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taz_39**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.
This post covers Monday and Tuesday.
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MONDAY
Up at 4:30am to finish packing and eat something for my early (but direct!) flight to Florida.
Here is all the stuff I had to carry today.
Suitcase: 47 lbs (21kg)
Bass Trombone: 30 lbs (13.6kg)
Tenor Trombone: 20 lbs (9kg)
Backpack: 10 lbs(?) (4.5kg)
Total: 107-ish pounds / 48.5kg
Granted I wasn't "carrying" the large suitcase or the bass for very long as they had wheels. To carry it all by myself I had to lay the tenor on top of the suitcase and hold it in place under my armpit on the left side, and pull the bass along behind me on the right, the backpack on my back. The Uber driver helped me to load and unload everything, but I had to lift everything over curbs on the way into the airport, and again piece by piece at the luggage counter. It wasn't so bad, just saying that I DID lift these :p
While waiting in line to drop my bags I got so many comments, stares, and questions!! Everyone from the people in line next to me to the flight agents at the tagging station to the TSA security guys noticed and commented on the trombones. Several people wanted to play Guess That Instrument and I obliged...the most popular guesses were either saxophones or guitars (LOL!!) with one guy even guessing French horn (oh my goodness) but one of the Delta agents standing nearby was the winner, he got it on his second guess. One little girl really liked the stickers on the cases and wanted to see each one (which made me glad that I don't have any with adult themes or profanity!) I found it incredibly cute that people were so interested in the trombones this morning. Often people are mildly curious and will ask what they are, but I've never had a group of complete strangers make a guessing game of it. Heartwarming :)
The flight took off on time and was super uneventful and relaxing. In Orlando I found Oversized Luggage and both my "kids" were waiting for me there, unharmed. Yay! The tenor did lose a latch on the case though, so I'll probably have to replace the whole thing. Darn!
Ubered home to Jameson. I got there right at lunch time and we ate together and caught up a bit, but I could see that he was stressed about the work he had yet to do and his upcoming overnight at Disney so I didn't bombard him with much. When he went back to work I unpacked, opened all of my mail, checked on the Christmas presents most of which arrived just fine, and went out to get groceries. I made sure to pick up ingredients for cookies too. Our neighbors have already sent over a box, and Jameson's parents sent some, and we'll be getting a box from Raven as well. Sheesh! Back home I put everything away and then did a wipe-down of the whole kitchen including sweeping and mopping the floor.
After dinner Jameson played some Snowball rehearsal footage for me so that I could hear the parts he'd arranged for the event. Have I mentioned how PROUD I am of him!! It was so cool to hear his music while Mickey and Donald and Goofy and other more recent characters danced and did choreo. SO COOL.
He went to bed about an hour later to try and get any sort of sleep before his overnight. I decided to use that time to wrap his Christmas presents! His parents had sent some too, I made sure to wrap both theirs and mine. While I wrapped I enjoyed some of the cookies :D
As darkness fell outside, the lights came on. I went outside to admire them. Jameson did a great job!
And there are Bonk and Nog (the dinosaur and unicorn respectively) guarding the hedge together :)
The finished presents. I am especially proud of the large present there on the floor, which is extremely heavy and I wasn't sure I'd be able to wrap it, but figured it out. Woot!
We will not be having a tree this year as both of us are busy with work, and typically both of us are needed to both put it up and take it down and I'm likely to be gone. It's ok, we have our outside lights, and I plan to make things a bit festive around here in general!
After typing this post I crawled into bed next to Jameson. It's nice to be home.
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TUESDAY
Jameson's alarm went off at 2:30am. I am a light sleeper so I listened as he got ready and left.
Around 6:30am I woke up again because my brain was poking me to vacuum. I know that sounds insane, but Jameson would be finished at Disney at 7:30 and I expected him home around 8:30, at which point he wanted to get some sleep. Therefore if I wanted to vacuum today at all, it was kind of now or never.
So I got up, had some coffee, and vacuumed, including under the couch cushions and in Jameson's studio. I wiped down our coffee table too. Then breakfast, and Jameson messaged to say he was finished and was "getting breakfast." When he wasn't home after 45 minutes or so I looked at his location and realized he must have meant "going out to breakfast" with his coworkers. No problem, that gave me more time to do noisy stuff around the house :p
Next I did the bathrooms, and finished just around the time Jameson got home. He told me all about the event (Snowball Express sponsored by the Gary Sinise Foundation) and teared up as he was talking about it. It is a very emotional remembrance, but also a beautiful day for families of soldiers and first responders to enjoy the Magic Kingdom together. You can CLICK HERE to watch a promo for the 2022 event, trigger warning that it's very emotional as they interview the families.
Jameson very understandably wanted to take a nap, so I took myself out to try and find a black peacoat and/or scarf to wear for upcoming Candlelight performances. The first show of the evening is ok with just a suit jacket, but nighttime temps in Florida are between 50-60 degrees (10 C) and the stage is on the water so there's a chilly wind. More layers are sometimes needed. But because it's Florida there are virtually no coats to be found. I tried Ross, TJMaxx, Marshalls, Target, and Burlington, and didn't find a single black dress coat or scarf. Got back home feeling thwarted and ate lunch. I will try the nearest Macy's tomorrow but if I can't find one I'll settle for some chemical heating pads and put them on my tummy or ribs before we play, that should do me.
After lunch I washed our sheets and made the bed, did a load of my own laundry, washed both trombones, swept out the garage and the front sidewalk, and dusted. There is still so much on my to-do list and I feel a bit overwhelmed, but that's pretty normal for me on layoffs and I'll just have to do my best and finish what I can.
In other news, I made the last payment on my car a few days ago. Once the bank has sent me the title, I would like to sell it. Because I'm not around to drive it, it sits in our driveway, incurs damage and deteriorates (case in point, $8000 damage from rodents this year) and at this point it's become a money suck. It's also not fair to ask Jameson to continue babysitting it in 2026 on top of everything going on in his own life. I'd rather sell it and figure something out for my short layoffs (long term lease maybe?) and buy a car when the need arises in the future.
I grew up in a very rural town in Central Pennsylvania. A place where you still NEED to have a car (or at least a horse) because there is no public transportation. I have not been without a car since I got my permit at the age of 15. And so it is VERY weird to talk about not owning a car. It makes me anxious and will take some getting used to. But I have to trust that it'll be ok. Lots of people do it and I can, too.
Jameson had to work at Disney again but it wasn't an overnight, he was home by 10 and went straight to bed. While I waited for him I ate Christmas cookies and planned my day for tomorrow.
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Wednesday: Jameson will be at Disney all day. I will hit Macy's for warm black clothes and pick up stocking stuffers and dinner ingredients while I'm out. Will probably practice a bit and work on more To-Dos. Dinner will be spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread.
Thursday: Someone is coming to clean our dryer vent, after they leave I'll practice and more To-Dos, maybe even make some Christmas cookies. In the evening I'll get to see Jameson's corporate workplace for the first time, and then we'll go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!
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Date: 2025-12-17 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 04:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 03:04 am (UTC)Selling your car makes sense from a logic perspective. You'll also be able to save on car insurance as an added bonus.
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Date: 2025-12-17 04:08 am (UTC)- Apple butter snickerdoodle (more fall than Xmas but too bad :p)
- Stained glass cookies
- peanut butter blossoms
- Christmas crackers (not a cookie :p)
Thanks, I felt it was logical too, now that I have been given 2 years’ worth of Beauty and the Beast schedule. I’ll only be home once every 2-3 months and only for 2-3 weeks. The car sitting for months at a time has meant repairs every time I come home. It’s just losing value and deteriorating sitting there.
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Date: 2025-12-17 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-17 01:41 pm (UTC)It sounds like Jameson is doing some phenomenal work! I feel like I keep saying some variation of that, lol, but it's true.
Glad your trombones made it! AND you hauled all of that.
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Date: 2025-12-17 09:26 pm (UTC)Sooooo proud of Jameson!! :)
Always a relief to receive my trombones unharmed!