MOM

Yesterday was a great day.  My boss has been released to fly after his sinus surgery and headed off to Florida for a long weekend, so I took some of my comp time and I ALSO will have four days off.  I could really get into a habit of these long four-day weekends since I had Thanksgiving weekend off and this one too.

I had a lot planned to do and the best part was I didn't have to work but Gary did ... naaa non aaa naaa naaa.  Well, it wasn't really working for him.  He's retired and he and a friend were volunteering at the Scout office.  It was really play time for him.  But, I can get so much more done when I'm alone.

My first thing to check off my "to do" list was finish getting the house decorated.  I had a start on the "homemade" tree.  I call it this because it has a lot of homemade ornaments or "look like" homemade ornaments on it.  No round balls or glittery stuff.  Since I was by myself and had all day, I took time looking at the ornaments and remembering how I acquired them.  There were several from vacations and a couple from friends and family. 


There was a simple wooden wreath that I knew where it came from but forgot when.  The wreaths were given out after midnight mass in 1988.  That was the year my mother died and we went back to my home parish that year for mass. 








There was also a couple of ornaments that she made for me when she was active with Senior Citizens .... ummmm, Senior Citizens ... now I am one.  I miss my mom alot, even after 24 years, especially at this time of year.  She was a classy lady.  She was overweight most of my life but she just had this air of sophistication about her ... always impeccably dressed with perfect hair and makeup.  She was like me, always working on her weight, but she always looked beautiful and put together. 








The tree in the living room is decorated in white and gold but has one Purple decoration which was from the tree I had growing up and has her spirit popping out from the tree.










I finished with the homemade tree and then onto the racoon tree and everything else was pulled out of the bins.  It got to be around 1:00 when I decided to take myself out to lunch and do some Christmas shopping.  I had a soup and salad combo and was disappointed in the size of the salad but when I saw the calories in the half salad, I changed my tune.  I put a small dent in my shopping but at least I got a pretty good start to get me in the mood.

Gary was home when I got back and my motivation stopped ... but hey, I've  still got another day to finish the decorating.  Maybe I'll even have time to go out for a walk.