Thursday, December 17, 2009

Happy Whatever

Yeah, it's like that. Sorry to be a scrooge. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm trying to muster up some sort of holiday cheer and I'm really not succeeding. Every time I think I am getting somewhere I have a few more curve balls thrown and me and it takes me back to square one.

The tree has been up for over a week and a half. It stood completely naked in the middle of the living room for a whole week. I've slowly been putting things on it and there are boxes of decorations sitting around. I think I don't care enough to put any more on the tree.

I have not sent out any cards. In my mind the list of people I'm willing to commit to card-wise is shrinking. If they are lucky they will get one by Valentine's Day at this point.

I have done no baking even though I have my totally rocking Kitchen-Aid mixer to help me this year. Usually, I do between 50 and 100 dozen cookies so I have a bunch to give away. I'm thinking this year I will make the standard baked gifts for my parents, stepparents, and brother. The rest of the world can be on a diet.

I have yet to finish getting the gifts necessary to be mailed to the southern portion of the clan. So obviously the mailing thing hasn't happened either.

I am trying to slowly whittle away at this stuff and making bits of progress. Then yesterday the pellet stove decided not to work, the pellet stove which is merely one year old. I fiddled with it. Mr. Lime fiddled with it. Neither of us had any degree of success in making it work. Mr. Lime called the folks who installed it. They told us to expect a repairman in 4 weeks. FOUR WEEKS. Four.Cold. Weeks. Well, Merry Friggin Christmas to you too and thanks for your outstanding customer service.

Right now my holiday spirit consists of burrowing into the ground, giving Punxatawny Phil a shove so I have some room, and taking a nap until Feb. 2.

19 comments:

g-man said...

Your a working girl!
You aren't Super girl!
They'll get it when they get it!

The pellet stove must have you very Non-Plussed!

g-man said...

hehehehehehehehehe......

Craig said...

Oh, I so understand. What with Jen joining the for-pay work force this year, we're that much less 'on top of things', as well. . . Altho eight kids can, when they feel like it, pick up some of the slack.

We've always taken the approach that the Twelve Days is for sending out the cards, which helps take some of the pressure off. And in recent years, we've taken to sending as many of our Christmas letters as we can, via email.

And our tree is still as bare as the day we bought it; we'll decorate it this weekend. At least, that's the plan.

And listen - no worries on the cookies; they're not on my diet, anyways. . . ;)

Jazz said...

Holidays schmolidays.

They only exist to create more work. Call a moratorium.

Besides, holiday spirit is highly overrated. You're working full time, you can't do it all - to hell with what doesn't get done.

And to hell with "them" if they don't like it.

Suldog said...

Hint.

http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-fun-facts.html

(I know, you read it already. But it's a grand way to take some stress out of your life!)

~Dragonfly~* said...

Sounds to me as though you may have gotten bitten by the "empty nester 1st Christmas" bug..... I recall the first year my first went off to college... even though he would be coming home, decorating the tree and all the other stuff that was once done by all of us... now... by all of us minus one... was just a little bit harder to do. Sometimes finding the motivation to get started is buried under the memories of fun and togetherness...

And then something like the dang stove going on the fritz just makes it all that much worse!! I do believe they have emergency repair men for those types of situations and I would think you wouldn't have to wait 4 weeks to have it dealt with. I'd make a little noise... neigh.... a LOT of noise... and bat those tie dyed lashed while you're at it.

~DF~*

Hilary said...

Aww poor Lime. Things will get done. The ones that won't just won't matter quite enough. Enjoy the good stuff and try not to sweat the rest. I don't mind one wee bit if you don't send me cookies. ;) Truly... try to have a great one.

Ananda girl said...

No wonder you are exhausted and frustrated. You have a daughter away, a new job, a tight budget and a ton of stuff to do. This must be a bad year for pellet stoves. My friend's has done the dance of death too.

Anonymous said...

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

and that's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown....

Bijoux said...

Well, at least you had time to make the boobie pillow. We all have our priorities!

Cricket said...

Porcupine's Instant Holiday Cheer

1 C boiling water
2 tea bags
3 cloves
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sugar to taste
Irish whiskey to taste

Steep the tea with the cloves.
(Fish out the cloves if desired, or use a tea-ball.)
Add lemon, sugar, whiskey.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

This is also good without the cloves. Or the tea, lemon, and sugar for that matter. It will also help a bit with the lack of heat. Bummer on that.

Kat said...

May I join you in that hole?

Craver Vii said...

We need a medic here! Get her a piece of chocolate, stat!

S said...

Suggests paring down Christmas by having everyone on your list draw names. One gift per person.
Then, who cares if the tree is finished and christmas cards waste trees. I just cant do it. Too much tree wastage.....
Its gonnabe ok. The lamest thing about holidays is when they make people feel this way, and perhaps next year you should run away to Trinidad instead of having Christmas.
I recommend it highly, changed my life as you know.

Hugs! xxoo

Commander Zaius said...

I'm the same way, ain't got no Christmas spirit and the idea of try to get some seems stale.

I will do one thing this weekend, grab all the Pixar movies starting with Toy Story and watch them straight through to WALL-e

~Tim said...

Aw, I thought after the scarf story you were getting into the holiday spirit. It can be overwhelming -- it should be FUN for you though!

EmBee said...

Oh lord you sound exactly the way I sounded/felt last night! *big hugs*

We'll get through this... I've got the tree up and decorated thanks to that get together with friends we had a couple weeks ago, otherwise it would be in the same state as yours. So, here's what you do...

Step 1: Mix up a pot of chili, some corn bread and hot cider, or some other big pot, easy fix, easy to serve dish. Invite a group of friends over for a tree decorating party... Your gift to them is a lovely quick fix meal and an evening of togetherness... Viola! You've got a decorated tree AND you didn't have to make 100 dozen cookies. Oh, and serve hot chocolate with candy canes for stirring for dessert! Don't forget to sing carols while everyone is decorating!

Step 2: Send out Valentine's cards instead of Christmas cards... Nobody expects a Valentine in the mail but for all those looking for or needing a little extra lovin' it'll be an extra special surprise!

(btw: I'm just finishing my cards up, can you e-mail me your snail mail addy? I lost it? :-( papertreehouse@gmail.com)

Step 3: Delegate! Too much to do, don't be afraid to ask for help!

Step 4: To stay warm? Oh, come on, I KNOW you well enough to KNOW that you already KNOW the answer to THAT one!

Merry Christmas Dahling!

S said...

EmBee is a genius!

Jocelyn said...

You've summed up perfectly why I amn't a holiday fan: so much manufactured work, making already overwhelmed people feel even more overwhelmed. Let the world be on a diet, indeed.