Saturday, November 13, 2010

I may be Christmas Crazy

But I don't care!  I will actually be festivizing my bathroom this year. Holiday shower curtain, bathmat, the works.  Why? Because holiday decorations make me smile.  But I am not so crazy as to make my home magazine-perfect.  I'm sorry to disappoint my guests for the rapidly approaching Reed Holiday Soiree, I will not be shaving bars of soap so my guests know exactly how much soap to use when they wash their hands as one magazine suggested.  No, I'm serious -it was in a magazine as a "Holiday Tip".  (If I can find it I'll let you know exactly which magazine!)

I love my friends. I adore my friends. But I will never, not ever, shave a bar of soap for their handwashing pleasure. I monitor soap usuage and handwashing at school all day long. When I am at home, I shall assume my guests are au fait when it comes to handwashing and therefore be able to use liquid hand soap I keep next to the sink.

I will however be hanging these signs as gentle reminders:


Our Aim


If You Sprinkle


We Aim to Please

The whole shaved soap for guests reminds me what a slippery slope (get it? soap - slippery? hahaha) getting ready for the holidays can be.  It is easy to become led astray by these "good ideas" we read about in magazines. We strive to have perfect holidays, with our homes beautifully decorated, handmade goodies and just the right outfit. Well, maybe that's just me. I want the holidays to be special and not a big disappointment because it didn't live up to my expectations. Last year we all had the stomach flu -ho ho throw. Very special indeed, especially as I nearly ended up in surgery to remove a 1 cm shard of wicker lodged under my fingernail 2 days earlier.  So my holiday mantra this year is "Special doesn't mean perfect". And if you happen to come to my home and see shaved soap in my bathroom, I give you permission to laugh heartily in my face. After you have washed your hands.

PS It wasn't fun to be sick on Christmas, but because I had prepared adequately I had enough toilet paper, pepto bismal and pedialyte to make it thru the crisis without anyone having to leave the house  :)

5 comments:

  1. Aw!! Oh no! Fortunately, since I live in a small apartment, and 99% of my friends/family have houses, there's really no pressure for me to decorate. This year, however, since I've recently gotten into an applesauce-making/canning kick, I am hoping to make cranberry applesauce and can it for all the people special enough to be deemed worthy. I know what it's like to shave soap, so I know it won't be happening here. People should be happy if my apartment is even clean enough to have people over!

    I remember stomach flu over Christmas AND New Year's before. It was awful! My parents lovingly decided not to tell me that my dad was getting over it when I returned from a school ski trip, so of course I immediately caught it. SMH.

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  2. I hear you...I actually boogied *some* of my old holiday magazines in the summer. I still have about 20, but when I finish ripping out ideas, there will be not much of a pile. I like ideas for table settings and vignettes.

    Shaved soap. I remember that tip and wondered why I would want to ration the soap used. Heck with a kid, I'm happy he's using soap!

    EVERYONE should be aware of the harm that wicker and bamboo can cause. Very scary stuff. And you always get hurt when you are in a rush. (Speaking from experience as a florist.)

    What's with the Christmas flu? We suffered here too. I was "not" planning on sipping on pedialyte for the season.

    Let's hope this year you stay well and uninjured this holiday season. And a shaved soap free household!

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  3. I'm also on the applesauce making committee and saw a recipe for cranberry applesauce that begs to be made. As far as the shaved soap, I would wonder what the hell it was and probably be flumoxed by the lack of hand soap. I will strive to be a good guest at the soiree!

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  4. I think I brought the flu home with me after spending 2.5 hours at the doctor's office while she diligently worked on removing the splinter. There were people getting sick in all the rooms around me, so I was moved from room to room in order to have a place for sickies while they cleaned the messy rooms. My stupid injury for the season has already been taken care of so hoping to stay away from the doc's office until NEXT year! LOL

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  5. I used to have a little cross-stitch piece on my bathroom wall that read "lower the lid, ladies present. A wet behind is most unpleasant" :D

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