Last week I reviewed the first six months of 2017 because I decided the years between then and now are best left to a bad memory. So let us get started with the month of...
July. This month started like it usually does – scorchingly hot and windy – which is not the best way to start the last half of the year, especially when you combine fireworks, kiddos, and a few very strong fruity drinks. It also helps to have a sister with a swimming pool and a shady patio. But celebrate we did with more birthdays and more birthday cakes with designs pilfered from the Internet. (Ssshhh. Don't tell.) It was so much fun that we decided to do some more in...
August, a miserably hot month that I usually equate with all the fun of living in a blast furnace. It gets no recognition, no holidays of its own that's widely celebrated, touted on television, or pushed by the greeting card companies, unless you count 'Sisters Day' which, according to my male Australian-accented Siri, is August 1st this year. Apparently, it's held on the first Sunday of the month. Who knew? If like me, you're hearing of this 'holiday' for the very first time, you're welcome. It also brings a couple more birthday cakes for a pair of sisters
Ṅow go hug a sister, any sister, before August morphs into...
September seems to be the month in Oklahoma that can't make up its mind whether it belongs to summer or fall. Mother Nature sometimes likes to combine all her seasons in one month. It's time for me to make two more cakes since we have some very special people born this month. It's also the month when I vowed last year to start next September making handmade Christmas gifts. My amnesia seems to seriously kick in about now so it's a good thing that . . .
October is just around the corner and ready to make us all feel like Autumn is here. Maybe. Or, maybe not. Hey, it's Oklahoma. She'll get around to deciding what time of year we get when she's good and ready. Is Oklahoma the only state whose citizens get the pleasure of playing seasonal roulette just about every month? It's a good thing our family has even more birthdays this month to help keep our minds off the weather so we can look forward to...
November. Heatstroke is not usually an issue this month, but seasonal roulette is still alive and well. Many thoughts of the upcoming holiday hubbub swirl in my head. I seem to have forgotten how to get started on any holiday preparations. I used to be so organized. I'd have all my gifts purchased, wrapped, and ready to be tossed under the tree as soon it went up the weekend after Thanksgiving. It's hard getting old. It's also hard to plan birthdays, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas all in one month when you're the Queen of Procrastination. I do get a break this month with only one cake on the agenda, but nothing stops...
December from coming. I feel we have to get the tree and decorations out of the attic RIGHT NOW. Having to put away all my tchotchkes to make room for the dozens of knickknack Christmas decorations we've accumulated over the years can be very time-consuming. The pressure of making things perfect mounts until I'm almost too overwhelmed to get started with everything that has to get done this month. Shopping, shopping, shopping. Thank goodness for Amazon. I seriously dislike shopping, but Amazon makes it a little less painful. I try to shop at a few of the smaller Mom & Pop shops to ease my guilt over the fact that I HATE to shop unless the weather is just right (and I'm in the mood which is rarely). It can't be too hot or too cold, and it definitely cannot be too windy. Before the wrapping paper, boxes, and bows are tossed in the garbage can, I'm back at it, shopping for birthdays and baking cakes before we've taken the Christmas tree down.
A few lies I tell myself are – Next year, I WILL get my act together. I WILL start shopping earlier, just like I used to. I WILL not let myself get overwhelmed. I WILL stop drinking so many fruity, deceptively powerful drinks on New Year's Eve. Maybe. Or maybe not.
One thing I will not do is make any resolutions. I'd break 'em anyway before the fruity drinks have worn off.
Update: In the last three years, I have not kept any of the promises I made to stop procrastinating. Procrastinating is what I do best.
Have A Happy New Year 2021!