
What me, moody? No time to be so. Spent four hours decorating the Christmas tree last night. Unfortunately, seems as though when Yolanda packed up the ornaments for me last year—very carefully, wrapping each one (but neglecting to put them in their regular boxes so I had two large cartons of empty boxes as well as one large carton of neatly wrapped ornaments) she also just cut the hanging loops off with the result that none of the 200 or more ornaments had anything to hang them from. Plus, she seems to have thrown away the wire hangers the loops hung from, so not only did I need to cut and form 200 hangers from wire, but also figure out how to attach them! I did so appreciate her untrimming the tree last year, but this year I think I’ll just cover it with plastic and store it in the laundry room! Save hours next year. (I didn’t mention untangling 4 long strands of Xmas lights to discover only one worked.)
But I’m not moody. No time to be so. Especially since after two days of painting the bathroom I discovered that the cement window frame I’d worked hours on to gouge out and sand away all the salitre, treat with vinegar, dry with fans, treat with Sin Salitre, dry overnight with fans, then fill with white cement, had one problem. The day after I completed this three day process (due to need to dry completely,) when I ran a cloth over the job, it came off covered with powder. I then used my hand. Covered with white powder. Commenced coughing coughing coughing from the dust.
Then a light bulb went on over my head. I must have filled the holes with grout rather than cement! They look exactly the same, and when Pasiano neglected to find the white cement for me, I went to find it myself in the garage and got a bag of grout instead. Damn. This would mean sanding it out, more dust, more coughing. So, I found a bottle of grout sealant and painted it on. When it dries, I’m going to go ahead and paint over it anyway. If it doesn’t work, I’ll do the job right after Xmas
My best friends will arrive to spend Xmas with me in 3 days. 28 people coming for a Xmas day potluck, need to visit Guadalajara to buy the ham and rolls and other party fare. Still need to find a place for all the retablos still residing on my dining room table. Carpenter came today to take my kitchen island to fix so all of it’s drawers residing in different places on my counter top and dining room floor. Two more boxes of Xmas decorations to find and no idea where they are hiding out, bathroom to finish painting, spare room full of material that was put upstairs during retiling and that needs to be put away. Lights and papel picado to string up, Nacimientos to set out, manger to assemble.
But moody? No way. I have no time to be moody. Above is the Xmas tree I decorated last night. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Xmas. I did Aguinaldos (Christmas Bonuses) and gifts for Pasiano and Yolanda, wrapped up a Hello Kitty notebook for Yoli and a new laptop computer for Oscar, filled Xmas stockings for Marti and Patty, my looooooong time friends who are visiting . (So excited they’ll be here for Xmas.) Yes. definitely, Xmas is in the air, as full of dust as it may be, as cluttered and stacked up and makeshift as it may be. In three days all will be perfect. And it is also perfect that all this activity leaves no room for moodiness. Moody? Me? Never.
The prompt today is “moody.”