I was going to help a friend with some things yesterday afternoon. But I walked out the door and found my car's left rear tire flat as a pancake. So instead I spent the afternoon waiting for AAA to swap out the tire for the donut spare, then waiting for the repair shop to figure out what had happened and fix it. It turned out that the air valve had gotten cracked, which was just a $15 fix. However, when the AAA guy was taking off the flat he pointed out some stuff that suggested it had been on there for over a year. Since I'd paid the shop to rotate my tires when I got an oil change a couple of weeks ago, I'm not entirely thrilled by this information. That's one shop off my list. Pity, because they're just across the street from an indy bookstore. But location isn't everything, and they may well have been responsible for my cracked valve and, thus, my wasted Saturday afternoon, too.

Oh, that sucks!

I went to the fancy tree place and spent $50 on a small tree and stand, which seems like a lot. But I do like it! I threw the lights right on, but I guess I should let it relax a little before putting ornaments on. I'm a little afraid the cat will pull it down, but fingers crossed!

I'm going to try and deal with the dozen or so containers with decorations and stuff. I'm trying to get all my stuff and all my mom's ornaments on my tree for a super densely populated tree. I don't know if it is possible, but I've added more every day for a week. If nothing else I'll empty all these containers and sort and organize the contents.

It seems silly to have all the ornamentation all over the house when I'm not doing any gatherings this year. We'll go to my brother and sister's side of the state Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day dinner will be at DH's brother's house. Maybe I'll host a Sunday brunch or something. If I don't make plans to have people over I won't finish organizing stuff.

Went to The Wiz last night. The cast was quite good, dancing so nice, but the sound was horrible. They are in a new venue and the sound hasn't been worked out at all. The orchestra was way too loud. The poor Tin Man's mic wasn't working. Just uneven and cutting in and out, and shudder worthy. It didn't distract DH as much as me. I expect they will get it together before my next visit. The Producers is next, but I just saw that last year. My One and Only, Ghost, and Thoroughly Modern Millie are following and I'll go to those.

Trying to support both the Lauderhill and Delray Beach theaters more.

Oh, Calli, what an annoyance.

Yay Jesse! Good to hear. Take a picture when you are finished. I tried to take some, but the tree is in front of a window which is problematic.

It seems silly to have all the ornamentation all over the house when I'm not doing any gatherings this year.

It's not silly if you like seeing the decorations.

What Steph said.

It is pretty overwhelming with all Mom's stuff and mine. Part of my thinking is that I need to organize it all when I repack it so it is best to get all of it out of the containers. Also I really need to just toss all the old lights. I have so many buckets of them and really just need to get rid of them and buy new led lights next year.

I need to figure out something to do with my Xmas ornaments. I have a small box of those that were given to me as a kid that I'm sentimentally attached to, and the last couple of years I've received some as gifts and I should do something with them other than put them in a box. A tree is definitely not happening, but something.

Part of my thinking is that I need to organize it all when I repack it

I said that last night when we were decorating -- we need to buy 2 big Rubbermaid tubs, and when we un-decorate the tree, put the decorations from the tree into those tubs, so we can see which ones are the preferred ornaments, and which ones we never use (those would be the ones left in the assorted boxes in the attic). Then maybe we could weed them out.

Also I really need to just toss all the old lights. I have so many buckets of them and really just need to get rid of them and buy new led lights next year.

I can't overstate how many sets of lights we have. Every year Tim buys more lights, and then when we bring down the Christmas stuff, we see how many, many, MANY sets we already had. Both of his brothers do it, too, and so did his dad. The Beckmeyers are just committed to finding the best possible tree lights and then optimizing them. (Or maybe new light sets spontaneously generate in the attic. I'm not ruling that out.) (Because I'm not kidding -- it is COMICAL how many sets of lights we have. My best estimate is that we could light about 7 or 8 full-size trees with what we have.)

This season I've decorated a gate at O'hare and taken it all down [link] My home has some lights in the window and nothing more is happening here. I haven't put up a tree since I got these cats 13 years ago. I do, however need to clean, do a bunch of laundry, and finish shopping.