Tag: Holidays

Zero Plans!

I guess that is actually a plan. The pup doesn’t like loud noises. I don’t like driving with drunks.

Honestly, Jerry and I had stopped going places on New Years Eve. 

One party we were invited to, became not a nice party because of one guest who was always drunk and always abusive.

In recent years Jerry & I had started declining the invitation.

Earlier in the year, I got an invitation from this same couple to attend their Summer party. I declined that invitation because I wasn’t up for dealing with that particular guest, and it felt a little too soon after Jerry’s death to be attending a party. Okay maybe that’s silly but the wound was still raw.

I didn’t receive an invitation to their usual New Years Eve celebration. That’s just as well, because I didn’t have to decline. Nor did I have to politely explain why I was declining the invitation. 

I’m looking forward to making dinner, listening to some music, and probably keeping to a mostly normal bed time. Although, I might turn on the HAM Radio and listen to the New Year being rung in old school. I haven’t decided yet.

I hope that this new year will be a much better one than the last couple of years. I’m not holding my breath on the “Much” part, but would happily settle for small improvements. 

Happy New Years Eve.

Have fun, be safe.

Christmas Day was great here.

I did get back to sleep, Jesse let me back into the bed with a minimum of grumbling. An hour or so later, Jesse was laying on his back with his head on my shoulder. What woke me up was that my shoulder and arm were asleep

When I finally got up I started the day with The Jethro Tull Christmas Album playing throughout the house. Apple Music had a pretty nice medley of classic Christmas Tunes so I fired that one up. It’s nice to not have to worry about music.

It was Die Hard day!!!! 

I feel at peace for the first time in a year. Yes, there’s stuff that I need to get done but I’m not freaking out about it and it’s all going to be fine!

I found the infamous Frog Star the day before Christmas Eve. In a strange turn of events I also found my large Tumi briefcase.

Honestly, I thought I’d lost it in the fire. I’m sure that Jerry told me he’d found it, but I was focused on looking forward and not interested in picking through the ruins at the time. It’s also possible I thought he was talking about another briefcase that I hadn’t used in years. Either way, I wasn’t paying attention because there was so much going on at the time I couldn’t be concerned with “Little Stuff”.

The briefcase was in really good shape. It looks like Jerry had wiped it down, and put it in a box, no doubt thinking he’d remind me about it later. Then he and I both moved on to the 10,000 other priorities in front of us, forgetting about a lot of “Little Stuff”.

So there I was, standing in the basement, holding a briefcase that I loved and had forgotten about. I opened another box and right on top of all the ornaments was the Frog Star. 

I brought both items upstairs. The Frog Star was installed on top of the Christmas tree. The Tumi case I took to the counter and really inspected.

It was mostly undamaged. There were some scuffs but nothing bad, I started checking the zippers and as they opened I found receipts from 2007, I found a hardcopy of an email from my (then) new job, and a set of nice wired earbuds. Without thinking too much I got a leather conditioner and started working on the bag. 

When I was finished, the case looked great. There are some character marks but the briefcase is completely usable. It’s like I got a Christmas present from Jerry. 

Oh I’m sure I’d have found the case going through the basement, but the timing and reason I found the case seem intertwined at least circumstantially.

I’ve got a neat, smaller Tumi briefcase that I picked up 3-4 years ago and have been using.

Now, I have another briefcase should I ever un-retire and return to work where I need a larger size. I like the “character” the case has. It reminds me of one of my Stetson hats. That one survived the fire too. I was amazed when I pulled it out of its box. The box was burned and charred but the hat inside was just dirty. I cleaned it up and have been wearing it since. There are a couple of character marks but you have to really look hard to find them.

I appreciate the “survivor” items from the fire. Most of the Christmas ornaments are in that category. I could have set up the largest of the trees we have, then all the ornaments would have been out on display. But this year the smaller tree just felt “Right”.

Next year, I’m thinking I’ll do a big tree. Hopefully I’ll be wherever I’m going to be… Perhaps I’ll host the family get together.

I’ve got to get busy craving out that future.

It’s supposed to be a beautiful sunny day.

I don’t know yet because the sun hasn’t topped the mountain to the east yet. I’m guessing that it will be pretty.

I was planning on sleeping late, but forgot to turn off the alarm. Maybe I’ll go back to bed.

Jesse hasn’t seemed interested in leaving his spot so the bed will still be warm. The question is, can get him to move enough that I can get back under the covers? It may require bribery!

Yes, his head is on my pillow!

I may just get in on the other side of the bed. If I’m quick enough, he won’t have time to move where I’m trying to lay down.

Oh, did I not mention it? He likes to play “King of the bed”. He thinks it’s funny as hell, I on the other hand don’t when I’m freezing my naked butt off trying to get back under the covers.

I can hope against hope that he’ll give me a Christmas present of letting me back in the bed before anything important freezes solid and falls off.

In any case, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day.