We'll handle it.

A favorite hopeful poem I adapted slightly for this U.S. Election Day.

Sometimes things don’t go from bad to worse…
May it happen for us!

I should be at the polling place Coffee Tent right now, 6:42 a.m. It's not even raining (yet).

But I wrenched my knee at work yesterday, and it was aching so badly in the middle of the night, I texted to cancel. (They've always have had more than enough volunteers, I hope that's the case today.)

I'll go vote about 9 a.m., when people on their way to work have come and gone. At least I hope it goes that fast.

I was working too hard at the store, moving too fast, lifting too much.
"I saw a student giving 200%", said a yoga teacher online. "She was all effort and no grace. I said to her, 'Try less, maybe 80 percent'."

TRY LESS.
Yes. It would be my own fault if I injure myself.

I was so excited to make changes, I didn't even stop to take before-and-after photos. But this morning I photo'd the weird old snow people I brought home. I have a soft spot for damaged flocked items... the kind of things my coworkers would throw out.

Sorting Xmas ornaments is the best! We have stored boxes and boxes of them.
The store used to put them out for 49¢ ea., unsorted, in a bin, which quickly became a mess of broken bits.

I suggested we put ornaments together in $2.99 grab bags, so now we're doing that. I love to buy that sort of thing myself.
I also put creche sets into small baskets, instead of just plastic-bagging them. We have oodles of donated baskets.

Organizing is odd. A lot of it seems obvious to me--like, "let's protect breakable items"--but it's not always to other people. (And I have my gaps too.)
Anyway, I love it. In the middle of bagging up silly snowmen, I felt a wave of gratitude that I'm not working in direct care for people.
I work in indirect care!

It's so fun to be on the sales floor. People were buying Christmas things as I put them out. One woman said she hadn't seen me in a long while, and I explained I'd tried a job in high school.
"But I hated it, and I missed this place."

"We missed you too", she said.

There is one fly in the ointment. Of course. One woman who never liked me is sour that I'm back. But otherwise my return has been overwhelmingly positive. (I always say, "So far...".)

Penny Cooper Hands

Marz pointed out these hands at the art institute: "Look, Penny Cooper hands!"
They are little clay footsoldiers from 2nd cent. BC China.

I guess they'd be holding spears? Coffee mugs?

BELOW: Penny Cooper holds a star ornament. In front of her, a glow-in-the-dark, dashboard-magnet Mary.

If things do go from bad to worse, we'll handle it.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!