FINALLY

I have been trying really hard to find the Christmas spirit - but I gotta say shopping or errand-running in monsooning weather makes that hard.  As does being boxed in to a parking spot - not once, not twice but FOUR times in ONE day - since the line of cars refuses to let you out...unless, of course, they want your parking spot.  Or the rude and inconsiderate shoppers that elbow you out of their way.  Or the fact, that my tree STILL wasn't up.

To be honest? By the other night (and again last evening), I was fed up.  As evidenced by this Tweet...

If I don't get the damn Christmas tree up this weekend then it won't go up at all!!

The problem resides in the fact that I need other people to move a piece of furniture first. As the mom I'm supposed to pull off the magic but when other people are involved it becomes tiresome.

— Gigi (@gigirambles) December 15, 2018

And that, pretty much sums up where I was last night.  Done.

I had asked Man-Child to help his dad move the heavy chair when he was here on Monday night.  Apparently, they forgot about it.  Which was understandable as there was SO much going on with the ridiculous amount of snow and The Husband being sick (he's a bit better - we'll give it few more days and see if those antibiotics kick in).  I had assumed that we would see MC at some point early this weekend.  He had a wedding to attend that I wrongly assumed was in Raleigh...turns out it was in the mountains instead.  I knew I couldn't help the sickly husband move the chair (the darn thing weighs a thousand pounds...what? No, I'm not exaggerating!)  Once I realized that MC wouldn't be coming here, I had decided that this would be the Christmas without a tree!  

Because, although I would like the tree to stay up after the new year, I know me.  I would rather have that tree down and out of the way before I return to work on January 2nd.  Otherwise, that tree could possibly remain standing until July (ok...maybe I tend to exaggerate a TINY bit...).  But seriously?  What would be the point of putting up a tree next week only to take it down the next?

The Husband, sensing my frustration called our neighbor two doors down (I'm thinking I should give them the acronym of ONTDD...nah) and asked if he could help.  He was willing and able.

And saved our Christmas.  Because, I wasn't kidding...if that tree didn't go up this weekend, it wouldn't go up at all.

As soon as our neighbor left, The Husband immediately put the tree up - which I then trimmed this morning.  That coupled with the return of the sun, lifted my mood immediately.

Sadly, our angel decided not to light this year - you'll note she's missing from the top of the tree.  I have The Husband on a mission to find fuses - I'm hoping to save her.  But have resigned myself to the fact that we may have to replace her.

But as I stood in the garage and looked at the TEN storage bins of Christmas decorations, I declared - out loud, so it would count - that this is the year I finally wade through and start donating.  I have said it every year (but not out loud) since we downsized but the task is a daunting one which falls by the wayside with the decorating, shopping, wrapping, etc.

So I did a quick run through of all the boxes and was able to fill three grocery bags.  Later this afternoon - after discovering that my favorite lighted garland had also decided to die filled eleven more bags of things - bringing the total up to fourteen bags - including non-lighted garland, linens (SO MANY linens - linens I'd forgotten I even owned!) and knick-knacks.  All of this will be hauled off to Goodwill bright and early tomorrow.

As of today, I believe I have finished my shopping - except for the hunt for lighted garland for the porch and, possibly, a new angel.  I have one more package to wrap after it arrives tomorrow.

I have given up on the thought of getting Christmas cards out this year.  I had good intentions as we took family pictures over Thanksgiving - but unfortunately, NONE of them came out with a high-enough resolution for cards...so I have set that chore aside with absolutely no guilt.  Maybe next year.

So, finally...I am getting there...and finding that Christmas spirit.  Some years it takes a little longer than others, but eventually it always shows up.

The oddest gift for a child...

A few days ago, I asked my friend from two doors down what her children wanted for Christmas.

For the baby, I expected "busy" toys.  And was rewarded with that response.  For the oldest, I expected a request for a book and, was again, rewarded.  For the middle I expected a sports-related request.

This child gave me a surprise...

Instead of a football, soccer ball or other related sports equipment she informed me that he wanted an electric pencil sharpener.

An electric pencil sharpener???

Who buys that for a third grader?  What kind of crazy lady would even think that it is an appropriate gift for a child?

I asked her several times, "Are you SURE that's what he wants?"  And every time she responded with a yes.  Apparently, he only had three requests on his list and this particular electric pencil sharpener was on it.

I discussed this at length with The Husband.  How could I order a pencil sharpener for a child?  HOW could that be a gift  that child wanted?  The Husband finally looked at me and said, "Don't you remember the first time you came across an electronic pencil sharpener? And how cool it seemed?"

Apparently, I had forgotten.

And that was how I found myself ordering a pencil sharpener for a third grader.

When I informed her that I bought the EXACT model that he'd requested, she responded that he would be over the moon.

I hope she's right.  Because who buys a pencil sharpener for a Christmas gift?  Apparently, I do.

In exile, thanks to the snow...when does the South get THAT much snow anyway?

When I last left you, we were facing a monster snow storm.  And, boy, did we get hammered.  It started early, early Sunday morning and snowed steadily all day; by the time it stopped we had about 12 inches!!!

It was enough that my company, which has NEVER closed in its entire history, closed the office on Monday.

I have lived here in Somewhere, North Carolina for over twenty years - I have NEVER seen anything like this.  The Husband even commented that he hasn't seen anything like this since he moved out of New York state.

Yesterday, I spent the day listening to my husband hack and cough and moan while praying that a plow would come through.  Even if one did, we still couldn't have gotten out because The Husband was too sick to shovel the driveway.

Late yesterday afternoon, Man-Child slid down the street (how he made it through in that low car, I'll never know) and came to our rescue, shoveling most of the driveway and cleaning off the SUV - in the dark no less - which The Husband had planned to take to work this morning when his office opened at 11:00 am.  I begged The Husband to stop at Urgent Care because he sounded so awful.  He finally agreed before he left.  Both he and Man-Child left this morning and I continued to be stranded because the other car was still covered in snow.

During a text exchange with my friend two doors down, I learned that EVERY OTHER STREET in this neighborhood was plowed yesterday!  And? To add insult to injury those streets were plowed TWICE!

I posted on Nextdoor asking why and who should I call to get this street dealt with - utter silence.  In frustration, I used the "Contact Us" option on the NC DOT website - utter silence.  So I called the DOT; sat on hold for about 15 minutes and was finally dumped into their voicemail - which I did not want.  Mainly, because at this point I figured they wouldn't bother to call me back.  It's now been about 4 hours since I used the "Contact Us" option and still haven't heard a word.  I think that pretty much tells me that no, they wouldn't have called me back.

In other news, Habit for Humanity was supposed to show up today to pick up all that stuff in the garage.  Did they show up?  No and I was not surprised, nor upset.  Did they call to re-schedule?  No, they did not and that rankled.  At this point, I'm pretty fed up with any and all agencies.

My lonely exile wasn't long though - after The Husband went to Urgent Care he was sent home with a diagnosis of bronchitis.  They told him he was lucky it wasn't pneumonia; which is what I was worried about.  I told him that if he'd held off going he probably would have ended up with it.

Unbeknownst to me, The Husband had also posted on Nextdoor trying to find someone to clear his car and side of the driveway.  But he posted using my account; so imagine my surprise when I received a direct message from some random guy.  I was hesitant to open it because why would some random guy be sending me a direct message?!  Yes, I AM suspicious.  In this day and age, sadly, you kind of have to be.

This random guy turns out be a nice person, I assume, who offered to come finish the driveway and car - and when asked his price?  He responded with, "Whatever you think is fair." And just like that, he restored my faith in humanity...just in time for Christmas.

And yes, I wrote him a very generous check, am planning to bake some Christmas cookies for his family and am probably going to ask him (he owns his own construction company) about getting me a front door.

Christmas Prep....hahahahahaha

I knew that we should have pulled out the Christmas decorations last weekend.  I knew it...but we didn't - because those boxes would have cluttered up the already cluttered and over-stuffed garage and I was hoping that I could get Habitat for Humanity to come pick up the bathroom vanity, freezer, and dresser that currently calls the garage home.

Unfortunately, after I made this very important decision, Habitat for Humanity informed us that they couldn't get here until next Tuesday.... *sigh*

Man-Child came home one night this past week and helped The Husband pull the decorations down - which are now blocking all of the items Habitat for Humanity is supposed to pick up on Tuesday...but who knows if they will even make it now.

Why, you ask?

Because we are currently expecting between 10 to 13 inches of snow between tonight and Monday.  In the South.  Where we NEVER get anything more than a couple of inches.  If anything, we get more ice than snow.  So if this forecast bears out, I'm expecting complete and utter chaos.

Since I am woefully behind on my Christmas shopping, instead of using my day off Friday to decorate, I went shopping for gifts and baking supplies - for our annual treat week day at work on Monday (hahahahaha!  But, in the event the snow event fizzles, I still need to be prepared! *I* planned this, I HAVE to be ready).  And then wrapped - at least in this area I'm ahead of the game - kinda.  Instead of decorating today, I went out and did some more shopping - do you know what would make shopping easier (other than hitting the lottery)?  If my family would actually give me some ideas, that's what. And will probably do some more futile online shopping once I finish this post. 

Prior to sitting down to write this post, I tried to persuade The Husband (who is down with the dreaded Man-Cold; the symptoms of which are already getting on my nerves - God help us if we do get snowed in) to help me get the tree into the house and set up.  But before that can be done, the heavy chair needs to be moved.  He suggested waiting until Man-Child is here.  *Humph!*  We don't know WHEN we will see him again.  Definitely not next weekend, as he is in a wedding.  Perhaps, my time would have been better spent outside decorating...but to be honest?  A day with temperatures hovering in the low 40's does not entice me to spend time outside, wrangling garland around the porch rails - only to discover mid-wrangling that the pre-lit lights don't work or that I have put them on backwards, so that the plug is on the opposite end of the porch from the outlet (one or the other happens EVERY year, I swear).  I'm seriously beginning to believe that our only Christmas decorations this year will be our stockings.

So, as I type this, the house is bare of any Christmas cheer - instead it sits adding to the clutter in the garage - other than the gifts adorned with pretty ribbon.  And baking supplies at the ready for when I'm snowed in and can't do anything else...until we lose power.  Which is entirely possible.

I figured out what to get The Husband for Christmas...before I kill him.

I literally just Googled this...

Best Wireless Headphones for TV Before I Kill My Husband

Because, honestly?  I'm about ready to kill my husband.  We go through the same scenario every night...I log on to the computer (in the dining room) to see what y'all are up to and The Husband turns on the tv (in the living room)...did I mention that this house is an open concept home, which means the kitchen, dining and living room are all one big room?  The turning on the tv means that The Husband has the volume at full blast.  Which only gets louder when there is shooting, shouting or music of any kind.  And every time that happens I kind of hate him for it (kinda, I recognize that I still love him but that I also want to kill him - welcome to marriage!).

Muttering under my breath does no good - because, obviously he can't hear it.  Asking him to turn it down only works for so long before all the noise subsides to regular conversation that he can't hear has him turning it up again.  I have told him repeatedly that he needs to have his hearing checked.  So far, he is resisting this option (I think because he's afraid hearing aids may be in his future and isn't ready to admit that he is at that point in his life); much like he resists going to the eye doctor - even though I remind him constantly that glaucoma runs in his family.

So before I dive into an exhaustive Google search for the best headphones to keep me from killing him - is this a problem in your home?  Have you solved it?  If so, help a girl out, please!  If not, please start a Go Fund Me for bail money..

Sometimes Future-Gigi is pleasantly surprised by Past-Gigi...

Yesterday, I pulled open the drawer that holds the table linens prepared to spend far too much time ironing napkins.  Instead I was surprised to see that the napkins had already been ironed!  Apparently, after the last meal that I deemed worthy enough of cloth napkins (probably Easter, if I'm honest), I gave Future-Me a gift and ironed the napkins after washing them.

This made me very happy.

Except - for some reason, I ironed them in thirds - shaped like a rectangle.  This was only a minor blip though.  See, normally I iron them in fourths - shaped like a square and then proceed to do this very seemingly, complicated thing (it's really not) that my friend's son calls "napkin oragami."

But still - ironed napkins at the ready!  I did proceed with the napkin oragami and was done in more than half the time it usually takes me.  With this lovely surprise in the back of my head, today I presented Future-Me with another gift.  After washing those napkins, I ironed them - this time in fourths.

Future-Me won't be as surprised as I was yesterday since it will be about a month from now when those napkins get pulled out - but most likely it will remind Future-Me to treat Further-In-The-Future-Me to a nice surprise.

But you know what would REALLY be magical?  If I opened that drawer and found the table cloth was already ironed.  I know that won't be happening...especially since I skipped using it at all this year. Oh well, maybe by then the Future-Me will have figured out the easiest way to iron that stupid tablecloth.

Unspoken contracts...

All relationships have them...especially old married couples.  You know the ones I mean, he might loathe emptying the dishwasher, so it becomes her job.  She may need to be the first one in the bathroom every morning, so he uses the guest bath.  And on and on.

And then, occasionally, one might find that the other is overstepping his bounds in the unspoken contract...this is the dilemma that has recently presented itself in this house...enough so that the unspoken contract needed to become spoken.

The former owners of this house, created a "mini mudroom" in the hall from the garage to the house.  They did a board and batten kind of thing which I love and added five hooks from which you can hang purses, hats, bags, etc.

Note there are FIVE hooks.

Recently, I've noticed that The Husband has taken to using one or both of the hooks that I consider mine.  As our household has dwindled to the two of us, I had commandeered two hooks for my purse, reusable bags and jacket/sweater and left the other three for him.  And then, all of a sudden, random jackets, etc. began showing up on MY hooks.  I would move them back to HIS hooks, thinking surely that would be the clue that he needed.

This did not happen.

So finally, this weekend, I told The Husband that those were my hooks.  Twice.

And today, he had the nerve to lament that I dared to commandeer TWO hooks!  I looked him dead in the eye and said, "There are FIVE hooks; I have two and you have THREE."  And, lo and behold, today he left my hooks alone...

That unadorned hook? It's MINE!

As much as I like this little mini mudroom situation, it gets crowded, especially now in the in-between season where it's cold one day, warm the next, and then it rains.  In the summer, I try to keep all the hooks, except for the one on the end, clear. And to be honest, that in itself is a never ending task.

Old school blogging and missing the community we used to have

I've been hearing rumblings in the blogging world.  It started with this call to arms, which then led to the creation of this community.  Just Google the term "old school blogging" and you will end up with a myriad of results dating from 2015 to 2018 (and that's just the first page of results).  This tells me that there are plenty of bloggers/readers who are missing the community that old school blogging facilitated.

And then a few days ago, The Bloggess, wrote a post entitled Calling All Bloggers, which was inspired by this post (and when I dove deeper I found this post)...all of which highlighted what many of us have been saying...where did the community go?

I can't say for sure whether or not I am an "old school" blogger - but I've been doing this fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants blog since about July 2009 (over NINE years?! Really?!  Somehow this amazes me),  I think that means I qualify. Here is what I remember about "old school" blogging...

Each blog had a community...people kept coming back for more because they loved the interaction.  I've written a million several posts about comments.  They were vital to blogs - back in the day...that's what kept us writing posts...because we wanted to connect.

I miss Texan Mama who wrote Who Put Me in Charge of These People? (which has since morphed into Gretchen Willis Photography (she is amazing with a camera!),  FourSons (which has completely disappeared from the interwebs...no amount of Googling can find her - sure I know where she resides on FaceBook, but I want to respect her privacy), Jerry from Gently Said was lost in the whole Blogger/Yahoo issue, which two years later is STILL NOT resolved (sending very disapproving looks to both companies along with a lecture to "play nice!"), From The Inside...Out - last I heard she moved to California and was loving it; Hyperbole and a half has also disappeared, as has Laundry Hurts My Feelings and Pearl...and many, many, many more.

If you look to your right, you will notice that I still have these listed on my "blog roll" (which is what we called it back in the day - these were the blogs that we loved and wanted to share) because I keep hoping one day they will pop back up.

We had a lot of fun back then.  We would share "awards" and tag other bloggers.  When someone new would pop up in the comments, the protocol was to go visit them and say hi - and possibly follow.  We would create tags, like the What's In Your Bag and tag other bloggers to play along.

I think part of the problem now is - people just aren't commenting as much as they used to - for whatever reason.  Maybe they are shy.  Maybe they are thinking, they don't know me and probably don't want to hear what I have to say.  Or, well, who knows why?

But here's the thing.  The person writing the blog is putting their thoughts out there; reaching for a connection.  Starting the conversation.  So it only makes sense that they would be delighted to get a response, right?  I mean, if the blogger wasn't looking for a connection they would either set their blog to private or not blog at all and just journal.

I know I haven't been the best at commenting lately but that changes now - I am going to attempt to comment on every post I read - even if the blog in question isn't one that I consistently follow - because, honestly?  I think that might be the way to find ourselves back to that community feeling we we used to have.

The cake that didn't want to be made...twice!

Yesterday was The Husband's birthday and we had planned to have our friends two doors down over for dinner and dessert.  The idea was to celebrate The Husband's birthday and Man-Child's birthday (which was a MONTH ago!).

The reason we hadn't celebrated MC's birthday yet was because getting him here to actually do so has been impossible with his schedule of late.

At any rate, I planned to make a praline cake - yes, not a traditional birthday cake, but a cake that Man-Child loves.  The Husband, who typically doesn't eat many of the sweet treats I make, scoffed at that cake.  I offered to make something else but he said no.

Then, as I pulled out my recipe binder, I remembered I had his mother's recipe for his all time favorite dessert; the one he always requested for his birthday when he was younger - and just like that I was making two desserts.

With relatively no issues, I whipped up the base for the "pudding pie" for The Husband and set about to making the praline cake while it cooled before finishing it up.

Truly, I can't even call this recipe "baking" as you use a boxed cake mix but it is - usually - incredibly easy.  I am sharing it here both because I think some of you might like it and because it will help to explain what happened in both instances.

Praline Cake

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (as always, I prefer dark brown sugar)
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 pkg SuperMoist Butter Pecan cake mix

Heat oven to 350.  Mix pecans, brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in small bowl, with a spoon.  Spread on bottom of un-greased rectangular pan.  Prepare cake mix as directed on package.  Pour batter carefully over the pecan mixture.  Bake as directed on package (35-40 minutes).  When done, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen; immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof serving tray or wire rack.  Leave pan over cake for about 5 minutes; remove pan.  Serve warm or cool.

When the praline cake was finished baking, I pulled it from the oven, ran the knife around the edges, and prepared to turn the cake upside down...

 ...and promptly lost my grip and the entire cake exploded onto the stove top.  Ruined.  The entire cake was a total loss and the incredible, sticky mess was, luckily, contained to the stove top.  Thank goodness I was home alone as I may have let a few unladylike words fly.

I threw the ruined cake in the trash, cleaned up the sticky, gooey mess and headed to the grocery for supplies - this cake was going to be made come hell or high water.

Upon returning home, I started the whole process again.  While the cake was in the oven, I finished off the pudding pie.  And, in the event that anyone wants that recipe, I'll share it here.  Also, not really baking.

Pudding Pie

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks of butter)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans is my preferred nut for this recipe)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup Cool Whip
2 4 oz packages instant chocolate pudding
3 cups of milk
1 chocolate bar

Mix flour, butter and nuts with a fork or pastry blender.  Spread in 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  Set aside to cool completely.

Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and Cool Whip.  Spread over the cooled crust.  Mix up instant chocolate pudding and milk.  Spread this mixture over the cream cheese layer.  Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the last layer.  Grate the chocolate bar over the top.  Refrigerate for four hours or overnight.

As I was finishing up the pudding pie (which The Husband was delighted to see), The Husband was hovering around the kitchen waiting for me to finish so we could go to lunch.  And, as he told me repeatedly, he was starving.

As I pulled the cake from the oven, I thought it seemed a little jiggly but the toothpick I had used to check for done-ness came out clean.  The Husband flipped the cake for me, as I had told him about the first cake.  In my rush to wrap up this process, I neglected to leave the pan over the cake for the required five minutes.  Turns out, this step is pretty crucial to the recipe.  It doesn't ruin the cake, but it helps to firm up the topping (which was in the bottom of the pan).

We left for lunch, only to come home to discover that a lot of the praline "juice" had run off the sides of cake - once again leaving a sticky mess on the stove top. *sigh*  And, even worse...the center of the cake had collapsed!  Despite the toothpick being clean, the cake clearly could have done with another ten minutes in the oven.  Luckily, it was only that one, small part - the rest of the cake was fine.

You know what is next to impossible to photograph?  The collapsed part of the cake.  The topping serves as a fine camouflage...

This angle kinda shows the collapse...but also shows what happens when you neglect to leave the pan on for the required five minutes.

At this point, there wasn't time to make it again, so I called it "good enough."  I also neglected to take a picture of the pudding pie...I am clearly failing as a "food" blogger. ;-)

Despite, the collapse, this cake was a clearly a hit.  Man-Child took the rest home and will, hopefully, share with his roommate...but I have a feeling he may hide it.

The pudding pie was also well received, I did notice that The Husband didn't offer to send any of it home with MC though...

A weekend of purging...

Next week, we are having a business dress clothing drive at work to benefit those who are in need of nice business clothing in order to interview for jobs, etc.  As I have been meaning to clean out my closet of some of those now, unnecessary clothes this was the prod I needed.

Yesterday, I waded into the closet and was able to fill four bags of clothing and shoes that I do not need anymore.  I did save a few favorites because you never know when I might need some "grown up" clothes.  But now, the majority of my closet is fairly casual.

A little over two years ago, when we moved in, I knew that I would need to go through the dresser that landed in my dressing room when we discovered that all of our furniture wouldn't fit in our bedroom and move some of The Husband's clothes to his closet.  But then life got in the way, as it always does, and this project was put off.  Mainly, because the system I had in place was working...kind of.

Today, I dove in to that dresser.  There were two drawers of The Husband's old socks and two drawers of old tee-shirts.  He has not wandered into that room to look for any of these clothes in well over two years.

Because I am a kind wife who wanted him to know what I was about to do (since he's accused me of taking his clothing and giving it away before without telling him; which I have never done!), I walked into the living room and informed The Husband (aka The Hoarder) that I was sending all the socks and tee-shirts to Goodwill.  He agreed - and then it dawned on him that I wasn't talking about sending MY socks and tee-shirts; because why would I announce that to him?

Then he said, "Do you want me to come look through them first?"  I told him no, because then he would want to keep everything - despite not missing those clothes for over two years.  Surprisingly, he didn't argue.  So I packed everything up, along with a few items of my clothing that weren't business, and some of my costume jewelry that I never wear, into six bags, put them in my car and carted them away - before he could change his mind and take a peek!

When I came home, I was then able to rearrange all the drawers in a way that actually made sense and was able to find a home for my socks and tights that had been living in tucked away bins.

Now, the dressing room, is far from where it needs to be - as I have stuff that was under the extra vanity in the guest bath living in there (we FINALLY had it removed AND had the Amityville Horror paint job fixed!  Now we are waiting for our friend to find the time to help with building the shelves - baby steps), but it's getting closer.  And I know it will get worse before it gets better - because Christmas is coming...and guess where all the gifts get hidden prior to being wrapped?

Speaking of which, I guess I better get started on some serious Christmas shopping because, holy cow, HOW is it already November 4th?!