Saturday, 15 December 2018
i got up with a craving for fried potatoes and eggs. i made some and we ate them. my middle daughter arrived later, driving herself in from her mother’s house 40 minutes south of where we live. we ate some leftovers for lunch, my wife went to work, and the kids and i visit their grandmother out of town. the eldest daughter was on her way to Cincinnati to fly out to Disney World with her mother so she was not tagging along.
the intention was to decorate mom’s room (she’s in a long term care facility) and bring it some Christmas cheer and something to let her know we’d been there. my wife had bought a tiny tree and lights and tiny baubles (now that i’ve heard the Brits call ornaments “baubles” there’s no going back) for just this purpose the day before. we also had a wreath for the door and a christmassy blanket for her bed. i ended up stopping a total of 4 times at 4 stores to get more things for this holiday decking: bauble hooks (large paperclips did not work), a tiny tree skirt, a small poinsettia, and a tree topper. oh, and batteries for the lights.
we found our way to mom’s room and discovered that she already had a tiny tree poised on her desk/table complete with lights! i have no idea where it came from. someone must have given it to her because i had no memory of it. we told her that we could leave it where it was and she would have two trees (middle daughter said she could be the “coolest person on the hall”) but she had us put it away. the tree went up easily with middle daughter and i trimming. my son got out the nativity scene and positioned it on her dresser next to the tree. it was a ceramic set that had been hand-glazed by one of mom’s cousins more than 30 years ago. my thought was that it would help keep her grounded. my son then helped hang baubles. at that point -or some time before then- i realized that i had not brought the blanket. <incoherent mumbling> maybe i’ll mail it to her?
she was very happy with her decorations and walked us to the door. the kids and i ate lunch at a nearby fast food taco place and then headed home. once there, naps were taken and a few chores were done before my wife came home from work. for dinner, we opted for Chinese because no one wanted to cook. then we talked about our trip to Yosemite in the spring and other plans, hopes, and dreams until sleep was upon us and we went to bed.