Living the best life.. 😊

“I just brought home my first dog! I left my marriage three weeks ago with two suitcases and nowhere to go. Forty-one years old starting over in a studio apartment that smells like the previous tenant's cigarettes. My sister kept texting asking if I was okay and I kept lying saying yes because what else do you say when your whole life just collapsed. Went to the shelter Tuesday not planning to adopt, just to volunteer and feel useful. There was this black lab mix in the corner kennel, skinny and shaking, pressing herself against the back wall. Shelter worker said she'd been there four months, too scared to let anyone near her. People wanted the friendly dogs, the ones that jump and wag. Nobody wanted the broken one. I sat outside her kennel for an hour just talking to her. About my empty apartment, about how scared I was too, about starting over when you thought your life was already decided. She inched closer. By the end she was pressed against the chain link on her side and I had my fingers through on mine. The worker looked shocked. Brought her home that afternoon. She hid under my bed for two days. Now she follows me everywhere, sleeps next to me, carries three tennis balls in her mouth at once like she's afraid they'll disappear. I named her Pepper. Been selling some of my old furniture and my ex's stuff he left behind on Tedooo app to afford her food and vet bills. Someone bought my wedding china yesterday and I used the money to get Pepper a proper bed and some toys from another seller's pet supply shop on Tedooo app. My apartment is tiny and smells like dog now and I've never been happier. We're both scared and broken and figuring it out together. She needed someone to see past the shaking. I needed someone to come home to. Turns out we're exactly what each other needed.” Credit: Kelly Stephens

October always seems to arrive quietly. 🍂

Big Harvest Moon Tonight! Bonavista, NL #ShareYourWeather #Newfoundland

When the moonlight sky matches the local architecture… Bonavista, NL Sept. 26/26 #ShareYourWeather #Newfoundland

House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of President Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections. abcnews.link/CyCRCdK

January 1, 2027. That's when the biggest Medicaid cuts in modern American history officially start to bite. Trump's Big Ugly Bill signed in July includes work requirements, provider tax changes, and eligibility restrictions that the nonpartisan CBO says will push roughly 10.9 million Americans off their health coverage by 2034 — including up to 7.6 million from Medicaid alone. But here's the part that should make your blood pressure spike: The midterm elections are on November 3, 2026. The cuts begin six weeks later. This wasn't an oversight. The pain was deliberately scheduled to begin after voters had already cast their ballots. Republicans knew exactly what these cuts would do to rural hospitals, seniors, kids with disabilities, and working families. They just didn't want you connecting the dots at the ballot box. 92% of adults on Medicaid already work. The "work requirement" doesn't catch freeloaders — it kicks people off coverage because of paperwork, address changes, or jobs that don't neatly fit a bureaucratic checkbox. The bill also includes a $155 billion cut to rural Medicaid funding. If you live anywhere outside a major city, that ER may not be there in five years. Don't let the timeline trick you. The Big Ugly Bill is a stealth cut. The only question is whether we'll be tricked again. #FlipCongressBlue

With every paycheck since your first job, you've contributed 6.2%, and your employer has paid 6.2%. That’s 12.4% every time. Social Security should never be considered a handout – it’s EARNED.

Pete Byrne, the lead singer of the pop duo Naked Eyes, known for hits like “Always Something There to Remind Me” and “Promises, Promises,” has died. He was 74. nyti.ms/4xRjeKZ

The leaves are beginning to change colors in Vermont ahead of peak fall foliage, which is forecasted for early October.

We have to prepare for the day when Donald Trump will permanently leave the White House. And, even more importantly, the day after that.

Gooch the hairless Guinea pig is thankful for all the love ❤️ [📹 monkeylova04]

THE “WORST OF THE WORST”: A NUN WITH A WORK PERMIT. Sleep peacefully, America. ICE caught Sister Leticia Ugboaja walking to Sunday Mass. She had a valid work permit, attended EVERY required immigration appointment and complied with EVERY condition of her court-ordered protection. A nun. A nurse. Following the rules. Walking to church. Thank God they got to her before she could receive Communion. It took intervention from members of Congress to help secure her release. Apparently, a work permit and doing everything immigration officials require aren’t quite as effective as knowing someone in Congress. So much for “do it the right way" hey MAGA???? ICE: protecting America from the terrifying threat of a nurse with a rosary. Know your rights. Demand accountability: [PAXIS.app](PAXIS.app) Help keep PAXIS free: [GoFundMe.com/PAXIS](GoFundMe.com/PAXIS)