TIS THE SEASON...

No. Not the season of Santa Claus and holiday cheer. Rather... it's the season of one of my alltime most dreaded diseases... THE FLU. I so hate the flu namely because a.) it's lasts at least a good 10 days b.) I feel REALLY crappy, just wishing I were dead for the duration and c.) I need to put all my addictive vices on hold given I can hardly breathe. All in all, I hate being that sick.

Which I totally could be any day now. And trust me... I'm so freaked, just waiting for the illness to take hold of me within the next two days. Why? Oh man.... you wouldn't believe it. Today is Monday. Yippee. Bonnie showed up. Was totally happy to see her and ready to get down to work. So I opened the door saw her, and then whammo. I heard a MAjor huskiness in her voice. EEEKS. ARE YOU SICK???. Uh... no Bonnie tells me. It's only allergies. REALLY?? ALLERGIES?? I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR A SECOND. Trust me...  I know well the difference between allergies and the flu. And believe me... Bonnie so didn't sound like she had allergies. Naturally, I was NOT thrilled I'd be sitting right smack next to her for the next hour and a half.

So much so that I swear to God... the MINUTE we got finished sitting at the computer doing all my bill paying crapola I INSTANTLY felt my tonsils feel a bit funky. I mean in no time FLAT. Talk about the power of suggestion, right? Which only means I ran immediately to my inhalers... nostril and bronchial... given I can live with almost any pain other than that from bronchitis or lung tightening which ALways happens during the flu. About an hour after that I also decided to take a nap since that too is pretty much my go to medicinal solution to everything. Besides... I have to go to a dinner party tonight so I absolutely don't want to feel like shit.

BTW, speaking of "the season"... this time the real one... I am happy to say that standing in my family room at this very moment is a beautiful 6 1/2  foot Christmas tree at which I adore staring. Per usual, I had some company come over on the pretense that we'd have dinner but while I was finishing the food prep, I naturally had everyone ELSE on labor detail, decorating the tree for me. Other than the icicles, that is, since they ARE my favorite part of the tree; thus the part I am very particular about how much goes where. THAT part I wanted to do myself. Take a look down below and you can see what the finished product is like. Well, minus all the other gifts yet to be placed, anyway. In any case...

The real trick for me is tying to be sure I don't catch the flu given that on Wednesday, I have an app't to... get this... GET MY FLU SHOT. Geez. Talk about irony. I normally get it in November but for some reason this year, I kept forgetting to do so, so boom. Here I am in the middle of December before getting the shot. BTW.... I am sooo one of those people who quickly grab the antibacterial hand wipes the minute I get my grocery cart. I hate having germs from out and out strangers. Which reminds me... I am now officially doing all my own grocery shopping on a regular basis for the first time in 25 years. I hate it, but I'm doing it. Now that my kid is here, it would take Bonnie forEVER to load up on all the needs of both myself AND my kid. Don't even ask. Man. Talk about no better place to catch the flu than in a grocery store but whatever.

While I was loading up on preventative meds btw, I do have say that my son came up with a really great one to add to the mix. He told me to drink orange juice every day for a bit and I do have to admit... it's totally working! After three days of downing the juice, my imaginary symptoms are way better, indeed. Forget about apples keeping the doctor away... orange juice is apparently keeping the flu away! Thank God.

In closing, I do have to say that in keeping with the flu season... it has been REALLY REALLY COLD that past couple of weeks. Last week for instance, we had one night where the temp was 18 degrees. YIKES. Now THAT is cold. I went out lunch one day and totally thought I was in Chicago given the wind was nuts thus making the wind chill factor even colder than it was. On the other hand, I am THRILLED I am not in South Florida anymore where the Christmas season is completely bogus yet the flu season is still very real. Go figure. And oh yeah...

I almost forgot. Tonight's low is going to be 17 degrees. 

        

A MONTH LATER

Okay. So it's now been a month since the infamous Day of Defeat whereby America elected it's worst President ever and I sorta need to say.... I really simply haven't yet, recovered from any of it's shock. I cannot beLIEVE what has happened to this nation nor can I believe any of what's gone down since that election night. Thank God my parents aren't here to have witnessed it for they would be in utter shock as well.

I had started Election Day out pretty happy. 17 people were coming to my All American Dinner and I was totally looking forward to seeing eveyone and enjoying their company. We had a perfectly lovely time... maybe the last truly happy time I've had all month. Well... except for Thanksgiving but that's another story altogether. Anyway... by 9:30 everyone was out of here so we could all watch the election results in the comfort of our own homes and by 10:30, I. Was. Stunned. My kid basically said to me... TRUMP HAS BEEN ELECTED... and with bulging eyes, I stared at all the states on the TV screen, and saw nothing but RED, RED, RED. And then more red.

My reply was simple: SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT. SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT. THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE. SOMETHING IS VERY VERY WRONG.

Except apparently it was right. Even though it was still very wrong. HEY ALL YOU TOP 50 POLLSTERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, WHO PROMISED ME HILLARY WOULD WIN... TWO WORDS: F YOU!!!

How DARE you not prepare me for this horrifying news!! I just can't TELL you how depressed and stunned I've been ever since. To this day I still can't fathom how Trump was elected. Has EVERYone on this planet gone absolutely crazy??? WTF happened??? Oh man. I hardly know what to say. 

Other than: just today I renewed my Passport. My kid did it last week. And frankly, all you readers out there should do so as well. I'm not saying you need to flee the country in the next six months, but never say never. God only KNOWS what could go down in the next year or so thus as a safety measure, I am so suggesting: get your Passport up to date NOW.

In the meantime, not a single day has gone by since election night wherein something weird... small or big... hasn't occurred with me. It's so bizarre. I just don't get it. One day I find out a friend of mine needs radiation. Another day two other friends need surgery. Two of my most used credit cards have completely disappeared... ala my red glasses from a couple of years ago. Amazon's two day delivery has yet to arrive 2 weeks later. My external computer back up device all of a sudden decided to render my mouse stationary. I almost left a $14.00 tip on a $28.00 bill. And oh yeah... my college roomate tells me her sister's boyfriend kinda killed her. HOLY SHIT. I'm telling you...multiple crazy things are happening and it's nuts! It's like there is totally bad karma going down in the country and apparently in my home, too.

Which of course brings me right smack back to the picture up above. Yeah... the one in which Trump... cough, cough, gulp, throw up... is in fact, the Person of the Year. Granted, he accomplished what NO one would have ever imagined possible but then again, the same could be said of Hitler. Which reminds me... BEN CARSON IS PART OF THE CABINET NOW??? Oh God. Better he should lock himself IN a cabinet and just throw away the key. I HATE THAT MAN. BTW... my favorite part of the Time's cover is where it says: President of the Divided States of America. Ain't that the fucking truth.

Anyway... as I've said, I can't believe what's happened with Trump. Seriously. He totally wanted to win, that much I know. He just never wanted to actually BE President. It's like he was in utter shock when he sat down with Obama the very first time and basically said: WHOA. STOP THE CLOCK. HOLD ON HERE. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I REALLY DO HAVE TO GOVERN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? THIS IS WAAAY MORE THAN I BARGAINED FOR, BELIEVE ME.

Which only means... exactly when I will recuperate from all this, I have no clue. In fact, even today I didn't feel so up to snuff. So much so that I went to my doctor appointment to get my flu shot this afternoon but wound up telling the nurse I so didn't feel so hotsi totsi, so we decided I'll just come back in a week. Although I am totally not sure I'll even be feeling so great even then. Whatever.


Someone told me btw, that I really don't have to be that completely freaked about President Trump. Really? I don't?? I personally find it hard to believe, but okay, I'll bite. Only problem is they won't tell me why. Thus, I guess I'll continue to be freaked for the next four years, afterall. Trust me... nothing about this Person of the Year can possibly be good.