random thoughts – Day 1,726 – (Saturday) – relaxed and rich

There was a plan today. It was to kick off with sleeping late, then be followed by relaxing, lounging about, and avoiding outside life and people.

The view out the
window, 7:03 a.m.

The sleeping late didn’t go well. I forgot to cancel the usual Saturday alarm and a reasonably entertaining dream was rudely disrupted by it at 7:00. Fail. By 7:03 I was fully awake, out of bed, and readying the coffee. The view out the kitchen window was pretty with what I could see of the sky turning gold and pink.

The relaxing part went much better. Three hours were spent in pajamas drinking Family Dollar store brand coffee, which for the record, is the worst coffee I've ever tasted. The can says “100% Coffee” without venturing to specify a type of bean and the stuff seems more like ground walnut shells than coffee. I can’t wait for it to be gone. This is the penalty for buying the budget store brand. With cinnamon and caramel coffee creamer added, it’s almost tolerable.

When the coffee pot was emptied, the day really kicked into gear with a shower, dressing for the day, and gathering the laundry. After an internal debate about whether to put up Christmas decorations or not and two loads of laundry, suddenly it was suppertime. My, how the time flies by. So far, there have been exactly zero trips made to the basement to fetch any of the seasonal festive crap.

Netflix ran all day, in an effort to chip away at the what seems to be a massive dump of Hallmark movies from 2023. There was A Biltmore Christmas, with time travel and a movie set at Biltmore, followed by Christmas Island with a stranded plane in Canada, then Christmas on Cherry Lane, with stories of different families over time and their holidays at the same address.

Financially set.

The mail included an unexpected check, and I almost reached out to a financial advisor for guidance. My financial future is probably now secure with the whopping 85 cents and a memo on the mailer that reads “retirement interest calculation correction.” Wow. I have 90 days to cash or deposit this wondrous bounty from the heavens. I wonder what effect this will have on my taxes. This might just boost me into the top 1% echelon of earners and now I can hobnob with the billionaires. 

random thoughts – Day 1,725 – (Friday) – snaps

Work was a long and slow day that lasted nearly forever. At 5:00, it was a quick change from jeans and a fleece into black dress pants and the green top with the Taipei tag in it. Lessons were learned. Continuing to eat like I’m still on vacation for the past two months meant that my favorite black pants didn’t fit tonight. They zipped, but only just barely. The legs felt like overstuffed sausage skins and if I sat, there was a high likelihood there would be worsted wool fiber shrapnel everywhere and people could be hurt. I had to wear the second favorite pair which are a bit more forgiving. 

Green top with snaps.

The top, which I really love, fastens entirely by small snaps diagonally from the center neck to the right armpit and down the side. That presented a challenge. 

Every time I moved my right arm the snap in the arm pit and one or two of those below it unfastened. I spent a crazy amount of time with my left hand in my right armpit as I fumbled to refasten the small snaps. I was glad I was wearing a base layer underneath the top. This design quirk may be why the top was in the thrift store where I found it. I will devise a more secure fastening system.

I arrived at Whistler House a few minutes before the start time mostly to increase my odds of scoring a parking spot. I got a glass of wine and tried to juggle it with a plate of cheese and veggies while not moving and causing my top to unsnap. 

Two colleagues arrived and there were many familiar faces in the place. There were artists, collectors, and supporters of the arts, many of whom I recognized from other events and only a few of whom I had a chance to chat with. 

The most famous of all in attendance was Whistler’s mother, who presided over the table of cheese, crackers, veggies, and fruit. She is depicted in a life-size recreation on canvas done by Edith Fairfax Davenport, James McNeill Whistler’s cousin. The original painting by Whistler painting lives in the D’Orsay Museum in Paris, but it’s great there is a version in his birthplace. And yes, I looked all that up.

Wannalancit smokestack tree seen from Merrimack Street.

Across a small courtyard from the 200 year-old main house, the Parker Gallery was filled with dining tables and a room filled with silent auction items. I took a few pictures, and now regret not taking more (common occurrence). From the parking lot on Worthen Street, and again on Merrimack Street, and even from part of my own street, the Wannalancit smokestack tree was visible. It's Lowell's winter equivalent of the Eiffel Tower, visible from many parts of town. 

On the way home, a paramedic SUV and three police cruisers blew by me. At the intersection of University and Pawtucket Street, a firetruck came from another direction and a few more cruisers. I was glad to arrive home where it is quiet.

random thoughts – Day 1,724 – (Thursday) – manufacturing stress

Morning snow against  the neighbor's house.

The forecast called for snow overnight Wednesday and into Thursday, but it was not snowy and the street was barely wet I woke up and looked outside. Other places weren’t as lucky and I was glad I wasn't at any of them. It began to snow around 9:00 and kept going for an hour or so, but I wasn’t really paying attention. It was barely a dusting on the lawn and then it was gone. I’m not sad about this.

The workday was reasonable and mostly stress-free, so that meant I had to shake things up with some self-inflicted aggravation. It’s the night before an event with a green and gold color theme. I found a green top a couple weeks ago, barely two hours after describing to a friend what I wanted. The default bottoms could be a basic black pant, and the only issue (for me) is that there isn’t much gold in the ensemble. 

There was a two-week cruise through Amazon and a couple not-quite-exactly-the-right color skirts and pants were found. Because they weren't exactly right, I delayed pushing the big old buy button hoping to find "exactly right" and by the time I decide "not-quite" would be okay, the delivery date had shifted from two days before the event to the day after it. Literally. In the course of five minutes. 

Tonight, at 5:00, I logged off the work computer, put on my coat, and launched myself into the traffic for a trek to St. Vincent de Paul. Marshall’s had already failed me earlier this week, and everyplace else was all the way across town or in another town. There was an itch for pants, a skirt, or a dress I could wear under the top, but it wasn’t a full blown desire/need.

At St. Vincent tonight, there was a peachy-gold sequin wrap dress at half off, making it a whopping $5. There are no fitting rooms so it is always a gamble buying clothes there, and I had on jeans and a fleece top that were too bulky to put the dress over to check fit, but $5 isn’t much of a gamble, so I bought it.

At home, the not-exactly gold-gold dress was tried on and it’s a smidge too small. It's not wearable as is, but if I had another week I could easily alter it. Conceivably, I could alter it tonight if I rearranged a bunch of stuff to make room and hauled out the sewing machine and stayed up late (likely swearing a lot), and once upon a time that would have happened, but I don’t feel that passionate (obsessive) about such things any more. So black pants it is. Unless the location of the winter white pants comes to me in a dream. They are either still packed away or were recently donated because I never wore them but hung on to them for years “just in case.” 

So, yeah, self-inflicted stress and aggravation was a rousing success tonight. And there is a dress I’ll be donating back to the thrift world real soon. But hey, I was out in society after work. Ok, it was the Society of St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop, but you get the idea. Tomorrow night will be the real social thing.

random thoughts – Day 1,723 – (Wednesday) – party mode commenced

The first festivity of the Christmas season is done and party mode has officially commenced. We had our Sales & Marketing gathering with a Yankee Swap at Cobblestone’s in Lowell. The restaurant is conveniently located across the street from our office, so we can wrap up work at 5:00 and be at our event by 5:05 – or 5:08 depending upon which floor the elevator is on. No driving or parking is required to get to the event and Cobblestone’s is in a lovely and historic building. Win, win, win.

The small function room is perfectly sized for our group. There was a steady stream of appetizers – cheese board, buffalo chicken eggrolls, burger sliders, rib eye grilled cheese, scallops, fried cauliflower, arancini – all of it delicious. We stood around and chatted about all manner of non-work things and ate the delicious appetizers.

For the Yankee Swap, we sat at small tables as the numbers were called and the gifts were opened. I had a lovely craft beer selection ever so briefly, but it was snatched from my grip by the same colleague from whom I stole the craft beer assortment last year. I guess I deserved it. And maybe next year, there needs to be more craft beer assortments (mental note made).

Gift received.

In the end, after my beer assortment was taken from me, I left with a lovely gift bag with a soft micromink/sherpa throw, Godiva travel mug with chocolates and tin of butter cookies. I love chocolates and butter cookies, but I have nearly enough blankets and throws at this point to open my own shop, the result of always complaining about being cold. Clearly it is time to cycle out the older throws and let the new ones come out to play. The hard part is the current throws were all gifted items and I have a hard time parting with gifts.

Our event is always fun and I know that well in advance, but it doesn’t stop me from getting all torqued up about shopping for the swap gift. I tend to overthink it (shocker to absolutely nobody). For example, alcohol is always popular and frequently stolen in the swap (this year a Tito's gift set was hot and stolen), but we almost always have a co-op who is not of legal drinking age on our team and some who don’t drink or keep alcohol in their homes, so I try to be mindful and bring something that isn’t alcohol. My grandmother always said a good gift is "one that you would like to receive," so I try to follow that guideline just in case I somehow end with the gift I brought.

The colleague who chose my gift of pasta, sauce, lemon wafers, and biscotti imported from Italy seemed happy with it, as in, they didn’t try to trade it away. I could have stolen it on my turn in the game because under Mummu’s gift guide I liked it, but I opted not to. Besides, I had lucked out with the craft beer (temporarily).

The festive season continues on Friday when a colleague and I attend a party on Friday at Whistler House Museum. Yes, Whistler, as in James McNeil Whistler. You may have heard of his mother. She’s kind of famous. His birthplace is an art museum in downtown Lowell and at Christmas, the place is decorated to the hilt like a magazine spread, and the auction selections are amazing.

random thoughts – Day 1,722 – (Tuesday) – yankee search

Past gifts for myself.

There was some running around today in preparation for the most stressful gift event of the season – tomorrow’s office party and $25 Yankee Swap immediately after work. Usually, I have great luck finding a great piece of local art and get to feel good about supporting a local artist. Past art gifts have included a fused glass piece, a wine bottle heated/melted into a cheese cutting board, and a small mandala painting. I loved the glass piece and the mandala so much that I bought versions for myself. Everybody wins!

This year our office party is a week or two earlier than in the past, putting it before some of the holiday art events. Last weekend I visited the Yuletide Market at City of Lights, a local art gallery/gift shop, and the National Park Service gift shop, and left empty-handed. 

Today, I worked downtown which gave me the chance to power shop on my lunch break. I went to two art gallery/gift shops that turned out to be closed on Tuesdays. Then I shifted the thinking to a gift card at a downtown restaurant. The first two places I checked weren’t open yet because they now only serve dinner. A third was open but doesn’t have gift certificates. The fourth wasn't open and the fifth had six people waiting to order food and it was clearly not the ideal time to be trying to buy a gift certificate. There were at least three other places I forgot about in my fast-paced Yankee search for the Yankee swap. I returned to my desk feeling mentally deflated but also physically energized from the cold air and speed walking. 

The gift thinking shifted again. A TJ Maxx gift card (yes, it has to be for there) is needed for a fundraiser event on Sunday, so after work a trip was made to a store in the TJX group to get the gift card and have a look around. The shoe department was visited because it was there, calling unto me as I entered the store. There was nothing I liked that was also in my size. Next, there was an unsuccessful dash through the pants, skirts, and dresses. The target was a component for an outfit for an event Friday night because the items in my Amazon cart weren’t bought last week when I first saw them and as of Monday when I was ready to open the wallet the delivery time had shifted from two days to five or six and wouldn’t deliver until after the event. Oops. I rarely find anything in this store, so it wasn't a surprise. Then I directed my energy and attention to the gift section of the store and the gift acquisition.

The office gift card and gift acquisition mission was accomplished. The Yankee Swap felt a bit more difficult this year and didn’t fulfill my desire to support a local artist or business, but at least it’s done. Now I just have to remember to take it with me in tomorrow. 

random thoughts – Day 1,721 – (Monday) – back and forth

The mostly unscientific study of long weekends has returned to a former and unsurprising conclusion. A four-day holiday weekend is not long enough. There was one day of the four (Friday) that was completely devoted to leisure (read: I neglected to make plans). Two days involved family dinners with massive quantities of food. On Saturday I forced myself out of the house, partly out of self-induced guilt, partly so I could honestly tell people I did something. 

That takes us to today. Yet another Monday and the reality of back to work. Accepting the reality that I won't be retiring any time soon feels like a life sentence. The workday held meetings and work and it wasn't terrible, but still. The end of it all is barely in sight. 

In other exciting events, there was trash and yard waste pickup today. My usual trash volume is half a trash bag, so if I didn't bother, the consequences would be few. Today there was no yard waste to be collected from my house. The leaves from the neighbor’s tree out back left the tree without landing in my yard, so I got lucky and dodged the autumnal bullet again. Plus, I haven’t done any yard clean up since last week’s pickup. Or maybe, it was two weeks ago.

Despite a half-hearted declaration of “maybe fasting” (ha ha) after the weekend of heavy eating, food was consumed today. Breakfast was skipped, and lunch was a sensible vegetable soup taken from the freezer, heated, and inhaled before a project meeting at 12:15. It’s the block time from after work until bedtime when I completely fall apart. 

Healthy supper.

There was a reasonably healthy supper, heavy on veggies. There was chopped broccoli, carrot, onion, and green beans sautéed with some leftover turkey and a scoop of fresh cranberry relish on the side. Yummy. I could feel the vitamins pulsing through my system.

After the healthy food, it was back to ingrained habits. Like a magician, I made a fistful of vanilla wafers and half a brick of sugar wafers disappear. They were dragged through my sister’s fluffy pumpkin dessert dip. Oops. So much for better eating habits. Maybe tomorrow (read: the delusions will likely continue).

random thoughts – Day 1,720 – (Sunday) – feast mode

Captain's platters.

The Thanksgiving family feasting continued today. Nine of us gathered S. S. Lobster in Fitchburg for lunch. At our tables, there were three massive Captain’s Platters with fried scallops, clams, shrimp, lobster, haddock and French fries, with each platter being shared by two people. There was a scallop plate, a baked haddock with rice pilaf dinner, a chicken tender dinner with fries, and an enormous basket of onion rings. There was also melted butter, tartar sauce, cole slaw, and cocktail sauce. Leftovers (not much, really) were packed into boxes. 

After lunch, we went to my sister’s house for dessert of Tres Leches cake made by my eldest niece. On Tuesday, her husband returns home to Vegas and work, but she will be with us for another few weeks.

Tres leches cake.

The huge midday feeding made it a one-meal day. There was no way I wanted to (or could) eat anything else afterward. It’s possible I won’t need to eat tomorrow, either. I’m hoping that I’m done with massive meals until Christmas, but it could be tricky. My event calendar has filled up a bit, and this week has Christmas gatherings two nights after work with menus of heavy hors d’oeuvres. One of those days also includes a team meeting with pizza lunch brought in, so it will be a challenge and take some pacing this week. 

It’s probably a good idea to rejoin the gym. Like, immediately. Maybe I should start walking to work, too. And fast on the non-event days this week.