Helen’s bigly Holiday Tie Tally: 209 Neckties. 93 Bow Ties. (In a few upcoming photos you will see me and Skitter in more holiday ties. They were snapped over the holidays, but I have already included the neckwear in this final tally.)
Helen’s Holiday Face Mask Tally: 9. (I didn’t make much of an investment in Christmas face masks, cuz I hope we won’t be needing them next X-mas season.)
Skitter’s Holiday Tie Tally: 25 Neckties. 1 Bow Tie.
Here’s the rest of what I utilized to bring y’all TIE O’ THE DAY’s jolly neckwear o’ 2020: 2 leg lamps. 3 Charlie Brown Christmas trees. 1 Old Man bobblehead. 1 Ralphie bobblehead. 5 festive jackets. 4 X-mas-themed, button-down shirts. 1 lighted antler headband. 1 Santa hat. 1 Bah Humbug hat. 1 Santa baseball cap. 1 lighted turkey hat. 1 pair of Grinch pajama bottoms. 3 pairs of obnoxious X-mas leggings. 1 ugly sweater. 3 “ugly sweater”-style, long-sleeved t-shirts. 1 gingerbread person t-shirt. 1 redneck elf t-shirt. 1, 3-D turkey necktie. 1 bow tie body thong. 1 red-nosed reindeer body thong. 1 blow-up Santa beard. AND most importantly, 2 milkweed pod, Nativity scene Christmas tree ornaments made by my grandma, Momo, at least 50 years ago.
I sincerely meant to post the final Holiday Tie Tally today, but it’s a no-go. First, I slept until noon, which I never do—except today, apparently. And then, real life things (as opposed to TIE O’ THE DAY things) that needed to be dealt with kept coming up. I’m sure you know how that goes. So anyhoo… It was Judy O’ Clock before I was able to even start gathering all the holiday neckwear and props together for their bigly, annual tie-family photo. Currently, I’m still staging snapshots, taking roll, folding, preparing the off-season storage for my neckwear friends, and making all the necessary calculations for the tally announcement. I’m aiming to post the final numbers tomorrow.
For now, though, please enjoy a photo of the one Christmas Bow Tie o’ The Day and the 12 Christmas Ties o’ the Day that I hadn’t yet worn for y’all this year. Also, enjoy a few close-ups of some of these last ties. Don’t miss the Ralphie bobblehead beside Bow Tie.
BTW I can’t simply add these numbers to the current tally and come up with the total sum of all ties, because there are still photos of me wearing festive neckwear during the holidays, which you have not yet seen. And I must add those to the total too.
Almost-the-Total Holiday Tie Tally: 207 Neckties. 89 Bow Ties.
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.
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.
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!
Bow Tie o’ the Day displays Billy Bob Thornton from BAD SANTA. Santa-hatted kitty Tie o’ the Day harks from the movie too. Santa and Rudolph are listening to some rap tunes and getting their boogie on. On the other side of our Tie o’ the Day showcase, we’ve got snowflakes, candy canes, and candy cane-colored stripes. Finally, straight down the middle, is our reminder Tie o’ the Day from the Gangsta Wrappin’ Rudolph to get those gifts wrapped ASAP. Time is running out to set out the haul securely under the tree. (Make sure you see the gold $-sign bling on Gangsta Wrapper Rudolph’s neck. FYI I get a thrill out of tiny details.)
Folks, if you’re partaking of alcoholic beverages while celebrating tonight, please use a designated driver on your travels. Don’t forget your mittens and your masks, people. Be safe in your merriness! 🎄
FYI I’ll be posting a quick TIE O’ THE DAY message at midnight tonight, so if you’re awake and want to see more holiday ties before morning, give it a look-see.
