Bodacious Boomer

I just realized that Christmas Eve is the day after tomorrow. Logically, I know that. But somehow, I still find it hard to believe. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a less Christmasy mood. I guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that it’s the first Christmas without my mom; she only died 7 weeks ago. I really thought I’d be rallying by now. And it’s not that I’m in a Bah-humbug mood. I’m just not feeling the season. Evelyn and I stopped by IKEA over 2 weeks ago and picked up a couple of beautiful Christmas trees. Although I finally found a stand that would accommodate a tree with a 10″ trunk, my tree is still sitting in a big bucket of water in the backyard. Doug and Brett are going to be leaving to go to CT on the morning of the 26th to take care of Betty, Doug’s mom who is still in the hospital after her fall. Life has really gotten in the way of getting it put up this year. I think Nate and Amanda may be going to CT as well. Doug is expecting to have to start packing up her house and finding a new place for Betty. He thinks she should move down here, close to us, or to L.A., to be close to his sister, Lynne. That’s going to be a huge job. If that comes to pass, no one would be here to help me take the tree down til at least mid-January; and by that time, I don’t want a Christmas tree in my den. With that in mind, it seems I will be tree-less this Christmas.

The doctor said Betty is still confused. (She said yesterday that they gave her Chinese food on toast for breakfast). Doug is so stressed. He said he could deal with the physical problems she might have. (The mental problems are another things all together). We went through a very intense period of those with my mom. She had bizarre hallucinations for awhile. No matter how we tried to comfort her or explain them away, it did no good. It was exhausting to be around her at her house. It seemed as if she never slept. I’m guessing best case, Doug will be gone for a month. Somehow, a month seems longer to me in the middle of winter than in the summertime.

So I’ll be spending New Year’s eve all alone at home. Well, that’s not totally true- I’ll have about 200 lbs.of dogs with me. I’m so glad I have them. When I get really down, there’s always a furry head that needs petting. Doug and I aren’t big New Year’s Eve party folk anyway, so it’s not like I’m going to be missing some big wing-ding. I’ve just always been lucky enough to have him with me when the new year has started.

I’ve got a couple of craft projects I’m going to be finishing up today and tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll turn out well; they’re for Christmas gifts. If they turn out OK, I’ll take some photos and post them. I hope this day finds everyone else bubbling over with the holiday spirit. Ho-ho-ho.