Another Lost Weekend
Back to work! It's Monday after the long holiday, and I'm ready to be back here. It's nice when you realize that you actually like your job. There's a lot to do and that can be stressful, but then I think, 'One day at a time, Lulu. You can only do so much.'
This was our anniversary weekend. Nine years of wedded bliss, pretty much. First we were going to go down to our cabin. I protested because I didn't want to have to pack everything needed for a weekend in a cabin without electricity, water, toilet, clean sheets, etc. But I was looking forward to working outside, clearing cedar trees and chopping up an oak that fell over a year ago. I was also looking forward to spending time just with my husband, making up for a lot of lost, er, time together, and just chatting.
But we didn't do that. At my suggestion, we were going to spend at least a day and half cleaning out the shop. Our winter coats, gloves, scarves, long underwear were missing. We needed to find them. And there was stuff scattered here and there, and soon Rob will be remodeling the apartment and living there. And we needed to clean up the computer, too--move pictures to a disks, get rid of old shite, etc.
But we didn't do that, either.
Instead, we spent much of the weekend in the living room, watching TV, playing with the kids, with little spurts of productivity. We got the boys a Christmas tree and decorated it. I baked--a lot. And ate. I moved my lame horse to an enclosure, hoping her hoof would get better and that I wouldn't have to put her down (so far, so OK). The house got almost clean...and then slipped back into chaos. Several times. And that's about it!
Except for yesterday. Yesterday Kevin and I headed to the Courthouse lawn to create a Winter Wonderland for the Christmas festival this coming weekend. I'm on the Christmas festival committee, don't you know. (I'm on every frickin' festival committee.)
When we got our Christmas tree, we also picked up 20 Christmas trees that had been culled and offered up by the gracious Christmas tree farm owner, local aromatherapy shop owner, and international flight attendant. At the Courthouse, we pounded in some t-posts and artfully arranged the trees in little clumps of 3-4 around the lawn, keeping in mind that the lights would have to be plugged in, and where can we place everything so that people wouldn't be tripping over the cords all weekend. It's not exactly a 'wonderland', but, hey, you gotta start somewhere. And it is pretty.
We got there early. The Christmas festival crew wasn't due until 1:30. But we had the morning and I wanted to get it done, so I made the command decision and I hoped that, when they did show up, they would be thrilled that the work of putting the trees up would be done, and all they had to do was wrap lights around them.
The Christmas committee is a bunch of women, and we have been meeting weekly for months to try and pull this festival out of our butts. It's a new thing, totally grassroots, and we wanted to get enough stuff going so that people had stuff to do this weekend without us having to work it all weekend. I think we're going to succeed pretty well!
But the controversy--my God! The past week-and-a-half before Thanksgiving I was besieged by bitching people who were obviously stressed about something and, in their wisdom, decided to take it out on the very people who are working the hardest for the community.
First, a very militant and unpleasant wheelchair-bound person complained about the festival because one of the events, a cookie walk, is being held at one of the oldest homes in Hometown, a home owned by the local historic preservation group, and a home exempt from having to modify for wheelchairs because it would destroy the historical integrity of the home. I am all for accessibility, but sometimes you just have to call the organizers and make other arrangements instead of going straight for the punitive.
Second, a downtown retailer accused yours truly of not being supportive of downtown retailers! (Um, I did all of my Christmas shopping in Hometown, be-ach, except for the books--no book store here.) This is a former Chamber member--who has not renewed her membership--complaining that the Chamber is not advertising an event that she, personally, is putting together that will benefit downtown retailers...if she ever gives them the details about what it is. She's a big talker and a no-doer and everyone knows it, but these little things are hard to shake off when they pile up on the same week. And there were more piles than that, but I'll spare you, dear reader.
And now, at least one member of the Christmas committee is irritated at me because I got to the Courthouse early and put up the trees. Why? Because I got the brainstorm to use t-posts to hold them on Saturday and kicked myself for not thinking about it before. They work perfectly and the trees will not blow over in the wind. BUT...she had already talked her 50-something boyfriend into creating wooden tree stands for the trees, and he had spent a good amount of time cutting the lumber down, making little angled cuts for the braces, etc. I knew that he was going to make some sort of prototype, but I didn't know if it would work, and I feared a frustrating afternoon of laborious, fruitless, unorganized work. So I got the posts and started pounding.
Well. He was PISSED. So pissed, in fact, that he told his 40-something girlfriend that she was no longer allowed (yes, ALLOWED) to have anything to do with Those People, or That Event. He whipped out of their driveway, put a dent in her car, and dumped the cut lumber on the courthouse lawn. Not the stands, mind you--the cut lumber. The stands would have had to have been assembled on site. And then all the trees would have fallen over.
If we had all shown up at the same time, my post idea would have won the day. His labor would have been for naught. At worst, he would have been irritated for a little while and maybe kicked himself for not coming up with the t-post idea before he put in the work. Instead, he freaks out. Happy Holidays!
You know, I've said this before: I strive to not let the holidays stress me out, but there's nothing I can do about other people. I will send my friend an email, apologizing for her boyfriend's lost weekend (though it was certainly not a weekends' worth of work he put in--more likely a few hours). And then I'm going to soldier on, heroically, through throngs of irrational, stressed-out idiots everywhere.
And, oh yeah, Kevin found the missing winter clothes! They were in a tote that had been buried by a mountain of cardboard awaiting recycling. Yep, the shop still needs to be cleaned out. I'm sure we'll do it over the Christmas holiday.
This was our anniversary weekend. Nine years of wedded bliss, pretty much. First we were going to go down to our cabin. I protested because I didn't want to have to pack everything needed for a weekend in a cabin without electricity, water, toilet, clean sheets, etc. But I was looking forward to working outside, clearing cedar trees and chopping up an oak that fell over a year ago. I was also looking forward to spending time just with my husband, making up for a lot of lost, er, time together, and just chatting.
But we didn't do that. At my suggestion, we were going to spend at least a day and half cleaning out the shop. Our winter coats, gloves, scarves, long underwear were missing. We needed to find them. And there was stuff scattered here and there, and soon Rob will be remodeling the apartment and living there. And we needed to clean up the computer, too--move pictures to a disks, get rid of old shite, etc.
But we didn't do that, either.
Instead, we spent much of the weekend in the living room, watching TV, playing with the kids, with little spurts of productivity. We got the boys a Christmas tree and decorated it. I baked--a lot. And ate. I moved my lame horse to an enclosure, hoping her hoof would get better and that I wouldn't have to put her down (so far, so OK). The house got almost clean...and then slipped back into chaos. Several times. And that's about it!
Except for yesterday. Yesterday Kevin and I headed to the Courthouse lawn to create a Winter Wonderland for the Christmas festival this coming weekend. I'm on the Christmas festival committee, don't you know. (I'm on every frickin' festival committee.)
When we got our Christmas tree, we also picked up 20 Christmas trees that had been culled and offered up by the gracious Christmas tree farm owner, local aromatherapy shop owner, and international flight attendant. At the Courthouse, we pounded in some t-posts and artfully arranged the trees in little clumps of 3-4 around the lawn, keeping in mind that the lights would have to be plugged in, and where can we place everything so that people wouldn't be tripping over the cords all weekend. It's not exactly a 'wonderland', but, hey, you gotta start somewhere. And it is pretty.
We got there early. The Christmas festival crew wasn't due until 1:30. But we had the morning and I wanted to get it done, so I made the command decision and I hoped that, when they did show up, they would be thrilled that the work of putting the trees up would be done, and all they had to do was wrap lights around them.
The Christmas committee is a bunch of women, and we have been meeting weekly for months to try and pull this festival out of our butts. It's a new thing, totally grassroots, and we wanted to get enough stuff going so that people had stuff to do this weekend without us having to work it all weekend. I think we're going to succeed pretty well!
But the controversy--my God! The past week-and-a-half before Thanksgiving I was besieged by bitching people who were obviously stressed about something and, in their wisdom, decided to take it out on the very people who are working the hardest for the community.
First, a very militant and unpleasant wheelchair-bound person complained about the festival because one of the events, a cookie walk, is being held at one of the oldest homes in Hometown, a home owned by the local historic preservation group, and a home exempt from having to modify for wheelchairs because it would destroy the historical integrity of the home. I am all for accessibility, but sometimes you just have to call the organizers and make other arrangements instead of going straight for the punitive.
Second, a downtown retailer accused yours truly of not being supportive of downtown retailers! (Um, I did all of my Christmas shopping in Hometown, be-ach, except for the books--no book store here.) This is a former Chamber member--who has not renewed her membership--complaining that the Chamber is not advertising an event that she, personally, is putting together that will benefit downtown retailers...if she ever gives them the details about what it is. She's a big talker and a no-doer and everyone knows it, but these little things are hard to shake off when they pile up on the same week. And there were more piles than that, but I'll spare you, dear reader.
And now, at least one member of the Christmas committee is irritated at me because I got to the Courthouse early and put up the trees. Why? Because I got the brainstorm to use t-posts to hold them on Saturday and kicked myself for not thinking about it before. They work perfectly and the trees will not blow over in the wind. BUT...she had already talked her 50-something boyfriend into creating wooden tree stands for the trees, and he had spent a good amount of time cutting the lumber down, making little angled cuts for the braces, etc. I knew that he was going to make some sort of prototype, but I didn't know if it would work, and I feared a frustrating afternoon of laborious, fruitless, unorganized work. So I got the posts and started pounding.
Well. He was PISSED. So pissed, in fact, that he told his 40-something girlfriend that she was no longer allowed (yes, ALLOWED) to have anything to do with Those People, or That Event. He whipped out of their driveway, put a dent in her car, and dumped the cut lumber on the courthouse lawn. Not the stands, mind you--the cut lumber. The stands would have had to have been assembled on site. And then all the trees would have fallen over.
If we had all shown up at the same time, my post idea would have won the day. His labor would have been for naught. At worst, he would have been irritated for a little while and maybe kicked himself for not coming up with the t-post idea before he put in the work. Instead, he freaks out. Happy Holidays!
You know, I've said this before: I strive to not let the holidays stress me out, but there's nothing I can do about other people. I will send my friend an email, apologizing for her boyfriend's lost weekend (though it was certainly not a weekends' worth of work he put in--more likely a few hours). And then I'm going to soldier on, heroically, through throngs of irrational, stressed-out idiots everywhere.
And, oh yeah, Kevin found the missing winter clothes! They were in a tote that had been buried by a mountain of cardboard awaiting recycling. Yep, the shop still needs to be cleaned out. I'm sure we'll do it over the Christmas holiday.
posted by lulu | 5:51 AM
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