I didn't gather with anyone. I worked Saturday and Sunday and had my butt handed to me with caseload and procedures.
But I was off on Monday, and had no obligations to go anywhere/do anything. I had to get up early for animal chores, despite getting home at 2 AM and to sleep at 4 AM. But then? Then I took a nap and did a few little things. And THEN I did what I'd been planning to do for days.
I did this. I had not put up any holiday decor at all, but I have the house completely to myself on Monday nights, and I decided I wanted to do a little thing for Jimmy. And here we are.
It took exactly the time of Christmas Island, from the title track to the end of Merry Christmas, Alabama. I then sat and admired my handiwork until Jimmy was done reading me The Night Before Christmas.
And then I corrected an oversight I'd noticed earlier in the day, when I realized I hadn't arranged a stocking for my new dog. But I had some cool fabric, so again, here we are.
And because he's still in quarantine (only six days out of the shelter), but the tree is in that part of the house, well, the little guy got a holiday photoshoot.
He let me join in.
There were requisite surfer dude pics.
And silly fun, too.
After that, Ace got put away and some gifts appeared under the tree. I opened them and cried like a baby, as they were Buffett themed and perfect. This was the highlight.
And then, it was midnight, and the most special of birthdays was over.
It was perfect.
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Oh, and the name "Ace?" Obviously, it's from the song of the same name. Because I wanted a Buffett name. These were the main contenders:
Ace, Captain, Pilot, Maverick (the waves, not the fictional pilot so much), Magnus, Nash, Kinja, Malibu, Maui, Jazz, Skipper, Baloo (he's a pilot in Talespin and doggo is bear-like), Gumbo, Encore, Bravo - with some more in the running than others.
But the problem with being a creative person and being a fan of a true bard is, there are many more. I'd googled just to see what others folks had come up with, and man, people to repost the same ones - so I decided to think of as many as I could, even though I already had too many to think about. Here's what I came up with:
Breeze, Cowboy, Dezdemona, Baxter, Groovy, Frankie, Lola, Nola, Jimmy, Buffett, JB, Whiskey, Tequila, Frisco, Bubbles, Bubba, Lulu, Luck, Love, Spooner, Sailor, Marley, Mac, Mason, Tex, Finn, Rocket, Orion, Prince, Leia, Tiki, Hemi, Dancer, Skip, Fruitcake, Junior, Bama, Louie, Gypsy, Bourbon, Voodoo, Norman, Neville, Johnny, Nomad, Sharky, Sandy, Hula, Slip, Latitude, Cecelia (CILCIA), Tony... and that's just a start, honestly.
So, while most of those weren't for me in this case, there were just so many overall, and still so many that I liked that at the end of the day...
A dog composed of many names, so I just called him Ace.
Hope you folks had a great holiday too.
Fins up forever.
(I don't drink alcohol** - haven't in decades and don't miss it - and I don't generally do free advertising for anything if I can help it*, so... but I'll allow it here. The banner doesn't specify that it's beer/a commercial product, so it's fine.)
