I was getting the trunk ready for the run to the Christmas Tree Farm when I planted my feet firmly and leaned over to manhandle the spare tire back into position. Then my left foot cramped – inside my rigid boot. After awhile it eased to some extent and I hobbled around; then I bit the bullet and flexed it long enough to get my boot off. Oof! That did not feel good. In Easy Spirits it felt okay to walk and I went to Kroger’s in Auburn and to the Christmas tree place.
I discovered during this time that as long as my foot was pressed against something in its normal “L” position, it was not bad.
BUT when I sat down and let my foot hang . . . I was in pain.
Oh, great.
Just great.
Did someone give Rose a voodoo doll?
I am afraid that this is a post that is going to be continued.

LZP has always been one to embrace the season – any season, two or three seasons together – such as Halloween and Christmas two years ago when he cheered up Der Bingle, who was ill.

Well, this year we have something that should be a segment on a Cable TV show, say, oh, A Man and his Trees.

Here is this year’s tree from afar:

And here is a close-up of one of the light strings:

Finally, we have his office tree:

Of course, next year, I will be sending him a string of cow lights from Simply Bovine.

Cow Lights

Our Cow Lights are a fun addition to your decorations! Each set is 12 feet long and includes 10 hanging cows!
Maybe, though, I will send him a giant cow he can decorate. You know me and the milk of human kindness . . .

I found my Festive Christmas Bell Hair Ribbon; I walked through the house spreading good cheer.

  You only see two bells here, but there are five total. I have found that people want to give me little gifts of time to myself . . . Such as suggesting I go sit and read.

Well, there has been some excitement here. I got home and after a while realized I could not find my main medicine container– an old Sprint bag with a small hole in it. I had filled two bottles with needed medicine for the trip: one for my carry-on and one for my luggage.  I thought I had left the Sprint bag here.

But then I had a tingle in the back of my mind and I sort of remembered putting that Sprint bag in my Land’s End tote – that has my Mother’s monogram – to take only to Ohio in case the weather turned bad and I had to stay longer there. I wasn’t sure at all, but finally called Der Bingle and asked him to look in the closet opposite the bathroom for a beat-up Sprint bag. Yes, it was there. And he is sending up the necessary medicine. There’s other medicinal stuff in the bag, and, Der Bingle noted with total nonchalance, there is also a part of lamp. Hey, I’m one of a kind.

Why do I hear all these voices calling, “Thank God?”

Exciting, isn’t it? Rose went with us and she is going to stay here in the Ohio Redoubt of the West Facing Cave to recuperate and return to the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse this weekend with Der Bingle.  So I will have a few days to regale the folks there with stories while we munch our foldovers and sip our drinks.

The two days of travelling were tiring – layovers and small planes and a shuttle bus that made mostly left turns for 45 minutes to an hour. I don’t know – I’m thinking driving to a hub and flying out would be an option next year. But then it is December and the possibility of snow-slick roads looms. We’ll see. Or flying out two days early might be an option. Or not.

Are you wondering about the gambling question? Well, I didn’t do much. Penny machines. At the airport, I shoved in a farewell dollar and got on the plane with $24.* Then when we got to O’Hare, the only machines were newspaper ones, so  my “streak” was over.

The Las Vegas Marathon was Sunday afternoon – after we had left –  but there were plenty of wrestlers and cowboys in the hotel with us. Not as many little old ladies as I expected at the slots, so I was more noticeable. Really more noticeable – did you know they have a LOT of full length mirrors all over the place? Two big ones in our room alone. One of those was in the bathroom – sort of a moment of truth and awe. Or awwwwwwww.

*So, if I had put $100 in a dollar machine, would I have walked onto the plane with $2,400? Or bet a thousand and had (woo-hoo) $24,000? Not a wise way to think. Gee, two thousand would have made it $48,000 and I could have driven home in a new car . . . but then I’d be somewhere in Kansas right now.

I walked into the Ohio Redoubt of the West Facing Cave and, guess what? Oh, I gave it away in the title. Yes, the Pilgrims are hanging on Der Bingle’s little Christmas tree – the one he asked me to bring lights for. And, now, he has arrived.

Yesterday was interesting.  The nagging little voice in my mind that said to get an oil change finally got me to the Valvoline place, where the guys told me my serpentine belt was shot. They couldn’t change it because of an engine mount piece, but I went to Ensley’s Garage and exclaimed, “I’m going to Dayton tomorrow and my serpentine belt is about to break!” So, they got me in and I have a new belt. I don’t know if the serpentine belt had it in for me because of my anti-snake feelings or not. Der Bingle wanted to know if it hissed at me . . . Der Bingle, you have probably given me a phobia about opening the hood.

Other things happened – I don’t remember what; it’s a blur. I know one thing, though –  I didn’t get organized and I am experiencing “Oh, Miss Scarlett, I ain’t never packed no suitcase” moments. (Rose may have to do a lot of rearranging.)

Deep breaths, AmeliaJake, deep breaths.

Yesterday, when I put up the tree at the LaGrange County House, I expected it to  be a short one that I would put on a chair and position on the porch. Well, in the end, it’s there on the porch, but it’s not on a chair. It is six feet tall.

I think what happened is a variation of the “upside down top of the Wal-Mart tree” syndrome.

Years ago, before we got our super Wal-Mart building, Wal-Mart was where Rural King is now – sort of a gloomy place. And at Christmas, one little section was transformed into a towering clutter of Christmas ornaments, lights, trees and garland. Trees were in a crowded display, put together by the random, unlucky employee. One year, I thought one tree looked a little odd; finally, I realized the tree looked like a big triangle on the bottom with a small inverted triangle on top and it dawned on me that someone had put the top of the tree on upside down.

That was before cameras in phones.

But let us look at 2011. I went into the Christmas area to get the aforementioned small tree and I saw one. I looked at the identifying Capital Letter by the tree to see what I should look for in the stack of boxes. No problem. Until yesterday when I pulled the branches and base – and middle section? – out of the box. So I look at the box closely and see the number “6” as in 6 feet. I believe someone left the middle section out when they were assembling trees.

I toyed with doing that, but decided to go “full tree”. It could use another string of lights. At least. Well, in a bit I’ll see to it, or maybe I’ll just decide I like the primitive tree look. Yes, I can feel myself liking it  more already.

Look closely at the middle and spot the basketball hoop. This whole picture is “nothing but net”.

I was amazed this afternoon by the amount and speed involved in our first real snow event, or, more accurately, our first slushing. It started about 3:30 pm while I was driving and by the time I reached our house, I had been going mostly 30 mph behind lots of other cars and getting deeper and deeper in the ruts of slush that looked more like the aftermath of a blizzard than the beginning of a snowfall.
It was quite lovely while I was driving – an evolving Currier & Ives landscape. When I got here, Summer and I stuck our heads out of respective windows and snapped photos . . . and then she ran off to paparazzi her family members. She forgets the pictures I have of her on my camera. Oh, could this be one of them?

So I published it. Right below this. About the tree. Cryptic. This message, not the tree.

Okay, I’ve had my fun for the day; let me plunge into real sentences. I am going to Las Vegas this weekend for Der Bingle’s  Company Christmas party; I drive to Dayton on Thursday and we fly out on Friday and return on Sunday and I come home on Monday.  I’ve had this invitation before, but  haven’t gone . This time I was on a 3-way call with Quentin and Der Bingle and I said, “You know, I might just let people fend for themselves and go.”

Quentin said, “Yes, there’s no thinking about it, Mom. You’re going. You are definitely going.”

So I am going.

I probably should put Rose in my suitcase to keep me on the straight and narrow.

 What? Suitcase? I want my own seat, the window one, of course.