While I was digging through plastic bins of Chirstmas things I came to the conclusion that I needed a new tree skirt.

The one I had was made by my mother. And while it’s nice and I enjoy it, I also have to contend with two cats who use it (and being under the tree itself) as a location for battle. Claudia loves to sit under the christmas tree. She chills out there. So the skirt is usually covered in dark gray hair.

Because Claudia likes it sit there, Calvin wants to sit there too and he adds his light buff colored hair to the mix. He also enjoys throwing up hair balls on the tree skirt. Why do cats do that? Why can’t they do these things on a surface that’s easier to clean? The problem is that to wash the tree skirt, I have to remove the wire edged ribbon and then sew it back on. Because I am lazy, this is a hassle.

The one I bought wasn’t exactly what I wanted.. but it wasn’t that expensive (some that I was looking at were 46 dollars and up! I refuse to pay that much for a round piece of fabric to wrap around a fake tree for a week or two each year). I searched high and low on the internets (I even checked The Google) and I ended up getting one from TJMaxx.

I feel confident that this one will be easier to wash. My only concern now is how long it is before the next turf war or hairball.

Sunday I had a very productive day. Overly productive you might say. I got up and moving around 9am. When Jason left for the airport, I did six loads of laundry,  cooked a pork tenderloin, cleaned the dining room and the living room, took the trash out and decorated for Christmas. All by 3pm. I was impressed.

You see I had some very important company coming over and first impressions are lasting. I got to meet my new niece Sophia. She was ever so well behaved and absolutely adorable. We had a lovely visit.

Later Chris and I went out for dinner and ended up going to the club to take in some dancing. Which I took in lots of. It’s so exhilarating and I don’t do it nearly enough.

Which is evident by how sore I still am two days later. But it was so worth it.

Today is Friday the 13th which is traditionally known as Friday the 13th. Apparently today all sorts of unlucky things are supposed to happen. Don’t believe me? Go watch the movies they made about it.

I personally think that I got all of my unlucky 13ness out of the way on Monday. There were missed rides, unanswered calls, broken servers, shattered dreams, missed buses, dark streets to walk down and trees in trip over in the middle of side walks.

So today I’m going smash a few mirrors, open a couple of umbrellas in doors, walk under some ladders and pet as many black cats that cross my path as humanly possible.

I’m getting to that point in the semester where everything aside from assignments and deadlines become a blur. Or possibly a smudge. I’d love to say that I was as organized about life as I am about moving and Christmas spreadsheets, but clearly it’s not the case. I’m ok with this right now because I don’t have time to worry about what a horrible person it makes me. What I do have time for though, is some listy catching up.

1. I Got Better

After Cedar Point, and the sinus infection/ upper whatever I had, I was finally able to catch up on my sleep and recharge by doing absolutely nothing other than getting up, going to work, coming home and eating dinner and then heading directly to bed. I did not pass go. I did not collect $200. I went to sleep and such sweet, sweet sleep it was. It took me about 4 days to finally feel alive again and then eventually I was able to breath out of both nostrils like a normal human being. It was kind of neat.

2. My Heart Grew Three Sizes For The Wrong Holiday

I was adament that I was not going to hand out candy and if Jason wanted candy to be handed out he would be doing it all by his lonesome. I wanted nothing to do with little kids in costumes or standing at the door or figuring out how much to hand out and buying the good stuff and decorating outside or any of that stuff.

So naturally on Friday night I decided that I wanted to hand out candy, decorate outside and dress up. Jason Some would call it crazy making but I like to think that I keep things entertaining and lively. What will I do next? Even I don’t know!

We had bought some great outdoor decorations at Target on clearance last year when they were trying to make way for Christmas stuff and so we had some great light up fences and a “tree” (which was more like a little bare bush with lights) and a lamppost to decorate the out of doors.

My only dismay with this was that we got about 13 trick-or-treaters. That was it. The year before Jason stood at the door for a good 25 minutes and just handed out candy because we had a line. So we ended up with a huge tub full of candy (because we were going to have lots of kids!! must have candy! lots of it!!) that I keep staring at (because it’s staring at me) and then I sigh and pull out a piece of laffy taffy or a small pack of starbursts and continue on my way. I wish it would just disappear.

3. Oh How We Raked or Why I Don’t Have A Dog (And Yet I Kinda Do)

We had yet to begin our annual weekly raking of the leaves. As in the past, the neighbor’s in all surrounding houses in the county brought their leaves to our house and smoothed them out so it appeared that they all fell naturally so we had an extra deep pile to rake through.

It was nice to be outside though as the day was kind of warm and the raking wasn’t so awfully bad until I stepped in dog shit. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s not feces. It’s definately not something as delicate or as humorous as doodie or poop. It’s plain, old unimaginative shit. And I believe that’s exactly what I proclaimed when my foot slid across the lawn. Not once, but twice.

If I had mean, evil neighbors I would totally be spiteful and hateful and probably have scraped it off on stick and then put it on their windshield so that they’d known that their dog has been to visit but I don’t. I love my neighbors. I couldn’t possibly ask for better ones. They keep to themselves. They say hello when they see us out. They’re not overly loud. They have a wonderful dog and some really awesome cats who come and sit on the deck or leave Jason dead mice as gifts. All in all it’s a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. AND! I can’t even get angry that there was shit to step it. You couldn’t see it. The leaves were that thick.

So I calmly (and this surprised even me) went around to the side of the house and hosed myself off. What else was there to really do? No one wants shit shoes.

4. Faux Thanksgiving

My mother had been wanting to do a Thanksgiving dinner since September. And when I say Thanksgiving Dinner, I mean Thanksgiving Dinner. Turkey, cranberry sauce, yams, the whole nine yards. I ate entirely way too much, and walked off with left overs and pumpkin cheesecake. It was a win

 5.Tis The Season… Whatever That Means

A few weeks ago I was talking to Jason about decorating for Christmas. He’ll be leaving at the beginning of December to go home to Florida and I won’t be joining him until closer to Christmas. I’d be home all alone and would be the only one to really see the decorations so I had decided that I wasn’t going to put up the tree or decorate or anything because when we got home I’d just have to undo it all and why bother?

I think you can see where this is headed.

Something bit me earlier this week and now Christmas is all I can think about. I’ve been making a list, strategizing gift ideas, planning for the cookies that will need to be baked and sent with Jason to Florida and basically just going aboslutely crazy with the thought of decorating. I want to decorate. Oh so much. It’s all I can do to restrain myself doing it before Thanksgiving.

Everytime we go shopping I walk through the aisles that are bespeckled and sparkling with Christmas accoutrements and I bash in their shininess and absorb it like an ex smoker enhaling the second hand nicotine from the smoking section of a restaurant.

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And that brings us up to present. I’ve spared you all the boring parts like doing laundry or dishes or homework and I’ve probably forgotten some delightful adventure I’ve had in between all of that.. but that’s what I get for waiting so long to write about it.