Introducing Katie

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

I have a new boss at the card shop. Her name is Katie. I like her.

Right now she is juggling our store and the one in a la-de-dah suburb to the west. That store lost its lease -- the owner believes he can make more money with a restaurant in that location -- and so she's moving over to manage our store. She'll be with us exclusively as of February 1.

She's performed admirably, even with her hands very full. She is more adept at dealing with corporate than our previous manager, my beloved Ceecee, had been. Katie has already gotten us new equipment. I guess she's a more effective squeaky wheel.

Katie has told me she appreciates my way with customers and has been giving me as many hours as she can. I've actually been working more than I'd like, and my schedule changes from week to week, making it hard to make plans.

But I understand why Katie is doing this. She's been frank about her expectation that between Easter and Halloween, she'll only be able to give me 4 hours/week. To be honest, I like that lighter workload. But I'm not very confident right now about money.

I don't like Trump's tariffs nor the impact his election has had on the markets. The money in my retirement fund has to last me for the rest of my life, and that makes me nervous. I simply cannot afford to sniff at the opportunity to make a little more money right now.

I have a meeting set up with an advisor from Fidelity to develop a path forward. I'll be sitting down with an accountant in mid-February to discuss taxes. Maybe after those two consultations I'll feel a bit more sanguine. But for now, I'm grateful that Katie is eking out extra shifts for me.

Catching up on Christmas

I wanted to sketch out my memories of the 2024 holiday season before they fade. 

I saw Santa! For the third year in a row, my friend Elaine and I went to see It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen at The Music Box Theater. Before the movie, Santa himself came out and joined the organist, leading us in a singalong. 

As the kids say, IYKYK

As always, we dressed appropriately for the occasion. I wore my ugly Cubs Christmas sweater, always festive and especially fitting because The Music Box is in Wrigleyville. Elaine outdid herself. She got down to business at her sewing machine and recreated George's football jersey, right down to the stripes and a 3 on her chest. Naturally we both wore reindeer ears.

Afterward we exchanged gifts over hot chocolate. It's funny, but she and I just can't the gift thing right. Last year, she spent way more than I did. So this year I spent a little more and she spent less! Oh well, money is not the point of gift giving.

Thinking of gifts ... Mindy got it together this year. She and her husband got me this blanket and a book (We All Shine On). This is noteworthy because she just could never commit to a holiday date in 2023, and therefore last year was the first time in decades that Mindy and John and I didn't celebrate together. Naturally she couldn't have known that would be John's last Christmas, but she felt it keenly. We met at a bar and had a lovely, albeit bittersweet, time. 

It looks a little like me, too!

I spent a lot of time at O'Hare. There was a technical glitch first thing on Christmas Eve morning and while American Airlines corrected it quickly, flights were off schedule all day. So I was at the airport for four hours awaiting a flight that took 55 minutes. Was I happy about this? Of course not. But there was nothing to be done so I made the best of it. The airport had some lovely decorations.

The American Airlines terminal

I actually saw someone use The Pot Box! My friend Kathleen and I fascinated by the green "amnesty" mailbox just on the other side of the TSA checkpoint where travelers can dump their pot to avoid penalty for transporting weed across state lines. Neither of us has ever seen anyone take advantage of this ... until Christmas Eve. I saw a guy in a knit cap deposit a baggie. I wanted to ask him if he'd just forgotten it in his bag or if he was unaware it was illegal to fly with weed, but he looked so guilty and embarrassed I didn't have the heart.

I caught a bad cold. Merry Christmas, right? Oh well, my hotel was right there by the airport and was very comfy. I got to my room, took a hot shower, and wrapped my gifts with Elf on in the background. Fortunately I was able to sleep in on Christmas Day. The extra sleep and another shower left me feeling a little better. (It was just a cold, after all.)

My niece came out to the car. I took a rideshare to her home and she was so happy to see me she met me. That little gesture touched my heart. We had a lovely ham dinner with lots of starchy sides. She's a very good cook and a very proud homeowner. She showed me the room that has been designated as the nursery for the baby they're waiting to adopt. (My nephew was sleeping in there on an air mattress.) My sister was a little arch and brittle, but I guess that's just the way we're going to be with each other.

She has a pair of swans! They aren't hers, exactly. They live in the creek behind her home and I could watch them from her backdoor. I had no idea that mute swans don't migrate and stay in the cold midwest throughout the winter.

So there you have it, my first Christmas with neither Henry or John. I miss them and it was painful at times. I couldn't help recalling those Key West Christmas lunches with fresh seafood and long walks with Henry on the beach. But I was lucky to have known them at all, and luckier that I still have people to love in my life, because love is what Christmas is about.