I went outside

To take the trash out (don't frown,  it was light,  and I'm saving the recyclables for later),  and this is a picture of the tree and star lights from outside.  Very pretty.

Listening to Pentatonix and trying to get into some Yuletide cheer...

Well, the tree is up and the lights are on, and after a short break, so are the ornaments. I have given my yearly accidental blood offering--it never fails, I pinch my hand putting on the branches at some point. I suspect it's because I'm a pagan celebrating Yule with an artificial tree. I prefer a live one, but this was given to me, works nicely, and I can't afford a live tree that will just die quickly, and seems a shame to cut a live tree. :) Happy Yuletide, or Solstice, or Christmas, or Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you may celebrate, if any. May the light shine in you, and in your life, as the long darkness gives way to the slow return of the sun.

I'm slowly getting things straightened up here

I've washed the dishes, put up the holiday decorations, vacuumed, and put some of the things back in the closet. I'm very sweaty now, and I think I'm going to wait till the radio countdown is over (in about 30 minutes--we're up to #5), take a shower, then do laundry and work out at the same time. Yes, I'll get sweaty again, but I can't go anywhere like this. Then I'll work on the other closets, do general straightening up, and go from there. At this point I don't know if I'll go over to my friends' house or not--it's almost noon, after all. This has taken awhile. But I'll let them know sometime this afternoon if I don't. A wasn't going to be available till about 6:30 or 7 pm anyway, so it may still work out that we can go to the store, and I can get everything else finished, or watch 'Grimm' with YKWIA. But we may be able to do that Sunday since there won't likely be a game.

When my friends gave me the tree last year, they also gave me a bunch of ornaments that I used last year that had been one of their mothers'. This year I put my stuff on the tree first, and a few things that came with the tree, like the red, white, green, and blue tree skirt, a garland, and a snowman ornament. But really, once I got my stuff on there, it looked fine. I did get a strand of LED lights, so I have some that are cylindrical and the older ones I had that are globes on there. Add some 'holographic' snowflakes and plastic and glass icicles, and I don't think I need much else. :) Most of the other ornaments are red and white, and while I don't have a colour theme, really, I think I'll overload the tree if I put too much on it. So I think I'll stop. A does have a colour theme on their tree, courtesy of YKWIA, who is an artist, in purple and gold, so the red and green ornaments don't work with them. That's one reason I wound up with them. If I decide not to use them, I may go ahead and donate them to Goodwill or something. But for now I'll just keep them in their boxes.

We started working on our belated Thanksgiving dinner tonight

Making an excellent pumpkin soup and a chickpea/cucumber salad with cumin. Earlier today, YKWIA and I watched Inside Out, which was quite excellent. I definitely would be Sadness--she was so like me, and YKWIA kept pointing it out. He is most like Disgust. The story was wonderful. There is a part of the movie where a character makes a great sacrifice, and I bawled like a little kid. So I definitely got into it.

I went looking for my back brace today and in the midst of emptying closets and pulling stuff out, found the holiday ornaments. I seriously thought I might put the tree up tonight, but I got home at 11 pm, so I'm not going to do it now--maybe sometime during the weekend, but not right now.

Tomorrow I'm going to go over to my friends' around 10 am and work on the Quorn fake turkey goodness, the vegetable dishes, and dessert. We plan on eating about 3 pm. :)

Okay, I think I'll go on to bed. Good night.

I took the tree down tonight

As we are past the Twelve Days of Christmas, which runs from Christmas through January 6th. It was nice to have up, but it did take up a lot of room in my front window. Now I can see my plants again, and I have watered them. The little Yule tree in the bedroom will stay decorated, I think. The ornaments are so tiny, they don’t really detract from the tree itself. Each ornament is about three-quarters of an inch in length or diameter.

I put the tree, whose box was really starting to fall apart, into a big plastic tub I had that was remarkably empty. The wreath fit in there as well. The ornaments and other decorations are in three copy boxes plus a small box. That includes the lights, the Chris-Moose family, a stocking, and the ceramic Santa my mom gave me that she made a long time ago. Those will go into the bottom of the bedroom closet; the tree pretty much has to go in the walk-in closet, but I put it on the side that rarely leaks, and the tub is well-sealed with a bedside commode and shower chair on top of it.

I essentially had to clean out the walk-in closet to do all this. There is a car load of electronic recyclables that can go, plus some cardboard boxes that are now empty. That gave me the opportunity to rearrange things, and I can actually walk into the closet at this point. :)

I still need to take that out to the car and, for the boxes, the recycling containers. But frankly it is quite frigid out there and I do not feel like hauling it out just yet, even though it would make things better in the house. I’ll take the electronics to the recycling centre on Saturday, so for now I’ll collect everything in one place, and then load it up on the weekend.

Today I went to the ophthalmologist. I took the dreaded field of vision test, which I hate. It’s not uncomfortable or anything, it just seems like I always feel like I’m not seeing all of the little lights. He didn't mention anything about that, but my pressure is still borderline, a little higher than it was last time. He thinks that it’s probably not quite as high as it reads, because my corneas are fairly thick, and that apparently causes the reading to be higher, but if it goes up at all, I’ll wind up having to take eye drops. So, I see him again in six months for another pressure check and pictures of my optic nerve.’

I picked up an interlibrary loan for a friend that I’d requested, and I got another DVD from Netflix in the mail that he can watch this weekend.

I made an appointment in February for a doctor to manage my psych meds. Next week I start an eleven-week class sponsored by NAMI that should be very helpful. It’ll mean very long Wednesdays, especially while I’m still working scheduling, as that is usually the biggest clinic day, and I won’t get out of the class until about 9 pm, so that’s over twelve hours of going non-stop on that day. But I hope it will help with one of my relationships.

Okay, here are things I still need to do tonight that don’t involve going back outside into the cold:

1. Finish charging my glucometer.
2. Vacuum up needles from the tree.
3. Watch ‘The Big Bang Theory’, since I’m home tonight.
4. Fix the fish tanks so each has enough water, the heaters are working correctly, and the filters are as well.
5. Put my car insurance cards in my purse, as the old ones expire tonight, and then put them in the car tomorrow.
6. Run a load of dishes.
7. Get the sheets back on the bed; they’ve crept up and off their corners.
8. Get some sleep!

Good night.

:)

As I mentioned last night, my little Charlie Brown tree toppled last night while I was helping a friend put up his tree. He had given me his old one plus some ornaments his mom had given him, which tend to be folksy and I chose ones that weren't as overt as Mary and Jesus. Santa is there, but Santa is partially pagan in origin, and there are angels, which are not limited to Judaeo-Christian belief. But mostly it's snowmen, bears, winter things, and gift-giving in theme. And I finally have a tree that will support my Hallmark mistle-toad, which grins when you pull the tassel. :) That one I've had for years. There's also a few that were given to me, one when I was 8 by a teacher. So it's very homey. This is still a little too Christmas-y for my taste, but it'll work as a Yule tree for this year. Next year the plan is to find ornaments exhalting nature, perhaps birds or a solar theme. (And yes, I do recognise the incongruence of that and an artificial tree, but I am too poor to buy live trees big enough, and I don't like the idea of cutting down the tree, even if it is sustainably grown. I think the gods will understand.) In the meantime, I'm going to try to salvage the live tree and get it set back up, this time in the bedroom. I've moved the flamingo and spider plants out here to the living room to give it some space. I'm hoping when I re-pot it, the leaning will cease. But having just spent an hour and a half putting the tree up, I think I'll take a break. :)

'Oh, no! I've killed it!'

So I came home from helping a friend put up his Christmas tree only to find my little Yule tree lying on the floor, with most of its dirt spilled out of the pot, looking like a sad little Charlie Brown tree indeed. I righted it, and decided that I will deal with it in good time, but not right at this moment. Poor thing. I'm not entirely sure I can save it. It lost a lot of soil, although it didn't break or anything when it fell. But man, it's messy. I really must take care of that as soon as possible, though, as it is on carpet. Thankfully it's not damp soil.

Today I went to my family practice and saw both the doctor and the physicians assistant, and despite the fact that the Sharpie ink came right off in the shower, I did explain the anxiety situation, and was prescribed a low dose of Buspar and referred to a behavioural health practice which is across town but in my insurance network. So that should help.

Tomorrow will be very busy. I need to:

1. Straighten up the house early in the morning, as they're coming to inspect the appliances and it's a wreck
2. Pick up the Buspar from the pharmacy
3. Run by the library before they open and give in some books
4. Go to the bank
5. Pay my rent
6. Buy a small Secret Santa gift
7. Find some holiday cards
8. Look fora belt (I've had one for almost three decades, where the loop has come off. the belt has stretched beyond its original dimensions to the point where I'm putting the tongue through the braid and not the holes of the strap, and tucking the tip under the strap instead)
9. Get lights and go through some ornaments for the larger, artificial tree A gave me
10. Put up the tree and decorate it
11. Watch 'Grimm' with YKWIA

Oh, and we're not playing the game Sunday as Brenda has another commitment. I'm not sure what I'm doing Saturday. I still haven't seen Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I, and I have a free movie ticket and a voucher for a small drink and popcorn for free. Hmmm....

My moose family and the skeleton at work are in a holiday mood

Today I:

1. Did not manage to get to work early like I have been and as a result was really rushed.
2. Stayed in scheduling longer than I expected to cover someone who didn't go to lunch until right when I was supposed to leave.
3. Forgot to change jobs at the time clock in the middle of the day, so I'll have to have someone add that.
4. Accepted a quote for next year's electronic journals and got the ball rolling to be invoiced.
5. Proofed a book review.
6. Put up lights in my cubicle, as well as my moose family decorations, a snowman--and a Santa hat is now perched on the skeleton's head.
7. Talked with YKWIA about the joys of dog ownership.:)
8. Stopped by Speedway and used my points to get a $10 cash card, which I then used for gas.

Now, I've eaten dinner. Things I should do tonight:

1. Start the game notes (one of my characters got shot in the game; she got better, though--I wish we had special magical healing in the real world).
2. Straighten up the house.
3. Watch 'The Librarians', which should have recorded last night.
4. I also have books to return to the library, but I think I'll wait if I can to do that when I'm over by there Thursday for a doctor's appointment. Granted, the library is practically across the street, if you count the fact that it's also a quarter of a mile away. I think I have till then.

Got a good report today on how the new CPAP is doing

They were very pleased with the amount of time I'm using it (averaging about 9 hours a night, and using it every night). My sleep is so much better. I have more energy during the day and only start to fade at a reasonable time, not mid-afternoon. The new masque is doing remarkably better, as well, with a negligent amount of leaking. So, yay! I'm supposed to go back in a year.

I've been in a really great mood all day. I'm in the holiday mood; I went ahead and took some decorations into work and put up the tree there. I can't find some special ornaments that I had for it, but I stopped by and got some tonight to add tomorrow. I brought in my stuffed 'Chris-moose' family, finally finding that this morning. I had a couple of special light strands of my own that I brought in, putting the 'flame'-shaped multicolour lights on the tree, and some globe LEDs that are bright and cheerful at the cubicle. I also had a small resin snowman to put on my desk. The Santa my mom made from ceramics when I was young and the ornaments either made by me or made for me stayed home. The little tree at home has silver bells and red and white stars and snowflakes on it, with white lights. I have a bell decoration on the door that is red and white as well. I have to admit, though, if I had a regular-sized artificial tree at home, I would be tempted to decorate with some beautiful peacock-themed ornaments I saw the other day. But money is tight, I prefer a live tree, and I'd already gotten the little tabletop one, and I like it.

My Christmas cactus, or zygocactus, is blooming. I'm including a picture of it. The buds seem pink but then when the flower opens, they're more of a red. I have a new one at home that is a deep pink as well. I do love them. Last year, after a couple of years of not blooming, or just maybe having a bud or two on it, the plant welcomed me back from my three-month absence by blooming profusely. It's a very cheery little plant.

Okay, I should probably tear myself away from the computer and work on some things here, since I have a night to myself. Just in case I don't write further tonight, have a good night, hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, happy Chanukah (latkes tomorrow night! :) ), and I hope the upcoming holidays and new year bring you light, joy, and fellowship.

So now the house, the lights, the garland, and I all smell like rosemary

And although there are some parts that are a little brown on the tree, there's new growth, too, so I think it will live. I moved the lights and garland to the entryway and retired the ornaments from the tree. I will leave up the other decorations for now, like the snowflakes on the window and the moose skaters. Yes, you read that right.

:)

Happy Holidays, and good night.

In the holiday spirit

Nearly every year for the past fifteen or more, I have gotten a Norfolk Virginia pine tree in a pot for Yule. For about six of those years, I had a single tree that lived for quite some time and then eventually died. Unfortunately, lately they've been spraying glitter on the trees, which make them sparkle, but they're dead by January.

So I wanted something different this year, and today I got a small rosemary bush that has been trimmed in pine-tree shape and decorated it with these little tiny decorations I had, a small string of lights, and some icicle garland. What do you think?

I took the bigger ornaments that have some sentimental value and placed them in among the other plants. I have a pair of flickering battery-operated candles in the living room window, and another in the bedroom one. The moose is one of a pair in skating outfits that I got a book fair years ago. (The male has a sign that says Chris-Moose, which I found hilarious at the time even though it's not quite Yule-oriented as much as a certain Other Winter Holiday). But, hey...

I strung some bells in the entryway as well. Wish I had a wreath for the door like we got last year at work. That was lovely, and the whole hallway smelled so nice.

Okay, I have some stuff to do that isn't holiday related before I head to bed, but I wanted to post about that. Have a good night, if I don't write more.

It's that time again

This is Charlie, our skeleton at the library. On the very end of his Santa hat you may see a green dreidl. Hey, I'm multicultural. I also have a Yule tree with various ornaments, such as the tongue depressor snowman, Little Golden books (tiny ones) that have holes in their spines to be hung on the tree (a secretary who ran the library before me did that), icicles, tinsel, and a very beautiful angel (I think that came from the previous librarian.) :)

Here are a few other photos:

The dreidl

The angel

The snowman

A Little Golden Book ornament