Day 156

Day 156, self quarantine:

Monday, August 17, 2020

The Birthday Edition

Roses are red 
Violets are blue 
Today is my birthday 
I hope he dies today, too.

Day 155

Day 155, self quarantine:

Sunday, August 16, 2020

My four day birthday extravaganza continues with a surprise package that arrived yesterday from Julie and Katie - Fremont Chews from Theo’s Chocolates in Seattle.

Theo’s Chocolate = so good

https://theochocolate.com/

And yep, that’s how many candy bars they got me, or as Julie said, “We got you a week’s worth!”

That’s about right.  I tore into the first one as soon as I unwrapped the box.

As a vegetarian, I don’t eat marshmallow because it’s made with gelatin (a new level of gross - gelatin is protein made from boiling the skin and tendons of cows and pigs) but this remarkable, chewy candy bar is gelatin free and it’s so good I’m already looking at the clock this morning to see when I can eat the next one.

Hey, it’s my birthday weekend.

It’s also pouring outside so now I have to change my dinner plan, though I think Gary already did that.

I was going to have a chopped salad with  grilled mushrooms.

“Grilled mushrooms?  As in using the barbecue?” Gary asked, with kind of an alarmed look.

“Yeah.  What’s wrong?  Are we out of charcoal?”  I could see outside from my perch on the sofa.  Nah, that wasn’t it. We had almost a full bag.

“No, it’s not that...”

Well, it couldn’t be weather related.  Gary has barbecued every Sunday throughout the year since the kids were little, even in snow.

Gary looked really distressed.  

Wtf?

“So why don’t you want to barbecue?”  I honestly had no clue.

“Remember last Sunday when I grilled?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember how loud the birds got?”

Wut?  Omg.  Seriously?

“Um, yeah?  Sooo...you think the smoke bothered them?”

“No, it’s not that.  I think... I think...” he trailed off miserably.

“What?  What do you think?”

“I think they thought I was going to barbecue them.”

Omfg.

“Ew, Gary!  That’s horrible.  Why would you think that?”

“Georgette flew right over my head and gave me such a look.  It was like HOW COULD YOU.”

“Were you grilling chicken?” I asked innocently.

That didn’t sit well.

But hey, I’ve been trying to get Gary to go vegetarian for ten years.  Maybe this was a giant step in that direction.  I decided not to crack any more jokes.

“So you’re not going to barbecue anymore?”  I put on my “very concerned” face.

“No!”

He said it so loudly and authoritatively I actually jumped.

Woo, it’s the end of an era, kids.

Papa Slick and his grilled burgers are legendary.

But...that era ended over ten years ago when Julie and Eric stopped eating meat, grew up and moved out, so we’re putting a fork in something already long done.

I’m fine, I adore my mushrooms roasted in the oven in the house and now we can free up space and get rid of that ugly barbecue grill in the garden 😜

More passages at Casa Slick.

In other news, I broke my promise to myself and peeked in on Donald yesterday and suffered such a wave of depression I had to fight back tears.

Everything is really terrible.

I’m not going to ruin my birthday weekend or your Sunday by giving you an itemized list.

I’ll save that for next week.

Luckily I had sixteen chocolate bars to cheer me up.

I’ll be needing something extra for the next two and a half months.

Oy.

Well, all I can say is, somebody better do something about everything.

And on that note, I’m going to watch Chopped Sweets.  I had no idea there were new episodes of anything on the Food Network since the pandemic, but my DVR apparently taped two shows so I am out of here for some fantasy dessert competitions.

Happy Sunday!

Day 154

Day 154, self quarantine:

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Yesterday was a chill, enjoyable day.

I’m trying to spend my birthday weekend away from Donald and his gross friends but I’m sure you’ve seen him sabotaging the United States Post Office in broad daylight, lying that they don’t have the capacity to handle ballots while he’s simultaneously having sorting machines and mailboxes removed from Democratic cities!

Huh.  It’s interesting that the Post Office handled HOW MANY TAX RETURNS ON APRIL 15 prior to the internet without any difficulties?

They always got our check on time.

I hate that motherfucker so much.

I will say this, though.  We’re gonna hear from Michael Cohen, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Volume 5 of the Russia investigation between now and November 3.

Donald is in obvious mental decline this time and people who matter have noticed.

His post office antics are all over local news this morning.

Even Action News is appalled.

It’s about to get very uncomfortable for our despicable little PotusVirus.

And really sickening for us.

Okay, Robin, breathe.  You said No Donald this weekend.

Okay.

Yesterday was birdapalooza at Casa Slick.  The cardinals discovered we replenished the feeders and they partied all day.

Gary and Jake checked up on them periodically to make sure they weren’t overdoing it.

Also, the response to Eric’s new record was phenomenal yesterday, with many fun celebrities weighing in throughout the day (see Eric’s instagram) and then NPR Radio put Closer to Heaven, the duet with Natalie, on its playlist!

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/902289324/new-music-friday-the-top-9-albums-out-on-august-14

So that’s all kinds of awesome.

I have a really good feeling about this record.  I don’t think it’s going to matter there’s not a major label behind it.

I mean, it’s not like musicians can tour.

It’s Eric’s Fifty Shades of Gray.

I dunno, I see how hard Eric has worked throughout his career and more importantly, how he’s always kind to people.  I just feel strongly that he’s going to be an extraordinary success.

Actually, what am I saying, he already is.

Check out his Instagram ❤️.

So last night Gary made french fries for dinner as planned and I scarfed them down without taking a pic but they were awesome.

After obsessing over the four day weather forecast which keeps changing every five minutes, we’ve opted to go to Dog Beach on Monday.

Originally Monday was supposed to be a rain event but now they’re saying partly sunny.  I’m super pissed because all week they said yesterday was supposed to be stormy so we didn’t even consider going and yesterday, which ended up being beautiful, would have been my preferred day.

I’m trying to avoid the weekend and people, though Dog Beach is never really crowded.

Welp, the pizza place will be, so weekends suck in that regard.

So even though today is supposed to be gorgeous, we’re gonna pass and hope it’s nice Monday.  If things work out, I’ll be on the beach on my actual birthday which would be the most perfect thing ever.

I’m happy home, too, it’s all good.  I have a back up plan for dinner here in case it rains - that pasta dish Gary started making this summer with the artichokes, white wine, basil tomatoes and brie.  Omg, it’s INSANE.

So I think that’s it for today. We’re just gonna veg out in front of the television.  There’s morning food shows for me and afternoon hockey playoffs for Gary and Woodstock on the radio in between.

I’m going to try and have nice thoughts.

You should, too.

Day 153



Day 153 self quarantine:

Friday, August 14, 2020

Hell yeah, I’m off from work on yet another day of thunderstorms.  

I’m really wondering what the dog used to do when we weren’t home on such occasions.  I never installed a video camera because I would have watched it all day and not done anything else.

Kinda like I do on the weekends now with the birds.

Omg, they’re finally using the bird bath!

“Rob! Rob!  What are you doing!” Gary hissed at me when I leapt off the sofa to see where the racket in the yard was coming from.

“The birds are here!”

“I know!  Georgette is taking a bath!  Give her some privacy!”

Wut?

I thought he was joking.

He wasn’t.

I felt it best to back off and not say a word.

So yesterday I took a shower and couldn’t find any clean pajamas.  I looked over at the hamper and saw that it was overflowing.

I couldn’t remember the last time Gary or I did the wash.

I’m not kidding.  It literally had to be a month ago.  Maybe more.

I mean, it’s not like we go anywhere.

So Gary did wash while I banged away on my laptop and he appeared in my office a few hours later.

“Here’s your work clothes,” he said, handing me about ten pair of clean, warm folded pajamas.

I dunno, it cracked me up.

Maybe you had to be there.

It’s my new life.

In other news, Eric’s record is officially out today and I just bought the insanely cool t-shirt for Gary and me so now we’ll both have something else clean to wear.

Yep, even Mom has to pay :)

https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/ericslick

If you think that’s funny, you should see some of the big ass lines we’ve had to stand in, in freezing cold or monsoon like weather, just to see our kids perform.

We don’t always get star treatment but the times we do more than make up for it.

A personal tour of Pixar Studios with the founders and a private movie screening in their personal theater, a trip to NYC to see my son live on the Jimmy Fallon show followed by a band party in my penthouse hotel room, and a tour bus hang with Greg Lake and Keith Emerson comes to mind but there’s much, much more and I’m very, very grateful.

These days I divide my time between Julie’s former bedroom and the sofa.

Five months of it and no end in sight.

At least for me.

I’m up at dawn today even on my day off because it’s my zen time and also because WXPN is still doing Woodstock week and at 6:00 a.m. they’re broadcasting the Jefferson Airplane segment.

Hey, I gotta listen to Cousin Grace.

https://xpn.org/

Also in honor of my four day birthday celebration, Gary is making hand cut french fries and Jersey tomato sandwiches for dinner tonight, which we’re gonna eat while watching the Flyers decimate the Canadiens on their way to the Stanley Cup.

Yeah, you know the Flyers are winning the cup this year.

Why?

Because we won’t be able to celebrate in bars or with a parade and we’re all gonna implode.

How Philadelphia is that?

Haha, you think putting Crisco on poles and trying to climb them was bad, the mind boggles at what we’ll do but I am so here for it.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/sports/philadelphia-eagles-grease-poles.html

I’m here for it from my sofa, that is.

Okay, that’s enough out of me.  I’m gonna pour another cup of coffee and get ready for some Airplane.

Rock on!

Day 152

Day 152, self quarantine:

Thursday, August 13, 2020

For those of us still in quarantine, today is our five month anniversary.

Yay, us.

Happy like a Friday to me, after today I have four days off and I could not be happier.

I’m still basking in the glow of Kamala and Joe.

Omg their speeches yesterday.

https://youtu.be/wYzPw3T99i8

They came out to the music of Curtis Mayfield.  My eyes started filling with tears at that!

They brought hope, they brought kindness, they brought reality and truth.

They also shined with intelligence and class.

Following along with the press and scholars on Twitter, I read glowing reviews.

For the first time in almost four years, I didn’t feel scared or embarrassed.

But then, an hour later, while Americans were still basking in their said glow, a severely mentally ill morbidly obese nitwit with likely dementia, wearing clown makeup and a yak wig, took to the podium and started slurring and farting and drooling.

He criticized Democratic governors for not lifting pandemic restrictions, saying they want to keep people in their houses, then describes houses differently: "In their prisons! They call 'em prisons."

“You always talk about Russia, Russia, Russia, China and Iran when it comes to the election, but your biggest problem is gonna be with the Democrats."

What does that even mean?  

Who’s the one destroying the Post Office, Donald?

On children: “So few fatalities are among people under age 24. For this reason, it could be safer for them to live at school rather than live with their older parents or grandparents."

Yes, Donald, everyone should send their kids away to boarding school.

What the actual fuck?

Trump said he didn't watch the Biden-Harris event, just a moment, but it was enough, and he watched her tank in the primary and then "she left angry. She left mad."  

Donald didn’t give any evidence of this but he loves to bring up the supposed anger of women, especially women of color.

That wasn’t even the worst of it.

Anyway, he bombed.  He looked like a clueless imbecile on drugs, floundering and humiliating.  

An old, defeated man, completely out of touch.

It was like being on a warm sunny beach with Biden and Harris when suddenly dark, insidious clouds rolled in, the sky opened up, and the day was ruined.

I don’t really care for the expression, but buckle up. The next five months are going to be INSANE.

Unless he resigns first.

Look for him to do it for medical reasons.  When he realizes that he’s going to lose in a crushing landslide and all the cheating in the world won’t help him win, he’s going to try and save himself from disgrace and  prison.

So who is CottonTop Mike’s running mate?

Smart money says Nikki Haley.

God forbid it could also be Ivanka or Junior.

You might think I’m crazy and no way, and you may be right, but nothing would be a more fitting twist ending in this goddamn reality gameshow we’ve  been forced into.

You heard it here first.

Oy, enough of that.

How about those storms yesterday?

Haha, it was the first time I had to pull the “Hey, I’m working, you’re not” card with Gary.

I’ve been super conscious of not doing that.  I would never want to make him feel bad, especially since I’m the one who made him retire.

Anyway, my paralegal assistant Jake gets nuts in thunderstorms and I had a buttload of work yesterday.  

At the first sound of thunder, Jake jumped off of Julie’s bed and tried to jam himself under the desk where I was working, while shaking like a leaf.

He got caught up in the electrical cords to the printer and laptop and I was trying to keep him calm while holding the computer still so Jake didn’t send it crashing to the floor.

As I’m doing this I’m watching with horror as I got like 17 emails at once and then my cell phone rang and it was my least favorite client in the world.  I hit “remind me later” on the phone and shrieked, “Gary! Gary! Help!”

So I guess this was around 3:00, Gary sheepishly appeared in the doorway, looking vaguely pissed because I interrupted him during Password.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up?!  Do you not see the dog?”

I pointed to Jake, who was now trying to climb into the bottom drawer of Julie’s dresser, knocking down everything in his path while lightning and thunder cracked so loudly it sounded like it hit our house.

“C’mon, Gary, I have a shit ton to do.  Please take him downstairs.”

Gary knew I wasn’t joking so he actually lifted Jake up and took him out.

But they didn’t go downstairs.

When I finally finished working two hours later, I found them both sound asleep and snoring in our bed.

It must be nice. 😜

So here’s something kinda funny.  Dunkin’ is rolling out all of their pumpkin latte crap next Wednesday.

And all the stores will also be stocked with Halloween candy.

Apparently businesses all got together to make the fall season “longer” due to pandemic concerns.

I’m not really sure what that means, except to me, they’re cutting my summer short!

I haven’t even been to the beach yet this year and they want me to buy Halloween candy?

Okay.

I can do that.

Anyway, I still have a lot to do before embarking on my four day birthday celebration tonight, so I better head upstairs.

Talk to you on the flip side.

Day 151

Day 151, self quarantine:

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Well, this week sure got significantly better.

I didn’t expect to cry but I did.  

Then I texted Julie, Natalie and Eric.  I think Natalie and I had the closest emotional reaction but we were all joyously  celebrating.

Kamala in Sanskrit means “lotus,” a flower that in many Eastern religions is a symbol of enlightenment, overcoming obstacles, and rebirth.

I’m so ready.

Listen, I know neither candidate is perfect.  But they’re not pathological lying sociopathic fake Christian imbecile criminals so they’re a vast improvement over Donald Dildobrain and CottonTop Mike.

Yes, the bar is low in American politics but I woke up hopeful and happy this morning for the first time in a long time.

A woman.  A woman of color.  

A woman with a Jewish husband and mother-in-law!

https://youtu.be/jtAPOKDV-nY

My sister!

For those keeping track of my predictions, I’m two out of four and all we need now is an extension of federal unemployment benefits and Donald PotusVirus to resign.

Donald isn’t looking or sounding real healthy these days.  Don’t count me and my voodoo doll out 😂.

Seriously.  He looks like he’s wasted in these ridiculous Nazi rallies he’s been doing daily falsely labeled as “coronavirus briefing.”  He’s mumbling and slurring words, and spouting nonsense.

After the Harris announcement, he raced to the Hannity shitshow for comfort and immediately began bleating this out of nowhere:

"If you see a windmill and you hear a windmill, your home goes down by half, or less than half. It kills all the birds.”

Then he said Harris was nasty and angry.

Think about that.  The guy who mocks the disabled and puts babies in cages and doesn’t care if you die of coronavirus is accusing someone of being angry and nasty.

His fresh attacks on Kamala are going to make him look even more pathetic and really, we should all just laugh at him from now until November 3, when we beat his dementia ridden, morbidly obese ass in a humiliating landslide.

Just like the cheap and deadly pans, the teflon is peeling off Don.

It’s gonna be ugly and scary between now and November 3, but hey, we’re five months into a pandemic, we’re clearly stronger than we think.

Of course he could resign sooner if I have my way 😜

Oy.

I need to add a few more strategic pins to my Donald voodoo doll.

So just two more days of work this week and then we’re going to dog beach with Jake.

I keep saying that, but the truth is, my garden gives me the same exact vibe and Gary’s pizza rocks my world so why would I want to go anywhere with, you know, other people?

Meh, it’s my birthday in a few days, and it’s a monumental one.  I should break out and celebrate.  It’s not every day a gal can officially retire and go to work for the Biden campaign 😜

Like how I slipped that in there?

I’m stoked.

Is it Friday yet?

Day 150

Day 150, self quarantine:

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Yesterday was strange.  The day started out miserable but ended up fun.

Just as I finished writing my post yesterday morning and said I didn’t feel like working, woo, I better be careful what I wish for.  I had such a wave of nausea out of nowhere I barely made it to the bathroom.

The entire morning was like that, into the afternoon.  Gary kept making me drink ginger ale, which I held down for about two seconds.

“Do I have Covid-19?” I asked him hysterically.

“How?  You never leave the house.  And I feel fine.  Wouldn’t I be throwing up, too?”

“Then why am I soooo sick,” I moaned.

“I dunno, Rob. Do you think it’s something you ate?  What did you have yesterday?”

Hmmm.  What didn’t I eat.

The day began with pancake bread and sort of spiraled out of control after that.

In the world according to Robin, if you begin the day with cake, the entire day is a wash-up and there’s no sense in dieting, it’s an all you can eat event until bedtime.

I am Exhibit A why diets don’t work.  That’s why most of the time, I eat healthy.

Anyway, yeah, I had a bad day with food on Sunday and my body isn’t used to it anymore.

At one point I had a hunk of chocolate in one hand and pretzels in the other hand and I was alternating bites.

Anyway, I was miserably sick yesterday, and then I read on Facebook that a girl I grew up with, the slightly younger sister of a childhood friend, died suddenly which completely freaked me out. 

I felt so beaten down and sad, and I still couldn’t shake the nausea or depression by mid afternoon.

But then Gary made me some plain white rice which he insisted I eat and I started to feel better, and then I learned he had a zoom meeting with his musician pals from the music camp he should have been at this week with Julie just like every second week in August since 2011 (sob)...so since Gary had no clue how to work zoom, I had to get off the sofa and out of my own head to help him.

It was hilarious.

Gary was an SNL skit.

But he finally got the hang of it, and it was a lot of fun for me to sit here and listen.

I still don’t feel 100% this morning, though I do feel much better.  I never understand why I do this to myself but luckily it doesn’t happen often.

Most mornings I have a smoothie for breakfast made with fresh fruit and raw cashews and I’m good.

Ugh, so now I’m a day behind at work again and I’m not really sure why I’m doing that to myself, either.

But on the plus side, now it’s a three day week and I’m so busy it’s going to go fast.

That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Happy Tuesday.

Day 149

Day 149, self quarantine:

Monday, August 10, 2020

Check out my early birthday present from Eric!  He made me a sign for our garden!

Gary hung it yesterday and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy it makes me.  The sun hits it differently throughout the day and at one point it lit up and all I can say is, that sign is everything.

I am either out in the yard or looking out there all day long.   The house has a vacation home vibe to it now with light flowing in and birds chirping.

I’m geeking out big time.

Which is good because Donald has me really depressed. He’s just so horrible and the fact that he has a platform and reporters try to normalize him both blows my mind and makes me incredibly sad.

I keep thinking it can’t possibly get any worse and yet every day, it does.

I just hate him and his supporters so fucking much.

I can tell I’m depressed because work is the last thing I feel like this morning.

I’m dragging and feel heavy hearted and am having a hard time focusing.  I wish I could just hang with Gary today and every day, watching the birds.

Technically after next Monday, I could.

I know, I know.

Anyway, whatever, in other news, it’s Woodstock week on Xpn radio so if nothing else, the music is going to be awesome because they’re broadcasting the entire festival, as it happened, but only between the hours of 6:00 am and 10:00 pm this entire week so lunatic boomers like me who will be glued to the radio can get some sleep and not miss anything.

Here’s the info:

https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/08/05/xpnstock-woodstock-week/

Also good, Gary is making vegetable fried rice for dinner.

Ooh, I just remembered and how the hell could I forget I’m off from work for a four day weekend this week?!  I took off this Friday-Mondayfor my birthday and some time at the beach.

I can’t believe that wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning.  Woo, I must be more depressed than I realized.

Not anymore!  Hell yeah four day week four days off!  Hell yeah birthday boardwalk pizza!

Okay, then.  Today just got considerably better.

Rock on!