i decorate on dec. 16th in honour of beethoven. i put his music on and get out the boxes. the “christmassy” stuff is swapped out for “winter” stuff (polarbears and snowmen) in mid january.
due to cats i don’t have a tree. koritza would love a tree, there just isn’t room for one.
i do have an evergreen nisse, that acts as a tree. i do place soft non breakable ornaments on him. koritza will knock it down a few times.
most of the items are plush or non breakable, and in zones. the mice are in the bedroom, the reindeer are in the kitchen area, the godiva holiday bears are in the living/library area. a few more nisse are scattered about. koritza will rearrange any of the plushies she can carry around and sing while she does that.
after ludwig’s birthday celebrations, the cd player is loaded with carols until after christmas.
christmassy clothes and accessories are worn during the nativity fast until boxing day. i have quite the collection.
We got an invite to the Kindergarten Christmas concert at Roxy’s school! How exciting is that? I loved going to our daughter’s school events, and I expect this will be equally fun!
I usually love to decorate right after Thanksgiving, but this year I’m the only one so I’m going with the rest of the family. Usually we only do the tree - I put the damn thing together and let Hubby and the kids put on all the decorations. (Maybe that’s why they don’t want to decorate early?) I’m thinking of decorating our porch a bit this year. As for heirloom decorations, both Hubby and I have ones from when we were kids. I think the oldest one I have is from 1986. We also have a nail that gets put on the tree every year, a couple of decorations the kids made when they were younger and a few geeky ones like our TARDIS.
Niner, happiness on the girlfriend things.
Thanksgiving was fairly low key here. Hubby made ham and we ate it later than usual, and we’re still munching on the leftovers. The ham and broccoli went into a quiche the next day, and more of the ham went into split pots soup. Lots of yummies.
I managed to get a majority of my Xmas shopping done on da Jungle. I still need to pick up a few more things for the kids, but Hubby and Partner are both done. I need to decide what cookies I want to make as my general holiday gifts. They’re great for Hubby’s cow-orkers and the librarians. Possibly for my metas as well.
Yesterday was a bit of a step. Partner and Meta2 came over for board games. It was fun, though not as easy going as most of my game days are. I think with time, it’ll get easier. We are planning on doing this again after the first of the year.
The only negative was a phone call from my mom while they were here. Supposedly it was a call to apologize for hurting me with her words, but she still kept trying to blame me as well. I stood up for myself, told her that I was hurt and it would take me a bit to get over that. When I hung up, I took off my glasses and cried. Having both Hubby and Partner here during it helped a lot. I needed that support.
Two other things of note: my TV in the living room decided that it didn’t want to be a TV anymore on Friday. Thank heavens for Black Friday deals. And we watched the new Doctor Who episode Saturday. Loved it!
Today has been a bit rough for the kidlings. First we got a call saying that BtY had been hitting his head on his desk. No idea why. The only thing we could think of was that he didn’t bring his headphones. Then we got a call from his English teacher saying he was still doing it. I decided to bring the headphones in, hoping it would help. While I was getting ready for that, CtE called to say they’ve been boring their hands again. So I brought an extra chewy for them too. I hope both of these help them.
I’ve got a busy week ahead with my date with Partner, CtE’s appointment with their me provider and therapist, as well as their winter concert for chorus. Friday my best friend is coming in for the weekend. I just have to keep my calm and my sanity!
Do you wait until Christmas morning to put the baby Jesus in the creche? We used to do that growing up and when we were little, sing happy birthday to him.
I haven’t decorated in years. First it was the cats, then later, I found myself rarely home over the Xmas holidays. When I did decorate, I tended to put things up the first Sunday of Advent (a tradition from my childhood) and take down on Epiphany.
Irked, came home, walked Nelson and et. Now to settle in the studio.
Started Typing: 5:43 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 6:21 PM ET
Normally I wouldn’t make a first post this late in the day, but I’m done with work and – oddly – not quite ready for dinner yet so I figured I’d kill some time here. No better way to kill time than with y’all!
I live alone and no one ever comes to my house during the holidays (or any other time, really), but I still decorate.
Everything goes out the day/weekend after Thanksgiving, and comes down no later than New Year’s Day – by which time I’m ready to regain the use of my kitchen table, and to generally have things back to “normal” for the start of the new year.
No family heirlooms, but each ornament is different and several have sentimental value. And I look forward to seeing my Swarovski snowflake collection for 4-6 weeks every year (I’m up to 15 snowflakes; I even have small spotlights on them in the evenings!). Most of my decorations are inside, but I do like having a big lighted wreath on the front door and some lights on the crepe myrtle out front. They’re always nice to see when I’ve been out and I come home after dark. This year I’ve added some holiday LEGO sets to the decor, and I recently ordered one more LEGO wreath because I decided that I want one on either side of the kitchen window. After that arrives and has been assembled I might post some photos.
Yesterday’s lunch and show with my friend were both great. A funny thing happened during intermission: my friend and I were standing up and she went to remove her (large) purse from under her seat, and had to tug on it a little, and the corner of it hit the edge of her seat – the part that folds up and down – just right/wrong and suddenly the seat bottom was on the floor! We and everyone around us were momentarily stunned! I picked it up (it was surprisingly heavy) and looked at it, because we hadn’t heard anything fall – like metal that might have broken/come loose, or anything – and after a few seconds of looking at both the piece and the seat frame I realized there were grooves the piece had been knocked out of and it would just slide back into place. And I fixed it! Some of the folks around us were impressed. My friend and I were both quite relieved, because we were starting to have visions of needing to call an usher and have a maintenance person come over, etc. The venue wasn’t sold out, but it was pretty full: after the seat was fixed, I realized that they might have needed to move us to the first or second row…I offered to break it again, but my friend said no thanks.
Bailey is not-so-patiently waiting to go outside, so a few replies and then it will be time to relocate to the living room…
Yes, I meant to reply to that!! I’d heard of it previously, but definitely appreciated the reminder. Unfortunately, neither of the local shows works for me this year.
I want the people in that house to adopt me.
Good luck!
That sounds so cool! I have a couple of ukulele-playing friends. Break a leg on Thursday!
We did that in my house! The manger pieces would appeared a week at a time (or something), with a heralding angel ornament my parents found and hung at the apex always being the first, and with Jesus on Christmas morning and the “Happy Birthday” singing and all.
We have it all year long! Also, here in BC, we export most of our cranberry production to the US, where it is processed by Ocean Spray. So there is a chance that you’re actually eating Canadian cranberries!
Canada: what a place!
As Gary Trudeau put it,
Tall whispering pines and hot maple syrup,
Red-coated Mounties perched high in their stirrups,
Hard rubber hockey pucks shot from the wings,
These are a few of my favourite things!
I was in Canada to view polar bears. When we were at the wee Churchill airport, a Mountie came in the waiting room. I elbowed a person in our tour group and said “look, a Mountie”.
That started quite the stir and a bit of a mob scene around the poor fellow. Quite a few pictures were taken. He seemed a bit bemused. He was not wearing his red uniform. He looked rather good in his winter brown uniform.
I figured both sides of the encounter has stories to tell when they got home.
I was happy seeing the Mountie from afar, no pic, just a smile and chuckle when I think about it.
It looked like it belonged on an old Outer Limits show, LOL! We don’t do stuffing because it’s not very good smoked. Sadly the beautiful skin is too smoky to eat either, but the meat is most excellent!
Due to the cats, our only decorating is my Christmas Tree wall hanging which gets hung on the 14th. Back when I was young, Mom noticed that most of the relatives would give me one “nice” gift for birthday and Christmas while sisters always got one gift for each occasion.
She knew she couldn’t control what they did, so my birthday was when we went out and picked a tree then decorated tree and house. Cookies and hot chocolate were had before dinner and we all got our own bottles of glitter nail polish so we could sparkle.
I wish you much luck! Or a broken leg, whichever applies in this situation.
Awwww! Congrats, I hope you are happy together for a very long time.
/snerk/
I agree, if she wants that done, she can do it herself.
It is good of you to think of folks needing sweaters this time of year and thank you for the reminder. Our community center does a free winterwear giveaway every winter and I need to hit the thrift stores for some gently worn kids jackets and sparkly teenager sweaters to donate.
People who attend such events usually go with the intention of having a good time so you will have a friendly audience who will think you are great and might even sing along with you.
Lovely, an unexpected expense just before the holidays. Just what you need, NOT!
What a party pooper, LOL!!!
Good job on figuring it out so quickly. It must be all that LEGO practice.
I am very proud of myself today, I needed to go to town for a few things and went to The Honeyman alone and unsupervised. Not only do they sell honey, they sell a variety of locally sourced treats. I shopped for my Secret Santa, plus bought a few treats for me and managed to get out for less than a hundred. That almost never happens, LOL!
There will be a craft fair at the community center this weekend, and I’ll be able to ship in a week. I’m never ready this soon either, it must be something in the air.
Tomorrow will be the last time our housekeeper comes over this year (she’s going on another cruise-to Hawaii I think) so I’ve got a pot of milk ripening for cottage cheese. No judging, she thinks homemade cottage cheese is the best Christmas present ever. Well, maybe except for the money card hubs gives her…
I bought some Christmas cards at the dollar store, 6 cards in a box that used to hold at least ten and they didn’t even bother to pad the bottom with anything so all of that empty space was right on top. Yeah, I know I bought cheap, but it was like they weren’t even trying!
Howdy Y’all! Mowage did not get accomplished. Just could not be bothered. Maybe one day. Soon. Or not. Who knows. So, sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, day drinkin’ and binge watchin’ stuff on Netflix were the accomplishments of the day. Oh, and sup got fixed and et. Also, the biiiiiig trash can got hauled all the way back up from the road to where it lives durin’ the week. A good day in the lives of retired grumpy old men.
VanGo have fun with high skool rehearsal. Sounds like a nightmare to me.
Niner yay for girlfriend! Also appropriate/inappropriate appendages crossed for a second interview.
Talky sounds like that should be a job for sis if she wants it done so bad. SHEESH!
Evening all. Been a fairly busy day, did do my usual stuff and did make it to the gym for 1,250 yards of backstroking and 25 minutes in the sauna. I admit I stepped on the scale with a little trepidation, being generally slothful and having eaten well during the cruise and at my brother’s, but gained less than 3 lbs. over that time (from 238.2 lbs on 10/30 to 241.0 lbs. today), which I deemed acceptable. Will try and keep to my workout schedule and see if I can get it below 240 lbs again.
Niner, sounds like both interview and ‘Girlfriend things’ went well.
boo fae, glad you enjoyed the music; safe travels home.
talkie, sorry no one could use the piano, but the extra space will be nice, I am sure.
Wheelie, best of luck for your musical debut this Thorsday.
FCM, enjoy the Kindergarten concert; should be a blast.
Oopsie, glad your inner McGyver came to the fore and the seat got fixed.
OK, just finished watching Girl With the Dogs2 on You Tube (this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzNua65PJPw ) and now will watch some tackleball until bedtime beckons. Take care all.
I’m very sure of that. It’s even being promoted as a sing-along, and our organizer is bringing extra ukes to invite anyone who wants to join in. So I know nobody will care how good it sounds.
I’m also pretty sure I’ll lose my place at some point, but when that happens I just strum the C chord (or G, or whatever key the song is in) until I catch up, and it won’t ruin things. There will be at least six of us playing, so I can hide if I have to.
But I also want to play well for my own sake. I just put in about an hour of practicing, and I’m quite rusty, but at least I’m getting myself familiar with the songs.
Typing while I ice the knee. Despite my efforts, I am making no progress. However, I can see, as I remind myself frequently.
That is si sweet! What a nice tradition! No, I plunk Jesus in the manger. Mom taught us kids to place the magi at a distamce and then move them a tiny bit closer every day until Epiphany. That’s how they did it in her little village, plus gifts were exchanged on Epiphany, which also makes sense. That’s when we took down the tree, too, but I can’t wait that long.
Swampy, I’ve been meaning to ask this. You have no recycling pickup there? Do you have to take stuff to a recycling center then?
And here I was having visions of your friend having to sit obn the seat on the floor and tugging your sleeve to ask, “What am I missing?” Kudos to you for quick thinking!
Happy birthday, December baby! I might not have gotten all the prezzies my sisters did (and yes, kids are greedy little shits who know how to count), but I was the one who picked out the tree (with Mom’s help) and I was the one who put the star on the tree (with Dad’s help).
My sisters still remember that, so nanny nanny booboo to the relatives. I remember my special birthday gifts, not a one of my sisters can remember a single one of the presents they got from relatives.
Of course you do. Back when we were young, we wanted to be better than everyone else. Now that we are older and wiser, we just want to be better than we were yesterday and we are our own harshest critic.
I was just trying to encourage you in case you were feeling some stage fright. You are going to rock the house down, I am quite sure!!!
And there was a card missing out of one of the boxes, LOL!!!
Ours is 7’ tall but about 4’ wide. Definitely narrower than the classic tree, but not a pencil. Seemed a decent compromise. It’s now standing undecorated in front of the living room window. Her Ladyship erected it while I was golfing.
That should be delicious. Color me green as in envious.
Whatever it turns out to be, it was totally worth it. I’ve decided that what I want most for Christmas & New Years’s resolutions is to be able to overeat and stay slim. “I hereby resolve to overeat and stay slim.” There; that oughta do it.
I should say. Hooray for “girlfriend things”.
For a couple of years we had a New Year’s tree, a President’s Day tree, an Ides of March tree, an Easter tree, a Memorial Day tree, etc. It really brightens up the room in any (or every!) month of the year.
If you have a pole-dancing pole, why would you ever put it away?
When I was an office dude I totally loved doing that. “Ref my email of 6 weeks ago (attached) , you’ll see that you were informed timely of [whatever]. Failure to read on your part does not constitute error on my part. I trust this is the last I will hear of your shortcomings.”
She meant well, but that was a mean thing to do to you. Hint people: don’t will guilt-bombs to your heirs. Instead will them something love-filled and wonderful.
So she wants to defraud some retailers by returning used clothing? Seems a poor way to remember her mother. You’ll be happier to not participate in that waste of time and ethics.
You’re 4 for 4 on the day . Yaay!!
Yaay for better versions of work dreams!
I never had the “go to work in my undies” nightmare (good thing considering my undies), but the “lost in the endless labyrinth on the way to clock in and I’m late” was a perennial favorite. Not much in the last 5 years though; I think I finally exorcised that particular demon. And well before retirement even. Yaay me!
More 3M Command hooks?
You’ll love playing in public even if you suck at it.
Yaay! Wish I could join you.
Last year we attended Daughter’s foster organization’s Christmas pageant with about 70 pound puppy kids grouped by age from 2-ish to teen-ish doing Christmas songs, pantomimes, dances etc. It was simultaneously atrociously bad and utterly adorable. The kids had a great time and so did the audience.
I hope there’s a typo in there somewhere. Nevertheless, here’s hoping we/they can ameliorate whatever is bugging CtE now.
ISTM sanity is not actually helpful in your situation. What you need is the correct amount of happy-crazy. Emphasis on the “happy”.
Darn!
I’m not those people, but I am those kind of people. I’ll get to work thinking about this adoption thing. It has … possibilities
OTOH, TVs are on sale now!
There is no such thing as too much honey.
You are totally my hero! That is the way to think about all chores.
Go look at the menu and drool. I’m on their alert list and managed to score a bottle of Fairy Duster honey once. Next time Imma bringing my cane so I can get more!
I’m cooking milk and stirring every five minutes. So far I’ve got it up to 87F, I’ll probably be done in 45 minutes or so.
That’s a darn good result. I have no doubt you’ll knock it down quickly. I have a theory that weight (and fat) comes in two kinds: short-term and long-term. Or equivalently, temporary and mostly permanent.
If you got it quickly, you can lose it quickly, given reasonable effort. But if you don’t, it’ll “harden” into long-term fat which is far more resistant to removal.
Progress is a funny thing. Sometimes it’s obvious. Other times it’s internal, with no externally visible changes. Until suddenly there are some. I bet you’re making progress of the second kind. As long as that doesn’t lead to a close encounter with the third kind you’ll be fine.
I’d always heard “shrinkflation” but I like your version better. Maybe “screw-the-customer-flation” is next.
As to me ...
Golf was good, and a bit less frustrating than last time. Got the car washed on the way home, came home, resheveled, and off to the eye doc. Picked up the mixed-distance lenses and they work great. I feel 30yo again. At least as to vision; I still want my nap. Anyhow, next stop was CVS & hardware store for some tidbits then home again. Of course the hardware project turned into 1 step forward, then two steps back. More hardware store trips are now in order. Dang!
Went out for Monday happy hour at an “American bistro” a couple miles away. Had fine martinis and on Monday they have a discounted large-ish prime rib special with salad, potato, and veg. Yaay us! Driving in the dark with weird modified vision and martinis on board proved no problem, so I’m pretty happy these lenses are gonna work.
Once home a fine rum + eggnog was had; dessert of some sort is next, then bed. Have doctoring in the morning & dance lesson in the afternoon. Not sure when a nap will fit, but it’s feeling pretty important just now.
I have a small table top tree to put up, but I just remembered something awful. Last year the cat jumped up and knocked it over, breaking half of the glass ornaments. They were all dachshunds of various designs. I need to order some more really quickly.
I’d heard of it previously, but definitely appreciated the reminder. Unfortunately, neither of the local shows works for me this year.
Break a leg on Thursday! 
