Back to the Dorm - 30 Years Later

I am at Bennington College in Vermont helping with a week-long conference on the arts.  There are 140 plus people here, all taking a week-long workshop in their chosen field. I am in the office being the go-to person. 
(Note:  I have never been here in my life and I have no idea what I am doing. I just write things down in my notebook, nod my head sympathetically and then find someone who DOES know what the hell they are doing.) 
It is fantastic being around all of these artists.  The faculty for this year's conference is stellar. The  opening ceremonies last night featured 5 slides by each faculty person and it was WOWZA.  After listening to each instructor present their work I thought, "Ooohh Ohhhh I want to do that." Then the next instructor would present and I'd think, "OH WAAAYY, I want to do THAT!" Every one of them had charisma, every one of them would be great to have as a teacher.  What's not to love? 

The dorm. 
Not so much the dorm itself but the fact that if I need to pee at 3AM I have to get up and put on a robe, go out in hall and shuffle to the loo.  Problem #2 - there is only ONE toilet and ONE shower  that about 6 people must share. That wasn't a problem 30 years ago because my dorm back then had a HUGE ROOM with 10 showers, 10 sinks and 10 toilets. Yay - no waiting! (And FYI  I didn't have to sometimes pee at 3AM when I was 19......)  This is just weird.  These dorms aren't that old - maybe built in the 80's - but they are not up to snuff for a 53 year old woman with a cell phone, iPad, iPod, curling iron, hairdryer, coffee maker (hey, I'm not stupid) all looking for an outlet. I'm in a TWIN ROOM, by myself (TYJ) and I'm splayed out like a bomb exploded. How the hell did I do this at 19? Granted, we had none of the phone or digital gadgets, but geez, really?  
My husband and I live in a 4 bedroom home with 3 1/2 bathrooms and I claimed the master bath for my own years ago.  (Joe is content to shuffle down the hall.)  This is bad training for dorm life. Very bad training.  This is going to be a big character building week for me, "roughing it" like this. 

I brought along some sashiko and a hexagon project I've wanted to start for ages. I'm paper piecing hexagons with fabric from the late 1800's.   I've got vodka and tonic water chilling on the windowsill (again - not stupid) so I plan to have a few evenings to myself to sit, sew, and listen to podcasts or watch quilt lectures downloaded from the IQSC in Lincoln, Nebraska.  
What's not to love! 

To Tree or Not to Tree

Along with the  Feast of the Epiphany comes the time to take down the Christmas decorations, dispose of the tree, and ....wait.

We didn't have a tree.

To be honest we haven't decorated a tree in 10 years. I can remember exactly how long because Mom died mid-November, 2001 and that Christmas kind of came....and went.  I've always loved having a Christmas tree - a REAL tree - as the centerpiece of the house during the season. I have lots of vintage ornaments from the 40's and 50's that are either from Joe's childhood or those I've collected and found.  LOVE them. So why the 10 year drought on Christmas trees?

I have thought about it at great length and cannot come up with a reasonable answer.  We are both tied up at the store most nights through December so  it seems silly to come home exhausted at 9PM, plug in the tree, be awake for another half hour and then unplug the tree, crawl upstairs and fall into bed. This year I wasn't working 2 jobs and was actually home to enjoy the tree in broad daylight....but I still didn't do it.

I'm a little honked about that because thee best time of the year is the week between Christmas and New Year's.  There is a stillness that settles over everything. Joe is home by 5:15PM (heavens!) and we can have meals that are 1) hot and 2) at a normal hour. We settle in with whatever we are reading, watch a movie - just like the normal people do.  It's the best. It's also the time we used to just soak up the tree and the lights and gently mellow in to the whole holiday atmosphere.

That's it.  I think the reason I'm feeling such post-holiday "meh" is because I didn't have that week of peace and simplicity and have not had it in 10 years.  I'm ready to have it back. Earlier today I even thought about buying a tree and setting it up and dragging the ornament box upstairs from the basement. Hell, I'd do it if there was a tree left to be bought. (I even eyeballed the ones out in back  to see if one of those could be surreptitiously cut down and dragged in to the house. What the hell, the election is over and the police won't go out there to stop the mobs of underage teenage drinkers with bonfires, are they gonna mess with a menopausal woman on a quest?) Hmmm. It's a thought.

PS - Don't tell me about fake trees, how "good" they look and how you can't tell the difference.  They don't and I can.  I want the real thing, the fragrance, the dropping needles, the whole ball of wax. This year, this December - I'm going to have it.