternoon. I looked for shoes to wear to the rescheduled JJ Dinner, but didn't find anything I liked that I could afford.

(I won't be wearing that cute little sleeveless black number after all. It would have worked in early October, but November 2 is most likely to be much cooler. I'm wearing a black tank and skirt with a black-and-gold jacket. Not that it matters!)

Kitten suggested in a comment yesterday that I not get rid of my soapbox just yet. And then said, "Every voice matters."

His does, too. And yours. And mine. Take advantage of every opportunity to speak up, speak out and get in the way.

The other thing I bought yesterday was … are you ready? … a new phone. I know, I know, you're really going to miss my bitching about my old one, aren't you?

When I was at the phone store a couple weeks getting the old one serviced, the technician told me I could get some of the same phones they sell at the company store at Wal-Mart, at quite a savings. He didn't have to do that, but I decided to see what the Evil Empire offered.

This phone does everything but the dishes.

As it turns out, they offered the exact phone I ended up buying, for about $30 less than what I paid for it. What Wal-Mart didn't offer was expertise, attention to detail and customer service. I had done my research and asked a couple questions of the woman behind the counter. She was only there to take money – not her fault – but didn't really know the features of the phones on display.

So I went to the company store (I sound like a coal miner, don't I?) and forked over the big bucks during quite an amazing shopping experience that was worth every penny. My salesman turned out to be a Peace Corps veteran with a Masters Degree in Peace and Justice.

Selling cell phones is not what he thought his post-graduate life would look like, but he was very zen about it. His wife is studying graphic design. They have two children. They're young Democrats in one of the reddest counties in southern West Virginia.

How often have I had this experience while shopping? I would have to say, um, never.

So that was fun. And I got a $30 case for the phone at no additional charge. I feel like I came out way ahead on the deal.

I just hope I feel the same way with whatever deal happens to get the government rolling again.

Do I need anti-anxiety meds? Or do I need to crawl under a rock?

My mood is generally pretty even-keel. I've been known, in my younger days, to have an explosive temper, but as I've, ahem, matured, I've reined in my tendency to act out by blowing up.

Apologizing for misbehaving has a lot to do with this change in behavior. And 22+ years of sobriety have taught me that, yes, I do need to apologize. And really? I'd rather avoid having to apologize.

This past week, however, with all the mad-crazy-insane crap spewing forth from Washington, DC, has me a little ... unsettled.

Democrats in West Virginia were informed last week that the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner was being postponed this year due to the government shutdown. It was originally scheduled for this coming Saturday, and will now be held November 2.

I didn't get angry when I got the e-mail. Oh, maybe a little, because I truly think the Tea Party and its ilk are guilty of high crimes and treason and sedition and extortion and intimidation and manipulation. And also they're not doing their jobs.

Nope, instead of angry, I got scared. Scared because – and I know you've both heard and/or read this before – a small group of one branch of government seems to be holding the rest of us hostage. Because they're not getting their way.

They don't seem to care. And here's what they don't care about:

• Taking these United States of America right off a cliff
• Our reputation in the rest of the world
• Increasing unemployment numbers, as furloughed workers file for benefits
• Food safety
• NIH clinical trials
• The Constitution of these United States

What they do care about is undermining President Obama's signature legislation, a LAW which has been PASSED and UPHELD by the Supreme Court of the United States. Laws are amendable, not negotiable. If and when the GOP ever regains control of Congress and the White House at the same time, then they can attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I don't know when or how or if EVER that will happen.

It will never happen, if I have anything to do about it.

So back to the dinner. Our state's two Democrat Senators and lone Democrat Congressman are busy fighting with Republicans in Congress working toward a solution to the government shutdown. Since the dinner was going to be a celebration of our senior Senator Jay Rockefeller's service to West Virginia (he won't be running for re-election next year), it's fitting that the dinner be postponed. Also, the keynote speaker will be the Vice-President. I expect he's kind of busy this week, too.

Our junior Senator scares me more than the GOP most of the time sometimes. He was, at first, in favor of delaying the implementation of the ACA. Someone convinced him he needs to stand strong with his fellow Democrats this time. (He's not known for his voting consistency.)

I read yesterday that he favors spending cuts to get a deal to raise the debt ceiling. 

I'm no expert. I assume that We The People elect representatives because they know more about fiscal cliffs and debt ceilings and government funding than we do.

What I do know is that that if his spending cuts affect the sick, the poor and the elderly (via cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security), but don't affect defense and the military … well, I guess We The People aren't who he represents after all.

Politics has taken over my social-media life

I helped conduct a social-media workshop at the WVFDW annual meeting last weekend. There were three of us; my focus was Facebook. We didn't go into all the available social-media outlets, or we might still be there, talking to an empty room.

Much like Ted Cruz did most of the night. I couldn't watch.

So here it is, nearly 9 a.m., and I'm just now getting around to blogging. Because I've been twittering tweeting since 6:30.

Not everyone who registered for the convention attended our session. (We didn't expect that.) I hope the ones who opted out are already down with the Facebook and the Twitter, but I suspect those who chose not to stay are the ones who don't even have computers.

Yes, there still are people who aren't online.

Those who did sit in seemed engaged and asked a lot of questions. I helped a couple women set up a Facebook page for their group.

And I learned a lot about Twitter.

I've had an account for a couple years, but I rarely ever look looked at it. Now, though? I. Can't. Stay. Away.

So I added a little Twitter button over there on the right, and if you'd like to read snarky liberal comments, follow me. That's mostly what I've been retweeting. (Wow. No autocorrect on the word retweeting.)

Photo session is this afternoon. Stay tuned for progress pictures tomorrow.

If I can tear myself away from the little blue bird.

I'm running out of adjectives

Astounded: astonished, blown away, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, surprised, shocked, gobsmacked (my personal favorite)

It's Monday, I ate catered food all weekend at a convention and I expected a tiny loss, if anything, for this week's weigh-in. I ate lightly Friday and didn't work out, ate very little Saturday (because there was very little available to eat that fit the plan) and did work out, and was pretty close to normal yesterday – slightly under the calorie target with a five-mile walk when I got home. Still, I didn't prepare the food, which was definitely oversalted (everyone remarked on it) and I just didn't feel as though I was

4.5 pounds lighter

than last Monday.

I didn't believe the scale the first time I stepped on it, so I did my two-out-of-three thing, and it recorded the same number the second try.

That's a total of 33 pounds since December 26. Twenty-six of those pounds have been since I began the paleo plan on April 6. I'm losing nearly half a pound A DAY since I stopped eating grains, legumes, dairy and sugar. I had previously lost half a pound a week.

I wore a beautiful skirt with a light cotton knit twinset for Saturday's banquet – blue, of course, since it was the National Federation of Democratic Women convention. Everything was too big. The long-sleeved cardigan did a fair job of hiding how big the tee beneath it was. The skirt slipped around my waist easily. I think I'll alter the skirt and find a new top to wear with it.

I never liked that twinset anyway. Heh.

I ate some cheese over the weekend – a slice of Havarti on a grilled portobello sandwich (sans bread) and some goat cheese on a salad. My gut definitely rebelled, which makes me wary of trying Greek yogurt.

I really, really, really miss Greek yogurt.

Conventions = swag, of course, and among the swag now in my trashcan are a couple of cookies and some mints. The custom-wrapped chocolate bars are in the freezer, probably to be tossed at a later date. Each attendee received a large canvas messenger bag and at each meeting and meal we received stuff to put in it: several lapel pins and a cup and and a red/white/blue lei and a can cozy (which I didn't bring home because I don't drink from cans) and a keychain and a fanny pack and my favorite:

Time to redecorate my car … heh.

Of course, there's much more work to be done before 2016. And most of the women from my county group are understandably burned out on campaigning. Most people I know want to give politics a rest.

But if you bleed blue, and if you care about what's happening to workers' rights, the environment, education, the poor, children and especially women in states where the GOP has taken over state legislatures, well … we cannot rest.

We simply can't.

Funny how things work out

So our friend Sylvia was nominated for Director of the Office of Management and Budget yesterday morning. My husband went to town to watch the news coverage with her father, who is being cared for in a skilled-nursing facility while her mother recovers from hip surgery at Johns Hopkins.

I had a dentist's appointment at 9:30, and asked if I'd be done by 10-ish, so I could join my husband and Sylvia's dad. They thought not, but they did get me out by 10:10. Still time to make it, as the announcement was scheduled for 10:15. (Hinton is a very small town.)

There was, however, a problem with my car. I'd noticed on the way into town it had a tendency to hesitate on acceleration, and then to rev up dramatically. This did not magically fix itself or go away while I was getting my lower teeth cleaned.

As luck would have it, the shop that repaired the car after the deer strike was less than two blocks from the dentist's parking lot. I babied the car around the corner and, as luck would have it again, the owner was there and had time to take a look. We popped the hood and there was a massive leak of some kind of fluid all over the engine. He got to work and sent me into his office to wait.

So scratch the plans to watch with my husband. Instead I asked the shop owner if I could watch online, and tuned in to cnn.com for their coverage. CNN had a camera trained on the podium, and another panning the audience. I was watching their feed, not their broadcast. I saw Sylvia's husband and children in the front row. I saw her sister and mother come into the room – Mom was in a wheelchair and hard to miss!

I wish I'd known to call everyone I knew and tell them to watch it online. President Obama was announcing three nominations yesterday morning, and according to my husband, CNN cut away after the first two. Of course, Sylvia was last. Fortunately I got a couple pictures from the computer monitor before it was over.

So I got to watch the whole proceeding while most folks cheering for her from her home town didn't get to see much at all.

I checked out my surroundings as I waited for my car. When I started watching the feed, I noted the receptionist and the other customer weren't nearly as excited as I was. They continued to chat while the President spoke. The owner of the garage is probably as far right of the dessert spoon as I am left of the salad fork, which could explain their lack of interest.

The morning's moment of irony came as I glanced to my right and there, staring down at me from the wall behind the corner desk, was George. George W. George W. Bush, the former President. Yes, they like him so much they still have a picture of him in the office. I can only imagine how offensive it was to them to have President Obama's voice coming from their computer speakers. Heh.

But hey, the customer is always right, right? Or, in my case, left.