Welcome to the Street Prophets Happy Hour. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. I received this message this afternoon:
Dear mapamp,
Congratulations! An anonymous benefactor has purchased you a lifetime gift subscription to Daily Kos.
The person who gave me this gift added a note: Because you do what you do, and you are who you are. Thank you so much for your presence here.
And so, I say, “Thank you!”
Come join me below the orange. I am drinking a bottle of Straubs and had leftover Chinese food—Amazing Chicken (Lightly fried chicken with broccoli and mushrooms in a spicy sauce) for dinner. I’ll tell you why this means so very much to me.
I have had very little time recently. My life seems to have travelled between work, kids’ concerts, church, doctors’ appointments, dental appointments, and other various activities of life. There have been happy times, such as watching my daughter sing and my son play tympani in concerts. Playing hand bells in the Christmas concert at church, watching my teens be angels in the Christmas Tableaux, and making plans with my husband for a trip to the art museum are all great fun. There have been stressful times, mostly related to work—trying to fit a caseload of 40 children to see for speech therapy into a limited number of time slots, doing and writing up evaluations and education plans, quarterly progress reports, mentoring new employees. I have not always been healthy—currently, I am fighting a sinus infection and bronchitis. Christmas shopping—haven’t even started! And there have been sad times, most recently and tragically the death of one of my students due to a fast growing brain tumor.
So, I haven’t had much time to post anything for Happy Hour. I have continued to check in at Daily Kos and Street Prophets, as these places are a lifeline for me. The community keeps me grounded. These communities provide support for so many people, and I always feel the love (pie fights, notwithstanding….). I learn and I get information to back me up when I have to listen to the conservatives in my world.
I found Street Prophets first. There was finally a place I could go that understood that I could be a believer and a Liberal. People with different faith/non-faith backgrounds working together to further Liberalism—it was gratifying. I quickly checked out the Parent—The Orange. At first I was overwhelmed, but I have managed to work my way around and feel at home. So, I thank you. Thank you Anonymous Donor, and thank you Daily Kos.
Anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the very busy-ness of life? C’mon in and stop a minute to chat. There is wine and beer available and dessert is Christmas cookies. What are you grateful for? What is bringing you down? Kick you shoes off, put your feet up and rest a while. The world will still be there for you, but perhaps you’ll be a bit more refreshed to take it on.