STRESS

How do you handle stress?

I have two ways, either I eat or I clean.  I've had a stressful week, mostly involving my TV.  The cable company had a very short power hit this week which resulted in my losing cable.  After working with the tech, it was finally decided that I needed a new HDMI cable, which I picked up, installed and got my cable back.  However, in the process of removing this wire and that wire and pressing various buttons on the remote, I lost another service.  Then, last night, suddenly I couldn't change the channel.  I could raise the  volume or lower it, but I couldn't do anything else except turn the cable off.  Finally, I discovered that one tiny wire had become disconnected.  I reconnected it and scotch taped it to insure that it stays put.  Now the TV works.

Last week I had to take Burnie to the vet because he has developed the nasty habit of relieving himself in various parts of the house.  After some blood work and shot (in case he had an infection), the report came back that he doesn't have any new problems.  I also had to take Crash to the vet as a follow up on her thyroid condition - bouncing between hyper and hypo.  She gets very frightened when riding in the car (it couldn't be my driving, could it) and proceeded to vomit in the carrier.  It's a good thing we were close to home.

This morning I got up early, glad that the week was over.  I got dressed and went to church.  While waiting for mass to begin, a woman came over to me.  She said that she had been following me since I left my house and that one of my rear lights and the brake light are out.  Since early December, I have had a few rear lights go out.  Now, I have to drop everything and take the car to the dealer for repair.

Needless to say, I've been very stressed.  For a while this morning I was eating everything in sight.  When I couldn't eat anything else, I decided to clean.  I went to work on my office and only managed to clean my desk.  I found all kinds of papers.  If you've seen my office, you would know that my life has been  very calm lately.  My office is a disaster, but if I have more weeks like the last one, you will soon be able to eat off the floor in my office.

I HATE CHRISTMAS

Well, I don't really hate Christmas.  Rather, I hate what I do at/for Christmas.

Yes, there are the cookies and the candy and the cocktails and their results.  I don't dare get on my scale, I prefer to live in ignorance, at least until I get a little more active.

The main reason I hate Christmas is the way I decorate.  If it doesn't move, it gets decorated.  I also have four Christmas trees.

 

 

Then, there is the other tree, whose picture is floating around in cyberspace along with my pictures of the Gingerbread House, small round house, garlands, candles, etc.  They've been missing since I was upgraded to the new Windows system.  I know they're there, but I can't find them.  Perhaps some kind son will help me find them.  But I digress.

 

Did you know that once you take a tree out of its box, it does not easily fit back in.  This is one of the reasons I dislike undecorating from Christmas.  I not only have to wrestle one tree, I have to wrestle four trees, then drag them back into the garage.

 

Every year at this time, I promise myself that next Christmas I will downsize when it comes to decorating.  Just one simple tree.  But come the next December when I start going through the boxes to see what I can eliminate, all the memories come rushing back.  How can I decide to not put a tree in my bedroom where I can go to sleep to the lights of the tree.  How can I keep the plaster ornaments that were painted by my boys in their boxes.

 

I know that, as much as I hate putting everything away, I will take them all out again next year and the years after that as long as I am able.  Every year as I check out the various ornaments I can again be the young mother who watched as her sons painted the wreaths, trees and animals for our tree.  Such wonderful memories.