It's the End of the World As We Know It..

Inauguration Week.  I've been dreading this week ever since the final outcome of the last election was revealed and now it's knocking on the door.  DC is getting ready.  There are already many white blockades out on many city sidewalks, ready to be put into place.  Fencing up in certain areas.  It's just the beginning.  Tomorrow my commuter bus puts their modified operating schedule in place for the rest of the week.  This means that I either have to drive to Metro and take the train in and out of the city, or I can take my normal bus in in the morning, but have to take the train to a certain station after work wherein they will have our commuter buses running every thirty minutes back to various park and rides.  Neither are ideal and I've yet to make a decision.  Some of the road closures start tomorrow afternoon, hence this modified operation.  I'm teleworking on Thursday because even more closures go into effect, and my office is closed Friday.

Watching the news makes my blood boil.  Reading anything this man has to say makes me feel embarrassed, ashamed and makes me question the thought process of every single person that cast a vote for him.  I am legitimately concerned about the future from Friday going forward.  I don't know what to expect, but I know that I have a pit in my stomach and a sense that it won't be good.

I will not be watching this Inauguration.  I will read pertinent info after the fact because I want to be informed, but I cannot handle watching it happen.  It's too sad.  I feel like I'm losing beloved family members with the impending departure of the Obamas.  To go from that to this.....shocking.  The world is laughing at us, or pitying us, or both.  I think a part of me is still in denial that this is actually happening.  It's like I can't process that this could actually be real.  Dumbfounding.

So I mentioned my office is closed Friday, but unfortunately that's half a lie for me.  I've been designated as (semi) essential personnel, thus requiring me to be online for part of the day.  Yes, I get paid double time, but I'm one of the lucky few non-exempt folks on this list.  My current understanding is that I will need to log on briefly in the morning and then be online for a couple hours towards the end of the day.  It could be worse, as this at least allows me some mid-day flexibility.  I'd originally planned to do something with my girlfriend, A to try to put a positive spin on what's sure to be a dark day.  I'm hopeful we'll still do something, even if just a breakfast, but we haven't pinned down any details.

I'm also dropping my car off that morning to get a remote starter installed.  Even though global warming has made our winter basically a joke this year, I still think it will be a nice thing to have.  I'll be getting a loaner for the day since it will take several hours, but I'm OK with that.  I plan to run a few errands while I'm out and before my afternoon lockdown.  It's the time of year where I need to restock on bras and underwear (thrilling) and I also want to go to Marshalls (!).  Hopefully it will work out to do these things with A since I miss our random erranding together that we used to do when I lived closer.

I did do something that made me very happy yesterday.  We booked our Outer Banks beach house for Labor Day week, which we seem to do a bit earlier each year.  I'd been interested in booking the same house from last year, but it switched management companies and jumped $800 a week in price.  :-o  I couldn't rationalize that, so I had to hunt down a new one.  I'm happy with our choice and glad to know where I'll be spending my very favorite week of the year.

As per usual this time of year, we've also been discussing other trips we'd like to make.  I do want to get BF and J to Omaha this year and that will likely be either during the end of J's spring break in April or the weekend after she gets out of school at the end of June.  That's basically a definite, just a matter of picking the weekend.  It will be a pricier than usual Omaha trip since we'll have to stay at a hotel since no one has room for three of us, but I'm still excited to bring J to a new state and to meet my family.

Beyond that, I may try to get to Omaha in March or April on my own if we decide on the June trip as a group.  We're also discussing a weekend trip to a cabin type location, maybe in West Virginia or something accessible for February with J, and then maybe a small, more local beach trip (ie Ocean City) for BF and I in May.  July will be Denver, CO for my family reunion with BF in tow, and of course, OBX in September.  There will also be a girls trip in there, though I have no idea where or when.  Nothing too crazy, just a small escape out of town!  Ocean City last year was fun, though far too short.

Anyway, anything to keep my mind off the Trumpocalypse that's looming, right?

If I don't pop back up in here, sending good thoughts out to everyone this week.  We're going to need them!

2017

This long weekend was glorious.  I felt like I was off work for a week even though it was only three days!  DC was pretty dead last week, but Friday took the cake.  My office didn't close early (boo!), and I was legit the ONLY PERSON ON MY BUS HOME.  It was kind of comedic!  That night I got home and BF surprised me with the holy grail of Christmas gifts --- a NES Classic!  It's a tiny version of the original Nintendo and it has 30 games built into it.  We'd been hunting for one for awhile to no avail as they are very hard to find.  I couldn't believe he'd lucked into one that day and it was pretty awesome.

We spent our evening at an ugly sweater party, which kept us out until almost 3 am.  I can't remember the last time I was out that late.  :-) Saturday we ran a couple of errands including a bountiful stock up trip to Target, and then J got picked up later that afternoon.  We went out to dinner at a new to us Thai place in town for New Year's Eve and it was a good meal.  We came back home for the evening and split our attention between muted college football and watching Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper's NYE coverage on CNN.  Love that pair!  

Sunday was a crazy lazy morning.  BF actually stayed in bed until 11, which is totally out of the ordinary!  We just lazed around and finally got up to make French Toast, bacon and mimosas for our New Year's Day breakfast.  The afternoon was filled with some house chores and then watching both the Skins and Chiefs games.  Skins lost, but Chiefs won!  Can't win them all, I guess.  

Monday was another pretty lazy day.  We didn't leave the house, LOL.  We watched some college football, we had leftovers for lunch, we made taco salad for dinner.  I also finished Season 2 of Fuller House over the weekend and started a new to me Netflix show, Lovesick.  I'm almost through Season 1 (it's only six episodes) and really enjoying it!

Today is our three year dating anniversary, if you can believe that.  We are going to use a gift certificate from BF's sister and brother in law for a celebratory dinner tonight, and we've also booked a local hotel stay for Saturday night just to do something a bit different.  We'll go out to dinner in the area and come back to the real world Sunday.  :-)  

I'm actually hoping to plan a short winter getaway for us soon, too.  However, that will require some more planning, so it's in the works.  I need to figure out dates that are workable for my backup at the office as well.  Hopefully we'll make it happen.  I would love to go somewhere with a little nicer weather for a long weekend.

It's hard to believe that 2017 has arrived already.  Another new year!  I'm not a big fan of resolutions, so to speak.  I did put together a list of things I'd like to work on in the coming year, but they're less resolutions and more the crystallization of things already working my head to make myself better and the world around me better.

Working a full week next week is going to be tough.  On the upside, the week after that is a short week.  MLK Day the office is closed and Inauguration Day I'll either be teleworking if my office is open or they'll smarten up and close.  It's apparently under discussion at this point.  Either way I will only be in the office three days, which is fabulous.  I'm trying not to think very hard about the events of Inauguration Day because it will make my blood boil and I can't deal with it yet.  Sometimes I wonder if I'll spend the next four years selectively filtering my TV news and limiting myself to the written word where the visual of things is gone and I'm left to just stew over the actual content, which will be plentiful.

For now, I'm just going to do my thing, and have faith that the world will not automatically self-destruct on January 20th.  :-o  

Cheers to 2017, and cheers to the good things to come that will balance out the bad.  As George Michael said, "You gotta have faith".  Amen, George.  Amen!