bogeyandruby

I had a whole list of errands to do today including taking my new wide-leg black velvet pants to be hemmed (bought after reading about them on my lovely colleague’s blog), seasonal clothes shopping for my mother (who sadly, along with my sister, used to do my clothes shopping), and a dollar store run to buy wrapping paper and a pair of rubber gloves for dishwashing, the serious kind that extend up to my armpits because at my stature and vantage point in front of the sink, the water tends to run in that direction.

After another visit this morning from Justin the electrician and his associate to replace an inaccessible corroded wire in a pipe that runs between our electrical box and Hydro-Québec (I catastrophized the whole time he was here, imagining the wire snapping as he reached for it and the corroded end of it recoiling into the even more inaccessible core of the earth), a half-hearted and lethargic attempt at some Christmas baking, and over-exerting myself wrapping an oversized present for my brother, I was sludge.

There are very few activities I dislike more than shopping, with the exception of shopping for books. Lucky for me, I have a lovely husband who does all the grocery shopping and a large bulk of the errands, often while I wait in the car. He agreed to drop my slacks off at the alterations place; I will give him clear, written instructions indicating that my inseam is 26 inches. I may even draw the inseam so that the seamstress doesn’t think I have a 26 inch outseam. Those would be gauchos even on me. The dishwashing gloves can be postponed too; my recovery is more important than wet sleeves. And I ordered a couple of shirts for my mum online from Reitmans, including a sweater for me because I don’t have anything to wear with those lovely velvet pants.

My December daily blog will be completed shortly and once it is, I will relax with a latte and my current book: Pilgrims by Devin Kelly. So far so good. I am a devoted follower of his weekly poetry blog, Ordinary Plots, on Substack.

It is important to listen to your body (and mind) at this time of year, a season of excesses, overindulgence and very little light.