November is waning.
Hard to believe it's almost December. I have made the first tentative steps into the Holiday Season, having put up (new) lights and purchased a few gifts. But there's oh so much more to do. First, let's take a moment to look backward at what has already passed us by.
Friday night, I did my level best to decorate, but once I had the lights stapled up over the sliding glass door, the fuses promptly burned out when I plugged the strands in. Oops. These are old lights that I've had for years, though, and I think I probably stapled through the actual wire a few too many times than they could take. So, put the lights on hold for a day. I did take a moment to finally fix/reassemble the handle to the sliding glass door. I'd thought the wooden handle was shot, but it wasn't. Whew! So now getting out onto the balcony is a snap!
I went to bed pretty early, the better to get up at 8:30 for a daytrip to Deep Creek Lake with msteleute. Although unfortunately, she woke up not feeling well and had to cancel! And I totally managed to miss the message. Oh, doh!! Well, as a groggy necrocannibal explained, I determined I'd still make the trip. A roadtrip by myself! It would be a nice chance to get away! As I was driving away, I realized I'd forgotten (a) my camera, and now that I was traveling solo I should also grab (b) my iPod and (c) a book to read in restaurants. It absolutely doesn't bother me to eat alone as long as I have reading material. Otherwise I feel like I'm just staring off into space like a madperson. So I took a little detour back to the apartment, but I was still on the road by about 10:45 a.m.
I had two main agendas for the trip, the second of which I could have dispensed with if I had friends along and they deemed it boring. I wanted to get some Mountain Oak candles - the most delightful-smelling soy candles EVER - for my family and friends as Christmas gifts. And I wanted to take a look at four vacation rental properties at Deep Creek Lake that my family's trying to choose among for next summer's weeklong trip up there. Other than that, I thought I might walk around, see a few sights, that sort of thing.
The trip up was a delight. I stopped to "rest" at Sideling Hill, which is cool to look at and BOY does it cut down the length of the drive up there. I remember taking windy roads over that mountain back in the day, now you just drive straight through. I took a few pictures - the day was incontrovertably gorgeous, temperatures around 60 and all sun and glorious blue skies. (Pictures will be available probably tomorrow - didn't leave myself time to upload this weekend.) I pressed the rest of the way, then took my bearings when I got to the lake. I had four little sets of directions all printed out, and I went to look at all four rental houses, one by one. They're all quite nice, of course, but each has quirks and differences. I know which one I'd pick; it just remains to present the evidence and see what the rest of the family thinks!
Once that was done (and it took about an hour, the four houses being quite scattered about the lake), I went to Trader's Coffee Shop, home of the candles I wanted. Or it was. Yes, they no longer carried them. Argh! However, they still sold a lot of other neat stuff, so I wasn't entirely disappointed. Plus I was pretty blissed out just by being up there. I had an "Autumn Delight" latte and a pumpkin muffin and settled into a comfy leather chair with my book. Passed another blissed hour there sipping and reading and then, yes, shopping. Finally I figured that if I left now (about 3:30ish) I could get 2/3 of the way home before it was completely dark. Also, a walk in the woods was out - it was deer season. In fact that link shows me it was the first day of firearms season. No WONDER there were so many out there! Anyway, I hadn't worn bright orange so serious outdoor activity was right out. I packed up and headed out, stopping to get a little bit of gas (I didn't fill up, gas is cheaper down here than up there!). I made excellent time. I hit Cumberland, and the first Roy Rogers, at about 4:15. It was too early for dinner. I was determined to eat at Roy's - it's tradition! I figured I could make the one in Hagerstown in an hour or so. And I did...barely. The traffic on 70 was truly overwhelming. I thought everyone came home from Thanksgiving trips on Sunday, dangit! But no. A lot of people came home Saturday evening. Yike. It added an hour to my trip, but once I passed the exit for 270 in Frederick, it was smooth sailing.
On my way down 29, I astutely remembered that I was going to be going right by the Target in Ellicott City. I took that turn and went in for new Christmas lights and some cat food. It was not horribly crowded as I had feared! I got my stuff and got out quite quickly. All in all, I was home by a little after 8 p.m. A lovely, if long, day!
I got in touch with NC and MsT, who had just been plotting with snidegrrl and bizarrojack, so all of us headed out to the Bennigan's. Some of us had dinner, some dessert, but we all had a fine time! We sat there for quite a while, finally bailed at about 11. MsT and NC dropped me off and I determined it was too late to take down the bum lights and put up the new ones. I lazed around, unable to decide on a TV channel, and eventually gave up and went to bed. Got a good ten hours, which was great! Woke up horribly, violently dizzy, which wasn't. I have no idea what caused that. There have been no recurrences of same. Tonight I will have to peroxide my ears real good, to ensure my inner ear isn't being trifled with.
Sunday morning was another lovely one, and I got up and headed out to church and for groceries. I even managed to remember that my Mom had asked me to pick up some Advent calendars for my nephews. The Fair Trade chocolate people were selling them after Masses yesterday. Mom had been unable to find chocolate Advent calendars for them earlier. I got the calendars, then went to the grocery store for the more mundane groceries, then home. I put away the groceries, took down the defunct Christmas lights, put up the new working ones, and vacuumed up all the old staples. I then had all of a half-hour or so to relax before heading out to the folks. It was time for the semiannual visit to the graveyard where my mother's parents and brother are buried. We tidied up there and put in fake poinsettias, to replace the fake spring flowers we'd put in in May. Apparently fake flowers are all the rage at cemetaries these days, they do stay looking nice much longer than real flowers. I never know what to do, graveside. My tendency is to joke, which is okay because I get it from the rest of my family so it's not like they glowered at me for interrupting their reverie, but it's still weird. Whatever happens after we die, I'm firmly convinced it's got nuthin' to do with the rotting flesh we leave behind. So the whole grave thing is just odd to me. It's only since my grandmother's passing in 2003 that we've become regular grave-visitors. It's something I'm definitely still trying to figure out. On the whole, to remember my grandmother, I'd rather look at pictures and talk about the good times. Fake poinsettias in a brass holder...isn't it.
We took a roundabout way home after paying our respects, to avoid a bad accident we'd seen on the way in. At home, we had...leftover turkey! Yes, I know. But for us, see, this is unusual. My family's been making food for So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E.) monthly for years. They always always make a turkey casserole thing after Thanksgiving, meaning we never have leftovers. But this year the bird was so big (24 lb!) that we had a bit leftover even after the casserole. Sweet! After that, I packed up my clean laundry and headed homeward, with a stop in Laurel for cheap gas. Called NC and MsT and wound up going over there. Together with bribro, we watched Delicatessen, which, uh. Clearly the French are too smart for me because this movie made little to no sense. And it felt four hours long. Call me uncultured but... bleah!
At last I packed up and got home, where I found room in the freezer for my holiday ham (a company gift every Thanksgiving; I have it delivered to my folks' because it's just easier) and dumped off my clean laundry TBF (to be folded) later. I had to get to bed, it was almost 11! Yike, like five hours' sleep last night. I'm going to crash hard tonight, after Heroes. First, there's the rest of Monday to get through, but so far, so good!
Friday night, I did my level best to decorate, but once I had the lights stapled up over the sliding glass door, the fuses promptly burned out when I plugged the strands in. Oops. These are old lights that I've had for years, though, and I think I probably stapled through the actual wire a few too many times than they could take. So, put the lights on hold for a day. I did take a moment to finally fix/reassemble the handle to the sliding glass door. I'd thought the wooden handle was shot, but it wasn't. Whew! So now getting out onto the balcony is a snap!
I went to bed pretty early, the better to get up at 8:30 for a daytrip to Deep Creek Lake with msteleute. Although unfortunately, she woke up not feeling well and had to cancel! And I totally managed to miss the message. Oh, doh!! Well, as a groggy necrocannibal explained, I determined I'd still make the trip. A roadtrip by myself! It would be a nice chance to get away! As I was driving away, I realized I'd forgotten (a) my camera, and now that I was traveling solo I should also grab (b) my iPod and (c) a book to read in restaurants. It absolutely doesn't bother me to eat alone as long as I have reading material. Otherwise I feel like I'm just staring off into space like a madperson. So I took a little detour back to the apartment, but I was still on the road by about 10:45 a.m.
I had two main agendas for the trip, the second of which I could have dispensed with if I had friends along and they deemed it boring. I wanted to get some Mountain Oak candles - the most delightful-smelling soy candles EVER - for my family and friends as Christmas gifts. And I wanted to take a look at four vacation rental properties at Deep Creek Lake that my family's trying to choose among for next summer's weeklong trip up there. Other than that, I thought I might walk around, see a few sights, that sort of thing.
The trip up was a delight. I stopped to "rest" at Sideling Hill, which is cool to look at and BOY does it cut down the length of the drive up there. I remember taking windy roads over that mountain back in the day, now you just drive straight through. I took a few pictures - the day was incontrovertably gorgeous, temperatures around 60 and all sun and glorious blue skies. (Pictures will be available probably tomorrow - didn't leave myself time to upload this weekend.) I pressed the rest of the way, then took my bearings when I got to the lake. I had four little sets of directions all printed out, and I went to look at all four rental houses, one by one. They're all quite nice, of course, but each has quirks and differences. I know which one I'd pick; it just remains to present the evidence and see what the rest of the family thinks!
Once that was done (and it took about an hour, the four houses being quite scattered about the lake), I went to Trader's Coffee Shop, home of the candles I wanted. Or it was. Yes, they no longer carried them. Argh! However, they still sold a lot of other neat stuff, so I wasn't entirely disappointed. Plus I was pretty blissed out just by being up there. I had an "Autumn Delight" latte and a pumpkin muffin and settled into a comfy leather chair with my book. Passed another blissed hour there sipping and reading and then, yes, shopping. Finally I figured that if I left now (about 3:30ish) I could get 2/3 of the way home before it was completely dark. Also, a walk in the woods was out - it was deer season. In fact that link shows me it was the first day of firearms season. No WONDER there were so many out there! Anyway, I hadn't worn bright orange so serious outdoor activity was right out. I packed up and headed out, stopping to get a little bit of gas (I didn't fill up, gas is cheaper down here than up there!). I made excellent time. I hit Cumberland, and the first Roy Rogers, at about 4:15. It was too early for dinner. I was determined to eat at Roy's - it's tradition! I figured I could make the one in Hagerstown in an hour or so. And I did...barely. The traffic on 70 was truly overwhelming. I thought everyone came home from Thanksgiving trips on Sunday, dangit! But no. A lot of people came home Saturday evening. Yike. It added an hour to my trip, but once I passed the exit for 270 in Frederick, it was smooth sailing.
On my way down 29, I astutely remembered that I was going to be going right by the Target in Ellicott City. I took that turn and went in for new Christmas lights and some cat food. It was not horribly crowded as I had feared! I got my stuff and got out quite quickly. All in all, I was home by a little after 8 p.m. A lovely, if long, day!
I got in touch with NC and MsT, who had just been plotting with snidegrrl and bizarrojack, so all of us headed out to the Bennigan's. Some of us had dinner, some dessert, but we all had a fine time! We sat there for quite a while, finally bailed at about 11. MsT and NC dropped me off and I determined it was too late to take down the bum lights and put up the new ones. I lazed around, unable to decide on a TV channel, and eventually gave up and went to bed. Got a good ten hours, which was great! Woke up horribly, violently dizzy, which wasn't. I have no idea what caused that. There have been no recurrences of same. Tonight I will have to peroxide my ears real good, to ensure my inner ear isn't being trifled with.
Sunday morning was another lovely one, and I got up and headed out to church and for groceries. I even managed to remember that my Mom had asked me to pick up some Advent calendars for my nephews. The Fair Trade chocolate people were selling them after Masses yesterday. Mom had been unable to find chocolate Advent calendars for them earlier. I got the calendars, then went to the grocery store for the more mundane groceries, then home. I put away the groceries, took down the defunct Christmas lights, put up the new working ones, and vacuumed up all the old staples. I then had all of a half-hour or so to relax before heading out to the folks. It was time for the semiannual visit to the graveyard where my mother's parents and brother are buried. We tidied up there and put in fake poinsettias, to replace the fake spring flowers we'd put in in May. Apparently fake flowers are all the rage at cemetaries these days, they do stay looking nice much longer than real flowers. I never know what to do, graveside. My tendency is to joke, which is okay because I get it from the rest of my family so it's not like they glowered at me for interrupting their reverie, but it's still weird. Whatever happens after we die, I'm firmly convinced it's got nuthin' to do with the rotting flesh we leave behind. So the whole grave thing is just odd to me. It's only since my grandmother's passing in 2003 that we've become regular grave-visitors. It's something I'm definitely still trying to figure out. On the whole, to remember my grandmother, I'd rather look at pictures and talk about the good times. Fake poinsettias in a brass holder...isn't it.
We took a roundabout way home after paying our respects, to avoid a bad accident we'd seen on the way in. At home, we had...leftover turkey! Yes, I know. But for us, see, this is unusual. My family's been making food for So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E.) monthly for years. They always always make a turkey casserole thing after Thanksgiving, meaning we never have leftovers. But this year the bird was so big (24 lb!) that we had a bit leftover even after the casserole. Sweet! After that, I packed up my clean laundry and headed homeward, with a stop in Laurel for cheap gas. Called NC and MsT and wound up going over there. Together with bribro, we watched Delicatessen, which, uh. Clearly the French are too smart for me because this movie made little to no sense. And it felt four hours long. Call me uncultured but... bleah!
At last I packed up and got home, where I found room in the freezer for my holiday ham (a company gift every Thanksgiving; I have it delivered to my folks' because it's just easier) and dumped off my clean laundry TBF (to be folded) later. I had to get to bed, it was almost 11! Yike, like five hours' sleep last night. I'm going to crash hard tonight, after Heroes. First, there's the rest of Monday to get through, but so far, so good!