Feeling Grinchy

Here we are, mid-holidays. The boys and I had a quiet Christmas Eve at the house with Bambi (my-sister-in-law) and Violet (her daughter, my niece). I made pot roast and we watched an appropriate holiday movie (“The Holdovers”) followed by the opposite of an appropriate holiday movie (“The Substance”). The boys and I loved the cinematography in the latter, and liked most of the movie except the last 15 or 20 minutes when it all went off the rails. The movie was uncomfortably graphic at times, but the boys said it was nothing compared to “Dr. Pimple Popper,” which was on heavy rotation at my dad’s nursing home.

We spent Christmas at Trevor and Karen’s (my brother and sister-in-law) with my mom, my niece Sierra, my nephew Park, and Bambi and Violet. It was low-key which is what we needed.

I didn’t buy many gifts this year or do any of my usual baking and I didn’t even get a Christmas tree until December 23, and only then because the boys asked me to get one. And I couldn’t deal with the hassle of trying to get a live one and strap it to the roof of the Highlander and carry it into the house and fit it in the tree stand. Andy always did that, and bought most of the gifts and sent Christmas cards. He loved Christmas, and I wasn’t feeling very Christmas-y without him leading the festivities.

But I had to get a tree somewhere, so I looked online for artificial trees, and seeing that the best selection was at a not-so-local Walmart, I drove there and bought a white artificial tree for $35. I thought we’d just use it this year and then go back to real trees. But the boys and I loved it, so I think this tree may be part of a new tradition. It looks especially nice with the 70s felt and sequined Christmas tree skirt that my mom made when I was a child. (It looks better with the ornaments on it, but by then we also had gifts under the tree and I wanted to use a photo with the fabulous skirt.)

Today Violet and Bambi left, so it’s just the Jackson and Charlie and Meowy and me now. We are trying to get everything out of my place and back to the house by the end of January, while also trying to declutter and set aside clothes and knick-knacks and various items of Andy’s as keepsakes for friends and family. And there is a possibility of some of Andy’s work coming out so I am gathering materials for that. And we need to start prepping to move in the summer, because the boys and I are heading back to Los Angeles – specifically Los Feliz. We are literally on an island here, and while we have met some great people, we don’t have the close friendships here that we had in LA. We miss our village. We need them now more than ever.