So it was 61 degrees in the house when I got home from work (going to have to start leaving the heat on during the day I guess), and it’s taken me FOREVER to warm up. Granted, an hour later it’s still 66 degrees, but I’m quite warm now after putting on a thick pull-over sweater underneath my fleece robe. I’m about to take off the sweater actually. This is why I can’t ever wear these things out – because in about 5 minutes, I overheat but can’t take it off since I anticipated being hot and only wore a cami underneath. I usually forget deodorant, too.
Anyway. So I’m throwing a Christmas party on Saturday, and am planning on going all out with the hors d’oeurves. Plus I’m going to make a “Birch de Noel” – Martha’s white chocolate take on the buche de noel. The picture was so cool-looking that I decided I’d rather make it than babka. I might still make babka. We’ll see.
But I’m being ridiculously detailed in my planning for this party. I made myself a timeline and a schedule (is that the same thing?) and a shopping list and all that. Even spent all of yesterday finishing this table runner —
Though not as pretty as the picture (if anyone cares, this is also one of Martha’s inspirations), it actually turned out a lot better than I anticipated.
Anyway, this afternoon – on the Party Schedule – I’m supposed to deep clean the house. At this point in the afternoon, I’m kind of seeing “deep clean” as meaning that I’ll clean the bathroom, do a couple of loads of laundry, wash the dishes, and probably sweep. That’s more like “normal clean,” but hey, I generally keep things fairly clean anyway… (I’m much better at housekeeping now).
So I’m watching/listening to A Christmas Carol since Matt hates Christmas movies. We spent way too much time the other day talking about whether George Bailey is a “common, everyday yokel” or not. (Really, the debate was about whether that movie is a parable or not…and whether the moral — no man who has friends is a failure or whatever it is — was actually true.) I think my argument should be obvious, though he did make a pretty good point at times. Good, if jaded. So you know.
I’m doing a fabulous job of not cleaning the house. Guess at least I should put a load of laundry in…
No Promises This Time 
Man, I wish M and I could come to your party. It’s going to be pretty amazing, sounds/looks like, and that runner is so cool.
I don’t understand Matt’s argument, there. Is he saying that George Bailey has no significance if he is, in fact, a symbol in a parable? Or is it that the movie is a parable and therefore insignificant, or? Naturally, I greatly desire to know. Although, every time I get in an argument with somebody who hates this movie, I get emotional and end up doing a lot of yelping, sometimes making a scene.
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Yeah, I wish you guys could come too. It’s going to be the shit.
And…his argument was basically (in my understanding – which was probably somewhat muddled because of the defensiveness that the argument provoked) that the moral is not true. Which is to say, that your friends are not a measure of your success or failure as a person. He claims that the way that George Bailey’s life affected everyone around him is unusual in its scope and that most people don’t have that much influence on the people around them. Which, of course, is really impossible to say since the situation cannot be duplicated. I tried to end the argument as soon as I could. Of course, Matt also thinks that It’s a Wonderful Life is a “chick flick” (which is his word for any movie that tugs on the heart string). So.
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OK, I’ll weigh in now.
The Wonderful Life debate reminds me of how hokey some people say the Andy Griffith Show is because, they say, people like Goober and Floyd and Gomer don’t really exist. Well, I happen to know that they DO. I know, and have known, people like that.
And there are G. Bailey people, too, in this world. I know them. They are not “successes” simply because they have friends, and people without friends are not necessarily “failures.” BUT if you have friends who are friends because of what YOU are in their lives, then I think it does take you out of the “failure” department. This is something I sometimes think about when I feel like a loser–“What would my friends say? Would my family agree?” It usually pulls me up somewhat.
Also–not related to the debate: It affects me with emotions I can’t quite qualify how much you, Erin, remind me of myself. Especially the Me of several years ago who had a lot more mental energy than I do now. Your planning, your party, your Martha affinity. It’s…nice. : )
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Mom – that’s basically my opinion on the Wonderful Life debate. Sure, not EVERYONE is like George Bailey. Maybe not even most people. But definitely some people are, and if you want your friendships to be a defining factor in your life then I feel like that’s something you can work to achieve.
And that’s nice of you to say – the last paragraph. š It makes me feel good. š
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