I fought against what is happening vigorously since 2016. In 2020, I had great hope that we survived the worst and that the danger of losing our democracy was past. The results last November have actually calmed me down and helped me find peace because I realized that the battle is over and all is lost. Ironically, abject defeat and hopelessness helped me find peace. Now, I live my life to its fullest because i have accepted failure and am at peace with it.
That’s the one!
I’ve been meaning to revisit this and say how things are going. I’m not as gung-ho anymore about trying to do better every moment of the day, but some of the habits I changed have stuck.
Healthier food? I’ll say yes.
Walking dogs every day? Nope! It’s hot as balls out there. Also my yard is full of baby deer right now, so we all stay in as much as possible.
Drinking more water? Yep.
Listening to only happy music? No, I gotta fix that.
Being organized at work? Um, yes, it’s organized. Am I doing it? Honestly, not to the best of my ability. But I know where it is.
Hovering over the news? Guilty.
Alcohol? Only on the weekends, which is pretty damn good considering where I started. I’ve lost almost ten pounds, which puts me right where I want to be, and I don’t have as many hangovers.
How y’all doing?
Welcome back! Glad to hear about the good, sympathize with the partial success and failures, to which I give a rueful “me too!”.
Hmmmm - well, my success with healthier food has continued with moderate moments of weakness, so my weight loss continues and at last check in my PCP was pleased with my overall improvement. She recently prescribed a mini-dose of trazadone to help with my sleep problems, but in the 10 days I’ve been taking it, the cons outweigh the pros, but I have a followup to talk about it three weeks.
The wife and I have made it a point to get out of the house a bit more, since we’re both semi-reclusive by nature. Not always successfully, but we’re going to a CatFest tomorrow!
But much like you, I’m only indifferently successful in avoiding the news, pretty much all of which is terrible in one flavor or another. I have kept alcohol at the same level, generally 4-6 total drinks by ABV a week, but I really need to do better.
My PCP thinks that if I can get to a more stable sleep pattern, it’ll help with depression, anxiety, low energy and even-weight loss, and I generally concur, just that the current option isn’t cutting it, and neither of us want to entertain any options that are habit-forming.
Still, surviving, and some small gains. Hope the others are doing better than a few months ago, or, at least, no worse!
Oh man, that CatFest looks awesome. Y’all are going to have a great time.
I think it will be uplifting, but there will be displeasure from the two house panthers when we return, smelling of other cats. Some skin and blood may be sacrificed to appease them. 
Please, post a full report tomorrow…with pictures? 
Some of us don’t get out much.
A small price to pay.
As I have been asked with big kitty-kat eyes, I’ll try to include at least a short report and a few pics. If I’m not bleeding out. Or being forced to give tribute with BOTH hands.
Maybe you and Mrs. PLLLL should go through the car wash on your way home. I don’t mean the car– I mean the two of you need to be scrubbed, buffed, and purified before re-entering the house. Those robo-wash brushes seem pretty soft. It can’t hurt much more than what the kitties would have done to you.
I think I’ll go with the cheaper, less painful option of out-and-out bribery. A handful of Stella & Chewy’s dried raw chicken is a very effective distraction, er, tribute to the Cat-Gods, but tossing all of our clothes in the wash and doing a quick scrub while they’re consuming their rightful due is a good next step!
Good plan. Less likely to lead to an arrest for public indecency.
Okay, back from CatFest, and as promised I’ll give a short report. The event was reasonably attended at 11am, but not so crowded that you felt part of a mass getting shoved this way and that. There were several different groups offering time to meet their kittys, and several vendors that would give you free cat goods if you showed a new adoption notice! Most of the vendors were on cat theme, which was nice. And there was a second room where all the people (and breeders) were bringing in their animals for judging and voting. It was also pretty full of younger kids getting a chance (carefully supervised) to gently touch or stroke the cats, which was endearing even to a bitter dark critter like me. I have several general photos, and a number of cat photos (yes I secured permission!) that I’ll spread out over a couple of posts.
Entrance sign:
First vendor with fun stuff as entering the door:
Catzilla shirt!
Was still getting busier as we left, but this was walking in:
Pluto, the Colorado Adventure cat snoozing:
Kitten up for adoption:
Couple showing off their lovely hairless cat:
Norwegian Forest cat
Bengal Cat (personal favorite, as I have a handsome but crazy member of the breed:
And a dual shot of a cute cat-baby:
AlphaCatOnTop signboard:
Alpha in question at time of visit:
Another cat being … tolerant…
More cat sanctuary kittens being tiny and cute:
Lastly an artist who does “reimagined” Western and Pop culture movie posters changed to cat-themes (the two far right, and the upper center are purchased by us, the other two are for signing up on their website, and bottom right is their business card if you enjoy this sort of thing:
Close up of artist’s business card to give fair credit and if you want to support them:
In deference to all the young kids being so happy, we took pictures but didn’t touch any of the cats, so my skin and blood are intact. Oh, and we brough back a couple of kitty treats from local producers at the show, so they may have been bribed regardless of us not “cheating”.
“Night of the Living Unfed” definitely would have come home with me.
SQUEEE!
Thanks so much for all the pics! Just like being there. Sort of.
Love the Catzilla T-shirt, and the Furbidden Planet poster. The artwork on both of those is great!
From the Billy the Kitten website:
Whoa, you have will of iron!
Thanks for the pictures, it looks wonderful.