We're in the process of "evolving" Christmas traditions around here. This is the very first year in about 40 years that I will not be hosting our Christmas party. And I have to admit that I'm kind of happy about it.
It makes sense for Ned & Marta to do it. They will have their own Christmas party a couple of days before, so their house will be all decorated, they are just finishing their "party room," so they have lots of space and I jumped at the offer when Marta suggested it. Of course I'll still take care of the turkey and the pumpkin pie, but I'll carry them to Sacramento to cook.
But, for the first time in memory, we won't have to experience "Mom's Annual Christmas Crisis."
This year it would have been particularly bad, since Walt only has the use of one arm, and with Lizzie deciding recently that "rug" = "grass" thing, we've had to go to great lengths to keep the living room a poop free zone.
I'm not sure where Walt got the orange fencing, but we've propped it with a dog cage and on the other side of it is the vaporizer that Ashley loaned us for dogs with kennel cough. The red blanket on the chair has made that chair Lizzie's bed.
To the right of this picture, there is an overturned dining room table chair to keep Lizzie from pooping on the other side of the room. She seems not to eliminate in the area where she and Sheila sleep, fortunately.
As you can see, "cleaning up" for Christmas would have been a bit more challenging this year.
We don't "entertain" and so with Ned & Marta willing to host Christmas, and with Walt's arm in a cast (or trying to recover if the cast gets taken off on December 6), it's going to be more difficult for him to do the stuff that he usually does, so I don't even want to put up a tree this year. It doesn't seem worth it, somehow.
I might dust and call that "Christmas decoration"!
Oh how I wish I were one of those people who always has cute little holiday decorations all over the house, but that's the kind of place I like to visit and, after 42 years, not the kind of house I'm likely ever to have.
Were we ever to move from here into a smaller place, which would mean getting rid of about 75% of everything we have, I might have a fighting chance, but until that day (if ever), lovely Christmas decorations ain't gonna happen here.
It will be interesting to see what happens after "Shaniqua" is born. I can't imagine not being with our granddaughter as she begins to experience Christmas, and by the same token, I can't imagine her other grandparents missing that either. I guess we just play that year by year and see what happens.
Belle lay in her cage today and literally did not move for 7 hours, other than to watch me warily whenever I got up to move anywhere. I felt so very sorry for the little dog and wonder what happened to make her so terrified. How can people mistreat innocent animals so much that they don't trust anyone?
Around 4 p.m., she suddenly sat up and started whining. Potty time! This was my chance to get a leash on her and I did, but not without a battle, which was made easier by the fact that she was trapped in the cage. I was using a leash that was a loop that went around her neck, so I didn't have to actually touch her and grab her collar. She was not happy at all, but I did get her cornered where she couldn't move and managed to slip the noose over her neck.
I took her outside and she peed forever but tried to bolt whenever I moved a muscle. I finally brought her back into the house and put her back in the cage, but left the leash on her so that I could take her outside again before going to sleep for the night.
I wish there were a way to win her trust, but I suspect that is going to take a very long time and she leaves tomorrow. But in her place, we are getting a 3-4 week old puppy who is half on solid food and half bottle fed. Now that is a dog I can work with, someone who just needs lots of loving.
I'm looking forward to having a baby in the house again.
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