Category: Ties

Snowflake Bow Tie o’ the Day is accompanied by more snowpeople Ties o’ the Day. I particularly like the Santa snowman, created by the reindeer.

The snow falling outside makes it extra sure I’m declaring Pajama Day. I’d rather sit at the bigly windows and watch the world whiten up than go out into the scene. Suzanne’s sleeping in (like that’s a new weekend thing), but I’ll inform her of PJ Day as soon as I hear her stir.

I already know what the day will look like inside our house. Suzanne will spend all day wearing out the new flooring by skipping between the ironing board and her Ultimate SewingBox– which we pretend is our fireplace, cuz it takes up one entire living room wall. That’s how she will spend every minute of her day. That’s it. And do you know what? I enjoy watching Suzanne be sew happy. (See what I did there with the “so/sew” thing?) BTW Suzanne did come home from the JOANN’s sale yesterday with material with which to build me a Christmas cape. She’s a spot-on chooser o’ fabric. She also found a bow tie-shaped cookie cutter at JOANN’s. Goal!

Here’s what Skitter’s Pajama Day will be: the same as almost every day. She will curl up under her blanket, right next to me on the loveseat– until the alarm clock in her head tells her it’s 11 AM and, therefore, time for one of her three daily chews. (I’ll tell you all about her “chew dance” in another post.) She’ll eat her chew way too quickly, then she’ll want to potty out back. Today, she will be offended that her feet have to touch snow.

After consuming her morning chew, she will jump onto her bed on the couch, whereupon she will look at me from across the room with her eyes that say, “Hey, you! Can’t you see I need my blanket delicately arranged on my entire body? Don’t you know my routine?” And then, Skitter will sleep until late afternoon when we go on her walkie, stopping to pick up the mail on the way home.

And then she’ll curl up in her couch bed under her blanket again, until the alarm clock in her head tells her it’s 7 PM– time for her second chew o’ the day. Then back to the couch bed and blanket. Another backyard potty. More couch and blanket. One more backyard potty, then upstairs to her crate in the bedroom– where she gets what we call her “crate chew.” Whew! It’s nice when the kids are in bed.

No one knows when Skitter eats. She dares to drink her water in front of us, but she still won’t eat her actual food if we’re around. (She doesn’t mind eating her chews in front of us.) Oh, occasionally she’ll bring one piece of her dog food to one of her beds, where she chomps it voraciously. That’s all we ever actually see of her food-eatin’ . But her food bowl ends up empty, so we know she’s eating. Sneaky, skittish Skitter.

What will I do with today, in my Pajama Day attire? I dunno. I’ll let you know what happened. It’s what I do.

HOLIDAY TIE TALLY: 18 Bow ties. 48 Neckties.

When we get all Thanksgiving-y, we tend to give thanks only for all the serious stuff that fills our lives– as we certainly should. But Turkey Tie o’ the Day reminds us to be thankful for silliness. For lightheartedness. For slapstick. For snort-laughs. For just kidding. For winks.

Merry Thanksgiving from The Tie Room.

HOLIDAY TIE TALLY: 17 Bow ties. 39 Neckties.

A bit about Ties o’ the Day, from left to right:

1. Thaw the turkey, folks. And if you don’t have a dead turkey to cook by now, you better go out and slay one for Tgiving dinner. Your guests expect a dead, cooked turkey.

2. Here are some yellow forks on a pink background to remind us to get the silverware polished up, washed, and ready for use at tomorrow’s feast. Chopsticks work too.

3. I love this clever tie covered in deviled eggs– pitchfork and horns included. Deviled eggs are tasty appetizers for the pre-dinner stand-around-talking part of the day. They are also a welcome thing to serve during the Tgiving football games.

4. This tie tricked me. When I first met it, I thought it was covered in Santa hats. Nope. Those are red Solo cups, which you might need tomorrow because the hoard of eaters at your house will each end up using at least two glasses. People tend to set down their drinking glasses o’ whatever drink you’re serving, then they forget which cup is theirs. They just go get another drinking glass, and VOILA! Soon, the good ones are all dirty. Don’t you dare waste time washing cups during your holiday. Pull out a tall stack of red Solo cups, and relax with your family and/or friends. Or ex-family. Or enemies. Or frenemies. Or whoever you invited to your gathering.

One Thanksgiving when I lived in Maryland, my ex and I were broke. We could have gone without a Thanksgiving dinner, without being too upset about it. But when you’ve got a kid, you can’t let a holiday slide. That’s just how it is: You can go without for yourself, but there ain’t no way you’re gonna make your kid do without. You do the best you can to make sure your kid gets some version of what a kid is supposed to have.

I scraped together the bucks I could and took myself to Safeway. I managed to afford to throw together a facsimile of a traditional Tgiving feast. Here’s what I cooked: two turkey legs (My ex and I shared one.); powdered mashed potatoes (I couldn’t afford the gravy.); Stovetop stuffing– made without butter; Pillsbury frozen biscuits; and orange Jello.

The highlight of the meal was the canned cranberry. We gathered around the card table while Devon shook the open can until it made the sucking noise which meant the cranberry was on its way out of the can to hit the plate and wobble. That was a highlight, as evidence by years of laughter about it.

Being broke can have its little joys, if you take the time and imagination to create them. I remember that particular Thanksgiving with fondness. We made it a fine day, which made the meal seem fabulous. We did not, however, have any leftovers.

HOLIDAY TIE TALLY: 17 Bow ties. 38 Neckties.