lights by a lunatic?, pool open, party recap, THE game, and fridge on the fritz

I wrote a post for today and was frustrated that it was longer than I wanted for a Monday. I moved it and wrote this. It isn't short. I have stuff to share and who better to share it with than you, my faithful readers. I know everyone is busy this time of year, but I do appreciate you and I hope I'm not losing you as my readers, long-winded as I am. 

Timely updates:  In order to get ready for the somewhat last minute Christmas party I hosted last week, I asked Lad to pull out the Christmas lights before Coach and I left for Arizona. We're gonna go with IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS, but he hung the lights and they looked a little, shall we say, OFF- not as in they wouldn't turn on, but as in they weren't hung with any thought or system.

While we were away, he 'fixed them' or added to them with other strings that they didn't need from his work. Mini texted us a photo. Coach and I were at the airport about to fly home. We were ASTONISHED, thinking the lights couldn't have gotten worse . . . but alas.

We were like, what on earth? Strings hung down so low that it was hard to approach the house without getting close-lined. They were all over the place, like maybe a crazed lunatic had hung them. This made no sense. Lad is actually a great artist. I begged Coach to fix them before the party.

Mini made fun of the snow I used to
 cover up the wires the next morning. I
had more snow that I should've used
 UNDER the house to make it look more
 natural, but wait - these are miniature,
 ceramic houses, they're cute but not real.
 The end. No more fussing over them. 

Let's all just remember that Coach is NOT the most dedicated lights guy. We keep the bar very low and I'm sure the neighbors refer to us as the people with few flowers planted, kayaks stowed behind scraggly bushes, and an annual weak Christmas lights display. But THIS, this looked crappy even for us. 

Coach adjusted them, and those that he didn't have time to adjust he didn't plug in before the party.

*****

Before we left town, I put up my Christmas houses. What is it about going away in early December that throws off the whole month? I've been playing catch up ever since - but hey, my houses are up and they look great. The tots, who sometimes have separation issues when they get dropped off, are loving the houses. I might have to keep them up all year. 

                                                                      *****

Table for 1.

When we were in Arizona, Coach left one morning with the breakfast voucher in his pocket. I've mentioned that I won't let anything stand in my way of free stuff, right? So, I approached the front desk and explained the husband teaching a class and how he had our meal ticket with him. She wrote me up a new ticket. No prob.

While she wrote it, I read a notice. It.Freaked.Me.Out. for a moment. 

The hotel was getting their pool resurfaced. The pool would be closed. A nearby pool would accommodate hotel guests, but hey, I had no car, etc. Hello, read the fine print crazy lady who has been derailed by a closed pool on more than 2 occasions . . . the pool would be closed the day after we left. Panic attack avoided.

******

My alumnae club Christmas party was very nice. The first floor looked clean and non-daycare-ish. The food was all done in time. I was beyond tired, not having slept enough the night before. I stupidly stayed up late, wanting to add fake snow around the Christmas houses and I also decided to make peppermint bark. I stuffed all my paperwork and my desk calendar into my big cabinet/locker in the kitchen. The next day, I decided to enjoy the cleared off counter top. Not getting my calendar out was a strategic mistake. The day after the party, I was in writing mode. I need to finish editing the chapter I want to read tonight (Monday) at the writers group.

So pretty though.

 Party & aftermath recap:

1. I forgot to take out the peppermint bark that I stayed up late to make.2. Coach brought home his work coffee maker and set it up and I forgot to make the coffee. 

3. I was super tired the next day and took not one nap but TWO. (I wasn't babysitting)

4. While I was taking my second nap, I turned down my phone and forgot to turn the volume back up. I missed a call from the dentist at 5:08 pm - Tank had an appointment and without my calendar out, I forgot all about it. I should've put a reminder in my phone, but I was busy when I made the appointment and I didn't do that. Duh. The dentist was very understanding. I've NEVER done that before.

Wait, who lives here? 

5. Tank flew home during the party and in my head I thought he was landing at 8 pm. Um, I spoke to him the day before and still didn't put 2 and 2 together that he was leaving campus to get to the airport in the afternoon. It doesn't take 6 hours to fly from Omaha. I was thinking of his return flight being at 8. He was supposed to land at 5, but was an hour late. Thank goodness, because Coach was already doing all of the basketball/dancing driving while I was in party mode. 

You know what makes a great
 picture? A baby. A dessert. A dog. 

6. With Tank home the leftover snack and dessert food has been very welcome and quickly inhaled. 

*****

I wrote most of my annual year end  recap poem on the flight back from Scottsdale. Then last week after the party, I got busy adding to it, brainstorming, etc. Well, Saturday night after we all attended Reg's home basketball game, I did my first cold read. They liked it. They were polite. What? That's not how this works. People get their feathers riled. They have strong feeling about what I've shared. They boo and moan that some parts suck and are dumb and roar laughing at others. It was too tame. 

Tank urged me to include more about Mini. She has so much to point out, to laugh about, to share. He isn't wrong. I took his advice. Mini protested slightly about the extra info being added, but fortunately she can laugh at herself. We might be laughing harder. Not to worry, I will post one day soon about Mini's many mishaps. Brace yourself.  

This morning (Sunday), I added more lines and worked on the ones that weren't quite right. Re-rhyming them to improve the flow. I haven't added the photos to the margins yet, but I feel much better about the end product. There are people who get excited about my poem, or so they claim. Ah, the pressure. 

I was hoping to print my envelopes this weekend, but that didn't happen. Not sure if I trust myself to do it during nap time this week, because there is bound to be  swearing and ranting. 

*****

Finally, Reggie played a home game last night (Saturday). When his team played last weekend, Coach and I watched the live stream from our hotel room. It was against Entitled High. That's the high school in our split district that tends to enroll wealthy, entitled students. Exceptions to every rule, of course. There was a kid talking trash to Reg. 

He told Reg NICE BROKE ASS SHOES. 

My kid is # 21. Blurry because the
nutty mama who took the
 photo was shaking.

Well. Have you ever? A kid making fun of my kid's shoes because they aren't $300 shoes? Reg does tend to shred his shoes, but these shoes aren't that old. No rips. So he didn't literally mean they were broken. I told Reg we ought to load up all of our old, broke ass shoes and dump them on Mr. Hot Shot's lawn. Entitled High romped on us and we lost badly. We are a young team. This is a building year. Yadda, yadda.

Then last night we attended his game. I wasn't expecting much especially after the Entitled High loss. We played a cross town rival. They're always good. It was a close game. Then we pulled ahead by 15. They came back a bit, but we ended up winning by 5. Warning, I'm about to brag:  Reg was the high scorer. He had 22 of our 68 points. He hit 5 three pointers. One of them was just over half court at the half time buzzer. We were all there minus Ed who won't be home from school till Thursday. I'm telling you  - crazy exciting. 

Tank at the sink, helping me clean out
 the freezer in the kitchen to make
 room for the food from the basement.
Welcome home, Tank. He was
 thrilled to help..

*****

I know I already said 'finally', but remember last year when the dryer broke just before Christmas? Well, we've thawed the fridge since it spoiled my turkey and was actually only 44 degrees. It doesn't seem to want to make a comeback. The kids ate a severely freezer-burned pie tonight. Shoving food in all available spaces in the other fridges and not having room for a spare gallon of milk at the moment is getting interesting. 

Are your appliances behaving? Do you take your lights seriously? Do you host things and then forget to set stuff out? Maybe it's a sign that you're enjoying yourself. How often do you clean out your fridge? I admit, I put stuff in there and then I forget. Oops.