General Doom and Gloom

I caved.

I did it thinking I would be able to divert Bob's attention from slowly driving me insane. You know the houses, the work in the basement (haven't told you that - mercy!), another possible reno house, etc.

So this year I gave in.

We officially have an artificial tree. It even has snow.

Yep, there it is. Mocking me in it's artificiality. This is the first time I have ever put up an artificial tree and I am not taking it well.

Now, I know we have some odd ducks in the crowd, who, like me, enjoy the smell of new books. Just so happens that I enjoy many smells and a real Christmas tree is just one of the many joys of the season. It smacks of....

Oh, all right. The snow is freaking me out! I mean, there was a movie called White Christmas where the actors all got throat cancer from the asbestos snow flakes they were covered in. (hmm, may be a myth because I can't find anything on the net but I think I heard about this in school and from my Dad) So yeah. I put the lights on this thing and ran and had a shower. I asked Bob to do it but he said he wasn't the professional tree decorator. Just so you know, I have never been employed to decorate a tree so I'm not sure how I got this special title but there you go.

You'd think if they could make an artificial tree covered in snow they could make it smell like, I don't know, a freakin' pine tree! Yep, I'm whining.

Oh, here is another delight.

This is how we put the tree lights away last year. Aren't we the brilliant pair!

I pulled these apart (an hour of gleeful fun) and tested the strings. Then I put them on the tree. Problem is these are meant for a green tree so I can just see Bob getting up tomorrow and suggesting I remove the 600 lights I put up and go buy white strings.

I may make the front page yet. Woman strangles husband with tree lights. Heard mumbling 'white, he wanted me to change them to white'.

What else is happening in my humble abode? Glad you asked.

Every single room in my house is completely demolished. Okay, some haven't been demolished but they look like they have sustained heavy damage. The room that has received the brunt in my den/library. My poor dogs have had to be moved from the lower floor because the floors were torn up and we didn't want them to use the contractors as chew toys. So here is a night time picture of one of the boys. Take special note of the white bits on his bed.

Aw, isn't he cute? That's why he is still breathing ;)

For the first three nights he would grab down Connie Brockway's All Through The Night. I would pick it up and put it up where it belonged. I would come in later and there he would be sleeping with it again. So I decided, what the hell, at least I have read it.

For some bizarre reason he got sick of cuddling with it and began to eat it. Cover first.

I kept it together. I didn't holler or raise a stink. He's just a puppy. Doesn't know any better. Then he ate one of Bob's magazines and I had a silly grin on my face because now he was ruining other people's stuff. Tonight, those shreds of white you see are from a Katherine Kingsley book that I can't even remember the title to but, I am pretty sure it is rarer than the average book. A book trading friend took the time to track this title down and send it to me. I'm crushed but then I look at his cute face and realize, he's crushed too.

Not about the book. He's crushed because he doesn't understand why he has to be upstairs in a smaller room or why there are strange men going into his domain. For the first few days this room reeked of sweaty dog butt because both of them were stressed out from having their daily routine changed.

I'm stressed out from having my daily routine changed also. I hope my room doesn't smell of butt.

Anyways, just thought I would say that there is no surface in my house that has not got clutter or crap all over it. Not only that, the Christmas gifts are starting to pile up. I have always managed to keep the Christmas gifts in my closet until they are wrapped. Yeah, by Dec 1 it's hard to find a sweater without knocking over a pile of gifts but at least they did not impact my visual awareness. Now they are beside me in the computer room which just reminds me of all the work I have to do. Some are in the hall waiting to be shoved into the closet and my desk looks like this!
I don't know when I started to hate clutter but it is beginning to take over my life! That's part of the reason why Bob wants to move. I think half the stuff on this desk could be filed somewhere but my file drawers are filled.

Crap. Just thinking about this makes me want to take a nap.

Okay, off to pay some of the bills. Anyone else sick of the over abundance of junk mail they get? Me too.