We had a very good time at the party last weekend. I am talking about the overnight Christmas Party at the resort, the one that got my knickers into a twist. It is my experience, that if I am stressed about having to do something, it is best to do all my emoting well before the event. When the feeling of being overwhelmed is externalized, it is acknowledged and dealt with before the event. This “clears the decks”, keeping the negative feelings from sullying the experience, because they have already been dealt with.
We arrived to a very nice room, with a wood burning fireplace, a refrigerator, coffeemaker, wifi, TV. After settling in, we dressed for dinner, then joined the party. The waitress had been alerted to my situation, and she bent over backwards to make sure I was as comfortable as possible. The food was great, Attila said, and the company was pleasant. We even danced during the evening. Attila and I and a female employee were the last to leave the party room, which was still going strong at 1 a.m. The beds were comfortable. We joined the rest of the staff for breakfast, again I brought my own, and afterwards packed the car and headed home.
Attila’s employer was generous to all, hosting such a fantastic overnight party at a resort. They also had special decorations for the tables, and gifts for every single employee and guest. They know how to do things up right, and their employees are happy to give their all at work, because it works both ways. Attila’s employers are Gold Star employers.
Monday morning, just as morning was dawning, I climbed into Tank and set my sights for the little house in the city. Several hours after I left, Attila and Mist headed out in Four Doors, for the same destination. Our respective journeys were uneventful, we all arrived safely. Attila will be here, gone again, back here, gone again, and so on, over the next few weeks. Tank and Mist and I will be staying on at the little house for the duration of December.
It has been some time since we stocked up on supplies, so part of Monday, and all day Tuesday, Attila and doodled around the city gathering supplies from various sources. Most of our money went to food, but we did buy a few other items.
One thing Attila decided to splurge on this year is a pair of gloves for work. They had to be extremely rugged, as he handles a lot of lumber and construction materials. They had to be warm, as he works long hours out of doors. They had to be waterproof, as he works in the snow and rain. I researched gloves for Attila for quite a while before finding all of these qualities in a glove at a reasonable cost. I did find them, and could order them, at a store near the little house in the city. I ordered two pairs. Today Attila picked them up, and it seems that will do nicely. The real test is when Attila wears them at work. He will know soon enough if they are up to the job.
We hit our usual hotspots, the Thrift Store, and the ReStore.
At the Thrift Store I found a red blouse that will do nicely for next Christmas, for only $1.00. This is a real relief, as the price is certainly right, for an item of clothing to be worn one day a year, possibly only once. I also found a lovely wool scarf.
At the ReStore we found some high quality glue for $2.00, assorted screws for $1.00, and some ceramic cabinet hardware for $1.00 per knob.
On this trip we need to obtain a local cell phone for the little house in the city. Our cell phone is attached to our country house. Since Attila and I drive separate vehicles long distances now, we both need an emergency cell phone. Attila will take the cell phone attached to the country house location, and I will use the “new ” cell phone attached to the little house in the city.
Yesterday I broke down and ventured out in Four Doors to look for a new cell phone. There are only two local stores that sell them, and I visited both of them. In the end I purchased an Alcatel phone with a Telus sim card. It is a cheap flip phone, with no bells, no whistles, just send and receive calls. I called customer support to assist me with setting it up, and then tried to top up the cell phone using my credit card. No can do, the address for the cell phone is the little house in the city, the address for the credit card is for the country house. The addresses have to be the same. My only option was to make a trip this morning to purchase a top up pin number. I went for the $100 that is good for 365 days. This saves me from forgetting more than once a year, to top up the cell phone!
Attila and I are happily puttering about today. I have strung Christmas lights on the front windows, hung a few Christmas ornaments in the windows, put up the tiny artificial Christmas tree, and decorated it. I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce, and invited Terra and Lares for supper. Should be fun!
Attila rerouted the electrical wiring to the kitchen, as it had been installed in a crazy way. While he was at it, he installed a new updated electrical switch box, and a new plate to cover it all. He also got started on installing the new light fixture above the kitchen sink. The light fixture that was there when we purchased the house in 2010 never worked.
Mist meowed weakly twice after being brought into the little house from the car, when we arrived on Monday. She adjusted immediately, and has been as happy as a clam. She seems to love the little house, and had staked out her hiding places, as well as Attila’s chair!
Tired! I am feeling tired, so I fear the proofreading on this entry is not up to snuff. I will do better next time!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-3°C
Date: 3:00 PM EST Wednesday 10 December 2014
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: falling
Visibility: 2 km
Temperature: -2.7°C
Dewpoint: -4.7°C
Humidity: 86%
Wind: NNW 29 gust 43 km/h
Wind Chill: -10
Quote
“I love life…Yeah, I’m sad, but at the same time, I’m really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It’s like…It makes me feel alive, you know. It makes me feel human. The only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good. So I guess what I’m feeling is like a beautiful sadness.”
Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Sounds like you two are really moving forward with some things. It feels great when you see changes coming about, doesn’t it.
You’re ahead of us now with Christmas. We still haven’t gotten our Christmas tree done. It’s up but there are no decorations on it until we replace the burnt out lights at the top of the tree. I figure those will be done by the weekend at the latest. We don’t have anymore outside commitments and I just finished off the last of my products for my company, today. My time is more so my own now, until the end of the year. Though, I will be doing some work on webpages over the next few weeks.
There are a few burnt out bulbs on our Christmas lights, and I was looking for replacement bulbs today while I was out shopping. Did not find any, and will have to try again. I was reading somewhere that it is important to replace them so that the string of lights does not overheat. Ours are only on while we are in the room, so we should be fine until I can find some replacements. In our little house, no matter where we are, we are practically in the same room as the Christmas lights 🙂
I’m sure Mist will approve of the central heating in the little house. Glad she got comfortable so quickly!
Wendy, we were quite relieved that Mist settled in so rapidly. The central heating is a big plus for her, and she loves that we are both around right now, she likes to sit between us, purring.
That’s such a sweet visual, Mist sitting between the two of you, purring.
There’s nothing like furry bookends to make a body feel warm and cosy!
Paul is home! Thanks for all your good thoughts for him. xxxx
Thanks Teri! We love our pets, don’t we!
So glad Paul is home safe and sound Bex!
I’m glad the Christmas party was more enjoyable than you suspected it would be and that your kitty is comfy!
Thanks Joan, we feel very lucky to have Mist sitting with us, just “grooving”… I can’t believe I just wrote that word! Gettin’ old!
Maggie, You have a good way of dealing with your stress. Unusually if I go back and forth it means ‘no’. But I have been proved wrong with that. I am glad you got it up and out and handled before hand.
The accommodations sounded nice. You DANCED!!!!! I think that is wonderful. I too danced at the last company party but it was oh, so awkward. The dance floor was small and right in front of the DJ who as you know was blaring music. I was a fish out of water. But I do love to dance.
So, you are really a party animal and stayed to the very end! Atilla’s employer sounds like something out of Ripley’s. I have never heard of such a generous company. Things are so tight right now. I am happy you both got to enjoy a nice night together.
Good find on the red blouse and scarf! My kind of prices. 🙂 I am currently going through all my clothes again (like you did) and getting things ready to donate tomorrow. I see that my losses last year have made me somewhat needy and I started to fill in emptiness with ‘stuff’ that I do not need. I am getting a grip because I understand my syndrome. I have been through it enough times…..
New cell phone without bells and whistles. Good for you. It’s handy in the event of an emergency as long as you get reception. When we were in AR last year our cell phone did not work because we were too far away from civilization. I ended up with that phone and hubby got a newer version with bells and whistles. Neither one of us really know how to work all the options on the phones. We just want them for the basics.
Did you have a nice dinner with Terra and Lares? Is your decorating completed? I had taken things out to decorate with and then decided to go light so packed up some. I love the lights.
Attila is always active. He puts me to shame. I used to be such a bundle of energy.
Nice to have Mist acclimate so easily. I guess she knows the routine.
You said you were tired…I can understand why! Hope you got a good rest.
One of the drawbacks to my method of “clearing the decks” is that once I have come to some kind of conclusion, it would take the intelligence of Einstein and the persuasiveness of Mahatma Gandhi to get me to even consider changing my mind. Stubborn doesn’t half cover it.
Dancing is so much fun, and you like it too Nora! I wasn’t going to dance, but one of Attila’s coworkers, young enough to be my son, asked me to dance. So I did. I stayed on the dance floor for a few hours, and enjoyed every single second. I care not at all what I look like, seriously, not one bit. I am an old girl having a good time, I’ve earned it, I’m doing it.
Purging is always good for soul I think Nora, particularly when there are those who welcome the “stuff” being sent out into the universe. It is a form of “charity” I enjoy most, no one has to be grateful to me, they never know who I am, they are allowed to simply delight in their new “stuff”. Dignity for all.
The dinner with Tera and Lares was lots of fun. I had to prepare the meal in a kitchen with tools on the counters! I fretted that I hadn’t cooked enough spaghetti, and we all laughed when there were leftovers. Lares and Tera prepared the garlic bread. The kitchen is small, so there was a lot of togetherness. After dinner Terra played with her cell phone app that took videos of us all, distorting our faces and voices in hilarious ways. Terra laughed until she cried, so wonderful to see!
Attila is just like that. I love it and it drives me crazy sometimes. Mostly I love it, and it has a lot of benefits as well.
Attila and I are well rested now Nora. Attila has been taking afternoon naps, which he considers to be the absolute height of luxury! He doesn’t mind getting up early when he can lie down for a nap anytime he chooses.
Maggie,
Stubborn can be good! Sometimes it is just what is needed to get a job done.
Dancing, yes. You on the floor for several hours….I could not do that unless I was three sheets to the wind. That has not happened in so long I can’t remember. Rock on Maggie!
Nice third paragraph.
Cooking together is so nice. I wish our kitchen was bigger. Years ago my beau and I had parties, lots of parties. He was so good natured. We would cook together and it was so much fun. That is actually when the party started. I’m glad you had a nice dinner together and laughed until you cried (or she did). What you all were doing reminds me of the JibJab site. That can be hysterical!
Attila takes afternoon naps. Bless his heart. When I do this and sometimes there is no getting around it, I am up ALL night. I have the strangest hours now. Since it so quiet here at night I tend to feel at ease and comfy when everyone else has turned the lights off. The quiet is very healing to me.
See you in dreamland.
Your parties that started with cooking together sound wonderful Nora! I love cooking with others, but Attila does not like it! He is a loner when it comes to cooking, everyone, get out of “his” kitchen! So it was a real treat to have Terra and Lares in the kitchen with me. Attila doesn’t like to accomplish tasks “with” someone else, he prefers to work on projects alone, no matter what they are. That is how it evolved that he takes care of the firewood and the snow shovelling at the country house all on his own, I gave up being in his way! At our house either I am cooking, or Attila is cooking, we do not cook at the same time. Since there is so much to be done at the country house, and Attila likes to work on his tasks alone, I do not see a lot of him in the morning or the evening when he is off work. He sets aside a little time in the morning to chat over coffee, in front of the fire, and a little in the evening to chat, snack, and wind down from his busy day.
Thankfully Attila enjoys doing other things together! All we have to do is reduce the number of “tasks” and increase the number of social activities in our lives, to achieve a balance. It could happen!
Attila can nap and sleep through the night. Like you Nora, if I nap I will not be able to get a good night’s rest. By happy accident I discovered that if I take a short nap sitting upright in a chair, I will feel rested and it will not affect my night’s sleep. This is weird, but totally consistent. So if I am tired during the day I sit in my easy chair and nod off for ten or fifteen minutes. Who knew!
The quiet is very healing.
Maggie, Hubby is in the same club as Atilla when it comes to the kitchen. We do not cook together. He cooks or I cook. Like you two we enjoy doing things together and we also need to achieve the balance of errands/fun things. There is no real social life foe us here.
I do nap sitting up and for me that is the same as bed rest. It doesn’t take much to beam up again. I wish it was not so. I fell asleep after dinner (sitting up-ish) and was up until 5:00 a.m. Then I could not get my act together to go do our errands so Mr. Wonderful is out doing them. Next time I just may stay up all night and see if I can get back on track. It takes so much to get back on track and so little to derail! I wasn’t always like this.