Time for another brief check in. I miss you guys!! I've been over here in my corner of the world just watching my country slip into an authoritarian nightmare. I've been out protesting as I can, but honestly there is only so much I can handle. A big part of me wants to bury my head in the sand, but dammit, I CARE. Don't you hate when that happens?

In other news... my Phillies choked during the baseballs playoffs AGAIN. So this season was a waste of about 160 days/nights of my life, following them. I was so angry when their bats went silent yet again in the postseason! Not as angry as I am at what appears to be an indication that ownership is going to try to "run it back" for the 2026 season. I swear to god if I hear that phrase come spring training, I'm throwing a shoe through my tv.

We're on the Eagles season again, and the Flyers and Sixers are starting their seasons off strong as well. I'm not following them TOO closely, because I feel pretty certain it won't last very long. Yes, I am a Negadelphian! If you follow Philly sports, that's really how they trained us up.

And in other news, this year was my fortieth high school reunion. Geezalou, how is THAT possible?! I went - it was the first one I've been to since ten or maybe 15 - I don't really remember which one it was. I had a really great time, although ninety percent of my graduating class didn't show up. Don't worry, I had a huge class, so there were still a lot of people there, and I knew almost all of them! And it worked out ok, because I got asked out by a couple of men there (which I did not do) and connected with some fairly local folks who I'm in the process of hanging out with more.

So, one of my goals is to be more socially active again. I'm not looking to date anyone, although if someone appealed to me, I guess I wouldn't say no. Just at this point in life, men who are dating tend to be either chronically damaged or actually married and just want a side piece. I KNOW I'm chronically damaged, or more realistically, a dedicated commitment-phobe, but I don't want to be a chippy. Ok, a really OLD chippy, but you know what I am getting at.

I've also set a goal to be healthier. To that effect, I have my diabetes under control, (like reducing medication under control,) and found out my anemia is not due to anything more than being unable to absorb enough iron. So, iron infusions will likely be part of my future, but the good news is that I don't need them more than probably once a year or even longer. I've gotten back on the old "weight loss journey" and am proud to say that I now weigh less than I weighed my senior year of college or any time since. I struggle every day with self-image, but while I still see no difference in the mirror between now and 100 pounds ago, I DO like what I see in pictures (for the most part). I've branched out into wearing clothes that i would never have dreamed of wearing before (like jumpsuits - who knew?), and am making a conscious choice to wear colors that look good on me. BTW, if you were interested, I'm a "Spring" which means I look my best in stronger, bolder colors. Think cherry red, sunshine yellow, forest green, teal, orange, etc...

Anyway, if any of my old bloggy or chat friends are still here, please say hello and tell me if you have any exciting news you want share with me. I'll check back in a day or two. I'm going to post a pic of me from my last cruise - and any compliments will be graciously accepted. You can keep the insults... but come on... I look pretty good for fifty-seven years old!! Photo redadacted Just trust me.