Tuesday, December 21, 2021


Ms. Maurice the Murder Cat is becoming almost tame. She sits right there beside her man every second that he's in his chair. He's even gotten her to the point where he can tell her that he has to get up for more coffee and she'll fuss but she doesn't bite him and she sits on the arm rest and waits for him to return. 
It's sort of a miracle. 
I'll tell you about another miracle- a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! I actually enjoyed myself today out shopping. I was walking around Costco and all of a sudden I realized that I was fully in my body, and not hating being there. 
In my book, that's enjoyment. 
It also helped very much that I ran into Jason and Owen and Gibson and Magnolia. They'd been Christmas shopping and were eating pizza and I got lots of good, great, wonderful hugs. 
And then I finally just broke down and started spending money on presents and it felt terrific. I have such a problem with buying things. I know why and it's deep-seated but we are not poor and I take things too far. I mean, we're not going to be buying a house featured on "Selling Sunset" anytime soon but we have enough for me not to get all worked up about spending some money on Christmas presents. 
So I got most of my shopping done there. 
Phew! 
Then I took myself to lunch. I don't usually take pictures of my meals but I was texting with a friend and sent her a picture of what I was eating. 


Shrimp po'boy and potato salad. As another friend of mine said once, "I'm on the rapid weight-gain diet."
I've abandoned all dietary rules and caution. For the moment. 
I don't know what that place puts in their potato salad but it might be crack. Cheese? Sweet potatoes? Whatever, I hope I never find out because I do not want the ability to make it myself. 

And today's the Solstice and for some reason, I'm thinking about that a lot. Now that's a day you can pin your hat on. It's real, it's measurable. It's science. And it's a day that's been celebrated for thousands of years. Far longer than Christmas which we know damn well the Christians just merged with the Solstice to make it more attractive and acceptable to the Pagans with their beloved feasts and yule logs and Solstice trees. 
Like all those saints being substituted for the gods and goddesses that people had already been worshipping for millennia. 
Ah well. That's what humans do. We take what's already established and try to convince people that what we're pushing is bright, shiny new and magically improved. 

So I'm in a fairly cheerful mood this evening and am vastly grateful for that. It's cold (to us thin-blooded southerners) and getting colder. Still raining off and on. But that's fine. I have a nightgown to work on and I got three books I can't wait to read at the library today. I think I have wrapping paper and I'll get started on that project pretty soon.
Really! I will! 

I'm still not going to be singing any damn Christmas carols though. The cheer I'm feeling is so tenuous that one Mariah Carey rendition of O! Holy Night might just send me back into the darkest depths.

Love...Ms. Moon


33 comments:

  1. This was a wonderful post to read! I'm so glad for your happy day! Merry Christmas and Happy Solstice to you and your family. 🎄 ⭐

    ReplyDelete
  2. We’ll, I’ve crawled a couple inches out of my doldrums and made some cranberry bread today. Which means I actually got out of bed, took a shower and put real clothes on! Went to the doc, where I learned that this horrible leg pain is from an aortic vessel in my leg being blocked. It’s an answer for my inability to walk far so I’m sort of saying ‘told ya so!’

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad to hear that you're feeling a bit better but NOT glad to hear that you have a blocked aortic blood vessel. DAMN! What are they going to do?

      Delete
  3. I am finally getting in the mood to cook something festive. We have a duck for the big day, but I am not sure what else I will serve with it. But for sure I will toast some spicy pecans!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spicy pecans! The sugared ones are damn good too.

      Delete
  4. You bought Christmas presents! Hurray! I'm glad you had a good day.

    I baked Mrs. Harvey's fruit cake today and it's very tasty. I added some coconut to it because I like coconut so much. Probably the first fruit cake I've ever eaten.

    Happy Solstice to you and yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you like the fruit cake! Mine is disappearing at an alarming rate!

      Delete
  5. Sounds as if the solstice turned the corner for you! Good. So glad you enjoyed without stress. Yay you. That lunch looks very good and very huge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The solstice was very, very good for me!
      That lunch was delicious and I assure you that I did not eat most of the bread but I sure did eat all of the shrimps and potato salad.

      Delete
  6. I would almost kill for that shrimp po'boy and potato salad! Literally. Looks SO good. Your day was bright and merry and shoppy............ good for you! I felt better today.....made 3 more batches of roasted nuts...... laundry.....blah blah......and then pancit and eggrolls for dinner. Am I nuts? I am rather sad though, that my sole remaining hen *Buttercup* who was almost 10 year old......thankfully died in her sleep on her comfy roost last night. she's been transitioning for a few days.....i was waiting it out. Bless her little chicken heart. the last of my flock. Hubby buried her next to our last dog, and last cat.......and I will strew wildflower seeds over her grave. Bless her heart. Life and death.......its all good
    Susan M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are gettin' busy, woman!
      I'm sorry to hear about Buttercup but ten years is very old for a hen and I'm sure she had a wonderful life. I love the idea of planting wildflowers over her grave.

      Delete
  7. Must have been the moon or the planets or something- everyone suddenly snapped out of their grunt pickles. Me too, I baked, i cooked I cleaned and had a good time doing ti,
    whiskey may have helped. Your sandwich would send me straight to heaven! I would eat them till - dead. Nice that you bump into family all of the time- so cool having loved ones near. (I would suppose)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grunt pickles! Did you make that up? I love it.
      Whiskey can definitely cheer you on through household tasks.
      That sandwich was excellent. No two ways around it.
      Yep about the family and Tallahassee isn't THAT big.

      Delete
  8. Happy solstice from our neck of the woods to yours. A fine day to celebrate!

    Chris from Boise

    ReplyDelete
  9. Christmas spirit! I think seeing your grands made the idea of gift shopping seem suddenly sweet. I love the cheerfulness of this post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Can't believe you are only just buying Xmas presents. If I haven't got most of mine by the end of November I start to panic! Not sure how cold your " cold" is but it was minus 5C here this morning when I got up half an hour ago. The garden looked pretty covered in frost. The dog will have his coat on for his walk for sure. He has recently had his grooming so not got as much fur as he might have!
    The sky is clear and the planes are producing contrails. I am always amazed at how many there are up there that you normally never see. They are the ones passing over UK from Europe etc to maybe US, flying at 33,000 ft. They go the other way too!! ( I have an app that tells me all this). Youngest son arrives tomorrow from Oxford, with girlfriend, so looking forward to seeing him for a few days before they go off to Slovenia to see her parents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our temperature last night would have been around 4.5 C. I'm sure you'd laugh. I bet your doggo appreciates his coat.
      I'm glad your son and his girlfriend are coming for a visit. I know you're looking forward to that.

      Delete
  11. Your lunch looks divine - especially that potato salad!

    ReplyDelete
  12. A Christmas Miracle at Costco! could be a Hallmark movie on TV!
    Good for you, Ms. Moon! Christmas will be fine and I know your family will make it so. Spending any time together with them lifts your spirits! Doesn't even matter what day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. I think you're right about the Hallmark movie but wouldn't I have had to literally bump into a tall, dark, and handsome stranger and both of us fall immediately in love?

      Delete
  13. Good to hear you found some cheer.

    I lit a candle at 10:59am yesterday to welcome the Winter Solstice (the time my area hit it). I sent an email with a photo of it cc'ing two friends (we all know each other)--one is in Scotland (it was 3:59 pm her time) and the other in France (4:59pm her time) and they both immediately sent back a photo of their own lit candle. Wasn't planned, but it was a nice, quiet way to connect us.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have trouble spending money too. For one, I've always been a saver even as a teen. For two, as working artists we lived hand to mouth for 40 years. It's a hard habit to break. Here at the end we lucked out with the gentrification of my old neighborhood and a few other things that fell in our lap. But even now, I tuck money away, my emergency escape fund. I'm glad you finally let go and spent money. It can be fun.

    I remarked last night that the shortest day was done and tomorrow would be longer. Of course the husband had to interject that it would actually be a few days before they got longer so he read. Dude, stop killing my joy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's so funny. I actually told Glen last night not to harsh my buzz. He was laughing at me for buying the Christmas presents I bought. Well, sort of.
      Once you get into the headspace of never spending money unnecessarily it's hard to break the habit, isn't it?

      Delete
  15. Well, it must be a relief to have all the presents taken care of, but I also am not a shopper so I can see where you're coming from on resistance to spending. Glad you ran into Jason and the kids!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just have to say, "Damn the torpedos!" and do it, Steve. That's what I think, anyway.

      Delete
  16. Ms. Moon! Just this year I have dropped Xmas and am celebrating the Solstice - we had a fine time last night, my husband and I. In deference to today's society, we will hold our Feast of the Solstice on the 25th, with tree, presents, dinner, family, all the good stuff. Real stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm down with the Solstice too! I'm not sure we're doing anything at all for Christmas per se, but I'm having a Winter Candle lit at dinner every night till the sun is definitely back (Daylight saving time?)Started on Santa Lucia (when the swedish girls go around singing with lit candles on their heads.) Special colored candles for Solstice and Epiphany and my birthday (12/23) Maybe the 25th also. After Solstice I like Epiphany best--showing forth of the light, revelation and insight.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.