NaBloPoMo Topics Reprise

 I was reassured to notice that, after I did a reorg of the Christmas decorations last year, this year it was actually easier to find what I needed and get it all out. This gives me hope that what I'm doing now will yield similarly positive results. However, my brilliant plan to put all the Christmas presents in the downstairs storage closet doesn't seem to have worked since I already can't find the book I bought for Matt's mom's husband/widower. 

Speaking of books and my disaster of a memory, after my Covid booster a couple of days ago I went to the bookstore to wander around and pick up some book presents. I got to the cash and the woman at the counter was bitchy to me, which made me remember that this same person has been bitchy to me every time I've encountered her, and I was mad at myself for not saying anything, but that's not really part of the story (I'm glad now that I didn't say anything because someone posted something about being nice to people even when they're rude to you and it resonated). I got home and there was a package from Indigo, and I opened it and found the very book that I had just bought for Eve at the store. 

Fuck.

I put the book on the table with the receipt in it, preparatory to stopping at the other branch of the store on the way home from work today (because it's more on the way AND because, even if I don't want to be rude back to her, I'm not going to go out of my way to expose myself to the same person's bitchiness any more than necessary). Then I checked my list of Christmas present ideas and discovered that I had bought the copy of the book that was in the package for my nephew.

At least I figured it out before returning the book? 

Speaking of Eve and me losing things (like my mind), she picked up my credit card from the gas station where I left it (refer back to my "I Am A Giant Loser" post) I sent her an envelope with a stamped, self-addressed envelope inside it so she could send it back easily - because she's busy! and I didn't want to make more work for her with midterms approaching! Not because I didn't think she could handle the simple task of obtaining an envelope and a stamp! And she was perfectly fine with it, but she still told her roommates so they could mock both of us a bit, before they went on a housemate group date to the post office to mail it. Then we called each other Mommy Envelope and Baby Envelope for a bit. 

And now it is the time of year when I get home from work and switch on a dozen things that light up or glow, and before I go to bed I switch them all off, and I am very okay with that. 

It is also the time of year when my feet or my back or both usually start to be complete and total assholes, and I grit my teeth and gut it out, baking and decorating and limping, collapse after Christmas and finally address the problem in January (or February). Today while I was shelving, in addition to the usual lower back pain and higher neck pain, I started getting fiery hot nerve pain by my spine between my shoulder blades. This prompted me to entertain the possibility of NOT being a tremendous dumbass for a change, and I went back to my desk and booked a physio appointment for next week. Growth is possible! Change can happen! Wellbutrin might be a miracle drug! 

Comments

Nicole said…
Yay for physio!
Oh, your house looks BEAUTIFUL. I love the staircase especially.
I laughed about the book thing, that feels like something I would do.
Ernie said…
It is bazaar to me that some people have the kind of job security that they can be rude or snappy with customers.

Your house does look lovely. I'm thinking about getting some kind of greenery with lighting to decorate the mantle. It would be nice to distract from the toddler gear that is scattered all over the family room. I set up my village houses yesterday. Always a big undertaking that takes an entire nap time. Glad it's done.

I hope the physio helps. Good job getting that appointment scheduled.
NGS said…
I, too, must wander around turning on all the glowy things and then turning them off. It gets dark at like 4:30 and we have to do SOMETHING to keep me awake past dinnertime. Your mantel looks so happy and perfect!

The captcha thing asked me to mark all the things that are crosswalks and I spent an inordinate amount of time considering the question of what a crosswalk really was. If I am wrong, just know that it was an existential crisis AND now since I started typing this, my verification has expired and I have to do a new one and it really was all for nothing. *heavy sigh* Let's hope this one doesn't ask me to identify all the cute dogs or something. (It was palm trees.)
StephLove said…
Yes, I think not returning the book is a win.

Your decorations look great. North did ours so I should not complain, but they didn't take down any of the stuff that's normally on the mantle before they started, so the effect is somewhat chaotic.
Suzanne said…
I cannot recall if I commented or not. So this may be a duplicate. But I love your staircase garland -- so pretty! And all the warm festive lights!

Your brain must have KNOWN that you needed that second book, that's why you bought it. Good work, brain.
I love all the glowy things! In our household we do not do much decorating for Christmas because we are usually never here for the big day. The facto that 4/5 of us are Jewish might also be a factor. This means I all the more enjoy seeing other people's decorations.

The housemate group trip to the post office cracked me up. My children's generation has a different relationship to the postal service than my generation does. "A stamp?" the young 'uns say, "What is a stamp? and why do I need one?"

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