Wednesday.

Trying to type a blog entry but there's this sweet little kitty who keeps tapping me on the arm with his little paw begging for treats. He has the tiniest little *mew* instead of a bold meow. I can barely resist him. He even charmed Pop into giving him the lid off the can of salmon from dinner the other night (salmon croquettes... one of my favorite Pop dishes).

I made english muffin pizzas last night... just a very thin ground beef patty on an english muffin, topped with half of a stewed tomato and some strips of bell pepper, drizzled with olive oil and topped with parmesan cheese. It's one of mine and Austin's favorite meals.

The weather this week has been bizarre... howling winds, a sudden drop in temperatures....it's 38 degrees outside right now. We're hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the storm but the wind has been stiff all week. Austin and I went out for groceries yesterday morning and he went in shorts and a polo shirt. He left his hoodie and any other warmish clothes at the mountain house. He said he was fine. On the way home from the store he asked if we could stop at the thrift store to pick him up something. We did... for $1.75 we got him a fleece jacket.

I've only been to Newark (on the way to NYC)... never actually visited New Jersey... but all my genealogy research has shown that I'm about 1/2 Jersey Girl... and it breaks my heart to see the devastation there. Not just there but throughout the Northeast. I think this is what makes me particularly well suited for the work I do... I am a huge empath... I take it personally. Many generations of Gants called Monmouth County, New Jersey home and my heart breaks for my ancestors' home place but even without the family connection, there's a human connection that I can't escape.

Yesterday was a day off for me... worked Monday, off Tuesday, work Wednesday thru Friday... I know y'all are sick of hearing this but *I LOVE MY JOB!* In November I am taking a class that lasts 8 hours two days in a row. It will hurt like heck but the reward for me is that out of the eleven days following that class, I will be off for 9. Five day weekend... work two days... four day Thanksgiving weekend. It's a rough life. Actually, sometimes it IS still rough. I never dreamed that *prior to* age 45, I would struggle to work a part-time job. I'm grateful for every paycheck, every opportunity to do for myself.

I'm so ready for this election to be over. People are so bitterly divided. Four years ago, even though I didn't vote for him, I had high hopes that Obama could be a uniter. He's not. I can't remember a time in my lifetime when people have been on such completely opposite sides of issues. Good people, nice people, law abiding citizens who have made your political beliefs into a statement about about your character. I was so deeply stung by a comment that a friend made on facebook last week that I had to remove her from my news feed... I didn't unfriend her... I hope that things will simmer down after the election... but being accused of putting money (the economic strength of our country by electing a successful businessman) ahead of people's rights (gay marriage - which I don't believe either candidate truly supports... I mean, if Obama saw it as a priority, why didn't he shove it through like he did Obamacare?)  was more than I could swallow. We've been down the rabbit hole here lately and I don't like this glimpse of insanity that our nation is displaying.

Well... once again my blogging time has been interrupted by the zoo... Lily has to go out... Lily has to come in... Lady has to go out... Lady has to come in... All in the space of five minutes. Oscar is up and down with me and it takes a few minutes to get him resettled every time I get up and sit back down... by the time I get rearranged I've lost my train of thought. My power cord on my laptop has become so positional that every time I get up and down I have to rearrange things... and this time I can't get it to work. Ugh. Guess I better post before the battery dies and hope that I can get it to work again later. I've got to get a new laptop... the power cord connection itself is broken.

Anyways... time to put on a happy face and get a shower and glam. Time to go to work. Happy Wednesday.