All through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a…

Wait! That isn’t how it goes… Crazy Cathy T is stirring.

Yup, how I wish I could sleep a few more hours this morning, but nope, the 5 am wake up call came.

Heck, I’ll just get up, cause tossing and turning is more frustrating for me.

Today is the day. The 10th year workshop of making kissing balls, wreaths, and candle centerpieces!

My space will be filled with festive ladies, the greens are set to be brought out and placed outside, the decor is up, and I feel relatively pretty good, minus a little sore throat I had last night – but I know what that is – not a cold, but from feeling a bit run down, which happens to people in the plant world during the holidays as we rush to get things prepared. The good news, is it feels good this am. We went to bed early last night to get a good night’s rest.

Yesterday was supposed to be a “rest day” too – before my first workshop today, but kinks happened. Some of my greens arrived late on the Santa truck. We had to rush out to get them at the last minute. I also was planning to be off the hook with holiday decorations but my decorator got injured.

You see, I had big visions for my 10th annual event to celebrate holding these workshops for a decade. I lined up a decorator months ago. I never went that crazy before, but this is special. I even had visions of reindeer and sleigh but we know that would REALLY be over the top!

A couple months ago, my decorator and I had a great plan. Greens and golds upstairs, a winter wonderland theme down stairs in the workshop space, and the bathroom would be filled with bubbles of balloons in whites and blues. My entrance would be decorated too. I left a lot undone, of course, as I had someone lined up.

But three days before my event, my decorator contacted me to say she had a terrible fall. She decorates many big venues for the holidays and she tripped over a black rubber mat on a floor at an install job. She landed on her arm and hit her head too. Luckily no concussion but she got a terrible black eye and broke her arm! Yikes. Poor thing!

She felt terrible to not be able to do what we planned. She offered to come do it with her husband and maybe do less. I made the decision right there. No, you stay home and get well. That is way more important. No worries, we will adjust our plans.

I also told her that my biggest fear is what if I got injured when busy. These things can happen, so I could appreciate her situation. Thus, yesterday, my husband got into action decorating our entrance, putting up more lights. I have to admit, I had some decor out already here and there. I was a bit relieved but then I had to get a little creative. In the end, all looks really great! No worries.

Because I’m a planner, it is hard for me to go with the flow sometimes. It can be a good trait and a bad one too. However, planning helps to be prepared for things that can go wrong. And that is what we did – after all – the decor was going to be a surprise, but it is not mandatory to have fun.

My point being is we have to make due when these unexpected things comes up. And in the plant world, this is usually the case. Sometimes, I think, “Why did I go into plants?” OMG, it can be so stressful.

But the plant passion continues to drive me to keep going. I totally get into the zen mode when I create with plants, and so will the attendees today when they create with a beautiful mix of greenery to make their holiday masterpieces!

Workshop Number One kicks off today and then two more in a week. Rest and restocking will be required.

It is go time! Ho, Ho, Ho!

Cathy Testa
860-977-9473
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