sparkly things, minor catastrophes, and minor adventure

[ironymaiden]

some years we do lights and greens for solstice and some years we don't. i've not traced how the decision gets made but it's some calculus of mood/time/financial situation; this year i have Hallmark movies on tap and vacation time, so i was going to at least see if our old icicle lights still worked and string them on the balcony.

by the end of the day, i had:

• cleaned the entire balcony

• replaced the old and hung some new icicle lights

• got some random star-shaped lights and hung them

• made an electronics recycling plan

• taken a load of propane canisters and empty spraypaint cans to household hazardous waste disposal

• bought a tree and wreath

• found my missing thimble

• decorated wreath and tree

• set up all the lights with timers

and C had vacuumed the living room carpet, vacuumed the couch (finding a lost stitch marker and a lost sock), and washed all the pillows and throws on the couch.

i probably would have done less with the balcony, and C wouldn't have touched the living room, but we had a string of party lights (the sort with round incandescent bulbs that are a little larger than a golf ball) clipped to the tops of the windows, which provide pleasant illumination if you hang out outside in the evening. unfortunately the clips failed when i gently moved the extension cord and five bulbs EXPLODED when they hit the floor, sending little shards of glass not only all over the balcony but in a spray into the living room because somehow i had left the door open. the good-ish news was that i had exactly enough bulbs from its previously damaged companion string to replace all the broken ones. anyway, everything on the balcony got swept and wiped down, and the dog was fortunately in another room.

the balcony (especially in cold weather) can end up storing things that we need out of the way or don't have a place for, like said household hazardous waste. so i did some research and got a car and we went on a little adventure to SODO and got rid of that shit.*

we had extra time left on the car, so we went to the Boy Scouts tree lot, ostensibly to look for a wreath but they didn't have any. i was able to sell C on getting a wee tree because Boy Scouts (and i think he secretly wanted one too). then it turned out the nearby store had a wreath.

what we didn't have, it turns out, is the tree stand. i have absolutely no idea where it went. i would be shocked if we got rid of it, it's just in the storage unit...somewhere. so the tree is in our large stock pot. at least i won't have to add water very often?

since we won't be hosting dinner this year, the tree is on the end of the table. it's very shiny and i do love the ornaments we've accumulated over the years. some are from my childhood, others we bought together, others gifts. every one of them has some memory or story attached.

*if i ever physically assault C, it will have been over something like the bag of empty propane tanks or the box of Darn Tough socks with holes in them that have not been sent for replacement. i'm still pretty shocked that "hey they're open again, want to go on an adventure?" worked yesterday because normally any suggestion that i resolve or help to resolve the situation turns into a fight.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

It's been a productive time!

[ironymaiden]

ICON LOVE

[varina8]

Wow, you inspire me! That's a lot of work. My goal for today and tomorrow is to get my cards written and in the mail.

Yesterday I scraped the funky caulk off of the window frames in the front room and washed the drapes. Next comes cleaning the bookcases and bringing up the decorations. I realized this may be my only opportunity for a tree given the space and lack of other people this year. I figure I'll make up my mind tomorrow.

[ironymaiden]

in general i'm planning to spend at least a little time every day unfucking the apartment.
today i did a bunch of hand wash that had been piling up. didn't get to finish since i had more than would fit on the drying rack.

[varina8]

If it makes you feel better, I'm behind on the cards because I spent an hour on Zoom with K&A.

[oracne]

Go you!!! Victory is yours for, like, a week at least.

[annofowlshire]

Very productive!

[helvetica]

Sounds like some very lovely Christmas spirit :) I laughed that the tree is in astock pot - is it staying up OK? happy holiday season!

[ironymaiden]

It is! It's a big pot and a small tree. I've wrapped the whole thing in some fabric from my stash and tied a big ribbon around it so I can pretend it was all by design :)

[flexagon]

That is one hella productive day, but here's a special shout-out for getting rid of shit! I sometimes refer to this as "shopping for space" or "shopping for empty shelves" and it is sooooo good.