Sad news about Betty White, who died at the age of 99, but it looks like the rest of us have (fingers crossed) made it through another year.
I know the pandemic and the chaos and upheaval has made the last year super difficult for everyone, but notwithstanding those things, it was a good year. Getting rid of Trump, the covid relief bill and infrastructure bill were both massive, as well as the denazification of many federal government positions and approving judges are very big things. On a personal note, Rosie has finally found some piece after two years of not really being tip top, Lily and Steve are doing well, and my family, of course, is doing well.
On the blog, things are going very well, and in large part much of this is due to the women of Balloon Juice. Beth did an absolutely splendid job with the calendar for the tenth year in a row and there are a lot of animals out there who are much better off because of all her labor. Thank you, Beth.
I don’t remember if you all remember the commericals for Dunkin Donuts in the late 80’s, with Fred the Baker, but here is a refresher for the old and maybe something new for you god damned kids:
The reason I mention that commercial is because Anne Laurie has, for another year, been our resident donut maker, reliably posting threads at all hours of the day, particularly her covid updates, which have provided a reliable structure and framework for the blog. When there is no one else around, there always seems to be Anne Laurie picking up the slack. And I just wanted to say how much I, and the rest of us appreciate that.
Another thanks to Betty Cracker, who on many days is my sister from another mister, because she writes with a style I just love and I have YET see her post anything I disagreed with, and is just a rock star and I am so grateful she is here.
And of course, Watergirl, my taskmaster, who is constantly getting me to do the things that need to be done but I don’t want to do, and always thinking about new and exciting features for all of you. I am glad she has her velvet fist pointed at me because otherwise this place would fall to pieces.
So thanks to all of you, and to the rest of you jackals, and Happy New Year.
Also, I called Watergirl and had her set up a zoom meeting for tomorrow from 5-7pm EST. We had them for the Holidays last year and they just sort of slipped through this year, but I would like to have one to ring in the New Year. The details will be in the comments.