Manubrium Monday

manubrium ~ any handle-like structure

I was talking to one of my sisters on the phone yesterday and I said our weather lately has been crazy all over the place, like Mother Nature has been using a roulette wheel to pick what the day is going to bring. One day it’s hot enough for a tank top, the next it’s cold enough for a jacket, with wind and rain and overcast skies in between. You just never know what the day’s going to bring.

Take today, for instance. It’s a little windy, a little overcast, a little chilly, but it’s supposed to warm up and be sunny later. And by the end of the week we’re supposed to be back up to 24 Celsius (75 Fahrenheit). Maybe I was a little premature in putting away my summer clothes.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned we had a family outing to the CNE, but I forgot to mention that one of the traditions is that I pick up something . . . frivolous. This is why you’ll see a variety of weird things around my house, like a voodoo stick, wooden chest, dragon holding a plasma ball, etc. This year it was a mask to add to the collection in my office, which is where my story starts.

It’s not that I didn’t have room for another mask, it’s just that we had to rearrange the masks on the wall to make room for it. And then the hubby suggested I might want some of my other keepsakes that sort of went with the masks in my office – things like the didgeridoo, voodoo stick, and rain stick.

Which seemed like a good idea except the only place I had room for them was behind my reading chair. But I also have a pole lamp behind my chair that kind of took up more than its fair share of space because it was too short for the height of the chair so I had it up on a wooden stand.

I managed to wedge the rain stick in behind it, decided it looked stupid and pulled it out again and in the process knocked the glass chimney that covered the light bulb and held up the lamp shade which shattered all over my head – the glass chimney, not the lamp shade.

But I digress.

Once I had the masks rearranged, I realized I had space for one more mask. So on the weekend the hubby and I went to Primitive Designs (a seasonal import store that’s just crammed with really cool stuff), and I bought yet another mask. It’s not the mask I had in mind, but the more I stared at the one I was going to get, the more it creeped me out. There was no way I wanted that thing staring over my shoulder when I was working in my office.

So . . . now my wall is filled and the glass chimney has been replaced and all is right with the world.

And is that the end of my mask collecting?

Probably not.

Minimism Monday

minimism ~ inclination to reduce a dogma to the least possible

You know, the problem with having a busy weekend followed by a day off from babysitting is that Monday tends to feel like Sunday. And you’d think despite spending the day shopping, followed by making the usual big dinner for the daughter and her family Sunday would have felt like Sunday, but nevertheless, this is why today’s post is late.

Not only does today feel like Sunday, I actually slept in this morning. Okay, not so much slept in as lounged in bed for an extra 45 minutes because it’s another grey, miserable day outside today. Plus I’m feeling pretty grey and miserable myself with a sinus infection. Good thing I get to see my doctor this week.

The Christmas shopping, and most of the wrapping, is done. The hubby and I went up to Peterborough (about an hour’s drive north) yesterday and as we were headed from one mall to another I suddenly realized we were supposed to go to Oshawa (about an hour’s drive west) because Peterborough doesn’t have a Toys ‘R Us and we needed to exchange one of the grandbaby’s gifts.

Notice how all our shopping seems to be about an hour’s drive away from here, no matter what direction you take?

The decorating, such as it is, is pretty much done as well. The hubby put lights outside around the windows, and a row of candy canes in the garden. We also have two of those light projectors – one with just green and red lights, the other with green and red candy canes that kind of dance around on the side of the house. I also sprung for a real wreath for the front door – I’ve been wanting one for years.

Inside the house is not quite as festive. One of the pitfalls of the hubby being retired is that he no longer brings home a poinsettia from the office, so I went out and bought my own. And then, on Saturday morning, after much plotting and planning and rearranging of things in the dining room (mostly just getting rid of crap that didn’t need to be in there), I went out and bought a real, live Christmas tree.

I can’t remember the last time I had a real Christmas tree, but I found one that’s small enough to fit on the drop leaf table that divides the living and dining rooms, and as I proved last night we can still all eat at the dining room table. So far I only have the lights on it, but I’ll dig out the rest of the decorations today and post a picture of it next week.

Meanwhile, the other goal today is to get all of the out of town presents in the mail. Well, all except for the ones for my sisters. I ordered theirs online and I haven’t got them yet.

Sorry, sisters! You gifts might be a little late this year.