Friday bullets, December 1, 2017

Look it's December 1 again! Sorry about any confusion I might have caused yesterday.

• Yesterday morning as I was getting ready, I did something I have never done in my nearly 40 years of wearing contact lenses. I put two lenses in the same eye. My excuse is that there was a young child talking to me, so I wasn't entirely concentrating. I put the first lens in, was distracted by the child, and then put the second lens in. At first, I thought I had missed my eye, since, I couldn't see anything. I felt around my face, and no contact. There might have been a moment of panic when I thought that my eyesight had completely failed and not even contact lenses could save it. Then I pulled back from the edge, and realize I had put the second lens in the first eye. I pulled it (them?) out... and dropped them on the floor. This I have done before, so knew the drill. Step one. Do not move at all. Otherwise, you will end up like Ralphie at the end of A Christmas Story where he steps on his glasses. Step two. Without moving the feet, reach for the glasses. I cannot see very much without contacts or glasses, and there is no way I could ever find little contact lenses unaided. Step three. Search for lens(es). This time they were pretty easy to locate. What was not easy was peeling the two lenses apart. I did, cleaned them well, and put them in again. One eye per lens this time. It worked much better for vision purposes.
• Earlier this week, G. comes walking into the kitchen and announces, "The world would be a very boring place without an imagination."
• I spent an hour today picking burrs out of a pair of R.'s tights and a pair of K.'s gloves. The gloves were especially bad. It was as if he had gone out and wrestled with the burr plants. When A. asked him how it happened, he shrugged, and said, "I don't know. I just held my hand out." As if the burrs leapt onto his outstretched hand of their own accord. I did mention to him that next time it will be him sitting and picking them off.
• G., L., K., and Y. have been taking a set of free art classes from a local art studio. Each week when I pick them all up, one of them asks me if the class was really a whole hour, because it went by so quickly. Today they were marbling paper. A friend and I looked in at the end and decided we were more than happy to let someone else handle this craft. It looked exceptionally messy.
• D. has decided he would really like to take cello lessons. Anyone have any ideas as to how I go about finding a cello for him to play?
• Our bon fire open house we had last weekend was a success. We had people show up and I now know many of our immediate neighbors. And those neighbors got to meet each other as well. It's always nice to know that it's not just you who doesn't feel as though they know anyone.
• Once again, I have decided to make our Christmas cards. In theory I really enjoy the process. In reality, I always wonder what on earth I was thinking. TM has pitched in a bit to help. I only have about 80 left to go.
• P. continues to show me horses for sale. And ponies for sale. And donkeys for sale. And I keep reminding her that we have no fencing or footing yet, much less a shed or barn.
• There have been quite a few controlled burns in various nature areas around us as well as the bonfires individuals are burning on their own property. There is a definite smoke and charred smell in the air outside right now, as the most recent controlled burn was just down the street from us. I don't think we are in the city anymore.
• In case you didn't see it on my FB page, here is a picture from my afternoon walk with Kenzie yesterday. It still feels a little unreal that this is right behind my back yard.

• It is now Christmas music all the time here. Sometimes there is Christmas music playing downstairs, different Christmas music playing upstairs, and a child is playing yet still different Christmas music on the piano. The times 3-thing kind of makes it lose its calming properties.
• We are planning on buying our Christmas tree tomorrow. I suppose this means that J. and I should probably decide the details.... Go to a lot? Go cut our own? Where to do this? Nothing is automatic when you move.
• In another item crossed off the to do list, I have finally started the process to get everyone registered with a primary care doctor. No longer will I have to say, "I don't know," when asked who our pediatrician is. 
• Finally, this is a friendly reminder to be on the lookout for people you may know who don't have a place to go to for Christmas. Older people, singles, divorced parents who do not have the holiday with their children are often left without somewhere to celebrate the holiday with others. Ask the people you know if they have somewhere to go, and if they don't, invite them to celebrate with you. Do this earlier rather than later. I know from talking with friends that knowing in advance they had a place to go on a holiday made the anticipation of the holiday so much less stressful and more enjoyable. I personally think everyone should try to have at least one invited friend at their table along with family on a holiday.