Bow Tie o’ the Day stars red and green…stars. My middle Tie o’ the Day presents snow falling on Charlie Brown and Snoopy as they ride downhill together on a sled. The remaining four Ties o’ the Day give us some active holiday penguins to gaze upon. My personal fave is the tie upon which we see penguins kicking field goals through the “goal posts” of a reindeer’s antlers.
I am running out of time to show off the balance of my festive neckwear, and I already have the neckwear for my New Year’s Eve posts set aside. That leaves me with tomorrow and New Year’s Day to present the remainder of my holiday collection. I sincerely hope I can do it. As much as I enjoy the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa season, I am jonesing to wear a regular, everyday piece of neckwear. And by “regular,” I mean regular in terms of my own version of regular. 🎀
Bow Tie o’ the Day sports a simple message of “Merry Christmas.” The 6 Ties o’ the Day are a bit more divided in their expressions about the holiday season. I am a “Merry Christmas” sort, which is probably obvious by my expansive X-mas neckwear collection, but I am also a Grinch-lovin,’ “Bah Humbug” sort of gal when I’m particularly ironic. Especially around Christmas, I must admit I have an even lower-than-usual tolerance for people acting hateful and petty to each other. That kind of behavior really roils the true, thin slice o’ humbug in my soul, in any season. I hate when that happens. In this annual season of giving and striving for peace, I often worry less about the need to—as the saying goes—”put Christ back in Christmas,” and more about the need to put Christ back in Christians. Kindness changes the weather of every room it’s in. Let us be the good weather, folks. End of sermon.
Holiday Tie Tally: 190 Neckties. 74 Bow Ties.
Holiday Face Mask Tally still stands at 9, cuz I’ve worn this one before.
Everybody in our house got through Christmas Day, properly jolly and over-fed. And then, on December 26, I got my name written on Skitter’s Naughty List promptly at 8 AM, when I dropped her off for her vet appointment I made sure not to tell her about beforehand. I didn’t want to ruin her Christmas, you know.
At the vet’s, she had to spend four whole hours without me by her side. Apparently, the “black mold” has taken over Skitter’s inner ears again. The vet put some heavy duty anti-fungal meds in the poor beast’s ears, which will provide her ear-y depths with treatment over the next two weeks. I hope this medication will finally kill Skitter’s “black mold” problem once and for all. I’ve had to administer her ear drops off-and-on to treat her problem since Spring, and it has been sheer torture for me to put unwanted drops into the ear of the already-scared-of-everything-that-isn’t-a-blanket-Suzanne-made-her little mutt.
Anyhoo… After I picked up Skitter from the vet’s that afternoon, she kept her distance from me and cast her Evil Eyes at me from across the living room for the rest of the day—right up until the moment I sat down to eat some leftover Christmas roast for dinner. Suddenly, The Skit was right there by my side—my loyal friend forever and ever, once again. And so it goes, after every vet visit.
Our Christmas was low-key, but we managed to include all the usual important elements. We enjoyed gifts, and too much food, and a Zoom family-gathering. Suzanne gave us a gun safe for our recently acquired Beretta. She gave me two Echo Dots, so now I can say things like, “Alexa, create world peace,” to which Alexa replied, “Sorry, I’m not sure about that.” So then I asked Alexa to play Band of Horses songs, which she gladly did.
Suzanne wanted a lighted cutting mat for her sewing and crafting, so Santa gave her that. Santa also gave her a puzzle of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s image and her famous dissents. The puzzle is entirely words. That oughta be difficult and time-consuming to put together, which will keep us both out of trouble. Oh, and I gave her the tiniest notebook I’ve ever seen: It’s smaller than a matchbook. I think it was her favorite gift. (Note to self: Next year for Christmas, save yourself some big bucks by giving Suzanne only a Munchkin notebook.)
I made a pork pot roast, Mom’s cheese bread, and Mom’s famous-in-Maryland green salad. We ate olives, and Suzanne-made cookies, and every chocolate we could find. We found a lot of chocolates. We didn’t even have room for the Red Button Eggnog ice cream, or the Dreyer’s Pumpkin Pie ice cream. The ice cream still waits in the freezer, for when our tummies have room for it. Trust me—the ice cream will not go to waste.
Later on Christmas Day, we joined Suzanne’s family’s Zoom get-together, for the most important part of our Christmas. It’s a family tradition that the family gathers in the afternoon, and Suzanne’s dad reads the story of Christ’s birth from the Bible, and then reads any story of his choosing which exemplifies the giving spirit of Christmas. This year, he read the O. Henry story, “The Gift of the Magi.” Hearing his voice as he read to us made it feel like a not-pandemic Christmas for a short while. And even on Zoom, excited kids were loudly playing and showing off in the very best way, further making it seem like a regular Christmas—if only for an hour or so. God bless us, every one.
Peace is kindness at rest. May you kind folks always have plenty of it. Jolly Christmas tidings to y’all, from TIE O’ THE DAY and the inhabitants of The Tie Room!
Bow Tie o’ the Day displays Billy Bob Thornton from BAD SANTA. Santa-hatted kitty Tie o’ the Day harks from the movie too. Santa and Rudolph are listening to some rap tunes and getting their boogie on. On the other side of our Tie o’ the Day showcase, we’ve got snowflakes, candy canes, and candy cane-colored stripes. Finally, straight down the middle, is our reminder Tie o’ the Day from the Gangsta Wrappin’ Rudolph to get those gifts wrapped ASAP. Time is running out to set out the haul securely under the tree. (Make sure you see the gold $-sign bling on Gangsta Wrapper Rudolph’s neck. FYI I get a thrill out of tiny details.)
Folks, if you’re partaking of alcoholic beverages while celebrating tonight, please use a designated driver on your travels. Don’t forget your mittens and your masks, people. Be safe in your merriness! 🎄
FYI I’ll be posting a quick TIE O’ THE DAY message at midnight tonight, so if you’re awake and want to see more holiday ties before morning, give it a look-see.
I’m sure you know the snowman/dog Tie o’ the Day is my fave of these Christmas tree-theme ties. It’s also refreshing to see decked-out cacti and palm trees. Even the table-top tree is represented with the Christmas tree-in-a-red-Solo-cup, on the darkest blue tie. Santa’s lugging his tree home.Thanks for the 7th Anniversary wishes yesterday. I relayed them to Suzanne, and she sends her thanks too. I know I said I would regale y’all today with the details of our celebration, but our schedule had to change at the last minute, so we won’t be finished with what I had planned until next week. We had a splendid day together anyway, as per every day. I’ll update you as soon as our anniversary mission is accomplished.
7 years ago, we were finally able to get legally hitched. The minute we could, we did. Our very own American Gothic—here we are now! Some people believe in guardian angels. I believe our guardian angels are winged pigs in flight, and I appreciate each one hovering over us.
I’m taking today off for our 7th Anniversary, but I will post our celebration exploits tomorrow.
