Saturday = picture post

Holiday Scheduling

Know what's hard? 
Trying to figure out how to split the holidays between families....and neither of us come from divorced ones either.  

That is enough for now.

Christmas Dreams, Dashed

A nice day with the family was had, turkey was consumed, great conversation and comfortable laughs with my kickass family (with a few absent.) 

It was a terribly early dinner (I'll call it "Thanksgiving Lunch,")  though, so by the time I got home....I had a lot of time to pull out the Christmas tree and (finally) put it up.  Truthfully, I've been leading-up to this for the last week at least....teasing Steph the whole time.


Well, long story short, my Christmas decorating dreams have been dashed. 

I was all set. I pulled out the iPod, turned on James Taylor's Christmas album, started opening the box and pulling out the tree.  There were a few "what is this part" questions, but on the whole this tree is just like the trees I've had in the past (it was an LED upgrade this year, though) so I knew the landscape. 

I set up the stand...put in the bottom part....and the stick didn't fit in the hole.  I tried it every which way, even with a hammer.  I begged, searched for some piece I'd maybe looked over....nothing.  Hell, I even broke out a hammer and pliers.  It didn't fit.

I knew when I was cussing out James Taylor, giving him a filthy piece of my mind and telling him to "Shove it and THEN go tell THAT on the mountain, JIMMY...."....that it was time I took a break.  By break I mean put it back in the box and walk away.  By break I mean prepare to return it for another tree.

By break....I mean break my heart.

So I was bummed out and opted to not put the ornaments up in the TV....or hang the effing lights up on the front porch.  That'll have to wait until tomorrow....or maybe Saturday when I can get the Christmas tree I was meant to have today.

I was looking forward to having tea and reading by the light of my tree (and my nook) tonight.

Instead I'm in my jammies in the sewing room, having distanced myself completely from the front room and the disappointment.  Sophie and I are watching the National Dog Show on DVR. 

Saturday - Saturday is MY DAY.

A look into my future...but not my present.  Could I be any more dramatic??

On Cleanliness

I thought way too much about cleanliness today.  Not just the "I need to vacuum around the litter box" kind of cleaning, but the ways and types of cleaning that I seem to be especially particular about.  

I cannot, for the life of me, keep my glasses clean.  I don't think I touch them a lot, but I guess I do put them on top of my head a bit...and okay I probably *do* end up poking my eyes a bit, forgetting that they're there.  But crap if I can't keep them clean.

I like to clean things, but abhor cleaning the bathroom.  I don't like loose hair.  It makes me gag.  (It still happens, I'm just especially nice to Steph when she does it, to encourage repeat performances.)

When Steph and I were talking about moving in together, my only request was that I have one room to sew in....a room that I didn't have to clean up, that I could spread fabrics around, have scraps on the floor and not feel bad about it.  While my sewing room doubles as a second TV room, it's an appropriately messy space.

At work I pride myself on having a really tight organization system, but the cleanliness of my desk oftentimes gets away from me.  I wasn't ever an organized person until this job - I was a piler (because piles at least looked more organized than a bunch of papers laying around all willy nilly) but now I have it down.  On the rare occasion that we get a quiet moment in the office, my first priority is to clean off my desk.  This is to say that it gets really clean just once a quarter (usually the day before a long holiday.)


I do, however, still need to vacuum around the litter box.

Busy Day

Some days, the only quiet time you can catch....is in the bathroom. 

Upside Down

For the first time in as many years as I can remember...I'm upside down about Christmas.   Usually I'm happy to wait until after Thanksgiving, sometimes even well into December.  This year, though, I want to put it up early.    I had the bug this weekend, and was this [  ] close to pulling it out and putting it up for Steph to see when she got home.  (She wouldn't have been as excited as I would have been, I can guarantee you this.) 

And while I want to deck the halls...I cannot for the LIFE of me figure out what I'm going to do for a Christmas Card this year.  Usually I have a good idea of how I'm going to set this up, if I haven't already taken the picture and sent it to the printers.  This year? I have no idea.

Part of me wants to re-create my favorite card from 2007 with some minor changes....it was a huge favorite.  It'll come to me, I'm sure. 

...In the mean time, I think I'll just threaten Steph about putting up a tree-a-day until Thanksgiving. 

Step By Step

Rub Nipple, Get Bacon


Since I usually do a photo on Saturday, but actually wrote something out then, today you get a photo.  It's not just any photo, this is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.  Dependent upon how you know me you may interpret that statement to mean that I:  
- really love bacon
- really love nipples
- don't take many photos
- or have the maturity level of a 12 year old.