How tea and lemon shortbread might just be our salvation from Trump.

The sh*t the Felon produces knows no limits. In another week of ‘you couldn’t make this stuff up’, I present more stuff you couldn’t make up and what we can do to get through it.

Welcome to the Sick Of this Sh*t (SOS) Newsletter. A middle aged, British wife and mother’s roundup of the lunacy of the Felon, what we can do about it and how we are all going to survive it.

Put the phone down Pete.

I am waiting for the day that the Felon has a quiet week, and this newsletter will consist of photos of my cat and cake recipes. Today is not that day. The omnishambles continues, this time with perilous Pete Hegseth at the centre of another *gob smackingly stupid and dangerous shit storm.

Pete Hegseth. All the charm of a kick up the bum with an open toed sandal. Another underling carved in the repulsive image of his Lord and Master, Felon Trump. Oh Pete. What a fuck up. In fact, a poly fuck up. In the first place, who uses texting to discuss details of military manoeuvres? Get a fucking room Pete. Have a proper meeting, face to face or at the very least by encrypted messaging.

What kind of *numpty then adds a journalist to a group chat of overexcited, ally hating, frat boy idiots planning military strikes? And what kind of man, when his errors are exposed, huffs and puffs, deflects blame and flounces off? Pete, that’s who. How does this man still have a job? How does this man still have a phone?

The Felon’s response was more ‘deafcon than ‘defcon’. When challenged he predictably resorted to his confuddled old man persona ‘I don’t know anything about it… you’re telling me for the first time’. Well, that’s reassuring then just what the world wanted to hear. The grown up equivalent of covering your ears and singing ‘la la la’ !

Not for the first time I suspect the Felon was paralysed by impotency. Pete has ‘learned a lesson’ according to the Felon and despite furious calls for his resignation or sacking Perilous Pete has remained in his job. Even more alarming, but true to form, the Felon describes Pete as a ‘good man’. The numerous women who have accused Hegseth of sexual assault and his beleaguered ex-wife may disagree. I am hoping by the time I write this newsletter next week he will have fallen (or have been pushed) on to his sword. I won’t hold my breath though.

In other unbelievable news, Usha Vance is planning an unwanted trip to Greenland. Not unwanted by her. She is sick to death of waking up to find half her make up bag on her husband’s face, she needs a break. No, the good people of Greenland who have politely but firmly told her to fuck off. Years of tuning out to her husband’s vile rants have left her tone deaf and she is refusing to believe she will be as welcome as a BLT at a Bar Mitzvah. You’ll find out Usha, you’ll find out.

I have built up quite a thirst, kettle is on again….

I’ll bring the tea, let Janie provide the shortbread...

Oh Janie, thank the Lord for Janie. I came across

Janie

a few weeks ago. She describes herself as a little blue dot in a sea of red. Well Janie can walk on water as far as I am concerned. She speaks truth to power and to anyone who will listen, but she looks like the grandma you always wanted, the friend everyone needs and the neighbour you wished you lived next door. Her calm and compassionate tone, her softly spoken accent (all Americans have accents to me, I am British) belies a woman that is fighting for the rights of everyday people in America and beyond and holding the American government accountable for their odious actions.

She also makes lemon shortbread and raspberry crumble cookies, what’s not to love? I can’t vote in the next American elections but if I could, I would vote Janie. Check out her Substack below for the kind of comfort, clarity and common sense we all need in times like these.

Janie | Substack

And how are you feeling?

Stressed? Anxious? Overwhelmed? Distracted? All of the above. Its understandable. These are challenging times, and every day seems to bring another reason to want to crawl back under the duvet and wait for the next 4 year to pass.

But we can’t. We have kids to look after, houses to run, jobs to do, Substacks to write and the Felon et al don’t deserve the satisfaction of controlling our lives. You might remember in my last newsletter I wrote about the 5 ways of wellbeing.

As a Recovery Support Worker in outpatient and inpatient mental health services, it was my job and privilege to support people in achieving good mental health. I found the ‘5 ways to well being’ was a great foundation to good mental health and I want to share it with you.

Last week I wrote about the importance of connecting – writing, talking, texting and really listening to responses and feeling the engagement. Today I want to introduce you to the next step – Getting active.

Physical activity can help maintain positive mental health. Physical activity can help improve sleep, reduce stress levels and help quieten racing thoughts. This doesn’t have to mean hitting it hard at the gym (gyms are not my natural habitat). But can involve simple changes to your lifestyle that mean you are moving more and processing some of that adrenaline that is racing through our systems right now. Examples could be:

· Taking the stairs rather than the lift

· Getting out with the kids for some ball games in the park

· Walking to the shops instead of taking the bus (or getting off the bus a few stop earlier)

· Inviting a friend for a walk

Inviting a friend for a walk is one of my favourites as it combines two ways of wellbeing – connecting and getting active, even better when the sun is shining and spring is springing. The more ways of wellbeing you can combine the better and I will be sharing another next week.

That’s all for this week folks. Stay well, stay active and stay way from any chat groups that involve Pete Hegseth!

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*Gob smacked - informal British, utterly astonished, like a smack in the gob (mouth)

*Numpty - informal Scottish, idiot, stupid, silly person, like Pete Hegseth