Petunia rambles on and on….

Around the holidays, we are usually thinking of family and friends.  Well, sometimes the line between family and friends blurs.

When I was 15, my parents moved to Florida, dragging me against my will – I was a sophomore in high school.  I hated it, didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave my friends, didn’t want to agree with anything that my parents thought was right, didn’t want to leave whatever boyfriend I had who was so damn important that I can’t remember his name or his face!  Apparently the main thing I wanted to do was bitch and argue at that age. And I was good at it. Actually, still am.

Anyway, they moved to south Florida, without my permission or consent!  I lived down there about 9 years, and few really good things came out of those years. But out of those few years came some of the best parts of my life.

I had to walk a block or two to catch the school bus.  Patsy had to walk about the same distance, from the other direction. For the last 45 years, I’ve been damn grateful for that bus stop. We’ve been “meeting in the middle” ever since, there for each other as often as we can.  Always there emotionally for the other one.  Too many memories shared to note here, too many things done together to relate – and by the way, the first set of ear-piercings is still there, still crooked. Why would somebody drunk let somebody else drunk pierce their ears?  I remember laughing until we cried, and crying together until we actually started laughing. Terrible times each of us have faced, but the other was near, and we got through it all. I remember things that I hope our kids NEVER find out about!!!! And still laugh about them!  And all the safely-kept secrets.

So here’s another picture:

Patsy came up to visit in March of 1986; Jim would be just turning 16.  My mother was seriously ill and for a bit, we didn’t know whether or not she’d make it. She ended up having open-heart surgery, which was still a very damn scary thing back then. Patsy came running, to see me and to see her.

And to see Jim. She was there with me the day he was born because she didn’t want me to be alone. And he’s always been special to her.

So the holidays mean Patsy to me, and have for 45 years. More family than friend always. DNA be damned – that’s something that’s decided in the heart.

This time of year, I’m usually on a spending frenzy, buying for all, cooking up a storm and I’m very glad I was able to do it for as long as I did. I should be chasing in and out of stores and malls, freezing my ass off, carrying large bags, rubbing my aching back from standing too long while doing some chore – wrapping packages and baking cookies come to mind quickly.

This year, it’s not going that way. Since receiving notification that my job would be lost in April because of a “consolidation of services” to another Federal location on the other side of the country, a lot of my plans have had to be altered. Between my thanking the President and the Federal government for their stimulus package designed to save jobs which has taken up a lot of my fucking time, let me tell you, and my trying to figure out ways of paying the mortgage, buying groceries AND keeping the high-speed internet connection all on what I’ll get in unemployment compensation, I’ve been a busy old broad, though. I have little hope of finding another position utilizing my skills – what I’ve done all my working years is being phased out and replaced by very annoying computer-programmed machines with tinny weird voices.  My personal displeasure with automated answering machines that give you choices, none of which suit your needs, systems where you get so frustrated and angry that, should you actually push the wrong key and get a LIVE HUMAN, your anger has caused you to forget why the hell you are even calling, MY ANGER at all this doesn’t seem to be changing it!

Bear with me, or not, as you choose.

So here’s a first in a series of holiday treats.

In a continuing effort to lift my spirits this holiday season, but not necessarily the spirits of others, I’ll post some pictures. Nothing really bad, just perhaps silly.

Well, it’s Dusty Rose, Cherry Tree Hill’s Semi-Solid fingering weight. One of my very favorites! Who could resist that? And The Loopy Ewe had all the CTH on sale, 30% off.  Now it would have been a crime not to buy it, right??? At that price? I thought about pawning the dog, so that I could buy more.

And because you have to order a certain amount to get the free shipping, uh, well, Sapphire and Aubergine jumped into the “shopping cart,” too. Just keeping company.

And these colors look pretty true on my monitor, and yes, Kate, the last 2 are purple!! YOUR shades of purple.

And because I should be doing various household chores, I did my nails instead. I don’t miss those acrylic nails that I had for years, but I do miss the luxury of sitting back and having someone else “tend” them. I stopped getting them when Kate came home with the babies; there just wasn’t the time. Kate sure needed the break that a little help gave her, and spending time with the boys  was better than time in the nail salon. So I went back to the old-fashioned, home-grown nails, and manicures by moi. If I put it off too long, they all start to chip or break, or they get so long that I can’t type or key numbers accurately.

Husband hates this color – says it’s “inappropriate” for someone my age!  Harumph!