The memory foam mattress and pillows arrived at my father's. He has never seen a memory foam mattress before, so he was caught off guard by how much it expanded after he took it out of the package.

He video called me, told me about the mattress. He then took the memory foam pillows out of their packaging so we could watch them expand together. 

Crazy busy at work. Between our day-to-day business, annual planning and career reviews, we've been so busy that we can't think.

For the holidays, my husband and I are flying up to the Ottawa Valley to visit my family. For the first time my husband and I will stay at my fathers. We usually stay in a hotel. 

For our stay, we shipped a new mattress, pillows and sheets to my father's. The cheap/frugal part of him was taken a bit aback. I think he understands though-- he admitted that he got the old mattress decades ago for free.

There are divided values between my husband and I and my family in the Valley. Many of my family are frugal to the point of being cheap. They are proud of that and they are happy! Spending money can be an insult to their values and so my husband and I have to be careful.  Taking family to a nice restaurant or buying someone a nice new jacket when their existing, 20 year old jacket still works-- these will earn you thanks and quiet lecture on the value of being frugal. 

And so, instead of a hotel we will stay at my fathers place.

 

Last night we attended an annual holiday party, hosted by a friend in the program. This party has a white-elephant gift giveaway. Some of the gifts, including the above disco gnome, have been regifted at this party, many times over the years. 

Tommy’s advice is useful. Grab some popcorn. Sit back and enjoy the show. It’s useful for politics. It’s useful for assassinated CEOs. My husband works on the  profitable side of the healthcare industry, As such Thompson’s murder has taken up an outsized share of his work, Linkedin and Facebook gossip.

We had dinner with our neighbors last night. It was good to catch up with them. It’s the start of the holiday season, so our schedule is stuffed with dinners and parties. 

I try to catch a few minutes of quiet when I can. I do my best thinking then. 

My husband enjoys creating elaborate table settings. He is the one in our relationship who has the snap and sparkle. He is great at marketing and sales. 

Overall our dinner went well. Later in the day, my mother-in-law made some comments about republicans (She is pro Trump) that didn't land well.  A few of our guests left shortly after that. Did they leave because it was late in the day? Did they leave because the discussion turned to politics? Who knows.

Friday evening we saw Wicked-- the movie. Sunday we saw Wicked the live musical. I enjoyed both, but I didn't need to see Wicked twice in one weekend. 

 

We are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for family and a few friends. The guests will be here in a couple of hours. The cooking is midway. Everything is prepped or roasting in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving all. 

Saturday our guests cleaned out their refrigerator and cleaned up their kitchen. They had to throw out everything as their power had been out since Tuesday. 

Their power returned on Sunday 

We also had a brunch for some of our AA friends on Saturday. It was very long running with our guests not leaving till mid afternoon.

We have had a bomb cyclone here in Seattle. Big windy, rain storm. We are ok and missed the worst of it. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a "Bomb cyclone" is a term used to describe a mid-latitude cyclone that has undergone bombogenesis, which occurs when it rapidly strengthens in a 24 hour period. 

Hundreds of thousands of people are without power, especially in the suburbs. We have a couple friends staying with us as they have not had power since Wednesday and probably won’t get it back untill the weekend. 

We are back home from NYC. I am tired, but we had a good time. 

My husband and I have different approaches to vacations. It bugs him that I can be happy exploring a new city. I said "Exploring a city is a great treat. Without a map, without an app." He caught my wittiness and shook his finger at me. 

My husband is a planner. He is very good at it and I appreciate that. And sometimes I like to have my calendar cleared, and only a single question on my mind... "What's over there?"

 We are in NYC for a few days. Doing all the tourist things.

My mother-in-law is out of the hospital. The hospital also does not know what's wrong with her. This week she will have more tests with her regular cardiologist. 

During the hospital stay, my mother-in-law's dog stayed with my brother-in-law. Apparently the dog is not properly potty trained. 

Should another crisis happen, neither of her sons want the dog. Her sons have also come to the realization that another crisis is inevitable-- their mother is 87 and in declining health. They need a plan for when it happens. 

My mother in law is in the hospital. She is recovering well and is in good spirits. Most of the complications have to do with her dog and arranging dog care.

The Republican victory is complete. They will win the House, the Senate, and the presidency with a popular vote. There are no meaningful allegations about election fraud or the electoral college problems or gerrymandering or fake news. There is no way to twist the situation such that if one or two details were different, then the Democrats would’ve won.

The election results have hurt my husband. he is finding projects to pass the time. 

Mentally, I have set aside my old concerns and my old way of thinking. Grief and frustration with the results are pointless. I must find a new way forward.

As Tommy said... the people have spoken.

I will use this as an opportunity to get off Facebook and other social media. It's insidious how they invade your consciousness. Even after deleting Facebook, I catch myself pulling out the cell phone and thumbing over to where the app once was. 

This blog doesn't count. It's slower. Contemplative. One must put effort into speaking and listening. 

This election is different. My acquaintances are donating more and volunteering more than past elections.  Right now, my husband is participating in call bank to encourage people to get out and vote.

The Halloween decorations are away. The Christmas (Yes Christmas) decorations are out. My husband's argument for this is that we will be traveling over end-of-year holidays, so he wants a few extra weeks beforehand to enjoy them.

Over the weekend I was discussing the situation with SJ, an old friend. She observed that my husband always has to have a project-- always has to have a plan and something to do. SJ and I, on the other hand, love having an empty schedule with no commitments, no plans. So my husband and I can balance each other out, we are a good ying and yang for each other. Yet we will drive each other nuts. 

Sunday night we had dinner with an old friend. In the past, he was my boss when I worked at the big-tech company. We both left that company at about the same time. He started his own business. I got a job at a smaller tech company. 

It's been five years since those transitions.  What an amazing about of time. We are both veterans in our current jobs. Yet it feels like yesterday that we worked together. 

By and large things are going well for him. His business is growing. His children are off to post-high school education, are close to landing full time jobs. His wife has a bad knee, but will undergo surgery to replace it. 

Today it's windy and raining hard in Seattle. Perfectly normal November weather. Our new house takes the weather different than the old. The old house had a fantastic HVAC system with vents in every room. During inclement weather, you closed the windows, set the temperature, and that was that. The new house isn't vented. Every floor has separate mini-split heating and cooling. Rooms will get a little stuffy. You must open the window a crack and hope that the driving rain won't come in.