I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and you survived the travel and stress of the long holiday weekend. To me Thanksgiving is really just the start of 6 weeks of chaos that is known as the “holiday season.” I don’t know how others feel, but this time of year often causes me great angst. I’m always glad when January rolls around and things settle down a bit. Not that I don’t love Christmas and all of the pageantry that accompanies it, but everything seems to be operating at hyper speed through the end of the year.
There are always so many things to do. Choosing the right tree and moving furniture around in the house to accommodate said tree. Hauling boxes of decorations from the basement. Trimming the tree, addressing cards, baking cookies, drinking cocoa, ice skating, making a snow man, building gingerbread houses, attending the tree lighting ceremony and parade – no wait – I seem to have gotten caught up in a Hallmark movie. How do all of those fictional characters have time to do all of that stuff anyway?
You know what I mean. It’s a busy time of the year.
This past weekend at the inn was a mix of fast and slow with periods of calm and periods of mayhem. Nothing horrific happened, but sometimes I felt like I was in the middle of a cyclone. We had some really cool guests and a couple of odd ducks, which is pretty typical. But something wonderful happened! Sort of.
You see, Saturday morning one of the 10 guests staying here, decided that he, along with everyone else at the table, needed to toast me. Just when I delivered his glass of orange juice, he clinked it with his fork and announced that he was toasting the hostess with the mostess. I was a bit overwhelmed and flattered at the gesture. I would have been more enthusiastic about this momentous event, but right at the exact moment when everyone says “cheers!” – – – – – in walks our Diva guest.
Seriously, at almost exactly at the same moment this wonderful man finished saying, “I want to offer a toast to our hostess . . . ” in walks the lone guest who had yet to arrive for breakfast. It’s as if she knew what was about to happen and waited in the hallway for that exact moment. She totally stole my thunder.
While the timing was a bit suspect, her entrance was something to behold. Her long blond hair was perfectly coiffed. Her make-up and bright red lipstick were immaculate. Earrings dangled from her delicate ear lobes. She looked like redneck royalty in her silk pajamas and foo-foo house slippers. She completed this look with gigantic dark glasses. The perfect finishing touch for any breakfast attire.
Say what!?!? For real? You betcha!
While I was bit choked up at the toast, I was completely speechless at Diva’s arrival. And, in hindsight, that’s probably a good thing. I really shouldn’t have been surprised. When she arrived at check-in she looked like she was attending the Kentucky Derby, sans mint julep. She wore an oversized feathered hat, silky sheath dress, high heeled sandals, and the same ridiculously huge dark glasses.
So tell me dear readers, what cool or unique thing happened for you this Thanksgiving? Anything worth talking about? I love a feel-good story.
Because it’s Cyber Monday, I’ve discounted the first book in my series (On Common Ground) to just $.99, so if you haven’t picked up your copy yet, now’s the time to do it! It’s available across all e-book platforms or in paperbook. Click on the link at the very bottom of this post and you will have the option to choose your preferred reading method.
Word of the Day: Ocarinas
Fun fact about me: I’ve returned to my hunter-gatherer roots and harvested almost 100 pounds of pecans from my trees so far this year.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, December 2019. Images by Google Images and giphy.com.
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I detect just a hint of “Bah Humbug” here, but who hasn’t had that feeling? As a card carrying curmudgeon, I have little room to talk. I think if there was an honest poll taken, a majority would vote to skip straight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s!
Your description of the diva and her entrance conjured images of Cruella DeVille. So funny!
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There is a tad bit of bah humbug this year, Al. I can’t seem to capture the spirit of Christmas. We did put up our tree last night but today there’s so much mess everywhere to pick up following that event. At least 5 extra large plastic bins must be hauled around just for the tree. There’s 2 more for garlands, 2 for wreaths, and one for Father Christmas. Then there are about 8 others with smaller decorations, wall hangings, centerpieces, you name it. I guess at some point I had the Christmas spirit because it now rests in all of those boxes.
When you have a 9,000 square foot house there are lots of places to decorate. I enlisted my husband to help me this year. He usually “lets” me do it. It’s a huge job for one small woman.
Anyway, enough of that. I hope your house is getting a Christmas make-over and that you’re gearing up for the merry festivities.
Thanks for visiting today. I hope your left-handedness is getting better.
Patricia
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Mmmmm, pecans….
I can’t imagine decorating a B&B all by myself! Hope hubby was helpful. I climbed up a 10 ft. ladder to drape garland around our timber frame beams. The daughter made most of the Thanksgiving dinner, which was different and exciting because she’s an amazing cook. And of course, it was in a new house…
Good luck getting everything done!
Fun fact: I knew your word this week because they are a tool of sorts in Legend of Zelda Nintendo games. 😀
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Yes my husband helped trim the tree this year, the first time in I don’t know how long. Usually I do it myself, climbing up and down the ladder and moving the ladder and leaning to reach the very top. He’s so much taller than me it was not a problem for him. He still needed the ladder but I handed him ornaments so he wouldn’t have to keep climbing up and down.
Anyway, we’re toning it down a bit this year on the decorations. I’ll put out the mangle garlands and hang the swags on the staircase and pretty much call it quits. I still have to create the perfect centerpiece for our table though. That’s always a challenge.
I’m glad you knew the word of the day. It’s always fun when I find one that someone knows.
I hope you’ll post a picture of your new house all dolled up for the holidays. That’d be cool to see.
Patricia
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I did post a picture on my blog, though it didn’t come out very well. We didn’t do any decorating outside.
I forgot to mention, your diva guest was really funny! Who does that? Oh wait, we all know people like that. Thanks for sharing – I always enjoy your guest stories!
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Well stay tuned – there’s more where that came from. And, I haven’t been over to your blog yet. I’m wading through e-mails today and tomorrow.
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That is hilarious! I might be rendered speechless, which would be quite a feat.
This is the shortest time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that should help!
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That lady was something else. She was really nice, she was just very flamboyant. I was kind of embarrassed for her actually. I think nobody at the table quite knew what to say or do. She wore the dark glasses the entire time she was at the table.
And, I know it’s a very short time between holidays this year. On top of that we’re going away for a quick little vacay so that shortens things up even more. It’s almost like “why bother?”
But, it’s getting done.
Thanks for visiting. Have a glorious week!
Patricia
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I’m feeling it since I have the same amount to do in a shorter amount of time. Gotta start my Christmas card! Hmmm…..
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I was fascinated thinking about all the ice skating and snowman building in Vicksburg. I hope you can get through all that snow.
Age has some advantages. With no kids or grandkids nearby, we have a 3′ pre-decorated tree that takes about 4 minutes to put up. Sharon will also put up a couple of decorations – total decorating time maybe 10 to 15 minutes.
We give our kids and grandkids money or gift cards, so we spend no time at all shopping. Call us grinches if you want, but it works for us.
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Hey, it if works, keep doing it. Nothing wrong with having your own celebrations. We get a 11 foot tree because anything else looks pathetic in our front bay window with 12 foot ceilings. It’s a lot of work, but it always looks gorgeous when it’s done.
I’m just a big of a humbug this year. Can’t find my holiday spirit.
Thanks for visiting. Carry on with your traditions my friend!
Patricia
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100 pounds of pecans…holy moly! That’s a lot of pecan pie in the future! I’m like you when it comes to Christmas. As much as I love it, I’m relieved when the chaos is over. I bet you were sorely tempted to pluck the feather from Diva’s hat!
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I only saved a few of the pecans, the rest I sold. When my dad lived here I used to save them all and he would crack them. Now that’s he back in California I don’t have the patience to sit and crack them. It’s really hard work. That’s why those suckers are so expensive in the store.
And, while I did not want to pluck the feather from her hat, I did want to rip the glasses off her face. That’s kind of one of my pet peeves, sunglasses in the house. Maybe she has issues with her eyes and I’m being a horrible judgmental person, but I did see her the first morning when she came to get coffee and she was not wearing them, so I don’t know.
Anyway, thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. I’m glad I’m not alone when it comes to the holidays.
Patricia
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