returning from a little break and crossposting on reddit for the first time.
Hi everyone, so obviously I've taken about a week hiatus from posting anything. I think ordinarily people would expect to hear that when a blogger is gone for a while that there is some dramatic update or I've had some issues. Well exactly the opposite is true...I've been...happy. Well aside from the utter ridiculousness of my husband's only favorite sports team winning a thing literally called the "World Series" and he's still somehow upset--the Yankees lost game 6, the Dodgers didn't win. If I never hear that again it will be too soon. Since you guys are always so helpful, does anyone have any advice on what to do when you are bound for life by DNA to some who is a moron? Because I'm lost, I just keep reminding myself that he's ok to look at and that's not nothing.
But I am happy. I am genuinely happy. I updated a while ago that I was moving to part time to essentially close out my days as an "assistant to the assistant principal" at my school. What I have essentially discovered is that so many of my--and by extension, our--problems were because Bubs and I were trying to do too much. I identified so much with being a teacher and administrator and he is so dedicated to his job(s) that no one was taking care of "us." I work for four or five hours a day (technically my short term contract says I'm only supposed to work 20 hours a week, but can never seem to get out on time) and I am home in the afternoons to greet my kids when they get home from school which has made a world of difference my relationship with each of them. Instead of being the sister who was always in need, I am able to take care of my younger sister's kids and help my older sister be the family wrangler that she always has been. I've been able to spend time with my mom and dad and Bub's parents and am able to feel like we are establishing a sense "the new reality" before we move. I have been able to deal with real estate agents and loan agencies so we can look to buy our new house and possibly close before we actually make the move so we can move door to door. But maybe even more than that, I am refreshed and energized when my husband emerges from his office in the afternoon in order to be a loving wife to him and not someone who snipes and complains about all that he is doing--which had been our normal for the past several years.
I suppose it also stands to reason that I haven't been sick, I've been feeling really well and I'm also just about to enter the second trimester. This is the time that bubs always worries about because it was essentially smooth sailing with the last two pregnancies and my brain always blocks out the bad parts and I remember the huge boobs, the amazing hair, my cute butt and the bump that is still small enough to be adorable instead of the morning sickness, pain, not being able to bend over and the heartburn that's so bad I honestly felt like I was going to die.
I get that I am insanely privileged in order to be able make this life change and my privilege will be even more apparent when I fully quit work after we move. But it's amazing that I don't even feel like I'm making a sacrifice because I just feel so much more calm and happy. I will always be a teacher, but there will always be students to teach when I'm ready to go back to work. So that's the reason I haven't been posting--because I'm so busy being happy. What a crazy thing to say.
So I was reading some of the comments that I've missed over the last couple days one sort of coincides nicely with the election yesterday. It it isn't obvious, I am not much of a "politics" person. And again maybe its because I've never had to be--that in itself is a form of extreme privilege. I have issues that I am passionate about--such as education--which means more often than not I align with the Democrats but I can't say that I agree with everything they stand for. I also can't stand certain (or safe to say most) aspects of our soon to be president, but I can also accept that life will go on. I have talked often about my very strange relationship with my dad and how I knew almost nothing about him until I was in my mid-20s but there were times where I would be alone with him when I was younger and hit would hit me with profound bits of wisdom that will always stick with me. I don't remember exactly how old I was but one time he said something like "if my generation fixes all the problems, then your generation won't really have anything to live for, will they?" That's kind of how I see this latest election, some solutions to some problems that will create other problems--which will give my kids meaning in their lives.
So what does this have to do with the question that was asked in the comments? I'm actually hoping I can make the connection too! One of my longest supporters asked me how being from Texas defined me as a person or what it meant to me growing up. I think the connection I'm trying to make her is that Texas is not a monolith. One of the things that's annoyed me the most about the election coverage over the last 24 hours is that when people from outside Texas talk about us, they don't seem to understand that my home state is as varied almost as the country itself. Again my dad provides a great example here, if you were to look at him you would assume that he's a Trump supporter. But since 2016, I haven't once heard him say the name without sounding like he is spitting in anger. Now that's not to say my dad is a Democrat, far from it. My dad is an absolute independent thinker who takes great offense to being looped into in another group that seeks to define him from the outside. And that is most of the men I knew growing up, very independent people who don't easily fit into a bucket regardless of the way Texas is presented as a monolith to the outside world. Yes, we were a deep red state but I would guess most of the people that I know pinched their nose and voted for the option that they felt was the "least worst."
Probably contradictory to what I just said, I will always view myself as being a Texas woman. I will gladly apply the word as an adjective to describe who I am as a person. I love being from Texas. I love that I grew up with people who went to church on Sunday mornings then secretly smoked pot with their family in the afternoon. I love that half the town will turn out for my high school's football games every Friday in the fall and it doesn't seem weird or odd to run into literal generations of families that I've known my whole life. I love the Dance Halls and walking around small cities like Fredericksburg at Christmastime. I love that I grew up being able to drink with my friends at a party spot and the police were there to make sure we didn't drink and drive or hurt each other instead of being there to ruin our future. I love that anytime I'm outside of Texas I can almost instantly recognize when people are also from my home state and strike up a conversation and we will have some shared experiences. I love that I met my husband here and will always have memories of the oak trees in the spring when we had our first kiss. I had a pretty amazing child hood that has stretched into a pretty sweet adulthood and a lot of that has to do with the community that grew up with me. I don't know if it's something I can adequately describe or fully answer but as always I appreciate the question!
I also posted this here, I know if you would like to respond the discussion will be so much easier on reddit:
https://old.reddit.com/user/DecentData5441/comments/1glgi3x/my_first_post_back_on_reddit_i_hope_this_doesnt/
I lament the state of politics today. I do not say this from a position of strength – our last two general elections but one pitched Jeremy Corbyn against Theresa May (2017) and Jeremy Corbyn against Boris Johnson! (2019)
ReplyDeleteIf I try to think of leading politicians of stature since the Reagan/Thatcher era I come up with a very short list. In the UK I get Tony Blair. In another time William Hague might have made the list but he never won a general election and but for Brexit David Cameron might have made the list.
In the US I get Bill Clinton (albeit Monica Lewinsky somewhat trashed his legacy), Barack Obama (whom I did not like) and debatably Hilary Clinton.
The last election here fought on credible policies against credible policies was the 1979 first Thatcher election. Now both in the US and the UK the major parties seem to make a habit of trashing themselves. You have a Republican committed to trade tariffs! The Conservative party here destroyed itself over Brexit. Although Trump had policies they did not seem to me (sitting in the UK) to be likely to survive first brush with reality. It was not obvious to me that Kamala Harris had any policies. Meanwhile the UK Labour party did have policies but again they are failing to survive contact with reality. They won (like, it seems to me, Trump in the US) at least in part because the public could not forgive the governing party for damage caused by Covid and then a desire for change.
Given that this is likely to be a controversial response, I am not going to post it on Reddit.
I would though add that putting “I hope this doesn't get removed” and “My first post back on reddit” in the title to your reddit post seem to be a quite risky approach. Did you not consider setting up a private or restricted group to reduce the risk of another ban?
Meanwhile I am glad (relieved) to see that the absence of any posts in the last week was because you were happy. Have you formally decided on the influencer suggestion?
And good luck with coordinating the house move.
Hey Andrew, I'm happy to post however! All of my posts are only to my own account so I'm thinking that's the best way to fly under the radar and just be on reddit but I'm open to different ideas. I still know so little about how the site actually functions!
DeleteI know almost nothing about British politics, I love British history though! This may be a dumb American take but I am so fascinated with the time period when Saxon England was invaded by the Vikings and how that shaped modern England. I love this historical fiction from this time period, I read the entire "Saxon Chronicles" which I know are fictionalized versions but I would have never known about Alfred the Great, his kids, the different kingdoms like Wessex and Mercia had I not read those books. I loved them so much. The same author wrote a historical fiction novel based on the Battle of Agincourt which I'm currently reading. I would love to visit Britain someday and see it all in person. When I had TikTok, one of my favorite accounts was a guy who repairs thatched roofs in the English countryside. That's all he posted about but it was so interesting and I would literally push my husband off a bridge to be able to live in one of those houses. They are gorgeous.
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DeleteI really need to proof read my comments before I press "Publish"!
DeleteI've replied by email on the first point
In our school system, we take public exams in (say) 10 subjects at age 16 and (usually) three at age 18. In my school for the age 16 exams we had certain very specific subject choices, one of which was History or Chemistry. I hated History and regularly came bottom or near bottom of the class (and I was generally a high achiever) and so dropped it for Chemistry and was very happy.
As I am now somewhat older, ironically I feel that if I were to go back to University and take another degree, I would love to do History. Now I find it much more interesting. One of the things the fascinates me is that even now History is generally taught as British History, or French History or whatever, but actually seeing how the World was going on as a whole is worth studying - even though communications were much more difficult, British History did not occur in a vacuum.
My favourite period is actually the Wars of the Roses to Tudors and Stuarts and I particularly enjoy the Philippa Gregory books which are historically accurate fiction (which sounds like a contradiction in terms). They bring the period to life.
I haven't read the Saxon Chronicles but I will add them to my (very long) TBR list.
The UK is very easy to visit (and we do not live far from Heathrow airport (45 mins)). I don't think anyone flies direct from your local airports so you'd have to change and the country is small (by your standards) so you'd find plenty of villages with traditional thatched roofs within an hour from Heathrow. They are expensive to insure and maintain ...
Dani, There was a great series on The History Channel called Vikings that told the story of Ragnor Lothbrok. It was 6 seasons. The battle scenes were very brutal. I enjoyed the series overall.
DeleteMy youngest son studied history in College (Uni in Europe). He studied one semester at Oxford during college and another while he was in Law School.
DeleteThe vikings were my ancestors, even though the ones invading Andrews shores were mainly from our neigbours Denmark. My own DNA is 94% Swedish and 6% british isles. (probably from the viking times).
DeleteI pitty you Andrew. I am actually rather interested in british politics and agree with most of what you said. Though you were a bit to nice to David Cameron though, and even though Blair is the only one of stature in this era he did blunder totally in Iraq which he seems incapable to admitt or apologize for.
Since I have had a longer period where I stidied research into intelligence I know that something mot people seem to avoid even though everyone should be talking about it is that IQ in the west has been dropping since about 78/79. We sincerely seem to be getting dumber. That is on of the few things that could actually explain why our politics (and maybe specially british) over the last thirty years have seemed so pathetic. There are of couse many other reasons, but it might be one. Why we are getting less smart tough is a separate question but it's imposible to ignore technology.