February begins

We made it through January and now it's February. In the past that has made me happier than it did this year. In the past, of course, Trump was not in office.

To do something about that problem, I wrote seven postcards: three to Trump, three to my Republican senator, Cory Gardner, and one to my Democratic senator, Michael Bennet (to say thanks). It was fun to write postcards but it felt pointless. Is it pointless, though? Even if they don't read their mail, it takes up physical space. Also, the writing is fun. I got quite creative, urging Cory to look for his moral compass and telling Trump I was ashamed of him after the prayer breakfast. So I think I will write more postcards this week, as comments occur to me, but I should also try to make phone calls. I can't just let everyone else do that, even though I find it scary. I will try to call one of Cory Gardner's offices tomorrow and urge him to vote against Betsy DeVos. Wish me luck. I probably won't make it through -- he has a LOT of people calling him. She donated $46,800 to his successful campaign for senator, so he probably feels like he owes her something. Pretty sad when a Colorado senator makes decisions based on donations from someone in Michigan.

I'm actually more worried about Scott Pruitt than Betsy DeVos. She seems like easy prey -- awful and not worthy of the job, but it's too bad it's easier to take down a woman than a man. I'm also torn about Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. It isn't fair that the Repubs wouldn't give Merrick Garland a hearing, and of course Gorsuch is super conservative and will try to eliminate a lot of our rights. But he will also follow the Constitution and perhaps stand up to Trump -- and I think we're going to need that. Badly. So I don't know what to do.

Also accomplished this week: we got the tree down. Here it is today, the vestiges of it. Later, after it was all down, Rocket Boy said he missed it. I don't! By February I am completely, utterly done with Christmas and ready to put it all away. There are still some other decorations hanging around, so we must pack them up this week.

I was sick this week, but I didn't get as sick as Rocket Boy did the week before. Not to be smug or anything, but I think I have a better immune system than he does. I'm also younger, so that's probably it. But I'm also depressed and eat too much sugar, both of which are hard on immune systems. Still, I could feel my body rallying its defenses and knocking the virus out of the park. I only had to take cold medicine for two nights. Kid A also got sick this week but also managed to get over it quickly.

We, meaning the kids and I, were total slugs yesterday. Rocket Boy had a meeting with the local Democrats that lasted hours and he took my car since his is acting up again. And the wind was blowing like crazy, so a walk did not appeal. The kids watched TV, I lay in bed and read a novel, and then they went in their room to play and I sat on the loveseat in their room and read my novel. After RB got home I went to the library and got us more books to read and we all went to the Video Station and got more videos to watch. Pure laziness all day long. Thus today it seemed necessary to get out of the house. It's really warm right now, crazy warm for February, and the wind finally stopped. Even so, I dragged my feet about everything: getting out of bed, taking a shower, getting dressed, eating. We didn't leave the house until 3 pm, a bit late for a winter activity! But we drove to the North Foothills trailhead, getting there about 3:15. The parking lot is on the east side of US 36, but the trail is on the west, so there is a nice little tunnel that goes underneath the highway. On the other side of the tunnel we had this lovely vista ahead of us. A wintry look, even though warm -- very dry and dormant.

We walked to where this trail connects with another that goes up to the Hogback. Rocket Boy REALLY wanted to climb up to the ridge, but I was having trouble breathing (so OK, I'm not totally over the cold) and the kids were complaining. The photo shows them lying on a rock because they insisted they needed to rest. Lazy boos. Instead we followed the Foothills Trail further, but it took us right past a neighborhood, and the wild feeling was lost. So we turned around and went back to the car. The hike had taken just under an hour, which I guess is OK for ailing, out of shape people. I told Rocket Boy we could come back another time and try for the Hogback. It did look like there must be an amazing view up there.

And that was our week. I saw a couple more movies, finished a book and am halfway through another. I'm reading Edward Eager's The Time Garden to the kids before bedtime, which they're enjoying. That pleases me because the Edward Eager books were my all-time childhood favorites. My little class is going OK, and I signed the paperwork for my new job which should start not this week but the next. They accidentally paid me for two classes at the end of January, so the paycheck wasn't as small as I had feared, but I was also afraid I'd have to give half of it back! Turns out they'll just pay me less the next four months, so I guess that's better. The February paycheck will be truly tiny, but we'll cope somehow. Being broke is awful, but it pales in comparison with losing our country. Got to work on that. Here goes another week of trying.