Again with the failed intentions

This is the last I'm going to write about failed intentions.

Too much happened this month – dental surgery and weather, mostly – to keep me from staying on track with goals, and continuing to feel bad about it isn't helping.

Need to apply "one day at a time" principle to goals/intentions/resolutions, especially the health-related ones.

On the bright side, I've lost two pounds since I started the failed Whole 30.

So there's that.

I watched the Super Bowl last night, rooting against the Patriots more than for the Eagles. (How's that for a patriotic contest, huh? And yet there are millions of good Americans boycotting the NFL because some players choose to kneel for the national anthem.) This early-to-bed girl surprised herself and her husband by staying awake past halftime (which I thought was very entertaining) all the way to the presentation of the trophy.

I laughed so hard during the NFL Dirty Dancing commercial. Harder than I've laughed since before the 2016 presidential election. Seriously.

And I was happy at the end to see Tom Brady leave the field with his head down. Well, maybe not happy, but certainly satisfied.

Not sure when I'll be back. I guess when I feel like I really have something to say.

What price beauty?

Okay, I know dentures are necessary to help one chew and speak clearly. I probably spend more time not wearing my upper denture than wearing it (but I don't answer the door, so don't come knocking on the spur of the moment), and it's hard to make myself speak clearly. Soft foods can be tasty.

With last week's extraction of four lower teeth and the immediate insertion of a partial denture, I'm beginning to question whether I want to fit into society again or not. Ever.

My face hurts. All the damned time.

I've been wearing the partial all the time, removing it only to clean it, but after doing a little research, Dr. Google says I only need to wear it to sleep in for the first night. (I thought my dentist said to wear it all the time, but I was in pain and somewhat traumatized that day, so I may have misheard him.)

I'm afraid if I sleep without it, I'll love the feeling of my face not hurting and then I'll never put it back in.

Dentures help you chew food, speak clearly, and look nice. I understand the first two. I really don't want to just eat soft foods the rest of my life. I'm not a hermit; I interact with people other than my husband almost daily.

He's stuck with me every day.

If the Etruscans hadn't developed false teeth in 700 B.C., someone else would have. But looking nice – normal – really is an arbitrary thing. The norm is to have teeth. Comedians make jokes about the toothless. If you don't have teeth, you're automatically thought of as poor, uneducated, malnourished, or a hillbilly … you've heard it. You might have thought it, or even said it.

My tooth and bone loss is genetic. My guess is a lot of people who wear dentures had good dental hygiene and were destined to lose their teeth no matter what.

Had dentures not been invented, would we automatically think less of those who no longer have their natural teeth? We don't think less of those who wear glasses. Vision loss – like tooth loss – is a function of aging.

I don't want to put dental clinics out of business. Really. I'm just thinking out loud and nursing a perpetual headache. Or face ache.

Be kind. Especially to the toothless.

Meltdown and fail

Major, major meltdown the last couple of days. I haven't done anything to create success with my intentions.

I'm going to the dentist today to have four extractions and get a partial denture where my lower front teeth used to be.

And I am freaking out about it.

Being an emotional eater, I'm eating whatever I want. I'm not walking or reading, either.

SO …

Whole 30 fail.
Mileage fail.
Reading fail.
Writing fail.

I don't even remember if there were other goals, but here we are, three weeks in the new year and none of the habits stuck.

And I don't really care this morning.

BECAUSE I AM FREAKING OUT.

It's not like I haven't had extractions before. I have a full upper denture. And it drives me crazy and I hate wearing it and now I'm going to have both jaws compromised.

I hate getting old.

Be kind.

Placeholder

Blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda

In other words … I have no words! But since I made the commitment, here are a few.

Be kind.
Be kind.
Be kind.

#MeanPresident

I saw 45's tweet about the marchers when I got home from the rally my husband and I went to, and that was a powerful impetus to continue working against him and his harmful policies. He is disrespectful and demeaning, and so divisive. 

I guarantee that no one was marching to celebrate anything he's claiming to have done. And for him to suggest it is just shameful.

I don't believe in "shaming" a politician. The WV Democratic Women had a "Shame on Shelley" campaign against Senator Capito a few years ago, and it just felt childish and ineffective to me.

However, when the President of the United States acts like a child, shaming may be an appropriate response.

I was energized about the resistance after our rally. When I saw photos of the crowds in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and other cities across the country, it really began to sink in that America can overcome this #ShitholePresident and that we will.

He's supposed to come to West Virginia for a GOP retreat at the Greenbrier later this month, and dozens of people are organizing protests for that event. I'll be there. It's not supposed to be an anti-Trump rally, but more of an anti-Republican policy statement. Which is fine.

But I'm pretty sure, underneath it all, the message will be that WE want OUR country back.

It's a good day to be kind.

It's been a year

I didn't watch the inauguration last year. I couldn't. Not only did America not elect its first woman president, something I'd hoped to see in my lifetime (and now seriously doubt it ever happening), America nominated and elected a sexist, racist, ignorant, opportunistic, narcissistic prick.

Yes, that's who the current occupant of the Oval Office is.

The list of Lies He's Told would take 2,000 blog posts. The list of Women Who Have Accused Him of Sexual Misconduct would take 22. The list of Golf Trips would take nearly a hundred. The list of Flip-Flops would have taken 10 back in April. Who knows how many now? I think people have stopped counting.

I have to think that most politicians lie. Many play golf. Most have changed their positions on issues at one time or another, and many have had inappropriate sexual relationships.

But for one man, who holds the highest elected office in our country, to have engaged in all these things, multiple times, is simply beyond the pale.

If Clinton had been elected and had done all those things, do you think she would still be in office, a year later?

If Obama had done one TENTH of those things, do you even think he would be alive?

Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican.

Hillary was right: You belong in a basket of deplorables.

I'm going to a rally today, to march with like-minded Americans who are sick about this man's policies and who are concerned about the future of our democracy.

All governments end. We may be watching the beginning of the end of our Republic. It makes me glad I'm closer to the tomb than the womb, but sad for my children and grandchildren, who will have to deal with the mess.

I want to hope we will recover. I want to think the damage won't be permanent, and won't take too many years to repair.

Most of all, I want to be proud to be an American again. I am not. Not as long as Donald J. Trump is President of the United States.

Today, I'm not going to suggest that you be kind. Instead … Be outraged. Be woke. Be strong.

Oopsie

I forgot to end yesterday's post with the words "be kind."

So I hope you were, and I hope you will be.

And if you need some ideas, click this link.

I need to make a few notes about state politics, if you don't mind, just so I keep everything straight and don't forget anything.

Heard last night that current delegate Shirley Love will be running for Congress, which would take votes away from current favorite Richard Ojeda.

Woke up this morning to see that Ojeda's biggest rival has withdrawn from the Congressional race.

This is good in so many ways.

Ojeda has the personality to win over a lot of people in WV … on both sides of the political spectrum. He will piss off a lot of far-left progressives, but there aren't many of those here, so that won't matter.

Love doesn't have a chance. He has no money and he's 84 years old. But his run for Congress precludes him from running for re-election in the House of Delegates, giving newcomer Selina Vickers an opportunity.

So, at least locally, WV politics is looking better than it has in a while.

Haven't walked in three days. Also haven't read any of my current book in three days. I'm supposed to walk outside with a friend this morning, but it's still damned cold. Might have to reschedule that for later today.

Still Whole 30-ing, but it's getting harder, not easier. Sometimes I wish I didn't have taste buds.

That's it! Be kind.