Post Holiday Post

I love my husband. He came up with some really good gifts this year. That's not why I love him - just a comment.

I think I did a sucky job on his gifts. I hit it right about every other year.

The dog and I are blue today. We both miss all the activity of the last several days.

I have one cousin who is a total ass. His idea of dinner conversation on Christmas Eve was to grill me about the floods in the town I work for like it was my fault. He was asking what "our property taxes pay for" and I pointed out to him that he doesn't pay any taxes in town. I made an obscene gesture and left the table.

My brother is still a shithead.

Dinner with mom & the sisters went well. It was very relaxed. The table looked lovely - especially my new reindeer table runner from the Pottery Barn! I wish I had taken a picture. The dogs quieted down enough for us to eat peacefully. It was truly funny watching my sister's little cocker spaniel get annoyed with Boomer and chase him down the stairs. The best was when Boomer tried to hide under the table. Well - no - really - the best was that Boomer slept very soundly in his own bed because he was just exhausted.

I'm doing a ton of laundry today - post holiday, pre-bowl game trip. Go UCONN.

I really am blue - I hate the let down after the holiday. I'm looking to keep myself occupied, so in addition to laundry, I'm going to get back to knitting the sweater I started for A about 5 years ago. Yeah. I started it 5 years ago. I take a loooooong time to finish projects like that.

My aunt gave me my grandmother's cookie plate. It's 77 years old. I love having stuff of Nanny's to use.

Can I mention again that I love my husband? He's just a good guy and so darn cute. I love kissing him, being held in his arms, just hearing him breathe at night. Next year, if his work group does not change - he'll be off duty Christmas Day, all day! Please, please no group changes next year. Since we've been together, the only time I've had him all day Christmas Day was the year he was on medical leave because he had shoulder surgery. So - if it's not too early, I will make my Christmas wish for next year - to have A. off duty on Christmas Day.

Happy Holidays?

I was all psyched for the holidays six weeks ago. We bought a new Christmas tree and some decorations and I was psyched. Now 4 days away - not so much. I still need to do a fair amount of cleaning. A can not help much because he's laid up with diverticulitis. He is doing what he can though. We have to drive to his parents tomorrow to do an early Christmas with them, then home on Sunday. So - I lose at least a day where I could be cleaning - more like a day and a half. So - I'm trying to get it done at night after work. This is a lesson to me to try to keep up with it during the year - like maybe dust regularly. Mainly though, it's a lot of tidying up and serious cleaning - like "Mom's coming" kind of cleaning. I don't want to be doing these multiple Christmases every year - there's got to be another choice. Then there's the brother thing - not an upper going into the holiday. Then I get my period just in time to be staying at someone else's house. I hate that. I just hate that. So it's not just another month of not being pregnant, which while I recognize would be somewhat miraculous, I still hope for, it's the damn curse and the lack of privacy while having it. Maybe I'm psychotic or something, but I don't like other people knowing about my private bodily functions. (Although here I am blabbing it on the internet.)  Merry Christmas my ass.

My brother is a shithead

I think I've mentioned this fact before. He wasn't born one, he became one. Marriage to the right person will do that to you. Her ability to turn him into a shithead was aided by the fact that my brother is a ball-less wonder. I don't think that he is literally ball-less. I'm sure Mom would have mentioned that at some point. Anyway, I digress. The latest event evidencing my brother's shitheadedness is related to my mother's 75th birthday party. Allegedly, shithead, bitch-in-law and children could not attend because bitch's family was hosting a 50th birthday party for her that same night. So - let's go from there. Bitch calls my aunt and tells her that oh - it is so bad that the sisters (that would be me and my sisters) let them know about mom's party too late for them to come to the party, their party plans had already been made. UM - hello shithead brother. we have written evidence - written by you - that proves you knew about Mom's party back in September, which is when we decided to have it. Couldn't let you know any sooner - and over two (2) months in advance is not freaking enough time? Even if it wasn't - was it really necessary for your bitch wife to call our aunt and say, basically, oh those sisters are so awful, it's their fault we are not attending. How about this one, shithead? Why did it never occur to you that Mom was turning 75 and that we should do something? Why didn't you take the initiative and suggest a party? Oh right - you are a shithead.
So - now - it's one month later. Cousin K has invited everyone to his home for Christmas Eve. Now - K is none too happy about brother not coming to Mom's Christmas party. So - when brother calls him to say he can't come to Christmas Eve, K pounces on the whole party thing - says "hey, where was my invitation to bitch's birthday party?" (well - he used her name - but you get the idea). Well - this is where it gets really good and brother's shitheadedness shows itself once again. The answer was "well - that ended up not happening, we just went out and had a nice dinner - just us." Now - we don't know who just us was - but - THERE WAS NO 50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY. These kind of things just don't fall apart last minute. They could have come to my mother's party. Yes, it would have been a 4 hour drive - but one of my aunts came from Florida for it - he couldn't drive 4 freaking hours?!?!?! And then he says - just to top it off - "we'll have to get together for a beer and have a talk" as if he is somehow going to explain why, despite there being no conflicting party, they didn't go to the Cape for Mom's party. I can see it now - it will somehow be the fault of me and my sister's. I don't think he realizes that his gig is really up with most of the family. They see what he and his wife are and they don't buy the excuses - but no one says anything to them outright in order to protect my mother.
Now - I've invited that asshole and his wife for Christmas. I so desperately want to call him and tell him to forget it, don't come. Please note - that it's been 2 weeks since I invited him and he has yet to respond. It didn't get lost in the mail - we talked on the phone and I said "please come" - so I can't wait to hear the excuse for not calling with an answer - if he ever even does. Anyway - I digress again. I feel like I"m in a position where I can not uninvite him because that would then require an explanation. Either I make up an explanation that makes me look bad - or I tell the truth and my mother is hurt. She doesn't deserve that.

Let me tell you this right here and now. When my mother passes away (God willing many years from now) I plan to deliver a eulogy. At that point - if he hasn't changed his ways, it's no holds barred. I will consider the fact that we will be in a church when I plan what to say and I may keep the remarks such that I don't actually name names, but I will get my say and if the two of them don't get what I'm saying in church, I'll make sure they get it afterwards. And then, I'll have no more to do with them. They will cease to exist for me.

Snow thoughts

I think Boomer likes the snow. I love watching him run around in it. It's adorable the way he kind of bounds through it sometimes when it is deep. And how he chases the snow. Last year, the snow crusted over for a while and I would drag him around - watching him slide and seeing the slightly freaked out look on his face made me laugh!

We got out of work early yesterday, due to the snow. It annoys the heck out of me that the employee in my office who can walk to work always seems to be the first to respond to the notice that we are closing early due to snow.

I was a responsible neighbor this morning. I got out there and shovelled my sidewalk. Kids in our neighborhood have to walk to school, so I wanted our section clear for them. Then I had to shovel out the end of the driveway. The way the plow had packed the snow in there made it kind of like a cliff. I wasn't sure that my car would get through it like that. My neighbor said that's one of the reasons he'll never have a car again - always going for an SUV. Let me tell you - I'm thinking about it!

Yesterday's storm was one of the best kind we could get. The bulk of it was between 7 and 3 - so overtime should not be so bad. Nice way to look at it - huh! :) Can't help it - it's in my genes. There was nothing my dad hated more than snow on a holiday. That meant triple time for the guys on the public works crew.

Ah well - this season brings another thing besides snow - the Salvation Army bell ringers. I'm off now to go ring the bell with our Tax Collector. We'll be relieving two cops. Want to bet the cops get the biggest donations? I told them it wasn't fair to be carrying their guns while they did it but....hey - it is for charity.

Life's Little Irritants

While it's nice to have a well-trained dog that informs you when he needs to go out and do his business, it's completely annoying when he decides to do that in the middle of the night. I love that little face, but not at 3:30 am.

Food that is good for you should taste good. Food that is bad for you should taste bad. Something is just wrong with the world.

There is no such word as "alot". That one irks me like no other misuse of the English language. Well, maybe my old boss's use of "supposably" irked me more.

Air machines should be free everywhere. Every gas station should have one and it should be in working order.

Not such a bad list. I'm in a good mood today.

Life's little pleasures

It's amazing sometimes what little things will please a dog. Going for a walk around the neighborhood is one of Boomer's favorite things. It's doesn't seem like a big deal to a human - but boy does that little dog love his jaunts. And while he's walking - this time of year - an added bonus is leaf piles. People have raked their leaves into piles streetside, to be picked up by the Town's vacuum truck. Boomer just loves to run through those piles. Amazing the simple pleasures for a dog!

For me, it's sunsets, A's smile, good music, hot cocoa, warm brownies or apple pie, a cold beer on a hot day, the smells and sounds of the ocean, a fire in the fireplace. (For A - it's a fire anywhere as long as he's fighting it!) There's more - fresh sheets, warm sand under my toes, freshly cut grass, the smell of a rose - especially when I grew it! It's reaching out at night with my foot and finding A's foot in bed. It's sitting on my front porch with a cup of coffee and the newspaper or a good book. It's hearing my windchimes or hearing Boomer's tail thump against the floor as I approach him. It's lots of things every day. There's a book I have somewhere - something like "14000 things to be happy about" it's got good stuff in it - little things you forget about usually, but when you read them you think - yeah - that's something to be happy about.

I've got to do a post on life's little irritants too (like rubberneckers) - but I thought I would focus on the good stuff first.

Trading one yucky job for another

So - it looks like we may be done with union negotiations for a few years. Keep your fingers crossed people. It's been a long road since we started with the first one almost two years ago. With luck, by this time next week, that union will have approved their contract, then there will only be one more to go. So - that's done - but my boss volunteered me to serve as finance director for a coalition of communities. That part's not so bad. What's bad is having to go to their meetings. The person they have selected as their Director (kind of by default because she organized the coalition originally) is just a total scatterbrain. She has lots of information, but is completely incapable of presenting it in an organized manner. Oh - and the drama as she talks about issues. Good Lord spare me! My boss owes me. She totally owes me. And she knows it. I think she partly did it so that she would have someone to commiserate with at these meetings.

I haven't done a happy thought in a while - so today's is - I'm having a lot of fun giving little presents to my Secret Santa recipient at work.

As for the life list - I'll have to go back and check what I've listed so far.

Confessions

It's good for the soul right? Okay..

I only just took off my toenail polish from this summer.

I invite my brother and his family (bitch-in-law, etc) to my house for Christmas dinner. I did not do it with pure intentions. For one - I figure they won't come. For two - I did it mainly so that they could not say I didn't invite them. Granted the bitch will likely say I waited until late to ask - but she would come up with something to complain about even if I had asked them back in August (which is around the time I last painted my toenails).

My office is a disaster.

I have been cheating a bit on my diet - eating chocolate at work. It's very hard not to do so.

There's a couple of changes that may happen staff wise here and I think they are long overdue. I can't say that to the people involved because one is a friend - but it's time she leaves. The other one - I can't stand - which I guess is a corollary confession. She's a holier than though know it all who portrays herself as this down to earth "real" I say what I mean kind of person. She is not at all a team player and really - just - as they say "thinks who she is". Not sure what that really means - but it describes her well.



Last one - I made my dog wear an elf hat and reindeer ears to pose for our Christmas card photos. Evidence below.

Now that I have confessed - maybe I'll go say 3 Hail Marys and an Act of Contrition.