Almost Done

Before I begin, let me thank all of you for the congratulations on Cody and Brennan's upcoming wedding.  And for those of you who claimed to have "missed the message," well, let me just say now I know who actually reads the blog and who doesn't.  

Honestly, though, I wish I knew how to make the blog more engaging so that you'd actually want to come read it, but I just don't.  I am who I am, and apparently who I am is ... boring.  Seriously.  

For example, when I first started blogging, I used to read this one blog written by a retired air force guy.  He lived in an RV, and blogged about every day things -- getting his oil changed, going to the dentist...you know, normal stuff.  Basically the same thing I blog about, too.  But his blog got hundreds of hits per day, whereas mine got tens of hits.  I never understood what the difference was, so I never figured out how to write about my life in a way that made people want to read it.  

OK, enough with my whining and on to my regularly scheduled blog post. 

I am almost done putting out all my Christmas stuff.  I've got a couple of garlands to hang yet, and the outside lights to put out, but other than that, I'm finished. I had to make a bit of a change this year, and if you know me at all, you'll know what a big deal that is.  I like everything the same all the time.  Year after year.  

I even take pictures so I can make sure I put all my décor in the same place.  Year after year. 

But this year, I had to ... well, do something different.  See, when I won that sound bar at the company picnic back in October, I'd put it here, at the bottom of my entertainment center. 

The plan was to eventually mount it on the back of said center, behind the TV.  Alas, that's nothing but a piece of cardboard, so that ended up being not feasible, and so there it sits to this very day.  The problem is, where to put the little nativity I normally put in that spot.

I tried to sit it on top of the sound bar, but it just didn't look right, so I put it here, on the dresser in Cody's room. 

Do you see that black case behind the nativity?  That is Cody's violin, which I keep saying I'm going to learn how to play someday.  I tried a few years ago, but just didn't have to time to do it justice.  I set it aside to concentrate on learning to play the piano, which is where my heart is. 

Speaking of, I had to completely rearrange my living room in order to get the tree up, which included moving my piano.  It seemed the best fit to turn it completely around and push it up against the wall.

The weird thing is, when I sat down to play, it's like I'd completely forgotten how.  Where were the keys?  Where was Middle C?  Why couldn't I push the sustain pedal?  Has the world turned upside down?  Everything was off kilter and nothing seemed to fit any more.  

Oh, I'm sure I'll get used to it -- just in time to take it all down.   By the way, I've got four songs ready to record for your listening pleasure -- or consternation.  Whatever, I'm going to try to get that done pretty soon, then just spend the rest of this month playing Christmas music for fun.  I'll get back to going through my lesson books after the first of the year. 

In other news, remember how I said one of my goals this week was to get my deep freeze cleaned out?  I didn't get it completely cleaned out, but I made a good start.  I pulled five containers of soup out that I had no idea how old they were.  I've really got to get better about labeling stuff -- including putting dates on it.  I also discovered that most of what's taking up space in the freezer is bottles of frozen water, which I put in there just in case my electricity goes out for four days again.  

I'm probably going to have to get it all out to make room for the new batch of turkey soup, which I started today, and the gumbo Cody is going to make sometime this month. 

And finally, I think this is what they call a pop of color. 

It's a sweet gum, just in case you're wondering.  They're about the only fall color we have around here.