It doesn't 'feel' like a Friday

“It doesn’t feel like a Tuesday”…."Tuesday doesn’t have a feel, but Wednesday does….” Quotes from Seinfeld, of course. And today did not feel like a Friday, especially after going to church yesterday! But the sun was out and the breeze was blowing, and all is well with the world. As long as one stays off the roads and out of the stores, that is!

Traffic, as anyone who has been here will attest, is crazy most of the time and days like today would be off the charts. No traffic at all to deal with when staying in one’s room! This morning my friend, Cassidy, tapped at my door to let me know she was moving out, and I was stunned. That was a rather short visit, traveling from Boulder for a two day vacation, but she has to work this evening. She cleaned her room and got a trash bag from me for her wastebasket stuff. I love the bouquet of flowers she presented me. She won’t need to stay here at Christmas, though, as her sister and bro-in-law will not be in town.

I did venture out my door to the mailbox which was jam-packed with mail, lots of sale fliers and catalogs to look at, and my long awaited piece of mail. I also got an invitation to an event sponsored by my friend, Diane, investment company but it is the same evening as my Ladies’ Group Christmas party. Rats! Last year the gathering was held at the Town Center Mall during the day and I could take a guest with me, my Justin! We both love Maggiano’s, where the luncheon was held, and he was the most handsome man in the room.

In my shipment from Amazon the other day I got the stuff I did not order and am trying to figure out how to go about sending them back. Amazon sent me information about how to send back the items; however, the label indicates I am sending back the book I actually wanted. Ugh! This is hard, trying to be a good customer and sending back these items. Hopefully Customer Service will figure out the problem and send me the correct packing slip to include in the box. I will have to take it to a UPS store to return it but that’s fine. It just puzzles me how this ended up in my box of stuff---a box inside a box!

My brother-in-law, David, recorded ThanksLiving greetings for me at the family gathering yesterday and when he was ready to edit it, discovered the sound was not on. To fix that, he put the video over the top of a song of thanksgiving and added captions to the video. As I watched the first time, I held it together until I saw Lynn and Lisa together wishing me a happy Thanksgiving, and lost it. Angelo was not happy about having his cuppy removed to say ‘hi’ to me and Manny was fast asleep on the sofa but all the others greeted me. I will cherish that youtube recording forever, I hope. Almost like being there….

By nine pm last night my last batch of dishes went into the dishwasher and the kitchen looked like nothing happened in there, just the way I like it. The leftovers were put away and all that remained on the counter was a few rolls in a baggie. There! My guests all sort of left at once, but an hour after Natalie and Brenda left. They had to eat and run, as Natalie was having friends over that evening. I was just so delighted they could make it. The rest of the menfolk sat and visited, discussing history and explorers (“Who is your favorite explorer? Mine is Vasco da Gama…” Seinfeld) as I listened from the kitchen. Two young guys and two formerly young guys having discussions in regard to history….loved it!

The ‘holiday’ decorations are up already, I am told they have been up a week, along the streets. One decoration mounted on the light pole would be considered CHRISTmas-y as it’s an angel blowing a trumpet (I bring you good news of great joy which shall be to all people…) but the balance are snowflakes (in Florida?), reindeer, bells, and other more season-based décor. I cannot say if there is a Santa or not, I cannot recall seeing one but that is not to say there is not one. When we talked about it at the table yesterday, I shared the story of my bro-in-law, Harvey, telling me once that he wanted to get out to hang his lights before it got too cold----it was already below freezing!! I find it now amusing to think that way and am so glad I don’t have to do this anymore!

My upstairs neighbor, Travis, was good enough to get a bid from a pavement guy to renumber and identify our parking spaces here at The Palace. I had requested of the Board that the guest spaces be more obviously marked, since I am having the Ladies’ Group party here. When the building was painted, the curbs and car bumper things were also painted, covering the markings indicating “GUEST”. The price is not all that expensive yet could be considered to be pricey. One BOD member thinks that Connie should take care of that but some of the work she has done using white paint and a stencil looked sort of amateurish, as though we were trying to save money---which we are. Like Travis said, if we all just chip in a $100, it could be done professionally. Such is life in the condo. I could hire a valet for the night to park cars for my guests…Last year we carpooled to Fran’s house in Arlington and I suggested the ladies do the same type of thing for coming here. If they didn’t have to carry their snack to share and a gift, they’d be okay parking up by The Club. Oh, well, thanks anyway, Travis!

On the news they are showing the frantic shoppers, foolish if you ask me, standing in line and then pushing/shoving to get into the stores. Every year it’s the same thing, and getting progressively worse, as greed robs people of good sense. The thrill of the hunt, yes, I get it. Mom said she wishes this was not connected to CHRISTmas but it has so little to do with the actual celebration. When people are buying big screen TVs and entertainment centers, likely these are not gifts for others, but for their own homes. On Facebook more than one person reported purchasing items for themselves or that the young shoppers in the family obtained items for themselves rather than as presents. My commenting about it won’t change the situation but I certainly do not mind sharing my thoughts of this madness. I am all over the madness!