Optimistic Soap

To those sharp-eyed followers who figured out where I was: Good for you!

Yes. It was Port Townsend where we spent three lovely, relaxing days.

We stayed at The Hotel Washington, a wonderful location steps from the heart of downtown (I wish I could tag them but I can’t find their account)

Enjoyed breakfast at The Blue Moose Cafe so much we did it three times. It’s located at the shipyards, which gave me a chance to film some content while we waited for our tables (never a long wait).

We brought our bikes and cycled the Spruce Railroad Trail along the shore of Lake Crescent (and also cycled around the Point Wilson Lighthouse area closer to Port Townsend).

I couldn’t resist filming a little content around this colorful little town — it’s so cute! I have one more reel that will likely go out tomorrow (but I’m back home now).

But I’m back home in Portland now! Happy to be back in my little soap room, puttering around!

Thanks for your patience while my site was down!

This is a beautiful story if you’re you didn’t already know it: One of Dolly’s biggest hits, “I Will Always Love You” wasn’t a breakup song for a lover.

It’s about her former boss, Porter Wagoner.
He gave Dolly her big break, putting her on his TV show in 1967, which made her a star.

When she wanted to leave and build her own path, she wrote “I Will Always Love You” as a goodbye to a business partnership that had run its course.

He didn’t take it well. [understatement] He sued her for breach of contract and it took years for her to pay him off. (“He got the first million dollars I ever made”)

Years later, when Porter hit hard times, Dolly bought his production company and gifted it back to him. No strings. No fanfare.

In 2007, she sang “I Will Always Love You” to him, live, at his 50th Grand Ole Opry anniversary. And she was there when he died a few months later.

I’ve been in tears off and on thinking about this story.
This is the kind of grace I aspire to. Not the show offy kind. The genuine kind that shows up with love because somewhere along the way, you decided bitterness had no place in your heart.

I want to be more like that.

I want us all to be more like that.

Quick, important legal note: the SAVE America Act has passed the House twice now, but it has NOT passed the Senate — it is not law. Senate Republicans tried to push it through before their August recess and couldn’t get the votes. It’s expected to come back up when they return in September. So this isn’t happening yet, but given how close it’s gotten, and how hard this administration is pushing for it, I’d rather you be over-prepared than caught off guard.

Here’s the issue: if this becomes law, you’d need to show documentary proof of citizenship to register or update your voter registration — a passport, a birth certificate, or a naturalization certificate. Sounds simple, until you consider this: roughly 69 million women (plus 4 million men) don’t have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name, usually because they took a spouse’s last name at marriage.

And here’s the part that surprises people: a marriage certificate alone doesn’t fix this. It’s not accepted as proof on its own.

So what actually works?
📘 A valid, current U.S. passport in your current legal name (this is the cleanest fix)
📄 A birth certificate PLUS a photo ID that matches the name on it
📜 A certificate of naturalization, if applicable
👉 If your birth certificate doesn’t match your current name and you don’t have a passport, you may need to legally document that name change — through court records, an amended birth certificate, or your state’s specific process

Don’t wait until this is urgent. Check now:
✅ Confirm your voter registration is current
✅ Check if your name matches your documents
✅ If it doesn’t, start gathering paperwork now, before the Senate is back in session
If any of this feels overwhelming, VoteRiders.org VoteRiders offers free, 1-on-1 help figuring out exactly what you need and how to get it. Use them! This is what they exist for.

This is bureaucracy functioning as a barrier. The fix is being prepared before it matters.

Have you checked your documents match? Tag someone who needs this reminder.