random thoughts – Day 2,121 (Tuesday) – stripping christmas, plotting a dress

Today, Christmas came down at my house. Most of it, anyway. It wasn’t a formal plan for the day, but suddenly, it felt like the thing to do. I set my book down, arose from the couch, and started the process of stripping Christmas.

Naked silver tree.

The two smallest trees on the buffet were stripped of their small pine cones and iridescent glass balls, collapsed, and set in a storage tub. The ornaments were removed from the three-foot black tinsel tree and the four-foot silver tinsel tree and they now stand naked in their respective spots. Ornaments were wrapped and packed in the usual boxes and through whatever magic was at play today, there is more room in the same bins used year after year, despite my recent purchases of additional ornaments. Go figure. It’s a cool trick, but I don’t understand it. Maybe the recent move refined my packing abilities and boosted my experience points.

The wreaths are still on the front and back doors, partly because the storage container is in the shed and I didn’t want to put on shoes and go outside to get it. Partway through the process of stripping and packing, I took a break to check email and LinkedIn, where I saw a great job posted just 27 minutes earlier for a role for which I am qualified at a company within a reasonable commuting distance. An immediate break from the un-trimming was declared and I shifted gears to submit the application.

The application process required the usual customization of whichever existing resume is closest to the job description and the drafting of a cover letter, which always takes longer than it seems like it will (or should). The automated application system almost timed out on me while I was bouncing back and forth between the job description and resume to write the cover letter, but I caught it in the nick of time.

It didn’t snow this morning because Mother Nature seemed to be saving it up for tonight. The forecast included a “winter weather advisory” in effect from 7:00 p.m. tonight until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow with a “wintery mix" expected in my area around 5:45 p.m. The forecasted timeline put the winter weather during the drive time to and from dance along winding roads and I chose to not attend. 

Soon to be a dress.

Instead, I read this week’s book (The Paris Seamstress) while also mulling ideas to lay out and cut the dress for the dance costume. I like to have the process mentally mapped out before the scissors (or rotary cutter) touch the fabric. Trims were found in the sewing drawers today, bought on clearance forever ago (just in case) and may be considered for possible appearances in the dress. There was black beaded fringe, silver paillettes, silver coins, and some chiffon ties cut off something else that might make a headband. While the overthinking takes place, the fabric sits on the dining room table which managed to remain cleared for two entire weeks (a recent personal best).

Ideally, I would be testing the entire dress on muslin or some other inexpensive material, but gone are the days of dashing out to the local neighborhood fabric center to get a few yards of whatever because there are no such stores anymore. I wish I had bought a lifetime supply of bolts of muslin in the 1990s the time I found it on sale for 39 cents a yard. Of course, I would also have needed a place to keep it, and then move it too many times, so it would not have been practical. My friends are still recovering from moving all my books (again).