Are those sleigh bells I hear, or is it the sound of denial?
I jinxed myself on Monday. I said "everything [was] looking pretty manageable," with FH's help.
Well, the Universe must have read that and sent me a big mwa-ha-ha. Now, on top of wrapping, revising, and preparing to leave, before Saturday I have:
• two sets of unexpected house guests, on two different days
• a guest bedroom that looks like Evil Santa's workshop
• extra laundry to do to turn over said room
• a husband with tendonitis in his right arm from shoveling during the last two blizzards and playing the drums the other night--and said arm looks suspiciously claw-like and non-functioning.
• lunch to prepare for one set of house guests
• a house that looks like a bomb went off in the living room
• to come to terms that I will be bringing my revisions to Hawaii with me
• a head cold that does not allow me to sleep, breathe, or taste anything I eat. I can, however, blow my nose until my nostrils shred to bits.
So what is to be done? Simple. Follow
newport2newport's instructions and decorate my LJ with my favorite traditions of the season, while ignoring the collapse going on around me. Since newport herself is in the midst of a Four-Alarm Seasonal Construction Debacle, I can only count myself lucky that my plumbing is working (for now) and my walls don't have holes in them (unless I bash them in in a frusration frenzy). Today's lj will be a safe haven of seasonal joy.
My Favorite Christmas Tradition
Every year since I was born, I've received a Wallace Silversmith Sleigh Bell for Christmas. At first, my grandparents began the tradition. When they tired of it, my mom picked it up. The square box was always wrapped under the tree, and every year I forgot what was in it. The bells are silver plated, and chime when gently swung.
As a kid, the bells always interested me, but were quickly set aside in favor of toys and books from Santa. My sister also received them, and so Mom kept a growing collection of them for us. The year I was thirteen, Mom threaded them on a maroon velvet ribbon and decorated our banister with them. Seeing them hung all together, shining in the hall, ringing every time we went upstairs, made me appreciate them. Every year after that, I sought out that square box under the tree.
When FH and I bought our house, my parents delivered a copy-paper box filled with my silver ornaments. Without a banister, and too heavy for a tree, I tried decorating with them in various spots. No place looked right. I decided to put the 2003 bell, from the year we were married, into a bowl of ornaments as a centerpiece on our table. The rest stayed tucked away, waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring them out together.
This year, for the first time, we have an artificial tree in our living room. Since we'll be out of town, and FH wanted a tree, he decided that a fake one would be good for this year, and we can put it on our enclosed porch as a second tree next year. Its sturdy branches support the sleigh bells perfectly, and add a little class to the $50 CVS special:
Now that I have two godchildren, the Princess and the Burrito, I buy them a bell each year. With my burrito-nephew, I instituted a new element of tradition to the sleigh bell--when we open it, we read The Polar Express together. This year he'll be a squirmy one-year-old, but in years to come he'll settle in, listen to the story, hold his bell, and maybe it will help him believe a little longer.
Well, the Universe must have read that and sent me a big mwa-ha-ha. Now, on top of wrapping, revising, and preparing to leave, before Saturday I have:
• two sets of unexpected house guests, on two different days
• a guest bedroom that looks like Evil Santa's workshop
• extra laundry to do to turn over said room
• a husband with tendonitis in his right arm from shoveling during the last two blizzards and playing the drums the other night--and said arm looks suspiciously claw-like and non-functioning.
• lunch to prepare for one set of house guests
• a house that looks like a bomb went off in the living room
• to come to terms that I will be bringing my revisions to Hawaii with me
• a head cold that does not allow me to sleep, breathe, or taste anything I eat. I can, however, blow my nose until my nostrils shred to bits.
So what is to be done? Simple. Follow
newport2newport's instructions and decorate my LJ with my favorite traditions of the season, while ignoring the collapse going on around me. Since newport herself is in the midst of a Four-Alarm Seasonal Construction Debacle, I can only count myself lucky that my plumbing is working (for now) and my walls don't have holes in them (unless I bash them in in a frusration frenzy). Today's lj will be a safe haven of seasonal joy.
My Favorite Christmas Tradition
Every year since I was born, I've received a Wallace Silversmith Sleigh Bell for Christmas. At first, my grandparents began the tradition. When they tired of it, my mom picked it up. The square box was always wrapped under the tree, and every year I forgot what was in it. The bells are silver plated, and chime when gently swung.
As a kid, the bells always interested me, but were quickly set aside in favor of toys and books from Santa. My sister also received them, and so Mom kept a growing collection of them for us. The year I was thirteen, Mom threaded them on a maroon velvet ribbon and decorated our banister with them. Seeing them hung all together, shining in the hall, ringing every time we went upstairs, made me appreciate them. Every year after that, I sought out that square box under the tree.
When FH and I bought our house, my parents delivered a copy-paper box filled with my silver ornaments. Without a banister, and too heavy for a tree, I tried decorating with them in various spots. No place looked right. I decided to put the 2003 bell, from the year we were married, into a bowl of ornaments as a centerpiece on our table. The rest stayed tucked away, waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring them out together.
This year, for the first time, we have an artificial tree in our living room. Since we'll be out of town, and FH wanted a tree, he decided that a fake one would be good for this year, and we can put it on our enclosed porch as a second tree next year. Its sturdy branches support the sleigh bells perfectly, and add a little class to the $50 CVS special:
Now that I have two godchildren, the Princess and the Burrito, I buy them a bell each year. With my burrito-nephew, I instituted a new element of tradition to the sleigh bell--when we open it, we read The Polar Express together. This year he'll be a squirmy one-year-old, but in years to come he'll settle in, listen to the story, hold his bell, and maybe it will help him believe a little longer.