Saturday, November 17, 2012

Asthma Attacks and Holiday Decor

I have not blogged much this week, as things got a bit out-of-hand. 

This past Tuesday, my Bridget went off to work, as per usual.  I guess there was a stinky smell permeating the office, so one of her co-workers decided to spray some ammonia-based air freshener all around the place.  Causing Bridget to have one heck of an asthma attack.  She called me to come pick her up around mid-morning, and her boss and doctor gave her orders not to return to the job until this coming Monday. 

Those of you who are aquainted with Bridget know that she is a very fun person.  She is full of joyful enthusiasm and creativity.  And I have been having a great time hanging out with her all week.

The first couple of days she was at home were kind of low-key, since she was feeling pretty crappy.  We drank Starbucks coffee.  We watched "Numb3rs" -- also known in our household as "The Colby Granger Show."  Colby Granger is one of the best characters ever created for a TV show.  Colby runs fast and knocks people down and shoots a really big gun and drives FBI vehicles in a daring way.  He is also very funny, if you are paying attention.  He is played by Dylan Bruno.  I don't know anything about Dylan Bruno, except that he has a really nice older brother named Chris.  Chris obviously taught Dylan everything he knows about being funny and knocking people down.

But, I digress.

After a couple of days, Bridget started to feel better.  And that enthusiastic, creative mind started looking for ways to stay entertained.  So, she began teaching me about theology -- how Jesus is a divine person and how the Holy Spirit is spirated.  She worked on the quilt she is making for a friend's wedding.  She scrap-booked.  And she came up with a nefarious plot to decorate our house for the holidays.

Those of you who are aquainted with me know that I do not decorate.  I do like to put up the Christmas tree, but that is about it.  To me, decorating the house for the holidays means that you are just going to have to un-decorate it again and somehow figure out what to do with all the decorations for the remaining 11 months of the year.  Decorating also means that you have to clean the house and get all the dust and grime off the surfaces that are to be decorated. 

Bridget, though, does not see eye-to-eye with me on this issue.  So, off we went to the craft store and the fabric store, where we purchased some shiny baubles and paper and ribbons and other decorative doo-dads.  And Bridget went-to-town.

All the pictures on our walls are now wrapped in Christmas paper and ribbons, so it looks as though Christmas gifts are hanging on all of our home's vertical surfaces.  There are vases filled with gleaming silver, gold, and red holiday "stuff" in our living room and family room.  There are turkey-shaped place cards forming on the dining room table, in anticipation of our annual Thanksgiving dinner.  A dinner which has never before featured place cards.  Some sort of silver garland is being planned for the hearth.  There is glitter on the sofa. 

And it is all so much fun!  My decorating cynicism is being stripped away.  Of course, I would never do any of this if left to my own devices.  So, when it comes time for Bridget to fly away from the nest, Christmas gifts will not be seen hanging on any of my walls come December.  For now, though, I admit that I am greatly enjoying the festive atmosphere and watching my not-so-little girl happily put the house into a proper holiday mood.

I can't say that I'm at all glad Bridget had that asthma attack.  But, all-in-all, she did take the lemons which were handed to her this past week and turn them into one hell of a pitcher of spiked lemonade...







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