My view of the tree from my favorite lounging position.
I'm obsessed with tree ornaments . . .I'm thinking I have over 300 and pretty sure I can fit more . . .
Most years (meaning every year but this) I take great pains to avoid groupings of a particular color or theme. This year, however, I didn't much care. I find that I rather like the effect of the off-white ornaments all in a row.
Ever watch that show Hoarders? I caught my first episode during summer reruns and thought it was fascinating television. By the time the new season premiere rolled around, I was hooked. Since then I have come to a conclusion and it ain’t pretty: I’m a compulsive hoarder in the making. Or perhaps I am one as we so-to-speak (there’s nothing like a good case of denial to get the ball rolling like a wad of tin foil added to and added to over the years ‘til it’s good for nothing but a potential hole in the floor—just in case one might need to peel off an ancient piece and use it to store your ABC gum for future use).
For years I have hoarded books (if I read it and even mildly enjoyed it, I saved it for my now-real-but-once-fictional daughter—sadly, she’s only interested in books about vampires), dolls (for same daughter who couldn’t care less), pretty dishes (ditto or is that trio?) and Christmas decorations (an example of such is the photo of the cute house I bought after Christmas last year and need far, far less than a hole in the head provided said hole is to facilitate the much needed lobotomy) (plus, daughter hates clutter AND Christmas) (sorta--she just hates the music and the cluttery decor) (the present part she likes just fine) (too bad she’s not getting much of that this year) (do you get the feeling my daughter and I are like two ships passing in the night?) (sigh).
As one can imagine, this has kind of killed the appeal of the show for me. Now I watch it (cause I hafta) with a pit in my stomach and a mingled expression of horrified fascination and self-pity. I gaze around my little home and suddenly that pile of home school materials that dwells on the living room floor (it has no home of its own) takes on a sinister appearance. The small mountain of bagged items that were once eBay fodder but have little chance of selling this season/this year/‘til the cows come home due to the economy that I can’t bring myself to get rid of because they might have sold for big money once upon a time looks like a pile of pure denial. The papers and other minutia, worn out and homeless, that litter the kitchen counter resemble nothing more than a pile of trash. (It is a pile of trash but let’s not split hairs.) Even the dog, splayed on the floor like a tacky, white(ish—she needs a bath) fur rug, seems like something that really oughta go.
The important distinction here is that people become hoarders due to/via their anxiety, something which I seem to have more and more of each and every day. Now, THAT I can get rid of (or not. Whaddya think? Any takers? I hate to think of it going unwanted and wasted. It really should have a good home. Ah, nuts, maybe I’ll just hang onto it . . . just in case. You never know when you might need it.)
. . . to wake up to snow in a place that doesn't sport snow! We all walked around in a daze while managing to take some photos.


My trio of chilly cherubs . . .

Below is the photo I have been itching to take for a long time but thought I would never get due to lack of snow in these parts of sunny California (about 40 miles east of San Francisco).

This Gilmore Girls-esque gazebo has been crying out for a frosting of snow. (I realize that it's just snow but to us, it's a Christmas miracle!!!)

Instead of doing my exercises, the Little Guy and I geared up and headed out as soon as The Spouse and the Middle Child left the house. As we frolicked in the snow, passers-by would honk and wave and we would exchange very merry Merry Christmases with other frolickers who had been heretofore unknown to us.

Later, when the sun came out . . .


When we arrived home, instead of eating my usual healthy breakfast of hot oatmeal, we snuggled down with mugs of steaming hot chocolate and thick wedges of (gulp!) left over brownies which we consumed in front of the the faux-but-flickering fireplace. It all left me feeling a bit giddy but a goodly kind of giddy one doesn't get to gid about (enjoy) very often.

Below is the photo I have been itching to take for a long time but thought I would never get due to lack of snow in these parts of sunny California (about 40 miles east of San Francisco).

This Gilmore Girls-esque gazebo has been crying out for a frosting of snow. (I realize that it's just snow but to us, it's a Christmas miracle!!!)

Instead of doing my exercises, the Little Guy and I geared up and headed out as soon as The Spouse and the Middle Child left the house. As we frolicked in the snow, passers-by would honk and wave and we would exchange very merry Merry Christmases with other frolickers who had been heretofore unknown to us.

Later, when the sun came out . . .


When we arrived home, instead of eating my usual healthy breakfast of hot oatmeal, we snuggled down with mugs of steaming hot chocolate and thick wedges of (gulp!) left over brownies which we consumed in front of the the faux-but-flickering fireplace. It all left me feeling a bit giddy but a goodly kind of giddy one doesn't get to gid about (enjoy) very often.
A. Because of my unpredictable life, I have a fear of commitment.
B. I tend to get addicted to things. (Maybe “obsessed” is a better word though I do try to only obsess over things that are really positive. That’s not working out for me since I can’t seem to choose my obsessions.) (Not that blogging is bad! Au contraire! But it IS time consuming.)
C. A+B=high anxiety. (Since there’s nothing that commits you like an addiction, blogging--to which I am highly addicted--is causing me severe anxiety.)
D. I don't like panic attacks. (I have to say, this is really bugging me. Ask my husband. He knows. Because I talk to him about it, ad nauseum. Usually I don't mention it until the drool is about to hit the pillow so he is less than empathetic when I say things like: "I don't know what is happening in their lives!" or "I'm afraid they're going to think I don't care!" or "What if they stop being my friend?" or, when I'm feeling super self-absorbed (which, let's face it, is most of the time) "What if they never visit MY blog again?" which would be totally natural and understandable and has, by the way, happened. A lot.
E. It is amazing how much you can get done when you don't blog. (I have crossed off every single thing on my to-do list every single day this week. It feels good!) (Also, I have cooked almost every night since school started at the end of August. That doesn't feel so good but my skinny-stick-children are slowly putting on some much needed flesh.) (Oddly, enough, the Big Guy weighs roughly the same. A lot.)
F. I have been spending some of my usual blogging time helping out with the wonderful site, Mormon Women: Who We Are, and loving it! A lot.
G. Christmas is coming. (I have no idea how I blogged to the extent I did last December and still managed to put up a tree and shop for presents.) (Oh, yeah . . .I didn't cook. Or clean. Or bathe.)
Things that have nothing to do with why I'm not blogging: your wonderful comments. More than a few people have been rather surprised when they learned how low my actual hit count is because I get so many comments. That's because I have managed to surround myself with truly warm and wonderful people out here in Blogdania. I cherish all of your comments but those you have left on the last two posts of mine have been extra special. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
Lastly, because I'm such a glutton for punishment, I listed a large print copy of Miss D on eBay. The price is very good (especially for the outrageously-priced large print edition) and might give you something to amuse yourself with over the next week or so as you watch it sit and sit and sit and SIT with absolutley no bids whatsoever. (And a good time was had by all.)
Meanwhile, Hopefully I will be able to blog regularly again in January (though I hesitate to suggest which year--that fear of commitment thing, an' all . . . )
Today's post is HERE. Happy Sunday!
photo: free google images. . . to each of you! Thank you so much for providing me with a warm and supportive place to be, one in which I don't have to worry about how I don't fit in, a place where I don't feel isolated or have to worry about approval or acceptance--a place where I can feel like one of the group. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and bestest ever Thanksgiving holiday!
(and here's hoping I will actually be able to get back to regular blogging soon!)
Contributors
- Heidi Ashworth
- I'm a SAHM (my husband thinks it means Still A Hot Mama) with three children. In spite of all the challenges life throws at us, we do our best to laugh at the bad and accentuate the good. My first novel, Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind, a Jane Austen era romantic comedy, was released in December 2008 and sold out its first print run in one month (but I'm not bragging or anything!)
The Big Guy Saga (thus far)
Favorite Posts
- The Day I Got "The Call"
- In Which We Take Bart To San Francisco And Encounter Danger At Every Turn
- House Hunting Is A Lot Like Ghost Hunting, Only Scarier
- House Hunting Is Scary Part Two
- House Hunting is Scary Part Three
- Restaurants We Love and Restaurants In Which We Are No Longer Welcome, One And The Same
- How To Blog Yourself Into The Looney Bin
- In Which the Knight and His Lady Find Peace In The Green Valley
- Birthday Gal Drunk on Wheat and Alcohol Fumes Mixed With Wild Ride
- The Big Guy The Refrigerator and the Shrink
Click for the list of the blogs I love to read
Fun(nish) Factoids
Residents of
Dunhaven Place:
The Spouse--my
hubby of 23 yrs.
The Big Guy-age 19
my handsome son,
cerebral palsy, bipolar,
and lots of other fun
stuff
The Middle Child--14
beloved daughter
The Little Guy--7
my ray of sunshine
MISS D:
Sold out her first print run!
Came out May 2009 in
large print!
Library copies: 1200+
Miss D Two: SOLD!
and hopefully out for
Christmas 2010!!
Dunhaven Place:
The Spouse--my
hubby of 23 yrs.
The Big Guy-age 19
my handsome son,
cerebral palsy, bipolar,
and lots of other fun
stuff
The Middle Child--14
beloved daughter
The Little Guy--7
my ray of sunshine
MISS D:
Sold out her first print run!
Came out May 2009 in
large print!
Library copies: 1200+
Miss D Two: SOLD!
and hopefully out for
Christmas 2010!!























