*Whew!*
Woke up today feeling mighty ambitious and under the gun. We will be putting up our holiday decorations on Saturday and Sunday. Last year was my second Christmas at the bar. The first year I hadn’t really gotten a handle on how things worked all the time and while I mentioned that it was time to start thinking about holiday decorations and then mentioned that Christmas was fast approaching I hadn’t yet learned that if I wanted something done and done on my timetable I would have to just pick up the ball and run for daylight. So by the second year I knew to just go out frequently during November and accumulate what we need gradually. I spent over $700 on new ornaments, ribbons, bows, lights etc. I spent another few hundred on pay for design help. It worked out great. Last year the bar was DONE child! Some people hated it, most people liked it. And all of December the bar was a holiday wonderland. Problem is, this year it was expected that I would at least meet if not outdo myself. And I have a lot more irons in the fire this year. In my favor, I did manage to box up most of what we purchased last year and save it. (as opposed to previous years, apparently. We had almost nothing saved from any holiday when I looked for it)
So after a bit of procrastination I did in fact finally manage to hunker down and try to come up with a décor plan for this year. Admittedly, I can cut corners a bit now as far as planning because I have a pretty good idea at this point what will work and what won’t. I know what the focal points in the room are and where to concentrate the treatments. But still, you have to make a plan of some sort. So most of this week has seen my brain cells working on a decorating plan. We had decided to re-use some of the things that were a hit last year but I didn’t want to just duplicate it. I’m a firm believer in tweaking things. Making adjustments. Keeping what works and trying new things. I did a little pre-shop recon yesterday after my group to figure out what was available and what I needed and today was all about getting it done.
But first, I needed to visit my favorite thrift store. OK, one of them. Speaking of my group I had gone to a meeting Tuesday and once I was there I discovered to my horror that the khaki pants I was wearing were horribly stained by grease spots and … other areas. I decided to throw them away and I also decided I didn’t have enough “tween” pants. Something between jeans and dress. I got a couple of pairs of cords and a shirt for $20.
Next I headed down to St. Vinny’s to visit The Hellcat. He’s been having ongoing problems from a wicked bad reaction to a spider bite. The bite area and his whole foot had swollen like crazy and apparently the antibiotics they put him on weren’t working. They finally had to admit him to the hospital to open up the wound and (I assume) scoop the goo out. I stopped at MickeyD’s to smuggle him some cheeseburgers and fries. I found M--- to be in pretty good spirits despite an overnight hospital stay and by the time I arrived he had already been discharged and was waiting to have some prescriptions filled. You know, let me just say here that I’m really impressed with how M--- has seemingly turned things around. After a horrific year full of suicide and good friends getting sick and dying you wouldn’t be that surprised if my girl had just jumped into a vat of crystal and not come out. Now, I’m not with him 24/7 and he is not shy about popping a pill for anything that ails him but I have to say, all this hardship seems to have only brought out the best in M--- and I for one am glad we’ve been able to form a friendship. Every sense I can bring to bear tells me that inside he is a really nice man. And I hope the spirits hear that and give him a good peaceful year next year. He needs it.
Onward to the party store for Christmas stuff. Because I had saved so much from last year I was able to concentrate on “extras” that I wouldn’t have bought last year. Animatronic figures and chaser lights and candy cane stair lights and I basically found everything we needed. And it looks like I’ll only have to spend about $200 or so (not counting extra payroll). I lugged about four bags of doo-dads and lights and who-hash back to the apartment. I actually had to stop because I had more than I could carry. I went home for a bit but decided to venture out and just finish the bulk of it so I bought a couple more animatronic figures, about 20 battery operated candles and we’re done, right? Not so fast, Helen. I still need to get to the hardware store for fishing wire and staples and ornament hangars.
I thought I was just about done and done in but on my way back from the Odd Job/Job Lot (Cheap crap made cheap and sold cheap) I managed to (intellectually, anyway) conceive of a way I might be able to work in a couple of work outs this weekend and get my training back on track. My backfat is truly out of control. So I decided to start with a ½ hour cardio ½ hour ab workout just to get the juices flowing. Oh, déjà vu. And…..it’s over. It felt good as did I.
My intent was to head to the bar and start dropping some of my purchases there or possibly go out on the town seeing as how the night before Thanksgiving is a pretty fun one usually. But shortly after both my room mate’s had gone out for the night, I discovered that all I wanted was a smart little cocktail and some muted lighting and some HBO and some scented candles and my cute lil ’laptop in my castle high atop Second Ave. For these things above all others, I am well and truly thankful. Have a nice day and enjoy the holiday.
