Packing it in

My geezer fu has become so advanced that now I'm able to manifest all symptoms of a hangover without ingesting more than a token amount of alcohol. Considering that, it was a pretty solid day: party mess cleared away, two loads of laundry done, tree stripped and chopped for mulch. I wish I could say we'd packed away all the ornaments, but I had to set up a little clinic for Hallmark Keepsake Collection from my childhood. Apparently, about thirty years is all the longer the glue on them lasts. In the end, though, I drew back from wielding the tube for fear of permanently affixing a leg to a face and having to face the wrath of the cuddly animal figurines' reptilian legal team.

Yesterday went well, all things considered, but the road getting there was rough in spots. I was still getting over my cold (or whatever) and there was a half-hour or so right before the guests arrived when I was staggering about trying to remember what I'd wanted to set out and thinking Why the hell am I not in bed right now? The last guest left about half-past midnight and it was another hour before I'd tidied up enough I felt I'd earned the right to crawl into bed and not sleep. The most pleasant surprise from yesterday was running into niemandsrose completely serendipitously at my local used bookstore. The second must may have been having so many people ask for Aviations and Bijou Cocktails that we actually killed off the Bombay Sapphire.

Our guests also had the desired effect of ridding us of much of our most dangerous leftovers. We did gain another "Mormon devil cake" from Diego, but I'll just feed it to my coworkers. Still, although the tree did come down in a timely manner, I can't yet bring myself to pack up the lights. No, not yet, not as long as it's still getting dark before five p.m.