Another Christmas Tree Adventure

I meant to post this sooner, i.e. before Christmas, but it is now actually the next year and here I am. But the new year is a time for resolutions and getting things done, so here I am, getting things done. Better late than never, says the library patron with a tab of late fines.

We got another two Christmas trees, going out to the same tree farm at Prestonvale. They are always friendly and we always enjoy the drive out, although generally less so the ride back in with the trees wedged in the seats.

We went out a bit later in the season than usual, which had the dual disadvantage of both being very busy in the season for us and also being quite cold. A third disadvantage is that it left us with very little time to string up lights and decorate, but who’s counting.

On the way back to the front of the farm, we had someone quite a bit concerned about Caleb holding a saw, and Jon and I had to laugh—imagine if they’d seen him actually sawing with it. We came home with two trees and all the fingers we’d arrived with, so I’m counting it a success.

On the way home, we stopped by a Value Village and I picked up this sweet metal organizer. Nibs? Screws and nails? LEGO?

We did not get the tree up early enough for me to do any sort of job at all decorating them, so we had some slightly sad but still festive trees in both shops for the last week before Christmas.

***

We’re really and truly back into the swing of things, with Caleb back off to school today, and me tapping away while Naomi is napping. It’s both good and bad that our day off from the shops is Monday, when Caleb is in school. It’s sometimes more exhausting and more difficult to get work done when both kids are in need of snacks or attention, but it’s also meant that most of our “quality time” is having Caleb help pack orders, or having snacks in Jon’s office at the main shop.

In any case, we’re back, and it’s the new year. I haven’t made any new year’s resolutions, although I could certainly use some. A regular schedule for social media? Read the books on my shelves instead of accumulating more? Read more in general? Read better? Use up more of my pencils? Washi tape? Stationery? Stop feeding the kids pizza pops and chicken fingers when I’m just trying to finish a blog post? Keep the dog’s nails shorter?

Having (shockingly) missed the deadline for new year’s resolutions, I’m mostly just focusing on slowing down and making the most of the days and the moments we have. The start of the new year is always busy, restocking after the holidays, we’re hiring again, re-organizing the shelves at the shops, and actually it’s sort of a lovely sort of busy: it’s always surprisingly busy in the week or two immediately after Christmas (people coming in town for the holidays, or people who have time off work?), but in a less frantic, hectic, time-crunched way. Jon finally ordered us an upgraded mop/mop bucket system with mop heads that you can put in the laundry, and I feel like we’ve levelled up as a shop. We’re browsing through the catalogues with some good snacks and a hot drink, and I’m dreaming of all the boxes coming in.

But Naomi is possibly heading off to preschool in the fall, I’ve got a list of books I want to read with Caleb, and the years are flying past me. Time marches on.

***

Currently reading: Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
Currently writing with: Lamy Safari(s), TWSBI Mini AL Orange (Ancient Copper), Sailor 1911S Demonstrator (Sailor Manyo Kikyou), Blackwing Bauhaus
Currently drinking: chamomile tea
Currently sad about: the T&T on Cherry Street closing down
Latest achievement: bundling up a six month old baby (not mine) like a burrito and putting him to sleep in under 5 minutes and then successfully transferring him into a rocker
Caleb’s latest achievement: counting out his first till