Home Stretch

I know, I know.  It's been a very LONG time.  This computer no longer uploads photos and the video-recorder has a dead battery (and batteries are now buried in a box).  So, all you'll get are my words. 

We move this Sunday.  A gigantic truck will pull in, out will pop four tattooed-burly mean wearing back braces and smiles.  They will gingerly place all treasured items and furniture into the truck.  Within hours we will be settled in to our new home, roasting chestnuts, and listening to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."

Wait, w.a.i.t.one.second...that was just a dream I had.

Yet, the truth could be closer than I think.  Four men will arrive at 9:00am.  Inked flesh, maybe not. Smiles, we shall see.  But the truck will fill, felt-padded furniture will be dropped, and we will call a new nook of Long Beach home.

That night, strange streetlights will spill new shadows across our bed.  Dark forms of boxes will pepper the corners and shiny wood floors throughout our home.  Nora will slumber in her turquoise-splashed room.  Foil taped to her windows (since her curtains are a project my mom & I want to tackle with more time and love).  Maxwell and Sophie will be confused and scampering behind mountains of crap, their fur sticking to strands of brown tape curling back from opened boxes.

And in the midst of this nerve-wracking move (of which Daniel claims is "no big deal"...while, my mom friends say it is close to the stress of a divorce), I will seek solace and comfort in the sweet smell of pine and the soothing balm of the Christmas season.  Yes, folks, we are going to get a tree.   Our evergreen friend will have a brief stint...but it is needed.  For my heart and my hands and my family. This is my favorite time of the year!

There are holiday traditions that are so deeply ingrained in the folds of my mind, that not even piles of boxes and daunting house projects can put asunder.

• My mom and I will bake sugar cookies and paint ornaments (with Nora assisting).
• We will poke clove sticks into an orange and hang it by a ribbon.
• Apple cider with cinnamon sticks will bubble on the stove.
• Eggnog spiked with rum will be sipped.
• Daniel and I will unpack each ornament from my childhood and travels and our marriage, and hang them upon the tree (still reserving the glass ones for future years).
• The parole will be hung and dance light in our front window.
• Stockings will be hung above the fireplace.
• The cats will knock pine needles and ornaments down.
• Nora will eat pine needles and grab more ornaments down.
• ...and Christmas music will fill the air...

We will be home and 'tis the season.

 

 

Comments

[Aunt Kathy & Uncle Shane]

It's not just your mom's friends who say moving is stressful -- it's a fact!!!

And here's a fun quiz to see how much stress you are under right now...
http://www.stresstips.com/lifeevents.htm