Trans Day of Remembrance and A Holiday Week Ahead

Let's start out by thinking and sending prayers out to all who lost their lives over the past year because they were transgender. It's a guarantee that the list isn't comprehensive, there are always those who fall through the cracks. Let's NOT forget them - even though we never met them. Each one of them was a person who loved, laughed, and enjoyed a sunrise or sunset as much as any of us do. Each one had unique views and perspectives that changed the world of those they came into contact with. Each one of them was a person - a person of value - whose life was cut short because they were "different". Each one of them are, or certainly should be, missed. In the USA, 109 transgender individuals lost their lives, with 53 of them to violence and another 33 to suicide. If you're not shocked by those numbers, you should be! Around the world, the numbers jump exponentially. 

Never Forget. The number of people who lose their lives 
each year because they are transgender should be ZERO. 

Yesterday was a busy day - after a morning watching the Wild lose the second of two hockey games in Sweden *sigh*, and dealing with some website issues for DH's website *another sigh*, we dressed and went out to finish the raking in the upper front yard (DH had done ALL of the raking for the other yards over the past 10 days - it's a LOT of leaves and a HUGE job. 

Although most of what we do is working with rakes, 
we do a final clear with the leaf blower because it can 
be a bit more thorough and doesn't massively disturb 
the soil. Here's DH with the blower on the Western side 
of the area where we compost our leaves every year. 

After we finally finished with the leaves (which took more than an hour), we went down to the patio and started the final cleanup and put-away of the patio table, the various pots that were used for my tomatoes and peppers, and the tomato cages. We probably spend another hour getting the last of the summer things into the storage shed. But it's done now and we are ready for winter. 

Finally it was completed. It's rather amazing to be looking 
out over bare land this late in the year. I'm enjoying my 
green Thanksgiving week quite a lot - I'm not looking 
forward to the upcoming snow season AT ALL. 

We've been quite fortunate - Winter is arriving late this year. Last year we already had a few inches of snow on the ground by this time. It's cold(er), but it's not a sea of white when I look outside my windows. I'm grateful for every day of color I have left to me. Non-stop white is depressing and I don't do cold well either. I'm a Southwestern girl - I like the dry heat of New Meixco. Yesterday's football game was a Win/Win for me - Minnesota played Denver, I quite literally couldn't lose, no matter who won. As it turns out, Denver won, 21-20 - so a GOOD game. DH is disappointed, I'm quite sure, but I'm ecstatic. 

Denver pulled out the victory by ONE POINT! I'm so 
happy. I like it when either team could win, but I'm 
baseline a Denver Broncos fangirl. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, I'm swimming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Then, on Friday, my annual Two-Day Sale begins. Fridays are usually the better attended day and I certainly WON'T be getting my Friday off. I've got plenty of food in the refrigerator, and a turkey waiting to be roasted on Thursday. I'm WAY behind on my Holiday Cards, but I think I can still pull this off - with a slightly different angle. In any case - don't give up on me. I'll come through for me and for you. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Transgender Remembrance Day (Late) and Thoughts On the Week Ahead

Yesterday was Transgender Day of Remembrance, and the official death toll was in the upper 300's. These were people just like me or any of you. People with dreams and aspirations, hopes and fears, loves and hates. These were people who were killed merely because they were transgender, and that's just WRONG. It's wrong to be murdered for any reason, but because of sexual blinders ... no words. I hope you had a chance to put some of these victims into your thoughts and prayers yesterday, and if you didn't, maybe you could do that today. OR ... here's a thought. Why not think about keeping all of those persecuted in your thoughts and prayers EVERY day. 

The REPORTED Transgender deaths over the past 
year amounted to a bit less than 400 lives. That's people 
who deserved to live full and rich lives, who interacted 
with others, who lived and loved and tried to do the best 
they could, just like the rest of us. Hold them in your 
thoughts and prayers. 

This week is Thanksgiving week - Thursday is Turkey Day. My middle niece was kind enough to Facebook message me yesterday, inviting us to the annual family get-together for Thanksgiving, which will be held at her house this year. Of course, the invitation came less than a week before the date, and I already have a turkey defrosting in my refrigerator and the various fixings accumulated on my kitchen counters. So, no. I thanked her for the invitation and turned it down. If it had been given a couple of weeks earlier, DH and I could have discussed whether or not we wanted to attend, but at this point, we're already blocked in to our own Thanksgiving (which I'm quite looking forward to). I'll be spending the day roasting a large bird, watching football, and painting my Holiday Cards. I have my schedule already set. 

Thanksgiving is a holiday that's all about the food. We'll 
have a turkey and stuffing, a veggie or two, DH will 
probably have mashed potatoes and gravy too, and I'll 
try to pick up 1/2 of a pumpkin pie on Wednesday when 
I'm at the grocery store. I'll have turkey and a salad and 
I'll also have a little bit of stuffing and gravy, but not much. 
I'll probably also indulge in one piece of pie. Then I'll 
be back to my normal eating on Friday. It's actually 
not a famously unhealthy meal, just pushing my boundaries 
just a little bit. 

Yesterday, while watching Minnesota lose (BADLY) to a team they shouldn't have lost to (and while hearing that Denver also lost their game - sigh), I set up my photography area again and continued photographing my Swarovski crystal rounds. My goal was to photograph the 3mm rounds, and to begin re-shooting the other sizes I had done a few days prior because I wasn't happy with the quality of the original photos. This new batch of pictures is turning out MUCH better. I understand my ring light much better, and found the doohickey I needed to get exactly what I wanted. I've left my photography lights, etc in the den once again, although out of DH's way. I want to re-take the 4mm and 6mm sizes within two weeks. I'll start massaging the photos I took yesterday while I'm at the shop today and tomorrow. I'm quite sure I'll be much happier with the quality. 

I purchased a Kobra-Tech Ring Light with stand 
from Amazon in May, and I've been using it for 
the photos of my crystal beads. It works really 
well, but I was sure I could get it arranged to be 
directly over the product sheet. I did a bit of research, 
found the part I needed to add to the set-up, and put 
that onto the stand on Sunday. Now I finally had 
exactly what I needed for great photos. I took photos 
of the 3mm round crystals, and re-did the photos of 
the 8mm round crystals on Sunday. Now to bring 
them into Photoshop and size them properly for my 
Etsy pages. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I've been a bit long-winded today, but that's how it goes sometimes. This will be an odd week, with the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, and my having to work on Friday and Saturday for our "Two-Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale" days. I have to have the store all decked out for the holidays immediately after Thanksgiving is done, so I'll have a few busy days at the shop. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Transgender Day of Remembrance and the Window Saga in Pictures

Today is November 20th, also known as Transgender Day of Remembrance. The total number of transgender people killed over the past year is more than 450 people. I can't post everyone's names, but I will link to the Human Rights Council listing of the 46 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals who died since January 1st in the USA. Please allow your thoughts to turn to these people who, world-wide, face a very hard fight for acceptance in their countries. I invite you to click on a random name and look at the photo of that person. This was a vibrant individual who might have made incredible contributions to our world, cut down because of hatred and prejudice against them for NO legitimate reason at all. Here's your link: https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/marking-the-deadliest-year-on-record-human-rights-campaign-announces-release-of-annual-report-on-violence-against-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-people

Following the recommendation I made above, let me introduce 
you to EJ Boykin, aka Novaa Watson, 23 years old and killed 
in June this year. As happens too often, he was misgendered in 
some of the media and police reports. He lived in Lynchburg, 
Virginia. 

Now, on to the next group, I promised photos of my window repair, so here they are. 

It was a blustery, very cold day. They arrived, carefully 
looked things over and removed the cardboard we had 
over the inside. After looking at the rod iron grating 
we have as well as the actual mounting strips for the 
window, the lead decided that removing the grate might 
not be necessary. 

They removed weatherstripping and caulk from the front, then 
came inside. The second person seemed to be almost 
superfluous, except his job was to hold the pane in place as 
all of the supports were being removed. It actually was a 
pretty important role, but it was freezing cold outside so I'm 
quite sure it wasn't a favorite job. 

After the caulking had been removed, they began pulling 
off the metal weatherstripping. They had pulled out the 
multitude of screws holding the metal in position. Progress 
is being made. LOL

That job of holding the pane into place became more and 
more important as the bracing was removed. Soon the only 
thing holding the pane into position was one skinny very 
young man who (as I told Chickie) should have been 
applying to Hogwart's School of Wizardry because he would 
have fit right in. 

Finally the old pane was removed completely and carried to 
one of the two vans. The goal was to lean it against the van, 
the reality was the pane shattered into thousands of pieces 
on the sidewalk and into the curbside. OOPS! I was relieved 
that hadn't happened when the window was in place, it would 
have been a massive mess. 

After more cleanup and prep work, they were ready to install 
the new pane of glass. Chickie and I were huddled at the front 
of the store, both of us wearing our winter coats. The wind was 
blowing in through the large open space. I was grateful 
it was winter so we didn't get any birds or insects into the 
store through the large opening, but we had to deal
with the cold. Here they are almost 
ready to pick up the new pane and put it into position. 

They very carefully lifted the pane into position, made some 
minor adjustments, and started replacing the metal stripping, 
screwing in new bolts into the pre-drilled holes. I suspect the 
original pane had been there since the 1950's or so, so it was 
a bit of a touchy job, but the worst was the size of the pane - 
84" x 80" - huge! After all of the screws were tightened, the 
lead put silicone sealant all around on the exterior, while 
the younger flunky began collecting and cleaning up the 
glass from the shattered pane. 

It took until early afternoon for the store to warm up again from the 30 minutes or so when we'd had no glass in the window, but eventually things returned to normal. I still need to put up some of the signage that we had removed, but our "OPEN" sign is up, turned on and working. I did that first thing. I went outside later in the afternoon to sweep up some pieces of glass on the sidewalk that had been missed. I decided to ignore the shards in the street. So ... the long saga is almost over. I still need to get the final invoice from the glass company. It wasn't emailed to me yet, so I'll be phoning them on Monday to get that going. I need to send it on to my insurance company. Then I'll consider the saga complete. 

Have a truly excellent weekend and I'll be back early Monday before I run off to the pool. Please, look at that list of people in the beginning of today's post and click on a random name. Just reading about that person will help cement them as a person worthy of respect and someone whose potential will never be realized. Mourn for that person because they deserved a full and rich life. 

Transgender Day of Remembrance - Carry It In Your Heart Today and Always

Today is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, where people around the world honor the memory of those who died. Not all died by murder, although a large proportion of these people did. There was also death by suicide and, of course, by COVID. In the United States 47 lives were lost, 386 lives lost world-wide. Of course, this list is incomplete - not all deaths are reported, not all are even found. 

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance worldwide. 
Hold those who have been killed because of their 
sexuality in your hearts today. We lost amazing people 
over this past year. For a list of those killed in the USA, 
click on the link. 

Still, we live in a world of extremes, and apparently sexuality is also supposed to be black or white - no in-between. If we can admit that everyone has a different personality, different likes and dislikes, and different ways of approaching problems, why can't we admit that everyone's sexuality also differs. After all, we're not chasing after the same sexual partners. 

We are finally acknowledging that people are on a spectrum - a spectrum of intelligence, a spectrum of personality and of course, a spectrum of interests and sexuality. We are not all interested in the same things (thank goodness). While learning to admit the differences in our daily lives, why would we ever think that sexuality was only singular - male and female. Yes, that's what's required for reproduction, but reproduction isn't sexuality, although it can be enhanced by sexual attraction. Sexuality is attraction, desire and focus outside of the limited realm of reproduction, and it's as individual as clothing and music choices. 

So please, as you move through today, think about those who lost their lives over this past year only because they were perceived as "different" and therefore, threatening. I'll be back tomorrow - be kind, stay safe and please wear your mask. 

Transgender Remembrance Day Was Yesterday

Yesterday was the international Transgender Day of Remembrance, and I once again present the link of the list of victims over the previous twelve months to all of my readers. Just click on the link above to get the list, and as you scroll down, think about each victim, each bright light that no longer shines on us. According to Newsweek, 331 trans and gender-diverse people were murdered between October 2018 and September 2019. Brazil led the numbers with 130, Mexico had 63 and the USA had 30. In the USA, eighty-five percent of the murdered were Native American trans women or trans women of color. 

A night of remembrance in Bangalor for Transgender Remembrance Day.

On my part, I did get a lot done yesterday. Not everything I needed to get done by a long reach, but I'm progressing. The Email to my customers still looms, so I'll try to work on that at the shop today. I did get some cleaning done, and I did get some more work done on my cards. I made phone calls I needed to make and phone calls I wanted to make, and all in all, it was a good day. 

The chains I was working on were much finer than these, but
I didn't think to take a photo before diving into the project. 

DH came home with a baggie of five small pendants whose chains had gotten so tangled up that it took me almost 90 minutes to untangle the mess. But, fortunately, I managed to get them separated. I've always enjoyed doing that kind of thing, but it's not easy and has lots of little levels of frustration when I think that one finally is free, only to find that it's just twining into a new knot of silver. Still, I did get them separated, so that's a good thing. I'll polish things tonight and bring everything back to the shop tomorrow. 

On that note, I'm wrapping this up. I want to read down the list of those lost to trans-gender violence before heading to the gym. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

My Kingdom For A Foil Turkey Roasting Pan!

So, let's see. It's the day before Thanksgiving, and it's my "day off". I'll swim (which may be my most relaxing thing all morning), then drop by Perkins for my daily oatmeal and coffee. I was going to head to the bank then to pick up coins for the shop - can't go into my Two-Day Sale (Friday and Saturday) without ample coins in storage, but no! Last night, as I wandered the house, I realized that even though DH picked up the turkey, he didn't think about picking up the foiled pan within which to cook the bird. Oops!!!! 

All I want is one of these. I don't care if it has
carrying handles or not, I don't care about much
of anything except that it's large enough for
the bird DH purchased. I don't own a
roasting pan of my own. 

So, instead of starting my day out with relative calm, I'll be pushing in a quick drop by Target, hoping they have a pan (which they often do NOT), I'll also check my local grocer, who is usually sold out by this time, on my way to breakfast. If I'm REALLY lucky, one of those two places will have one. Of course, it's usually an impossible thing to find on the last day. Under serious pressure I can make one from heavy-duty foil and a cookie sheet, but that won't make me extremely happy. 

I have an 8:00 am appointment to pick up my Harvest Pumpkin
pie from Baker's Square. Yes, I could bake one of my own, and
sometimes I do, but things have been a bit hectic around here. I
ordered one instead. Yes ... I'm a terrible person. and yes ... they
make a great pie! 

Thinking optimistically, I'll find a foil pan (and some stick margerine) and continue on my errands - put the garland up at the store - my staple gun is waiting for me there  - grab my stamping materials and bring them back home - no more need for them at the shop - and finally settle down a little bit. I'll have to go to the grocer for a minimal shop later today and that will be hell too. Oh joy! 

What a day, what a day. 

November 20th every year is Transgender Day of Remembrance and
I'm a day late, but it's never too late to remember those who were
killed because their sexuality didn't conform to the norm. For a list of
each person worldwide who lost their life over this past
year, just follow this link. 

So let's all pull back a bit, take a deep breath, and think about others for a small bit of time. I should have posted that yesterday was Transgender Remembrance Day, and as usual, I'm a day late. So as you are running around getting your last-minute things together and cleaning your houses, think about the more than 20 US people and many, many more throughout the world who were killed over this past year, just for their sexuality. That's wrong in so many ways, it turns my stomach and makes it hard to see through my tears. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

I won't be posting tomorrow - Thanksgiving, don't you know? But I'm taking this time to reflect on the past year, resolve to do better this coming year, and sending all of you best thoughts and wishes for your Thanksgiving. I'll be back on Friday.