A Morning of Surprises, Reunions ... and My Friend Murphy!

Don came through ... after a considerable amount of searching (apparently the pickin's were slim at Home Depot), he found one of the only Frasier Firs still in its wrapping. Just shy of 7 feet tall, he picked it up and zipped home with his find, plunking it on the front porch until it's time to unwrap and decorate it.

The Mystery Tree lives on!

The morning has been a bit of a bust -- while I had a fun time shopping at the Christmas Bazaar, my cell phone went off. "Sue!" said Don's voice on the other end, "I'm here at the party place with the kids ... and there's no party!"

The invitation said today ... but the party is scheduled for next week. Ugh! The kids were exceedingly disappointed, near tears (it's hard to explain these things to little kids sometimes) ... what a mix-up (My Friend Murphy-style, of course)! Don suggested that he take them to Chuck E. Cheese for a little while, to get their minds off of it. I happily agreed, leaving me time to shop child-free and not having to darken the doorway of that loathsome place myself. Whenever I go to these school-sponsored events, I feel like I'm stepping foot into a class reunion. I saw parents of childhood friends; I chatted with classmates I haven't seen since we graduated.

The best reunion of all, however, came about in a funny way. As I lingered around a table filled with homemade jewelry (which were absolutely stunning, by the way), I felt someone hovering behind me. I was so engrossed in mentally rummaging through my closet, however, trying to figure out what a particular necklace would work well with, that I didn't pay attention to who was stalking me. Finally I heard voices behind me -- my mom, and then someone saying, "I thought that was Sue!" Sure enough ... there was one of my childhood best friends, a girl to whom I had been so very, very close from first grade through twelfth, but had lost touch with after we parted ways. After I moved back to NJ a few years ago, I tried to reconnect with her, but both of us were in such terrible personal crises at the time that we just couldn't summon up the energy to open up that part of our lives again. But now, we're both moving on from our particular situations and we made plans to meet for coffee and catch up ... really catch up this time. She's one of those rare individuals where history really does matter and play a role. I have no doubt in my mind that our getting together will be rather like a time-machine, as if the years hadn't passed us by at all. It truly was a gift to see her again.

I'm back now, a few delightful little purchases in my bag (along with still-warm, fresh olie bollen that I just couldn't pass up) ... the house is perfectly still. I think I'll put on some Christmas tunes and wait for the rest of the clan to come home. Later on we'll trim the tree!

And later on I think we'll see some snow ...