All dependents gone, and with that the newfound absence of heart and committment, the boy arrived safely back in Victoria, the girl in transit to Frankfurt, relieved, in a way, my finances were purposefully exhausted on trips back to Canada, presents, trips to Edmonton, Camrose, Banff, shooting ranges and go-carts (and the new jeep, of course, oddly enough the most trivial expense in comparison...), $20.00 left, but heck, payday's around the corner...
...drop the girl off at the airport, back to bed, dead, make my lists, there are tickets to be paid, registration, insurance, the boy, a proper Xmas gift, (his gift a mere placeholder for better things to come later), the girl got hers, (a $2800 trip to Canada, a "Daddy under a tree" I tell her, "Think of how many kids would be thrilled to get that...", my sleeping bag under the tree in the living room, she's less than enthused, in tears on Xmas day, the boys gifts wrapped in gold paper, modest placeholders, she's only got me, hardly bright-eyed and bushy tailed, rather bloodshot, hungover and with the traces of upcoming fever and all plagues coming...oh yeah, Daddy's Xmas's to remember...).
But somehow we survived, the hectic schedule, she arranged a sleepover for NY Eve, and on NY day she discovered that the tree had been disposed of, over the balcony, she's upset, her fond memories of the Xmas tree I kept 'til April the year before, I defend myself, "This year I'm more organized"...true, but she's not buying it, my dysfunction is the family tradition and she wants to preserve it...
She's saddened, I'm relieved, impressed, it was a 20, 30 minute job to loosen the tree, haul it over the balcony, toss to the ground, haul it back up and around the block to the alley, another 30 minutes to clean the stand, vacuum the needles, an hour at least all told, all done on the aftermath of NY Eve...impressive, my organizational skills and sobriety, this year's gonna be different...and all this effort wasted on her disapproval...
The living room's vacuumed, the bed is made, the dishes are done, I need only clean the bathroom and tidy the desk, and, finally, clean out the old car (dead Jetta) and call the Kidney Foundation and I'll be ready to usher in the New Year. A week or so late, but that's years ahead of where it's ever been in the past...