Opera = Christmas? Really???

When I was a girl, I would wake up ridiculously early on Christmas morning. Three o'clock. Four o'clock. Dad would get up a little earlier than usual and go take care of things at our laundromat. When he came home, we would have breakfast and then open presents. Usually between six o'clock and seven.

This morning I awoke about a quarter to four. I have a tunic to press. And my makeup bag to find. (I've been just quietly not wearing makeup since the memorial service. And I have no idea where my lipstick might be. There's a small pile near my closet door that might be hiding it. Otherwise, I'm going to have to venture into the middle bedroom. In which case, wish me luck.)

Tonight Ms. Ravelled goes to the opera. Opera is almost my least favorite form of classical music. (That spot is shared by twelve-tone nonsense and fidgety, scratchy violin playing. Both of which inspire me to holler "BLEAGHHH!!!!!" and flip over to the country station to see if there's anything I like better.)

Where was I? Tonight I will be absorbing culture with a capital C. As in "Carmen". And all dolled up. And hoping to stay awake until it's over. And trying not to sing along on the parts I kinda know.

So it's feeling a lot like Christmas this morning. Only I won't get a nap after lunch.

Speaking of Christmas per se, I spent a little time yesterday looking at pre-lit trees. Not cheap! The shortest ones that Costco carries are seven and a half feet tall. I was hoping for something shorter. Not sure if I still have the star I bought fifteen years ago. We purged pretty ruthlessly last year.

One thing I like about the Costco trees is that you can toggle between colored lights and white ones. So I could do a white Christmas one year and a red one the next. Kohl's also has something intriguing; a quarter-tree that you put in a corner. You get the illusion of a massive tree without giving up half a room.

I will definitely check both out. Possibly as early as tomorrow after Fourthborn and I pick up our quilt block kits. The Costco tree weighs 65 pounds. And there's something else at Costco I'm interested in. It weighs almost 70 pounds. If Fourthborn is willing, and I decide they are worth the asking price, we could wrangle both into the truck and then into the house without having to radio for backup. (Otherwise I will have to ask Squishy. Who can probably hoist one in each hand without breaking a sweat.)

This is the part where I turn on the iron and ransack my studio for a pressing cloth. But wait! I think that travel iron I found a few weeks ago is a steamer. That might be even better.

Edited to add that I found my lipstick in my overnight bag, along with the travel iron and travel Waterpik.