Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Various Items of Christmas

It was an eclectic Christmas. I think I like those the best. It can be hard, in October, to assemble a Christmas list. I'm very aware of the amount of stuff I have. Paring down to what is essential is a goal and I do it in spurts, but it's important to provide ideas for things that bring me pleasure and happiness. The friendship of those who want to be in my company is the best gift I could receive, but, let's face it, it feels spectacularly wonderful to find some token of that friendship and present it. As much heartfelt, "Your friendship is the gift I treasure" that I say, I know how much joy I get when wrapping something I think the recipient will love as much as I loved picking it out for them. So, there is the list.

I used to save lists, year to year. I don't anymore. I don't know when I had an epiphany about that but I discarded several years worth of lists. It strikes me as hugely consumer-centric and if I'm going to consume, it will be with an eye toward quality, not quantity. When you're 10, the idea that you have a box bigger than your sister's is important. When you're 58, not so much. 

How about a blanket? 


This is so warm. I have it in the recliner in the living room. When I watch TV, I wrap my legs and feet in it. Plus, Mija loves it.


Also keeping me warm is this ruana. This is a Scottish shawl. 


Carole and Larry got this for me at the Celtic fest in Richmond. It's a light-weight wool and it's wonderfully warm. I wear it when I'm playing World of Warcraft and then wrap myself up as I trot around the house. I love the tartan, too. I haven't allowed either cat to sit on it. This gets folded and draped across the back of the office chair when I go to bed. 


What can I say about insulting bandages? I have 4 Minion bandages left to use up before I can get to these. What I really like is the notation "15 Large Assorted Plasters", "plasters" being the British term for bandages. I have not opened the container to be better surprised by the insult when I do need a band-aid. 


If you are not washing your hands religiously during the current flu epidemic, you are dumb. Seriously. Look at the scents I have to choose from to keep my hands clear of germs. Granted, it's just me in the house, but the peppermint scent went to the office where it's seen a lot of use. You don't have to smell like iodine to be healthy. Just wash your hands. 


Raiding snacks for the nights spent in front of the computer. The caramel corn is gone and the green M&Ms are nearly gone. I need to get a container of chocolate frosting to "properly" eat the shortbread cookies. What? That's not how you eat them? You must try it. Slather frosting between two cookies. The cherry M&Ms I love so well are out now. I bought a bag. I will be saving them along with the candy apple ones and attempting to ration my M&M intake. I'm sure I can do this. 


How could I not have one of these on my tree? Next year, I need the one that looks like a DD styrofoam cup. 


File this under "I laughed so hard". I used up most of my cards this past Christmas. If I could find a whole box of these, you'd get these in 2015. Maybe I should look at replacing the printer that broke and printing my own. 

Finally, I don't know where Carole found these, but they evoked the biggest memory. I can't have real Christmas trees off a lot anymore. The amount of chemicals used to keep a tree alive during the year and "fresh" after cutting are not good for anyone, to begin with. But I seem to have a huge allergic reaction to the sniffs of the scents on a tree lot. It makes me very sad. I don't have the problem when I wander in the woods so perhaps cutting my own would be a way to go. That's not going to happen without assistance so I'm content with my fake greenery. 

However, I miss the raw pine scent that trees provide. I can get that from some candles and this coming Christmas, from these. Yes, they are chemical reproductions and I'll have to watch how long I'm exposed to the scent, but you should smell them. WOW. 

I was riding on the back of a wagon in the cold of a December Saturday afternoon as we headed into the rows of trees on the tree farm. I didn't know there was any other way to get a Christmas tree other than freeze your feet off tromping through the snow to watch Dad and Mom argue about whether the one they were looking at would fit in the corner of the living room. I spent 15 years with a fresh cut tree and assumed the ones on the lots were cut right before Thanksgiving. Nah, not so much. I'm several layers removed from fresh now so these ornaments are going to bring back all the wonder and joy of Christmas in my youth. Best part, I don't have to remember to water them and clean up all the dropped needles when the tree was taken to the curb after New Year. 

So that's the round up of Christmas in my house. If you will excuse me, I have some M&Ms to eat and a cat to move off a blanket. 

Beverage:  English Teatime Tea

Deb

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