mamagotcha (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mamagotcha) wrote2005-12-05 12:00 am
mamagotcha) wrote2005-12-05 12:00 am
trippin'
we are flying to california on december 28... we'll be at the halflab new year's eve party (assuming there IS one)... in the davis/sacramento area on january 2... up in spokane january 3... over to seattle january 6... and home again on january 9.
in other holiday news...
i seem to have accidentally won a christmas tree. down at union station, clay and linc and i were wandering through the annual marillac enchanted forest," a local fundraiser: about a hundred decorated, themed christmas trees, all for sale in a silent auction. there were cute ones, artistic ones, spectacular ones... and then we came across the Game Tree! it was covered with ornaments made from dice, dominos, fans of cards, game bits... and the topper was a chinese checker board (which looks like the star of david). underneath was an assortment of classic games, ranging from operation to monopoly.
this magnificent tree (about 7 1/2 feet tall, lit up with hundreds of colored lights, complete with a tree skirt and tons of ornaments) had won first prize out of all the others! it warmed my heart... but then i got a shock when i looked at the auction sheet. only one person had bid, and that bid was a measly $150. why, the tree alone was probably worth over $100!
the bidding ended that night at 8:30 p.m., and we were there around 3 p.m. i asked the information gal, and there was supposed to be a big local business dinner at the station that night, "and they usually buy about fifteen trees."
that was it. i had to bid on this tree! never mind that we were already in financial straits, and that i'm not working (yet), and that julia's tuition is due, and and and... the charity was a good one (a residential program for youth aged 6-17, and not religious-based... a rarity in these parts). we haven't done much charitable giving this year at all, and we could write it off. we had been talking about going to a fake tree for a few years, and we'd have to cough up about 50 or 60 bucks anyway for a tree... plus, i'd very likely get outbid for this fantastic grand prize winner that night.
i called bill, sent him a picture of it, and pretty much begged to bid on it. he finally acquiesced, certain i'd lost my mind. i wrote down "$165" on the bid sheet, with our phone number, and wandered off in a happy glow, sure that i'd be outbid that night but glad that i'd pushed up the bid a little bit.
we didn't hear anything that night or most of the next day, so i figured the tree had found another, wealthier home. but while i had the kids out on errands that afternoon, bill IMed me with the news that marillac had called and that the tree was ours... yeep!
so.... i accidentally won a tree. cord and julia seem OK with having a fake tree, though clayton is horrified at the idea (we might pick him up a charlie brown tree to decorate, though). i guess this will be my present this year from bill, so he's off the hook. and the kids will have a bunch of new games under the tree. and a worthy charity will have a chunk of cash... although i think it's a sad commentary on local giving that we won with our relatively puny bid. that tree should have sold for $500 at least.
cordell and i spent two very chilly hours outside the other day, trying to figure out a way to string up our costco LED lights and swag of evergreen. we finally just screwed through the siding, and it seems to be holding up OK. they're gonna look gorgeous when it snows, i bet.
it's been pretty cold inside, too. we've got the heater off at night, and set to 60 during the day, but it never gets warmer than 55 for most of the house. my room and the little sunroom off of it get some sun, so that area hits 60 and gets pretty comfortable. i put up the plastic window covers and a curtain of rainbow wedding table runners across the doorway to the living room, and we heat it up at night with the fireplace; it gets pretty toasty in there. julia's been sleeping in there at night, but we found out she hadn't even closed her storm windows so i'm not feeling too sorry for her. i also took cordell out shopping and got some longsleeved tees for everyone (thank you, overseas workers who fill the racks with insanely cheap clothing at old navy). it snowed a little last night and was supposed to be down to 12, with a high today in the 20s. brrrrrr. half-husky dog wiley seems to be happy, at least!
today i have eight boys arriving to practice their architecture: a big gingerbread house party! i still need to do some clean up and make a batch of royal icing to color...
mysterious packages have been arriving over the last month... i've done much of my christmas shopping on ebay this year. i'm pretty proud of several of my scores, but can't publicly brag lest the cat escapes the bag. almost all of my knitted things are done (for sending anyway... the family presents are still in progress). and i need to send out some sort of fambly newsletter to those who aren't hooked into the LJ updates...
the singing group has moved into high gear, practicing for our yule concert on the 18th. we're doing some really pretty pieces, and i seem to be actually figuring out all the music well enough to hold my own as a tenor. we'll also do some yule caroling on the solstice, and i'm hoping bill will make a yule log cake for the carolers to come devour afterwards.
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corva found me the other day, and brought back some happy memories. she's in portland now, so i'll get to see her during the IJA fest next year (if i'm not there sooner). yet another reason to consider the city of roses as a potential home once we're done with kc...
cut and bleachedjedusor's hair the other night. a friend told her she looked like a cross between a flock of seagulls and a bull dyke. my daughter, jonathan livingston lesbian. well, i think it looks pretty good on her, and she loves it, although it's chilly. i imagine some purple dye is in the near future...
time to roust myself and get the party ready.
in other holiday news...
i seem to have accidentally won a christmas tree. down at union station, clay and linc and i were wandering through the annual marillac enchanted forest," a local fundraiser: about a hundred decorated, themed christmas trees, all for sale in a silent auction. there were cute ones, artistic ones, spectacular ones... and then we came across the Game Tree! it was covered with ornaments made from dice, dominos, fans of cards, game bits... and the topper was a chinese checker board (which looks like the star of david). underneath was an assortment of classic games, ranging from operation to monopoly.
this magnificent tree (about 7 1/2 feet tall, lit up with hundreds of colored lights, complete with a tree skirt and tons of ornaments) had won first prize out of all the others! it warmed my heart... but then i got a shock when i looked at the auction sheet. only one person had bid, and that bid was a measly $150. why, the tree alone was probably worth over $100!
the bidding ended that night at 8:30 p.m., and we were there around 3 p.m. i asked the information gal, and there was supposed to be a big local business dinner at the station that night, "and they usually buy about fifteen trees."
that was it. i had to bid on this tree! never mind that we were already in financial straits, and that i'm not working (yet), and that julia's tuition is due, and and and... the charity was a good one (a residential program for youth aged 6-17, and not religious-based... a rarity in these parts). we haven't done much charitable giving this year at all, and we could write it off. we had been talking about going to a fake tree for a few years, and we'd have to cough up about 50 or 60 bucks anyway for a tree... plus, i'd very likely get outbid for this fantastic grand prize winner that night.
i called bill, sent him a picture of it, and pretty much begged to bid on it. he finally acquiesced, certain i'd lost my mind. i wrote down "$165" on the bid sheet, with our phone number, and wandered off in a happy glow, sure that i'd be outbid that night but glad that i'd pushed up the bid a little bit.
we didn't hear anything that night or most of the next day, so i figured the tree had found another, wealthier home. but while i had the kids out on errands that afternoon, bill IMed me with the news that marillac had called and that the tree was ours... yeep!
so.... i accidentally won a tree. cord and julia seem OK with having a fake tree, though clayton is horrified at the idea (we might pick him up a charlie brown tree to decorate, though). i guess this will be my present this year from bill, so he's off the hook. and the kids will have a bunch of new games under the tree. and a worthy charity will have a chunk of cash... although i think it's a sad commentary on local giving that we won with our relatively puny bid. that tree should have sold for $500 at least.
cordell and i spent two very chilly hours outside the other day, trying to figure out a way to string up our costco LED lights and swag of evergreen. we finally just screwed through the siding, and it seems to be holding up OK. they're gonna look gorgeous when it snows, i bet.
it's been pretty cold inside, too. we've got the heater off at night, and set to 60 during the day, but it never gets warmer than 55 for most of the house. my room and the little sunroom off of it get some sun, so that area hits 60 and gets pretty comfortable. i put up the plastic window covers and a curtain of rainbow wedding table runners across the doorway to the living room, and we heat it up at night with the fireplace; it gets pretty toasty in there. julia's been sleeping in there at night, but we found out she hadn't even closed her storm windows so i'm not feeling too sorry for her. i also took cordell out shopping and got some longsleeved tees for everyone (thank you, overseas workers who fill the racks with insanely cheap clothing at old navy). it snowed a little last night and was supposed to be down to 12, with a high today in the 20s. brrrrrr. half-husky dog wiley seems to be happy, at least!
today i have eight boys arriving to practice their architecture: a big gingerbread house party! i still need to do some clean up and make a batch of royal icing to color...
mysterious packages have been arriving over the last month... i've done much of my christmas shopping on ebay this year. i'm pretty proud of several of my scores, but can't publicly brag lest the cat escapes the bag. almost all of my knitted things are done (for sending anyway... the family presents are still in progress). and i need to send out some sort of fambly newsletter to those who aren't hooked into the LJ updates...
the singing group has moved into high gear, practicing for our yule concert on the 18th. we're doing some really pretty pieces, and i seem to be actually figuring out all the music well enough to hold my own as a tenor. we'll also do some yule caroling on the solstice, and i'm hoping bill will make a yule log cake for the carolers to come devour afterwards.
corva found me the other day, and brought back some happy memories. she's in portland now, so i'll get to see her during the IJA fest next year (if i'm not there sooner). yet another reason to consider the city of roses as a potential home once we're done with kc...cut and bleached
jedusor's hair the other night. a friend told her she looked like a cross between a flock of seagulls and a bull dyke. my daughter, jonathan livingston lesbian. well, i think it looks pretty good on her, and she loves it, although it's chilly. i imagine some purple dye is in the near future...time to roust myself and get the party ready.