Good Grief!

 It's 11 p.m. and I just realized something

    I hadve not done my little writing for the day.

    I did get busy.  We put up the rest of the ornaments and finished placing trees and people in the Dicken's Village.  I have a video of he village, but I have to edit it.  That could take me a while because I can never remember how to do that.

    I also took Corki down for a grooming.....she is a different looking dog when she gets her hair cut!  

    The closet guys were here and the plumber put our sink back together since all the parts finally arrived.

    I brought up the last three tubs of Christmas and we only have one tub to put out.  This one has the manger, which could be hard to place this year.

    I put together my German pyramid....that doesn't look right. pryamid?  Nope, not right either.  What the hell.......  but did not light the candles.  Honestly, that is my favorite Christmas decoration.  I love watching all thefigures move around.  It puts me in my happy space.

    Maybe I'll do a video of that also.

    Looking forward to a couple of 50 degree days.  I have one little project to do in the garage and I would like it to be warm enought that I don't freeze.

Peace and Love

It takes a village

We put up Jackie's Dicken's village tonight 

    Friend Sheri came over and did most of the work.  She was able to get on the floor, see the plug hook ups, and not drop a bunch of stuff.

    Jackie suprvised and I did as much as I could.  That included testing lights.  I plugged in one and it gave a lout pop and the bulb turned black.  Thinking the bulb was bad, I tried another one and again got the pop.  So the cord is done.  So is another cord that also popped a bulb.  

    I can't figure out how that happens.  One year they are fine, the next year they are shorting out.  Go figure.

    Anytway, all that is left are the trees.  

    Meanwhile the real house is a mess!  Boxes all over, pine needles all over, Corki's hair on every surface......I really have to think about cleaning this week.

    Corki gets groomed tomorrow, so that should help.

    After working on the village we enjoyed pizza and some very good red wine. 

    One more day of putting out decorations and we should be done.  I am happy Christmas only comes once a year!

Peace and Love

Oh Tannenbaum

We put up the tree this weekend 

    I hung the lights and most of the ornaments today.  The old fir looks pretty good!

    I always get a little sentimental when I do the tree.

    When I was a kid, my parents lived in a third floor apartment in my grandma's building.

    There were 5 of us....mom, dad and the three boys.  It was a one bedroom apartment.

    The boys slept in the bedroom while the folks had a Murphy bed in the front room.  

    For those of you who don't know, a Murphy bed is a fold down bed.  It is built into the wall and in our case there were doors in front of the opening.  Open the doors, pull down the bed, go to sleep.

    The Christmas tree was also in the front room.  the apartment had a rounded part in the front room, which we called the living room, and the tree fit nicely in that space.

    There were a variety of tree lots in the neighborhood, but we always went to one on Ashland Avenue, if my memory is correct.  We'd buy the tree, usually a balsam, carry it home, trim off the base, and put it up.

    One year the tree decided to come down.  In the middle of the night.  On the bed.

    No one was hurt, but it was a mess. And there was a lot of yelling.

    The next day my dad drove some hooks into the walls and wired the tree up.  That became a standard practice.

    When I was talking to friend John today he mentioned his older brother cutting off bottom branches and using a coat hanger to wire them into place in bare spots.  My dad would cut off the bottom branches and drill holes in the trunk, sticking the pruned branches into the holes to fill the tree out better.

    Then there are the ornaments.  We have one or two made by Julia and 5 or 6 made by Emily.  I don't know why we have more of Emily's......I guess after so many years they get damaged and tossed.

    I trreasure the ones with pictures of the girls.  I hope teachers sill have kids make ornaments so that when the parents get old, like me, they have positive memories when putting up a tree.

    Theree are also ornaments from Bob and Anita.  They would get us ornaments with our names and usually the year.  It's funny to see them hanging and watch the progression of names from Julia, Emily, Jackie and Terry to Emily, Jackie and Terry to Jackie and Terry as the kids moved out.

    We have a lot of European ornaments on the tree.  German Cezch, italian, French, Irish, Swiss....it's as if we know someone in Europe.

    Glass ornaments, wax, wooden, plastic, metal......all kinds of materials.

    And all kinds of memories.

Peace and Love and Happy First Sunday in Advent

 

that's different

 I got our tree today

    John took me to a lot owned by a mutual friend's friend and we bought it there.

    Usually we get a tree that scrapes the ceiling and fills up half the room.  This tree does not.

    It is on the smaller side, a little thin, but it has a great smell.  Jackie does not appreciate the simplicity of the tree.  

    I don't think all our ornaments will fit.  We have a lot of ornaments.  We may have to cut down on some favorites this year.

    And John and I had a chance to visit with Odie.  He is always a blast to talk to and hang with.

    The Tribune had a story today on trees and the shortage.  It seems consumer tastes have changed.  Scotch and white pines were once very popular but in the past few years consumer tastes have changed to Douglas, Frasier and other shorter needle tir trees.

    Since it takes 8 years for a seedling to become a cutable tree, there are some supply issues.

    And Northern Illinois had a drought this year.  One tree grower said in a typical year a fir will grow one foot taller, but this year there was only a couple of inches of new growth.

    What I should have done 9 years ago was plant some Fraiser firs in the back yard.  Then I would only have to walk out my door, pick out a tree, and cut it. 

    Since it takes 8 years to cutable height, I guess doing that now is a crapshoot on whether I would ever "harvest" one.

    I always say I am going to buy an artificial tree.  But there is something about going out to the tree farm and cutting one down.  Call it nostalgia, or sentimentality, or tradition.....I just like it.  So many memories come back; "my babies" shivering with cold or excitement as we hunted for that perfect tree.

    We have never found it.

Peace and Love

working out

I got quite a stair stepper work out today 

    I started bringing up Christmas from the basement.

    If you don't know, we have at least 489 plastic tubs with Christmas stuff packed away.

    Ornaments,  Lights. Candles. Figurines. Dishes.  Glasses.  More ornaments.  Stuffed animals.  Mangers.  Tree stand.  Ok, that one is not in a box.  Neither are the rugs that go under the tree in case it leaks.

    I did as much as I could then I had to take a break.  My knees were starting to ache, as was my back, and my hands, and my feet, and my toes, and my ears.  The only thing that did not hurt was my prostate because that was removed one year ago.

    It usually takes a few days to unpack the holiday.  I have a tendency to want to put stuff anywhere, but Jackie is very specific on where things go.  So I do what she says.

    Tomorrow John and I are going tree hunting.  I am looking for a 200 or 300 pointer that I can kill and mount in the living room.

    While I am gone, Emily and Jackie were given one (1) job to do:  weed out the bags!  I figure 3 piles:  1 to save, 1 to toss, 1 to pass on to someone who can use them.

    We have 2 tubs of bags!  Every year we put bags in, but never take them out.  Cloth bags, paper bags, bags with handles, bags for wine, bags for big gifts, bags for small gifts.  You get the idea.  Bags.

    Hopefully I will only end up with half a tub.  Hopefully.

    Well, I am bagging it for tonight!

Peace and Love

like a turkey

I am stuffed 

    Everything was super delicious this year.  I don't know if it was the food, or the fact we had people sharing supper with us for the first time in what seems like centuries.

    And it wasn't just us.  

    The neighbors had a touch football game going on in the back yard, something they have not done for a couple of years.

    Families gathered with friends all over the place and it just felt darn good.

    I hope you and your family and friends had a great day too.

    My gosh, the Bears even won!  

    Let's just hope there isn't a huge spike.......it would be nice to be able to gather again on Christmas.

Peace and Love

lights out

 I tend to get frustrated very quickly

    You people don't notice it, but Jackie does.

    I had two frustrating experiences.....which now seem minor in comparison to the problems people have.

    I brought the outside Christmas lights up and started hanging them.  I took each set and tested it.  Then I put them on the bushes.  Two sets did not completly light.  They lit last year, otherwise I would not have put them away.  So how do they go bad when they are not even used?

    So I went to the store for more lights.  WM did not have any, but our local Ace had a great sale...buy one strand of 100, get one free.  So I bought one.

    I hung the lights and they all lit up  the first time, the second time....on strand had half its lights out!  How does that happen?

    I know there are little fuses that I can replace, but in the past that has never been succesful for me either.

    I hang garland on the porch railings.  This crap cost $40 per strand new and over the years the lights obn 5 of the seven died.  I pulled the old lights off last year and wrapped them with new lights.

    This year, another strand died.  So I went back to the store for more lights.

    Tonight we  tried to order something on line.  I went to check out....and the little wheel started spinning.  And spinning.  And spinning.  I exited, ordered again, same result.  

    After the third time I called and talked to a wonderful lady who called me Terry every time she addressed me and said thank you every time I answered a question.  I assume she was not from the states.

    She went to process my credit card and ....... she had trouble because the system was busy.

    It must have been a good sale.

    After a few minutes, she apologized and said it was now working, so my order was placed.

    So here I am, past  11 and I am having a strong hot toddy.  I hope it relaxes me and puts me in the mood to sleep.....but I doubt it.

    Have a happy Thanksgiving.  Don't eat too much.  Don't be a turkey and get stuffed!!

Peace and Love