I have predominately avoided politics in my writing lately because it generates anxiety in me to discuss everything over and over. Norm and I used to always watch the news before bed to catch up on the world’s happenings but eventually it was upsetting me so much it affected my ability to get to sleep. It seems the entire world is in a chaotic state of division with Fascism being pushed in many countries, not just the USA.

But the results of this week’s US elections have restored my hope. There was a Blue Tsunami with many women rising to the top of the wave.

The American people are now going to represented in so many diverse ways and not only by middle aged white men.

First, the biggest shock to me personally was Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black Woman Governor in my home state of Georgia. Yes, a Black WOMAN elected to such a traditionally Republican, bigoted and misogynist state? Then, Deb Haaland made history as the first Native American woman elected Governor in the United States where she is representing New Mexico. Gina Hinojosa became Texas’s first Latina governor and flipped that state blue for the first time since 1995.

The first Native American woman was elected to the Senate with Peggy Flanagan winning a seat in Minnesota. In Ohio Amy Acton won against Vivek Ramaswamy and will be their first female governor. Ilhan Omar retained her seat by a landslide victory, despite (or maybe because of) the constant verbal abuse and intimidation tactics by Trump and his minions.

The LGBTQI+ community showed up too. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire is the first openly gay man elected to the Senate and JoAnna Mendoza, who has stated that she is Bisexual, was elected in Arizona. Just as the colour of someone’s skin should have no relevance to their ability to do their jobs, whom they love is also irrelevant and unless someone chooses to publicly advise us, it is actually none of anyone’s business.

Josh Turek flipped a Senate seat in Iowa to Blue. The flip is important but the other thing to celebrate is that he is representing the disabled community. Turek is a two time gold medalist in the Paralympics and was a state representative from Council Bluffs, Iowa before becoming a Senator.

Xavier Becerra, the first person in his family to go to college, becomes the first Latino elected Governor of California. Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayeed becomes the first Muslim U.S. Senator. Aber Kawas is the first Palestinian American senator. David Crowley is the first black Governor of Wisconsin.

I have said that the Matriarchy will show us the way and that women will be the force to pull us out of the shite. It appears that those who have been watching the travesty of treatment of anyone of colour has resulted in many people being unwilling for anyone to lose any more of their rights.

At least 155 women will serve in the 120th Congress (at least 30% of all members of Congress). At least 23 women will serve in the U.S. Senate (at least 23% of all members of the Senate). At least 132 women will serve in the U.S. House (at least 30.3% of all members of the U.S. House). At least 17 women will serve as US Governors.

• A record three Black women will serve concurrently in the U.S. Senate for the first time in 2027: Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Juliana Stratton (D-IL).
• Illinois will be the first state to be represented by two women of color senators simultaneously: Senator Tammy Duckworth (D) and Juliana Stratton (D).
• New Mexico is the first state to elect an all women of color gubernatorial ticket: governor-elect Deb Haaland (D) and lieutenant governor-elect Stephanie Garcia Richard (D).
• In 2027, women will serve concurrently as governor and lieutenant governor in eight states: Arkansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. Women were elected on the same general election gubernatorial ticket this year in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, and New York.

I am so relieved that the tide is turning. Let’s hope this blue tsunami washes away all of the filth that has settled into the crevices of the US government from the current administration. There were a few more notable firsts for women and people of colour, but in some instances they are fighting against the best interests of women and siding strongly with the Patriarchy, such as Marsha Blackburn.

Many people think that in order to be a Feminist you must hate all men. Many of us are just angry about the way that we are treated so casually by so many. This week I read something that resonated strongly with me. The quote was by Sandra Vergara: “Misogyny is men’s anger towards those they oppress. Misandry is women’s anger towards those who oppress them.” If you cannot understand the difference you may be part of the problem rather than the solution.

Norm flew out late on Monday evening and was away in Switzerland for most of the week so I was in charge of managing all of the activities at home. I mentioned in my last post that we had laid new grass. I also mentioned about the succulent garden getting ran over and destroyed. Kim is our gardener and handyman and he has been coming around all week at 9am and again at 5pm to water the new grass while Norm is away. Luckily he had a bit of extra time on Tuesday morning and he replanted as many of the surviving plants as he could and he has also been watering them when he waters the grass. Hopefully they all recover.

I also had to manage the builders coming and going while they finished up retiling the kitchen. It only took them 3 days to remove the old glass tiles, retile, grout and clean up the mess. It looks absolutely amazing. I was so worried about glass shards over the weekend but they did an amazing job clearing up.

I look forward to getting the kitchen back to functioning as normal after it has a good clean. I realised that my gorgeous red smeg kettle and toaster will be a bit too Christmasy so I spoiled myself with a new cream set. Most of all of my other accessories are cream. I will do a trip to the doggy rescue place to donate some things like a bright turquoise cookie jar and accessories etc.

When I went downstairs on Tuesday morning I noticed I had not closed the downstairs windows that Chichi had left open when she came on Monday to clean. I had not even gone into the lounge after Norman left as it was almost bedtime. Luckily I had the alarm on and in order for any intruder to get to me they would have had to traverse about 5 layers of security but still it was a bit unsettling to realise it.

I ordered some food shopping to be delivered to tide me over. Tuesday night I had a big salad and a ready made ricotta and spinach cannelloni. It tasted much better than it looked after I dumped it in the bowl.

Then on Wednesday we had the day off of work because it was voting day in South Africa as well as the USA midterms. The issue was that I was convinced it was Thursday when I woke up. On Thursday I had the groomer coming and on Wednesday I had a lunch date with a friend booked. I messaged her to say I had to wait on the groomer and I could not meet at 12 unless they came early. I also told the dog walker the same story. Finally at 3pm or so I realised it was Wednesday and I had missed my lunch and made the dog walker wait all afternoon for nothing. What a cluster of chaos I created and I was so annoyed with myself that I ate a bag of maltesers. That made sense in my head at the time.

I had to nip out to the shop in the afternoon and as soon as I hit the road I saw I was out of petrol. Like Flashing a Warning and No Bars out of petrol.

Luckily, the closest station has just re-opened after many months of being closed and most of the journey to said petrol station is downhill. I managed to get there but it has been so many years since I put petrol in a car that I had no idea where the little doohickey is that flips the tank open. I am also a bit blind so I had to get the attendant to come into the car to find said doohickey. He then sat looking at me and I sat looking at him for what seemed like a lifetime until eventually he asked ‘ummm how much?’. Oops. I then told him that I had my card but no cash since I was unaware I would be stopping for petrol and asked if a tip could be added to the credit card charges and I found out it could! What a score for us both – I gave him a generous tip out of gratitude for successfully managing to sit still while another human pumps my petrol and not mess anything up. I then drove off to the shop and managed to drive over the curb while pulling into the car park. I was more than a bit stressed by all of these things which are just normal day to day activities for most people.

Finn took Norm’s spot if I watched telly in the lounge at night.

Caitlin and Bree came to dinner on Thursday (the real Thursday). I ordered some chicken wraps and salad for us. After dinner Bree played in the playroom until time for them to go home. She drew on the chalkboard and played with the Sylvanian doll houses. It is always lovely to see them both.

While Norm was away I watched the Netflix documentary about Matthew Perry. You know the one, The One About Matthew Perry. 😉

It was heartbreakingly sad to watch him try and try to get clean and sober and be unable to do so. Meanwhile, there were people taking advantage of his addiction in order to profit from it so not only was he dealing with the normal dragons of addiction, he was dealing with vipers.

I have a theory which will potentially be quite controversial. I do believe that support groups are needed and that many people benefit from them. Conversely, a lot of addicts and alcoholics use these meetings to trawl for talent and I know of older men who like to play the role of the Spiritual Advisor while shagging the newcomers. Personally, I think two addicts hooking up is a bad decision because you may trigger each other.

I also find that for myself, spending too much time ‘dwelling’ in a place of pain is bad for me. Speaking of painful things often retriggers the same feelings in me. The last time I was having monthly ‘talk therapy’ it almost broke me. At one stage I wanted to be committed for a bit just to regulate myself because I felt so unstable. I am not saying I should let dark things stay buried, I am saying to face them but move through them to the other side rather than creating a rut from walking the same path over and over. I do not think there are any more deep dark secrets in my own past that I have not uncovered. If there are, I am sure they will come to the surface when I am ready to face them. Our body knows what we need, we just need to give it permission to heal us.

On Wednesday night once the dogs settled I did my TRE shakes and I let all of the chaos and stress vibrate out of me. The next day I felt far more on top of things. I knew for a fact it was Thursday at least.

Caitlin and Bree came for dinner after she finished work. We ordered in from a newish chicken place called Salt & Roost which I assume is a term for something chicken breeding related? They have good prices and big portions. Caitlin had a chicken wrap and could only finish half of it. Bree had the chicken tenders which Cait said were a bit dry. I had half a chicken which they cut in half and I eat half, so in reality I had a quarter chicken. You can order a quarter of a chicken but you cannot specify which portion you get and I only like the white meat so I get half and Kim has the other quarter with some chips and maybe an omelette the next day for lunch.

After we ate we played outside in the playroom. Bree loves drawing on the chalkboard. She also played with the dollhouses and the baby in the carriage. She also had a session on the trampoline. She knows what she wants and marches off to get it, I love that you do not have to try and figure it out as she can either tell you or show you. She is a clever little thing and she makes us laugh with her antics and the things she says. She is so sensitive and gets her feelings hurt easily.

They left here in time to stop by the restaurant where Wes and his family were dining to say happy birthday to Caitlin’s sister in law and then get Bree home to bed in time. It was lovely to see them. Bree is just a delight.

Last night it was a lovely evening and I sat outside until late waiting up on Norm. I knew if I got too comfy I would fall asleep and I wanted to be up to welcome him home.

I made a simple dinner of spicy chicken wings and Greek potato salad. I charred them just like I like them.

It was almost midnight when Norm finally got home from the airport. He was exhausted as was I but he needed to unwind a bit so we went to be very late for two old farts. This morning I was up and off to my monthly facial at Skin. I had my usual treatments and left feeling very relaxed.

I am currently obsessed with the work from Jungle, but more so I think I am obsessed with the marriage of their music with the dancing skills and choreography by Will West. The way that he can move his body is unbelievable but it appears that he also manages to coach other dancers to reach for that same level. I love so many of the Jungle videos and every one with Will. I do know that Will is not always the choreographer but he can also execute other people’s visions in a brilliant way.

I do not want to undervalue the work by the musician members of Jungle as that is the root of it all. Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland have been friends since they were children living next door to each other. Both of them sing lead vocals and play guitar, keyboards, bass, piano, synths, sampler. There has been the addition of Lydia Kitto on lead vocals since 2021 and in my opinion she is the key to the whimsical happy smooth sound.

Their music sounds like a blend of soul, jazz and a wee bit of hip hop on occasion. It is dreamy and lovely and the choreography is just perfection with it.

I have loved the music from Leon Bridges from the first time I heard his voice. I think this video seemed to borrow more than a little bit of style from our Will. I wonder whether Mr West felt complimented or copied?

I love that the arts are being celebrated by so many talented dancers and choreographers and that dance is becoming a sustainable career with more people being interested in being entertained by it.

This week I thought about how Lil Baby Robin seems to have bonded with me and I remembered that I was the first human they saw as I saw them take their first flight to our windowsill. I was fascinated by the concept of Imprinting when I was a very young child. If you are unaware, it refers to the rapid, phase-sensitive learning process where a newborn animal (like a duckling, gosling, or lamb) forms an immediate social attachment to the first moving object or parent it sees. Now I am now inferring that I was the first entity she saw, obviously she saw her family. I just mean that maybe she feels more bonded with me.

She has certainly entertained me. Lil Baby Robin has about 3 or more baths a day. Maybe she is just swimming?

I had to add more water to the bowl to cater for her splashing about. If it is shady then the solar fountain will not work and she dives in and out where the fountain should be and looks at me like it is my fault.

I discovered she likes blueberries and Norm bought a packet of blueberries large enough to feed a village. I now go out with a handful and she flies down to the grass, looks at me and I toss a blueberry under the metal dining table and she hops up to it and takes it in her mouth and flies to the upper grass area with them to peck away until she finishes them.

It is basically playing fetch. If she hears me speaking to anyone in the garden she pops down to check, almost as if she is jealous. She now comes and sits on the chair in the front garden and watches me while I do my rebounding on the trampoline. If she were a suitor it would be giving me red flag stalker vibes but since it is a wee bird it is adorable. I think?

It is an overcast day with showers on and off. I am going to do a bit of gardening but nothing to strenuous. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and the week ahead.

Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten x0x0x0x0x0x