Tears Are Not Enough

The #2 reason I don't have a Christmas tree. #1 being I'm lazy and nobody comes over anyway.

You'll all be pleased to know that I made it through the family-studded weekend without killing my mother. Starting Friday at 3:30 and going through Sunday night, I had approximately five waking hours that were not spent in my mother's presence.

We spent Friday night at the Microtel in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Word of warning to all potential travelers:

NEVER EVER STAY IN A MICROTEL!!!

If you have an option of Microtel or Motel 6, you will be much better off and happier at the Motel 6. I believe they chose the name Microtel because their walls are a MICRON thick. It was the noisiest damn motel ever! Not only could we hear voices from the room next to us, we could hear entire sentences!!! To say nothing of the noise from the room above us, the noise of various machines, and how incredibly loud the shower was in the bedroom with the bathroom door closed. None of us got any sleep that night.

The graduation ceremony was not as long as the one in May, but once again the graduates were fanning themselves from the heat, while those of us in the bleachers were bundled against the arctic chill. OS and I had YS's friend's long wool coat spread across our legs like a blanket, while Mom had YS's coat on her lap.

I left after the ceremony – and all the requisite picture taking – as I really needed some time to myself. Hey, I live alone. I'm used to Kathleen Time! I was already cranky, so no Kathleen Time was going to make me even crankier. YS was going to her friend's graduation party, so Mom went with her and I drove the 3 hours home.

I spent a couple of blissful hours at home on my couch watching DVDs and knitting. Then it was time once again to head out into the damn cold (for the record it was -4F when I walked to work this morning) for the Christmas concert. The Farmington Chorus did an incredible job as usual. My Wallace Shawn look-alike didn't do his usual Christmas song as he's scheduled for open heart surgery in January and his doctor recommended against him. We hope he's up to it next year!

The highlight of the concert was The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Now I was wondering how they were going to sing it since it's an instrumental piece, but it worked amazingly well. They also had a ballet dancer come out and dance to it. She did a beautiful job – and then two of the older men from the chorus of whom it could be said aren't in the best shape of their lives came out in tutus and leg warmers turtlenecks and proceeded to pirouette their way across the stage along with the real ballet dancer. I was crying I was laughing so hard. The real ballet dancer had the biggest smile on her face as she continued to dance. I give them props for being willing to come out on stage in tutus.

Sunday was brunch at Shortstuff's country club and I looked incredibly fabulous in my black velvet Trashy Diva Starlet dress. ;-) If I do say so myself! I wore a red pashmina for Christmas flare!

I didn't overeat this year, so I was pretty proud of myself, although I did splurge and have two scoops of vanilla ice cream with a scoop of caramel and a scoop of hot fudge toppings.

Yesterday I picked up Mom's Christmas present – a digital camera. Then last night OB called me to say that he would buy the memory card as an early Mother's Day gift (as he was already done with Mom's Christmas presents), so that we could put all of our money toward the camera. Today I'm going back to exchange the camera for a better one. Good thing I went to a store very close to home. Now the trick will be to see if OS pays me.

Thanks for all the advice on asking a certain person to a wedding. Now to screw up my nerve to do it!