Monday, December 13, 2021

HO-HO-Fuckin' HO, Once Again


I went to town today and not only did I go to Costco and Publix, I also went to Tuesday Morning and to Joann's Fabrics. 
I got nothing at Tuesday Morning. I was going to buy a pot for a plant but the line was about five people long and there was one checker-outer and she was being very friendly and making sure that each of her customers felt as if she was giving them all of her attention because she was and while that's fine, I could not see waiting for however long it was going to take to buy one pot, even if I was made to feel special for a minute or two. 
So. That was a bust.
At Joann's I somehow managed to spend about a thousand dollars on three tiny strings of battery powered lights and a pattern and the material to make Maggie a flannel nightgown. And the lights were 60% off! 
Okay. It was not a thousand dollars but let's just say that this may well be the most expensive sleepwear that Maggie ever owns unless she buys her honeymoon trousseau at a couture house in Paris.
Of course I had to look at flannel for about half an hour and that's no joke. Despite the large selection, I could not find anything that I thought she would just love so I ended up getting her rooster printed cloth. 


Nothing says Christmas Cheer to a little girl quite like roosters, does it?
It is very soft. 
I better get started on that tomorrow. 

In Costco I realized that I could not find any fruitcakes. Do you understand what this means? It means that for me, any tiny shred or wisp or hope or sugarplum fairy of a dream of having a decent Christmas just flew out the window. If there are no Costco fruitcakes. 
I give up. 
I suppose I could make one. I mean, I have before. 
Sigh.

By the time I got my lunch this afternoon, it was almost four o'clock and I sat in my car in the parking lot of a sporting goods store next to Publix and ate a sandwich and realized that they were tearing up and tearing down a small piece of woods that separates the parking lot from a road. 


In the time it took me to eat a sandwich, the lot had been over halfway denuded. It was so depressing watching those giant T-Rex machines crunching their way through the trees, pulling and snapping giant pines as if they were blades of grass. I swear, the trees screamed as they left the dirt. I have no idea what they're going to build there but I'm sure it will be ugly. I have absolutely no right to complain because just a little way down the street is Moon Plaza which we built and which had also once been a patch of woods. It now houses a Dunkin' Donuts and a few other businesses. I'm as big a hypocrite as anyone on this earth and I know it. 
I swear to you- I never meant to live in Tallahassee. I moved here by accident, in a way, in 1974 and I've never gotten any farther away than Lloyd which is not very damn far. And Tallahassee may have had its charms forty-seven years ago but it's growing less charming every day. 

I'm so bitchy today. Also, tired. 

Well, here's a picture that Jessie just sent. They got their little living tree up and put up lights. It's a cheerful sight, for sure.


The wolf cubs seem happy with it. 

I'll try to be more cheerful tomorrow, y'all but I can't promise anything. 

Meanwhile...

Love...Ms. Moon


31 comments:

  1. love the rooster fabric and the ecru *lace* trimming! Miss Maggie will love it! Fruitcake.....I hear you. I usually bake Persimmon bread this time of year if I'm up to it......my recipe is very similar to the best fruitcake......and I love it.......but sorry. Not cold enough for a Hachiya Persimmon crop this year....so sadly, no fruitcake/bread for us or any of our friends. Darned. Best fruitcake I ever had in my ENTIRE life was made my my long departed friend Bette.......and when she died, the recipe went with her...... I still mourn her, and that darned recipe!
    Susan M

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    1. PS. I would have almost died, watching those trees ripped out......just died
      Susan M

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    2. Okay. Now I need to learn more about persimmon bread. WHAT?!
      The recipe I use for fruitcake is an old one that was printed in the Miami Herald (I think) in the '60's.
      I just googled it- Mrs. Harvey's White Fruit Cake and it is all over the internet! I guess it's not a secret recipe! Check it out and see if maybe that looks like your friend's.

      Delete
  2. Be as grouchy and misanthropic as you wish. That's part and parcel of being in your late sixties. It would have been the same even before 2887 Floridians per million died from COVID19. I suspect that Levon would have been thrilled to watch the tree-eating dinosaur machines.

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    1. I've been grouchy and misanthropic since my teens. It does, however get even worse as I age.
      Yeah. Florida wins again, right?
      I kept thinking the same thing about Levon while I watched those giant things ripping out trees.

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  3. You built a plaza? The stuff I learn in here!

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    1. Well, it's CALLED Moon Plaza but it ain't much of a plaza. It's a little strip of rental places that Glen built quite awhile back. It's been a very good investment for us.

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  4. WOW ,I thought I was the only person in the universe that loves fruitcake. The rooster nightgown is enviable too. All of the shops here are pretty much belly up. It is an online Christmas.
    What BOUD said- yes, surprising!

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    1. Obviously a lot of people must love fruitcake or they wouldn't sell so damn much of it. See my answer to Boud about the plaza.

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    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sure Maggie will love that nightgown. I would love jammies with roosters on them.

    Maybe next year I'll make you a fruitcake. I used to make them for my mum and they would good and soaked in rum. She always enjoyed them:)

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    1. I'm definitely going to make one next year. Or maybe instead I'll make a Jamaican Black Cake which a friend sent me a few years ago for my birthday and it was amazing. You have to start soaking the fruit in various liquors about six months before you bake. Or...I could do both and we could have a cake-off!

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    2. I was thinking about making the Jamaican Black Cake too. Perhaps I will now.

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  7. That will be a sweet nightgown for Maggie! You will feel better when you get that done. Where will you put the candy cane lights? Jessie's house looks so sweet with all of those pretty lights!

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    1. I will feel better when I get the nightgown made. At least I'll feel as if I did something.
      See tonight's post for the candy cane light update.
      Jessie has a darling house. It is so light-filled and now even more so.

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  8. I was just thinking "those wolf cubs!" before reading your sentence. Great minds...looks like August is back to his normal self.

    I love that rooster flannel!

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Yep. They are little cubs of some sort. Constantly tussling. Mostly it's Levon and August does put up with him more sweetly than many brothers would.
      I like the rooster flannel too. I sure hope Maggie does!

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  9. A lot of Orthodox are moving to Tallahassee from California these days. Honestly, my next door neighbors did about three months ago. I'd love some fruitcake and seem to remember that I was actually going to make it last year during the height of the pandamnic. Needless to say, I did not.

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    1. Really? I wasn't aware that Tallahassee had anything to offer the Orthodox community. We do have a very large synagogue here. In fact, Levon goes to the little preschool they have there. It's been known as one of Tallahassee's best for years. Temple Israel. Still- so strange.
      Same with me and the fruitcake. Next year? I'll remind you if you remind me.

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  10. I remember JoAnn fabrics from when I lived in the States and can see why you spent so much time there. A fabric store is a real time-sink isn't it - but at least you use yours! I have such a stock of beautiful fabric and haven't felt like sewing in about two years. How wasteful is that?

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    1. Well, Joann's does not have the types of fabric they used to have when people actually made clothes. Now it seems to be more costume-y stuff and fleeces and quilting fabric.
      Is there some place you could donate your beautiful material to if you don't plan on using it?

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  11. I'm joining you in Grouchyland. Recovering from strep. Wherever the hell I got it is a mystery since I hadn't left the house in 10 days when I came down with it...nor had I seen anyone but DH. So I blame him. :(

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    1. That is weird. You really don't just get strep out of thin air. Yeah. Had to be your husband.

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  12. I bought a string of little white lights at an estate sale a while back. I haven't even plugged them in to see if the work much less put them up anywhere. I just can't be bothered with christmas. I haven't been in Joannes since the grandgirls lost interest in sewing but I could easily spend hours in there just looking at all the fabric.

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    1. Well, I like lights whether it's Christmas or not. Just a thing of mine.
      Joann's doesn't have the quality of fabric that they used to but there is still a lot to look at.

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  13. It sounds like you had a tiring day! I think anyone who lives in a place over a period of time is sad and/or frustrated to see it change. This is especially true in a high-growth place like Florida which changes so dramatically. I don't even recognize my hometown anymore and I feel the same way you do -- that it's lost a lot of its charm.

    I love Jessie's tree! And the rooster fabric will be a hit, I'm sure.

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    1. It really was an exhausting day. I think the energy I expend trying not to freak out in public places is a lot more energy than I realize.
      You're right about Florida. Jesus. Well, some places are still pretty charming. Monticello is.
      I hope Maggie likes her nightgown. It's not very princess-y. Or, at all.

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  14. Maggie will cherish that nightgown. And look at those brothers go! Beautiful warm family moment. Perfect tree.

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    1. They're thinking about keeping it in the pot all year and using it again next year. I think that is an excellent idea!

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  15. I quite enjoyed the Trader Joe stollen, for your fruitcake fix

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