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Continuing signs of the seasons
Dec. 4th, 2005 02:00 pmI got the wall register vacuumed out and the pilot turned on today, so I can expect it soon to be pumping out heat in all its inefficient glory. A load of wood has been brought in for the stove, so along with a session of leaf-raking I'm feeling like a proper participant in winter.
The carousel-riding party yesterday was a blast. See goldenstag's posting for more particulars. The tapas restaurant where we ended up (after much taxi foo) was absolutely delicious, but the noise was absolutely deafening. I was seated at one end of a long set of tables (party of 13) and was functionally limited in conversation to the to people sitting right next to me. Anyone further away required communicating at full volume (adding to the underlying problem) and still only catching one word in three. I think I ended up being a poor conversationalist, but my brain just shuts down in wall-of-noise situations.
I've been dithering about putting up a seasonal tree this year. For a number of years, my rule of thumb has been that I put up the tree on years when I host the family Christmas and skip it if I'm not going to be home for the holiday. But given the family logistics, it's been a heckuva long time since I hosted, and given The Nephew's multi-family commitments, it's pretty much a choice between doing the holiday in Maine and not having all the siblings present. So if I want to have my own holiday traditions, I can't wait on the years when I stay home.
This year, however, there's also a space issue, what with the interrupted household rearrangements due to the occupation of the spare bedroom. So between no place to put a tree and only having two at-home weekends between Thanksgiving and my vacation, I think it's going to be a "no" this year. Ah well.
The carousel-riding party yesterday was a blast. See goldenstag's posting for more particulars. The tapas restaurant where we ended up (after much taxi foo) was absolutely delicious, but the noise was absolutely deafening. I was seated at one end of a long set of tables (party of 13) and was functionally limited in conversation to the to people sitting right next to me. Anyone further away required communicating at full volume (adding to the underlying problem) and still only catching one word in three. I think I ended up being a poor conversationalist, but my brain just shuts down in wall-of-noise situations.
I've been dithering about putting up a seasonal tree this year. For a number of years, my rule of thumb has been that I put up the tree on years when I host the family Christmas and skip it if I'm not going to be home for the holiday. But given the family logistics, it's been a heckuva long time since I hosted, and given The Nephew's multi-family commitments, it's pretty much a choice between doing the holiday in Maine and not having all the siblings present. So if I want to have my own holiday traditions, I can't wait on the years when I stay home.
This year, however, there's also a space issue, what with the interrupted household rearrangements due to the occupation of the spare bedroom. So between no place to put a tree and only having two at-home weekends between Thanksgiving and my vacation, I think it's going to be a "no" this year. Ah well.
