This is All Over the Place

I started this TWO weekends ago but I'm rolling with it.

It's Saturday and I woke up not feeling stabby and disappointed so that's a good sign. 

Kevin has apparently...said with complete amusement...decided that it's time we can joke about the diagnosis.  I was out in the shop with him last night to see progress on his big project.

He was doing something fine-motor and needed his glasses.  He sighed heavily, "I'm just saying Take Care of your eyes so you can see."  At first, I did exactly what you probably did; somewhere along the lines of WTAF did you just say.  

But he has a look when he's been facetious and I happened to catch it.  Then I laughed.  You have to have thick skin to be married to Kevin sometimes.  But this was his way of saying Enough.  

When I went to sleep last night, today's plan was to put up the Christmas tree.  It's now 4:00 pm on Saturday and I have...pulled apart Monica's Closet. Well, what had happened was...

I need a box to store all my work office stuff.  I just have a sneaking suspicion that next term I will need to be at the office.  So my lamps, artwork, desk stuff that are duplicates, etc. are being boxed. BUT I don't have a box that's adequate.  So, pause that project.

Chaos that is begun when I open the door to
Monica's Closet.

I took down all the Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations and boxed them up; only to find that they don't fit in one tote anymore.  Now I need one more tote.

Trying not to be daunted, I continued.  I have one cardboard file box that has held the remnants of my scrapbook project.  I dumped it out onto the floor of the office, which could be categorized as brave or stupid, you decide.  It was both, because:  I ended up putting photos into a photo album, culling even more stuff, then stuffing it back into the closet.

Fast Forward almost exactly 24  hours:

Kevin and I went to dinner last night with his BFF so this enabled me to get two big things off of my list:

We bought two totes to solve the above issues.  Although one tote now holds the files, file dividers, etc. from the file cabinet.  I don't have the patience to undo it right now or go buy another tote.

We bought casters for the filing cabinet that is always in the way and now, bonus! I don't need because my work has gone paperless.  The casters make it - duh - movable so I can put it in Monica's closet and move it whenever I need to.  Put this on the list of Things That Should Have Happened Years Ago.

This brings me to the Christmas Tree.  Because of course it does, this is how it began.

First, a recap:

We bought a fake tree last year when the tree place where we usually go wasn't open because of Covid.

We also bought me a new chair last year and put it where there wasn't a chair before.  And a standing lamp.  Oh, and we moved the china hutch to the opposite corner.  We've managed to create both more space and less space.

Which brings us to the coffee table.  (keeping up? No? seems reasonable)

We have a live edge coffee table that is old (35-ish years) valuable, and the nicest piece of furniture in our house.  It's also huge and it also doesn't quite match anything else in our house.  We have threatened to give it away or put it in storage but we just can't quite let go.  No matter what we do though, it's in the way and yells "HI! I'm a Coffee Table!" as soon as you walk into the house.  

Well, we bought a frame for the television and we're going to mount it on the wall.  Then the nice entertainment center that we spent $cough a few years ago will go away and the table will go underneath it.  Like an art piece.  When is that supposed to happen?  This weekend.  Has Kevin mentioned it? Nope.  One of his contractor guys is reportedly coming up to help him.

Right now he's in the shop with the fabricator for the racecar and has been most of the day. He's already been on "errands" this morning (getting my birthday card. He has no subterfuge skills)

I've already been to town as well.  I was supposed to finish shopping yesterday and my brain went "you know what? Nope. Not today" which is always just fantastic.  Instead I mostly finished today in the pouring down rain.  We're going out to dinner and I have one pick-up at the target then I'm done.

What else?  Oh, how this started. The tree is up and decorated.  It had a little tiff with Rosie the Robot the other day.  I came out of the bedroom and it was in display mode: flashing, changing colors, etc.  I had to crawl under the tree to disentangle the both of them then find the switch to turn off the disco lights.

The house is decorated but a little low-key this year.  It was kind of an energy thing when I began and as I mention every year: this house shrugs off Christmas decorates like a toddler wearing a hat.  I persevered and put out about 75% of the decorations.  INCLUDING my office because I work here now, which is both festive and strange. 

So, then...sigh.  My birthday.  Because pandemic, we can't go on an adventure like previous years. I thought about it and we're going to go driving on an off-road trail that goes to a lookout over the entire valley.  It's five minutes from the house and we have NEVER been.  Then we're going to an old junk shop by the post office and to a tiny little restaurant in the cutest little artist-colony town you've ever seen. (Edison, WA)

Kevin was all "Are you *sure* that's all you want to do?" and I'm all yep.  And he's all "Okay..."

I should have known that it went too easily.  The other night he said "I was thinking..." which is marriage speak for "You're not going to like this idea"  

"We should go see your mother and take her a Christmas present on your birthday."

Luckily he was on the phone but he got the gist of my feelings when I replied "Why ya gotta be like that?"  In his most patient tone and ending in a loud voice "Because that's what NORMAL PEOPLE DO."  There was discussion about it and about it again and we're going.  With all the holiday spirit I can muster: fml.

But Christmas cards went out earlier than they ever have ever so that is happy. 

Shopping is mostly done so that is happy.

Tree is up and that is happy.

Everyone is healthy and that is happy.

The rest of it...well, 2021 can die in a fire. Meanwhile, here's a photo of Lucy dreaming about all the squirrels Santa is bringing her: