Monday, November 28, 2011

A Most Wonderful Guilty Time

A gifted bouquet ~ One of the many perks to hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
I have a laundry list of things to do and at the very top of it should be... laundry. (Don't ya just hate the day after a long and lovely holiday weekend? When all of life must return to normal.)

Entertaining guests can be exhausting.
Laundry. My second most hated task on the planet.

Shopping for holiday gifts can be equally tiresome.
Vacuuming weighs in at #1 on the Damn! I hate to do this! scale. That's on today's dreary to-do list, as well.

I'd vaccuum every day if some brilliant mind would simply invent a totally silent vacuum cleaner. Whenever I see a Dyson commercial I find myself hollering at the guy on the tv. In high hopes he might hear me and stop worrying about suction.

Paper Yellows ~ as fragrant as the more common Paper Whites.
Speaking of t.v. We had a simply marvelous, couldn't be better, Thanksgiving. I hope you did, too. 

Who dares bring THIS to my party?
Burning This and That:
Playing hooky from the usual obligations, daughter L and I bustled about the kitchen... From the moment we woke up, until the second we plopped down... to enjoy that Go Ahead, Loosen Your Belt meal.

Complete with a homemade pecan pie! Not this atrocity featured on the right. Homestyle my eye...

Lethargathon!
Afterwards we watched t.v. The last time we laid around the living room watching bad movies was 2 years ago. On Christmas Day. Which was the last time we bagged our obligations and hunkered down for some serious laziness.
Store Bought Pie Perp

Holidays are always fun.

But, they can also be difficult.

So many expectations. So little time. Everyone expecting you to attend their party. Instead of the 6 or 7 other parties you've been invited to.

It makes me feel guilty. Over digging in my heels and doing my own thing. I'm not Catholic but I wonder if should be... I carry enough guilt to qualify for the nunnery. Though I highly doubt they'd accept me. (Given past sins.)

In spite of my silly fretting I will say... last Thursday was a most wonderful time. And, I think we've started a brand new tradition. Of doing absolutely nuttin.

It's fun to do your own thing.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

23 comments:

Liza said...

Kate - you're hilarious.

I don't like to do any chores because you know, they're chores. But of them, laundry is probably my favorite because it's so easy. Every time I do laundry, I think about my ancestors who had to go down to the creek and pound the dirt out of their clothes with rocks.

And vacuuming is also a fav, believe it or not. I save it for last when I clean, so it signals "the end" for me.

I'm never going to enjoy doing chores, and since I can't get out of them, I take my victories where I can get them.

Anonymous said...

The kitten-in-the-bag is so purrrfectly adorable! Glad your Thanksgiving was a wonderfully relaxed time... the photos are just great.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Glad I was able to make you giggle, Liza.

Now let's get down to business. When are you available to come over and deep clean my house??? Since you love it so much I feel obligated to extend the offer! :D

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Ti!

And, happy belated Thanksgiving!

I saw the pic of your blog post and that it was 40 BELOW ZERO AND YOU WERE BIKING.

So, I shivered and had a cup of tea. I'll put on my jacket and head back over there to comment when I'm feeling braver!

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

Loved your post today. I did laundry though today. Glad that you had a wonderful holiday. V

eileeninmd said...

What a fun post, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Your dog and kitties are just so cute. Wonderful photos and post. BTW, in answer to your queston about the horse, it is one of the painted horse on the Chincoteague Island of Virginia. I hope you have a great week ahead.

Rilly said...

Beautiful bouquet and great photos....especially the pie. Your Pie Perp gets my vote. ;D

Snowcatcher said...

I've always believed adventure comes first, housework second. :) And that's why I'm too ashamed to invite anyone to my abode. Ha ha ha!

We did something completely new and different this year; we dined at a nursing home. Definitely the way to go if you don't want to be stuffed. But we also didn't have the cleanup after, so that was a big plus. They had a huge bird house in the middle of the dining room, and I enjoyed the colorful and musical live birds more than the three bites of bird (and three bites of stuffing and three bites of mashed 'taters and three bites of beans) on my plate. :)

I agree with others; your photos are awesome, and the kitty rocks!

Lona said...

Quite the layout there. LOL! Wore the critters plum out. I use to clean like a maniac. Everything had to be so so. Now I just do not have the energy or care to be such a clean freak. LOL!

Landbohaven said...

Rigtig gode billeder.
Tak for kigget.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hej!

Tak DIG for betale mig et besøg! Glad Fridage.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Lona!
Yeah, Bad Dog was pretty worn out by all the festivities. Though I don't know why. All he did was beg for turkey. All. Day. Long. :))

Yael said...

Kate,

I had to laugh about your "chores" comments. I am a firm believer in doin nuttin whenever I can.

Looks like your dog and cat got to do just that.

Hope you had a good Thanksgivin and a stress free Christmas season.

Yael

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Kate girl You really are hilarious but down to earth, too true funny in the way we all feel the exact same way about said life !
yes we Canadians get out gobble gobble day out of the way the second Monday in October .. I think I did compliment you Americans by roasting a turkey (small .. practice turkey for Xmas when DIL will be here) the past weekend .. no pressure or expectations with that one !
I love your pictures of your pet kids .. your cat is so much like our Emma (16 pound baby !) she sprawls out like that too .. Sophie the big blue eyed baby snuggles in .. hey girl thanks for visiting my blog .. I have been not so great lately so it is wonderful to see comments from old cronies that love Halloween wink wink : )
Joy

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Snowcatcher!
My Mother was in a nursing home that had a huge aviary thing going on. I discovered it was the 'home' for all of the birds the women had in their homes when they were moved into assisted living. They were also allowed to bring their cats and small dogs so the place offered up quite a menagerie. Kudos to you for celebrating Thanksgiving in such a kind and thoughtful way.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thanks, V;
I did get the laundry done, though I complained the whole time I was at it. And, I found a very lame excuse to postpone the vacuum cleaning a bit longer... :))

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

What a treat Eileen!
I would dearly love to photograph those wild horses...

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Happy Thansgiving Rilley!
That pie perp redeemed himself by baking up the most delightful pecan pie from scratch. Apparently the store bought pumpkin pie was a fall back plan, in case the pecan thing didn't pan out. :))

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Joy!
What is it with black cats that they get so huge?? Mine has Emma beat, weighing in at 21 pounds. He's more like a bear cub than a kit cat. :))

I dropped the ball big time on Halloween this year. Too many other distractions. That seems to be my m.o. for this entire year! I'm resolving to make 2012 much better...

Now what are the odds that I'll actually follow through?

Melanie J Watts said...

Vacuuming is number one on my list too, closely followed by dusting. I'm glad you had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I know how important that holiday is to you Americans :0

Marguerite said...

Can I ever relate. We've been going all out at our house lately with chores and declared last night no work night. Sitting on the couch for 3 hours was mandated. What a pleasure to curl up and enjoy each others company. Adore the photos of the dog and cat, do they ever know how to relax!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Melanie;
Dusting has no ranking because I fired that chore from my to-do list. Much to the dismay of anyone who has allergies visiting this household...
:))

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Marguerite;
Kitchens are the worst! I scrub, I scrub. It's lookin' just marvy. And, then! I'm hungry. Time to mess it up again. :D