Four Day Weekend!

I’ve successfully taken care of the winter holiday season and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. I am feeling rather smug about the whole thing.

The GC loves having a tree, but so does Cat No. 2. The cat knocks down and breaks all of the ornaments on the lower half of the tree, then climbs the tree from the inside and rocks it back and forth until it falls over and breaks another quarter of the ornaments. She then knocks the last quarter of the ornaments off and plays soccer with them.

Last Friday I purchased a 4.5’ tall artificial pre-lit tree and two strings of colored L.E.D. bulbs from The Home Depot. This tree will fit nicely on the table I have in my entry. With gifts stacked strategically around the edge of the table it will be impossible for Cat No. 2 to gain access to the tree. That’s the plan anyway.

Never overly sentimental, I am becoming less and less interested in participating in holiday traditions as time passes. The one thing I used to enjoy the most was wrapping gifts. That was a way I, totally linear, binary me, could be creative. There was a zen-like quality in the process and I wrapped my gifts with origami precision.

Now I’d rather knit and have something to show for my efforts. Also I don’t want to have to go out and shop for gift wrapping supplies, nor do I want to have to clean up the mess, not to mention the terrible waste. So, I purchased a set of reusable gift bags from Wrapsacks, Inc. These are truly lovely bags and they have a cool option on the website to track the bags via their unique tag numbers through their lifetime and travels.

Last season the GC mentioned that she would like a Kyo plushy among other things. Kyo is a character in a Japanese anime called Fruits Basket. I didn’t figure it was very high on her list so I didn’t get it for her. I was informed afterward that it was one of the things she wanted most. I have been informed that it is the ONLY thing she REALLY wants this season. I bought her two: a large one and a small one. I ordered them about a month ago and they’ve been in my closet for several weeks now, along with the Kyo and Kagura pins.

Another gift that arrived a couple of weeks ago is The Bible Series Box Set (2000) DVD featuring: Genesis, Esther, Jeremiah, and Solomon. Several years ago I picked up Esther and Jeremiah in VHS at Blockbuster for about $3.00 each. The GC liked them quite a bit. When we moved down here I got rid of a lot of our VHS movies and those two were among the casualties. I was strongly berated for getting rid of two of her “favorites”. Now she will have them back plus the other two in the series. Are you noticing a pattern here?

Another DVD that she has mentioned wanting several times over the past six months or so is: Benny & Joon. I was able to pick that up for a very reasonable price at Amazon. Yay. On the other hand, she and I have been looking for the past couple of holiday seasons for a copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas without any luck. We looked at Halloween, too, no dice. Unbeknownst to me, this has become a rather rare collectible going for upwards of $100.00. I felt rather fortunate to find a new copy for $35.00 (three times what I will usually pay for a DVD). I ordered it today. Hopefully, I’ll receive it next week without incident.

That is essentially what she is getting this year: 6 DVDs, 2 plushies, and a pair of pins. It just doesn’t feel like much, but I know she wants each of these items.
Tomorrow we are going to put up the tree and she is going to decorate. It should be a nice way to spend the morning.