where are you, holiday spirit?

  I'm attempting to find my holiday spirit. I'm not sure why I'm not more in the mood. Maybe it'll come about more naturally when I really get to decorate? The decorations are mostly in the attic and I have to wait for someone else to get them, but I do have a few out.

Normally I get a little thrill when I start hearing Christmas music, even if it's just November 1st on the radio station that goes all Christmas, all the time. Nada, really. :( I had a small zing when making Widget's advent calendar and yesterday when I was wrapping up the first part of Mumsy's, as well as when I ordered the presents I've already bought... and an extra zing for the delivery confirmations/shipping notices... and I realize this all sounds swell and like my spirit is clearly in working order but it's not. Normally I kick into the holiday spirit and burn pretty hot for at least two weeks before retail crushes my soul.

I think it crushed my soul already. Still, I'm not ready to give up. I've fired up one of the Pandora stations I loved last year and I've done a little decorating. I just think this year is going to require a little extra oomph to get me revved up.


On the plus side, the house is a lot cleaner than it was which is making me happier.

Is this normal?

Advice? Anyone? Bueller?

Today the landlord came to fix the upstairs toilet, again. I gave him the rent check since he was here anyway, and bid him a happy holidays.

I wait fifteen minutes, kind of happy that things were looking up (I know, I know). The toilet was possibly fixed for another week or two if we were lucky, the carpets were pretty clean, I hadn't murdered the dishwasher after all, and I'd also managed to get rid of some boxes! Seriously, I had about five minutes of absolute contentedness going on there. Then I went to get the mail in hopes that the little gift catalog from AG would be there. It was!

But then I noticed a business envelope from the landlady. I thought about it and while technically the check was due on the first, she had said it was fine for it to be within the first week or so of the first of the month. (As evidenced by the previous tenants having left their check out on like, the 7th, when we first looked at the place.) So it wasn't that. It was too flimsy to be even a really cheap holiday card. So I opened it on the way home and my nerves went to anger to confusion back to nerves with side tinglings of the other things.

The letter is dated 12/2 and basically says, "Surprise! We would like to do an inspection 12/9!" Routine to make sure there are no water spots on the ceilings, that the house is being kept up, blah blah blah.

Which I could see at the 6 month mark, I suppose, but I'm not kidding when I say that the upstairs toilet has needed a looksee every month since we moved in. Landlord has been in at least once a month since we moved in, and it's been more like twice a month. He still hasn't repaired the rip or whatever in the living room wall that was there before we moved in (and that he's promised to fix at least twice without his wife present and she's promised twice without him present) btw.


Is this normal? The dropping in for an official visit after making numerous trips to the house, especially when he was literally just here and didn't say a word about this?

Or is this some fun combo of this place actually being their's and not just a property they oversee for someone else plus Mom's outbursts previously?



I am so tempted to make a lovely little wreath of lights like a bullseye around that rip just to see if they get the friggin' point.


Sigh. Naturally this has spiked the whole "We're definitely moving at the end of the lease" comments but um, a) do you lot recall how long it took to find this place? Because I do. It took until JULY and we had to move in AUGUST.


And the letter does say we can reschedule but honestly this is probably the best this place is gonna look for awhile so I don't see the point if we can whip the remaining stuff into shape in time.