Saturday is my day off, from my day job, but I was running all day. I was laying in bed at 8:15 or so and heard my wife saying, "I wonder if daddy is up yet so he can get the Christmas Tree today?" I was but I didn't feel like hauling my tired ass out of bed yet. My sinuses were dry and crusty and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. The weather forecast was calling for lots of snow so I made my move, the first step. I staggered into the bathroom to take a hot steamy shower. My wife was in there. I forced a civil smile. I'm not a morning person.
I felt half better after that. A hot cup of tea with honey and a couple of honey-wheat bagels helped some more. I looked through the paper. Cardinal Law stepped down from his lofty pedestal in Boston. I liked the protest sign I saw in the paper: Wanted - Bernie the Pimp. He is still a Cardinal and can be assigned to another church position and vote in papal elections. The catholic church is still in hot water. And so is Trent Lott and so long Hank, and all your baggage. Taking names but not kicking much ass. Well that was enough on religion and politics. I went on to the comics and the obits.
My son and I cut down a Douglas Fir. A guy at work said they are the only trees he'll buy at Christmas. I stopped at work to get my old tattered copy of The Fellowship of The Ring. I saw the movie at Thanksgiving and went home and read The Hobbit in three days. It's been 25 years since I read this stuff. We also stopped at the grocery store. I bought a can of KMX and after sipping that was soon feeling right and proper.
We put the tree on the front porch till we put it up later. My son needed a ride over to his friend's house so they could practice. They're forming a band, punk rock. I went out to Sears to get a battery for my truck.
It sounds like if it doesn't turn over on the first try I won't get another chance. No sense in pissing around with Old Man Winter lurking around the corner. I wandered into the electronics department and saw all the latest televisions. The new plasma screen TVs. They are only a few inches thick and the picture is damn near real. They are taking 1000 dollars off the suggested retail price. Only $6999.99 installed.
I had a grocery list for Aldi's. My son says everything in there is diseased. Wait till he has to pay his own bills. And to the Dollar Store for a few more things. I spent the whole day running around in the truck.
I've only had it for a couple of months. It was my dad's. He left it to me. He used to run around all day in it too. He did repair work on gas appliances and a pile of other jobs. But he never went to the library. And that's where I went to get a better copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. I helped my neighbor move some furniture when I got home. I picked up my son and we had supper and then I took him to his cousin's house. When I got home I had to leave again to go to my mother's house. She had something for me and it couldn't wait.
When I got there she handed me a present. An early Christmas present. I laughed and she asked me if I knew what it was. I said no but it has to have something to do with the game tomorrow. My brother got me a ticket to the Pittsburgh Steelers football game. I opened it up and it was a Steelers sweatshirt. Cool. I've never been to a pro-football game so I'm really looking forward to it. Even though I have a Bears plate on the front of my truck, the Steelers are my favorite team.
I've got a yellow Terrible Towel that I can actaully use now. Don't tell anyone but my son was using it to polish his snowboard last week.
I hung out with mom for a couple hours now that she's all alone. I had phone calls to return when I got home and I finally got the tree up. I like to take my time doing stuff like that. It is in the stand, staight and plumb with no guy wires or other crutches. So I'd better get to bed. My brother is driving down from Erie to pick me up in the morning. We never did get all that snow, just some slush. Hopefully we can find a couple of tailgate parties to crash.