“Close, but no cigar”. This saying has been in my head all day today. According to the Urban Dictionary, it’s an expression used when someone gets close to accomplishing something… but doesn’t actually accomplish it. I thought that I was close to being ready for Christmas and it would be easy to have my main floor ready Christmas morning. When I got up at 6:30 this morning to finish it, all that was going through my head was.. close, but no cigar.
My kitchen sink was full of dishes. The dishwasher was full of clean dishes and needed to be unloaded and reloaded. My dining room table was covered with random food, snacks, and kitchen things. The counter was covered with everything under the sun. Every time I opened up my spice cabinet, things fell out. The floor needed to be mopped and bags of groceries needed to be unloaded and put away. My daughter and her husband were coming over at 8:30 a.m. I knew I was close this year, but no cigar. Maybe next year.
Am I Close?
But then, somehow, almost miraculously, by 7:30 a.m., everything was coming together. The living room was done and ready. The dishwasher was reloaded and running. The table was cleared off and groceries unloaded. All the dishes that I needed for making dinner were clean and ready to be used. The kids were all waking up and since I now had a glimmer of hope that the house would look decent by the time my daughter and son-in-law got here, I was in a happy mood. Except, of course, for the few minutes where I started thinking about my son and daughter in law who wouldn’t make it here for Christmas this year. That got me really sad but I recovered pretty quickly.
It turned out to be a really nice day. There was a little more dashing and stashing than I would like to admit but I did it. I made it through Christmas without too much stress because of the mess. I was able to relax a little bit and enjoy the family. We even played a few games and tried a few new apps. We FaceTimed my son and daughter in law and tried out some of the Christmas presents. Maybe, could it be? Did I actually get the cigar?
Did they notice the difference in the house and/or you? I am curious. –Colette
Yep, my daughter was really impressed! She said it looks great!
Jen!! I’m so thrilled for you!!! You won!! What an excellent day!! So proud of you my friend!
I think you deserve a pat on the back! Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves? I am exactly the same!
But Christmas was weird for me this year though, I was at my parents house looking after them Christmas Eve and the few days before while my husband was at home. He has 10 days off and we usually have 10 days of bliss with no early starts and time to please ourselves. But with me being gone for half the week it’s been weird this year and my ‘shifts’ at my parents fell on Christmas and New Year. But I did manage to drive them to my house yesterday for a very lovely dinner cooked by my husband.
One more night here and I will be home for three days!
Glad your daughter came for Christmas (I have two sons so basically lost them to their in-law families when they married ☹️). Your Christmas sounded very chilled and enjoyable. You earned that cigar! 😀
You must be looking forward to those 3 days at home but it’s really nice that you can stay with them and help them while they need it! And it was super nice of your husband to make a Christmas dinner!
The Christmas situation without all the kids is a bummer but my son said they will come by us next year. We’ll see! The baby will be almost a year and who knows if they’ll want to drive that far! Oh well, I still had a great time!