A Day of Miracles

Well, actually it was a pretty quiet day. I let myself go into my slowest gear (people who know me will tell you that's not too slow). But I lingered over the paper and coffee, puttered around finishing cleaning up after last night, finished reading the parts of a manuscript I'd brought home--it ended abruptly and I found I was missing four chapters. No wonder it was abrupt! The kind of day where you never put on make-up and take a long nap. For lunch and dinner I had leftover cheese ball and caviar dip, though I tried to make dinner a bit healthier by adding some stir-fried zucchini and mushrooms.
The first miracle: after I did my yoga, I thought I would just try that washing machine one more time. It worked fine. I did a load of laundry that I'd meant to take out to Jordan's house and cancelled the repair appointment. Lesson learned--the machine does not like one heavy rug. Throws it off balance.
Second (maybe) miracle: Jamie called from meetings in Las Vegas where he thinks he made a contact for some writing assignments for me. Can't say more at the time but it would put me back to writing for young adults, which may be where I belong. Dang! Is that mystery going to go to waste?
Third miracle: While Jamie was on the phone, call waiting beeped--it was a distant cousin from Canada (her mother was my grandmother's sister--what does that make her to me?). She called to wish me Happy Holidays. She's 90, will be 91 on January 29 which is my father's birthday. She was born on his 21st b'day while he was away at WWI in Europe. Told me that's why she's named Norma--it was Dad's middle name but what all his family called him (his friends called him "Mac' and the students at the osteopathic college where he was president apparently called him "Black Mac," or at least some of them did.) Norma sounded sharp and clear, wanted to know about my family. She lives in the house she's lived in for 50 years. We had a delightful visit.
Later I had an email from Jamie and when I replied and explained about the call that caused me to cut him off, I told him to beware: I come from a line of women who live a long time.
I'm going to have a lazy evening watching junk TV and wrapping Christmas presents.

Tree Trimming

Tonight was my annual no-tree tree trimming party. Above you see my Christmas tree (it had a bow on it but Jordan took it back home) and the mantel--that's the kind of decorating I do these days. For years when the children were growing up, we had large and grand Christmas trees, but I always had a party to decorate them. I remember decorating the tree when I was a child was not festive at all, so I decided to turn it into a party. I'd put out all the ornaments and by the end of the evening, the tree was pretty well decorated. Of course, there was the year the tree fell over . . . . These days I'm never at home for Christmas--at one child's house or another--so I don't have a tree, although I put up all the other decorations, and the house looks festive. And I still have the party. This year I changed my routine, had it on Saturday instead of Sunday, and early rather than late. A true cocktail hour party at 5 p.m. About half the invited people couldn't come for one reason or another--illness, other obligations, etc. So there were maybe 35 people, but they ate almost all the food, so it's a good thing the others didn't come. Jacob came in shy, got his self confidence back and raced around the house, charming everyone, and then within two minutes turned sour and tired.
I have a pretty standard menu--every year I fix a caviar spread that I adore and the cheeseball that I remember from my childhood, and then I branch out from there. This year I had a refried bean and cheese dip (forgot to add the Tabasco but no one seemed to mind), a spinach-artichoke-cheese dip, crab and chili sauce on a block of cream cheese, and sausage balls. I have very few leftovers, though I'm glad there's some caviar and cream cheese for lunch tomorrow. For the sweet tooths, I had chocolate squares (all the ingredients of chocolate chip cookies, just put together in an entirely different manner), peanut butter cookies, and a chocolate Bundt cake that is a favorite. Jordan is having a ladies party next week and went home with lots of leftovers, including cookies and cake.
But I am tired tonight. I spent the morning cleaning house--something I rarely do myself. It wears me out and tears up my back, so that I have to sit every once in a while. Jordan came about four, helped me put things out, and did a major portion of the clean-up afterwards, with Christian's help. There are still about three dishes soaking, but I think I'll leave them overnight--something I almost never do. But I'm tired after two big events in two nights, and I'm fighting this cold. I think I've been staving it off by sheer will power all week. I decided I might collapse tomorrow, but then thought that was a bad attitude. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep.
Oh, and the washing machine quit today. With a wet rug in it. I opened the back door to wring it out (which I couldn't--it was a shag bathroom rug and too heavy to wring), and the dog ran in, the cat ran out, and I had a mess on my hands. The repairman is due Tuesday--I am so tired of servicemen who are to appear between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
I'm reading a manuscript, a memoir really but structured around the houses the writer has lived in. Since I'm a real house person, the idea fascinates me. I know I am defined by my house--built in 1922, decorated as my mother would have done (no decorator for me, although a good friend did the original planning), filled with old furniture and things I love but not, I hope, overcrowded.