Feeling a little panicky

I admit, I am panicking a little bit. I just got the tree done today, such as it is. The lights are on, but the ornaments are sparse. That is mainly due to the cats, but also, I just don't have the time and energy to do a hugely fabulous tree this year. It is what it is. Things are way behind schedule from Christmases past. Its mainly because Erica moved, and then Stephen moved....I got behind. But I keep telling myself that it's really OK. Erica won't be home, Stephen and Hannia most likely won't be home (that is still up in the air, but it is fine. I am keeping myself flexible for whatever ends up happening). It is just going to be a scaled back holiday this year. And that is fine....isn't it?

I have barely shopped. I haven't wrapped anything at all. Except for the tree and a few lights wrapped around the front porch columns....well, that is about the only decorating that is going to get done. I do plan to at least drag out a red table cloth eventually. We are having some friends over for Christmas dinner, and that makes me happy. It will keep me from missing Erica so much. Missing Dad so much.
I just want to chill out, relax, and enjoy some time off work. God knows Bruce and I both deserve it. This year the P.O. is about to kill us both. Due to so called "dwindling" mail volume, we are working harder than ever. Seriously, I have NEVER had this many packages or mail. I don't get it. But whatever. Come December 25th all of that will be behind us for 1 more year. Yay!

And I have our New Year plans to look forward to, too. Its going to be a wonderful holiday season. Just different. Things change and adjustments have to be made. It feels weird not decking the halls to the hilt, or spending hours out shopping.
I just need to learn to relax and enjoy things just the way that they are. I hope you all take some time to slow down and enjoy this holiday, too.

Making it Green

Well, our Christmas tree is still naked. But, the good news is that the cats seem much less interested in it and maybe I can get it decorated in the next few days. I hope so. I see everybody all decorated for the holidays and then come home and it feels really blah and un-festive. Its a bummer. But in the meantime, I did a little web surfing for more eco-friendly recycled Christmas trees. Some are really pretty, some are interesting but not my taste. Still, I love how creative people can be with green ideas:

-Done with Mountain Dew cans. The end result is actually really pretty

-Books! I don't think its gorgeous, but its definitely interesting:

-5 gallon Water bottles. I kind of like this one:

-Tools, and car parts. A handy man tree. Its cool, but not exactly pretty:

For small spaces, how about a table top "Fork" tree??

Another tree from drink cans:

Do any of these trees give you ideas? Or are you more of a traditional Christmas tree person? We will go the traditional route, mainly due to lack of time. I think to come up with something really unique and interesting, you would need to start the planning and collecting of recyclables a little earlier than just a few weeks away from the holiday. Maybe next year????

T-Mobile, Signed Waivers and Christmas Trees

There is a disturbing T-Mobile Christmas commercial on right now. Its got the girl in the pink dress surrounded by elves with pink hair AND (most disturbing to me of all) blazingly PINK eye-brows. I don't get it at all. And they are singing "Walking in a 4 G wonderland". Only it actually sounds like "Walking in an ORGY Wonderland". Orgies with a bunch of pink-eye-browed elves gives me the creeps enough to cause nightmares. What the hell were they thinking? I won't be switching to T-Mobile anytime soon. I can promise you that.

Erica called me today. She is still without internet, and although she was at work today, some kind of construction mishap involving drilling into a line caused a University-wide internet failure for most of the day. She couldn't email, but knew I was hoping to hear something from her, so she called. She said she went out to eat last night, and not being able to finish her meal, asked if she could get a "to go" box to take the rest of her food home. And this place said that yes, she could IF she would sign a release form. LOL. We aren't sure why. Both of us suspect is has something to do with IF you left the food out on the counter for 3 days and then ate it, you couldn't then go back and sue them for food poisoning. ??? You think? I have never heard of anything like that. But she signed it, got her food, and had leftovers for dinner tonight. So it worked out.

Also? We still have a naked Christmas tree. The cats haven't lost any interest in yet it. Bitty was up inside of it when I woke up this morning. And besides, this day was absolutely endless at work....I didn't have the strength to deal with it today. Maybe tomorrow...???? But since we are talking trees, I have done a little bit of searching for pics of bizarre Christmas trees...just because I like that kind of thing. This one is from Sydney Australia. Each year they feature a "tree" made from recycled materials. The tree from last year was bicycles. Kind of cool really.

Its actually really pretty all lit up!

On a Sunday

We (meaning mostly Bruce and Stephen) got the kids moved in. It was a LOT of moving. Hannia's Dad came with a rented UHaul, but had just had some minor surgery so he wasn't supposed to lift anything too heavy (I swear he did anyway). It wasn't just the kids stuff, but Hannia's parents had things in rental storage and they were tired of having to pay the rent. So that got moved out and into the garage of the house. Everybody was exhausted, but it all got done. Its a great space, that house. Its laid out nicely and I KNOW they are thrilled to have some privacy again. They are spending today trying to get things unpacked and put away. And although Stephen is busy applying to jobs and schools and most likely will end up moving again some time in the coming year...Stephen said last night he was tired of the nomad lifestyle. Moving is hard work.

I got email from Erica. She spent her weekend getting more familiar with the city and the best places to shop for food, and household goods. She got herself a library card because like me, she prefers to read a book (for free) and then give it back. Less clutter that way. She is really enjoying everything, and is looking forward to her first full week at work. She has to give a short presentation to her lab tomorrow, so she had to take some time to prepare for that, but its all good, I'm sure. I just can't wait for her to get internet.

In spite of being exhausted after all the moving, Stephen came over this afternoon to help drag down the Christmas decorations from the attic. Thank you son, I KNOW It was about the last thing that you really wanted to do. We (meaning I this time) put up the tree. But it was instantly attacked from all sides by our cats. I gave up and plan to let it sit out with nothing on it for a few days just to see if the novelty of it wears off. I know it hasn't really in Christmas's past, but I am just an optimist that way. LOL. If not, then I have a separate box of unbreakable ornaments that will just have to go on there. My beautiful glass ones have not seen the light of day in several years now. Oh well....in the grander scheme of things, I would much rather have a warm, fuzzy kitty to love than a cold glass ornament, no matter how pretty or expensive the ornament is.

Speaking of felines, we are planning to adopt Dad's cat Brock. That will bring the herd up to 5. I think this officially earns me a crazy cat lady badge, but Brock needs a home and what better place for a cat to be?

Mama pushing our poor tree limbs to their outer most limit:

Bitty prefers the sturdier interior branches:

Learning Vicariously

Oh the things I am learning vicariously by Erica's move to the UK. I knew a few things, such as petrol is gas. Or a cell phone is called a mobile phone there. I knew a few others as well, like cookies are called biscuits, trucks are lorries (that one makes me laugh like a plural version indicating multiple Aunt Lori's...LOL), the bathroom is called the loo. But Erica is adding to my knowledge of British english almost every day, and I find it all so interesting. Things like a stove top is called a "hob" there. And Erica actually called it a "hob" during our phone conversation yesterday. LOL. She also said that those baking sheets she packed up for the movers are going to be useless as her oven is sized more for a doll house. Oh well....

And one of the most surprising ones to me: the letter "z" is said aloud as "zed".
Erica found that out trying to spell her name at her hostel the first day. It will make me have to think. Oh, I am extremely used to spelling my name. In fact, I generally pronounce our last names as: Kintz K-I-N-T-Z, as if the spelling were a part of it. I like the rhyming lilt of the T-Z. But there it will be K-I-N-T-Zed.
Doesn't have the same appeal to me somehow. ZEEEEE is a light, airy, whimsical sound like a honey bee. ZED is heavy and squat and flat. Oh well....I guess I better at least remember to use it when I visit, or else, as Erica reports, they will spell our name as K-I-N-T-G. And somehow that is even worse than zed. LOL.

Anyway, this is moving day for Stephen and Hannia, so its going to be busy. Her family is all here to help so hopefully the work will go by fast and easy. I KNOW the kids are excited to have their own space again. I will miss them though, even if I can visit by getting in my car and driving a mere 10 minutes to Winterville.
Have a great weekend!

Decorating for the Holidays

Its the first of December, and while I have neither the time nor the energy to actually put up our tree, or decorate our house just yet (I will, I swear), at least I decorated the blog. It feels festive now. Maybe it will help to put me in the mood. I think the biggest holiday downer for us is working for the post office. It almost makes us want to forego any celebrations. BUT...I will NOT let it get me down.

So, Erica reported that her first day on the new job was just fine. It was mainly having ID's made, emails set up, meeting lots of people and touring the campus. Tomorrow she will be picking up her keys and hopefully getting things like utilities all set up. She isn't certain how that will go and whether or not she can actually stay in her new place just yet.......but it will all get sorted out. She seems to be enjoying the adventure of all of it.

I am considering changing the blog up a little. Maybe moving to another blog site, maybe changing the name because I feel like The Fishbowl Chronicles limits the templates and I just feel like using different layouts from time to time. I don't know, but am giving it some thought. For now, I am just going with the holiday scene, nevermind the name. Its a Snowman in a Fish Bowl....LOL. Just use your imagination, I guess.

Also? Tomorrow is Friday!!!! Yay!

Schizophrenic Day

After I got to work today, I checked my phone to see that I had missed a call from a number I didn't recognize. But I had voicemail. I listened to it and lo and behold, it was from Erica!!! My spirits sunk to an all time low as I realized I had missed an opportunity to actually talk to her. Her message said that as she is using this pay for minutes kind of mobile thing until she decides on an actual phone plan (I swear she is already using the word "mobile" instead of cell phone...LOL). And she can use her prepaid minutes to call anywhere, even internationally. How cool. But I was despondent to have missed her.

Later that morning, while I was still in the office, she called back and this time I caught it in time. I was elated. LOL. From despondent and depressed to elated in the time it takes to answer a call. We had a nice chat. She is doing well. She signed a lease for a teeny tiny apartment, and can move in on Friday. Its a 6 month lease though, so if the size really bothers her, she can move in a while after having the chance to figure out more about ideal locations and transit and stuff like that. She says this one seems to be in a great location so far....maybe she will be too busy having fun to care that her place is not much bigger than a walk in closet.

She starts work tomorrow, and had coffee with her new boss today to meet her face to face. The boss is Dutch but mainly grew up in Tennessee, so she is basically American. Maybe that will help ease Erica's transition. All in all, my girl was in good spirits, and although its been much more different than she first imagined, she is figuring it all out. She will be fine.

And then....as it was time to say "I love you" and "Good-bye"....I got that "I'm gonna cry" feeling. Sad and despondent all over again. What an emotional rollercoaster I seem to be on. We still haven't gotten the chance to Skype just yet. First of all, I am not sure how comfortable she is talking on Skype in a hostel full of people. Secondly....by the time I get home, get comfortable and on my computer (I am getting home later and later as we are in the dreaded Christmas rush at work), its almost midnight there and I feel sure Erica is asleep. So, yeah.
But maybe soon, like on a weekend, we can skype her and she can show us around her new place. I hope so.