Hey! Remember when an anonymous reader sent me this “formal” Bow-Tie-o’-the-Day-connected-to-the-thong thing two years ago? Well, if you don’t recall that event, you’ll surely never forget it now. I thought it would be a great New Year’s Eve party outfit—as long as I had another outfit under it.
Remember, my pals, to play safely tonight. Mask yourselves and drive sober. I want to have you around for many New Year’s Evenings to come. Be well. Peace to us all. 🍾☮️
BTW Stay tuned for the final Holiday Tie Tally tomorrow. You will indeed see the last o’ the holiday neckwear.
The first brother-in-law I got, way back in 1967, is officially 75 today. Merry Birthday, Kent! Here he is, tie-ing one on. Tie-ing on at least 17 Ties o’ the Day, to be more precise. (That middle tie is made of wood, too. Cool, eh?)
Kent is a true gentleman whose quick wit never stops. As far as I can recall, he is the originator of the the term “the Helenmobile,” which we all used when referring to whatever car Mom drove at the time—long before she even had a personalized license plate. He is also the originator of the greeting, “How the Helen Wright are you?” which he always used whenever he called Mom to check on her over the years. She has never tired of hearing it, and he’s never gotten tired of saying it to her. Kent and Mom amuse each other to no end. Oh, and they have spent many a weekend watching golf on tv together. Don’t even try to get between Kent and Mom and their golf. Do not touch the remote.
Kent does not wear a cape, but he is a superhero. He is a school bus driver. Chauffeuring a herd o’ children to and from school, and on field trips, gives Kent a wide audience to which he can properly show off his humor and kind soul. Let me tell you—Kent is the dude you want driving your kid’s school bus. His bus is a safe place to be a kid, especially if you’re a shy or scared kid. Kent gets the jokes rolling and makes every kid feel comfortable and important. For example, this year one of the kids he drives is a kindergartener who initially bawled every day when he got on the bus. After a few days of Kent’s good-natured chatter, the kid settled into the routine. So the wheels on the bus went ’round and ’round for a while, and the kid was fine.
But one day, Kent had to drive for a field trip, so he didn’t drive his regular bus route with his regular kids. The next day, when Kent dropped off his usual kids at school, the principal informed him that the formerly-bawling-now-usually-settled-down kid had had a humongous meltdown when Kent wasn’t there to drive the bus the day before. Now, that alone would be a cute little anecdote about how much Kent’s bus kids love him. But Kent goes above and beyond, and refuses to let a story end like that. Kent now takes it upon himself to let both the kid and the principal know when he’s not going to be driving the bus—so neither scared child, nor flummoxed principal, will be caught off-guard by Kent’s absence. Did I mention that my brother-in-law, Kent, is a kind soul?
Let me quote Mom on the subject of Kent: “Oh, Kent takes such good care of Betty. He’s so good to her.” We are all in agreement about that, for sure. And we are all grateful to Kent that he cherishes BT so very much.
I am pleased as cider to present a full dozen ho-ho-holiday Bow Ties o’ the Day, just for y’all to peruse. They are huddled together for warmth this morning. It is b-r-r-r-r-freezin’ out there, folks. Bundle up. ❄️🌬
Bow Tie o’ the Day stars red and green…stars. My middle Tie o’ the Day presents snow falling on Charlie Brown and Snoopy as they ride downhill together on a sled. The remaining four Ties o’ the Day give us some active holiday penguins to gaze upon. My personal fave is the tie upon which we see penguins kicking field goals through the “goal posts” of a reindeer’s antlers.
I am running out of time to show off the balance of my festive neckwear, and I already have the neckwear for my New Year’s Eve posts set aside. That leaves me with tomorrow and New Year’s Day to present the remainder of my holiday collection. I sincerely hope I can do it. As much as I enjoy the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa season, I am jonesing to wear a regular, everyday piece of neckwear. And by “regular,” I mean regular in terms of my own version of regular. 🎀
Bow Tie o’ the Day sports a simple message of “Merry Christmas.” The 6 Ties o’ the Day are a bit more divided in their expressions about the holiday season. I am a “Merry Christmas” sort, which is probably obvious by my expansive X-mas neckwear collection, but I am also a Grinch-lovin,’ “Bah Humbug” sort of gal when I’m particularly ironic. Especially around Christmas, I must admit I have an even lower-than-usual tolerance for people acting hateful and petty to each other. That kind of behavior really roils the true, thin slice o’ humbug in my soul, in any season. I hate when that happens. In this annual season of giving and striving for peace, I often worry less about the need to—as the saying goes—”put Christ back in Christmas,” and more about the need to put Christ back in Christians. Kindness changes the weather of every room it’s in. Let us be the good weather, folks. End of sermon.
Holiday Tie Tally: 190 Neckties. 74 Bow Ties.
Holiday Face Mask Tally still stands at 9, cuz I’ve worn this one before.
Everybody in our house got through Christmas Day, properly jolly and over-fed. And then, on December 26, I got my name written on Skitter’s Naughty List promptly at 8 AM, when I dropped her off for her vet appointment I made sure not to tell her about beforehand. I didn’t want to ruin her Christmas, you know.
At the vet’s, she had to spend four whole hours without me by her side. Apparently, the “black mold” has taken over Skitter’s inner ears again. The vet put some heavy duty anti-fungal meds in the poor beast’s ears, which will provide her ear-y depths with treatment over the next two weeks. I hope this medication will finally kill Skitter’s “black mold” problem once and for all. I’ve had to administer her ear drops off-and-on to treat her problem since Spring, and it has been sheer torture for me to put unwanted drops into the ear of the already-scared-of-everything-that-isn’t-a-blanket-Suzanne-made-her little mutt.
Anyhoo… After I picked up Skitter from the vet’s that afternoon, she kept her distance from me and cast her Evil Eyes at me from across the living room for the rest of the day—right up until the moment I sat down to eat some leftover Christmas roast for dinner. Suddenly, The Skit was right there by my side—my loyal friend forever and ever, once again. And so it goes, after every vet visit.
Our Christmas was low-key, but we managed to include all the usual important elements. We enjoyed gifts, and too much food, and a Zoom family-gathering. Suzanne gave us a gun safe for our recently acquired Beretta. She gave me two Echo Dots, so now I can say things like, “Alexa, create world peace,” to which Alexa replied, “Sorry, I’m not sure about that.” So then I asked Alexa to play Band of Horses songs, which she gladly did.
Suzanne wanted a lighted cutting mat for her sewing and crafting, so Santa gave her that. Santa also gave her a puzzle of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s image and her famous dissents. The puzzle is entirely words. That oughta be difficult and time-consuming to put together, which will keep us both out of trouble. Oh, and I gave her the tiniest notebook I’ve ever seen: It’s smaller than a matchbook. I think it was her favorite gift. (Note to self: Next year for Christmas, save yourself some big bucks by giving Suzanne only a Munchkin notebook.)
I made a pork pot roast, Mom’s cheese bread, and Mom’s famous-in-Maryland green salad. We ate olives, and Suzanne-made cookies, and every chocolate we could find. We found a lot of chocolates. We didn’t even have room for the Red Button Eggnog ice cream, or the Dreyer’s Pumpkin Pie ice cream. The ice cream still waits in the freezer, for when our tummies have room for it. Trust me—the ice cream will not go to waste.
Later on Christmas Day, we joined Suzanne’s family’s Zoom get-together, for the most important part of our Christmas. It’s a family tradition that the family gathers in the afternoon, and Suzanne’s dad reads the story of Christ’s birth from the Bible, and then reads any story of his choosing which exemplifies the giving spirit of Christmas. This year, he read the O. Henry story, “The Gift of the Magi.” Hearing his voice as he read to us made it feel like a not-pandemic Christmas for a short while. And even on Zoom, excited kids were loudly playing and showing off in the very best way, further making it seem like a regular Christmas—if only for an hour or so. God bless us, every one.
Peace is kindness at rest. May you kind folks always have plenty of it. Jolly Christmas tidings to y’all, from TIE O’ THE DAY and the inhabitants of The Tie Room!
