Advent Calendar of Beauty, Dec 9

This mouse can sing!

Dear beautiful Friends,

I moved Holiday Mouse into my office this afternoon. He was really well-behaved, didn’t bother my 2 pm client one bit. He was quiet as a ______. There, I didn’t say it.

Steve bought Mouse some years ago for our Christmas decorations, a bit of playful fun. I was a bit meh about him, in part because Steve was trying on a new pet name for me, “Mouse” and I didn’t love it. Would you?

Yesterday afternoon I needed a pick-me-up, but I can’t do afternoon coffee. Instead, I brought His Holiday Jauntiness into my playroom (trying out “play” in lieu of “work” these days), and let him pose on the hot pink bureau that is in temporary use by my three Australian grandkids. It cracked me up and added a wee wag to my tail.

Here’s your Advent Mouse-ian Trivia for Dec 9.

Did you know that Mice can sing? Me neither.

Mice are one of four singing mammals: whales, bats, and of course, humans. Male mice serenade the females with something called an ultrasonic song.

Holiday Mouse has been courting me with “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” on repeat, and while I’m a big Jesus Christ Superstar fan, enough already! (Plus, I’m taken.)

Try this: Bring something outlandish or ridiculous into a frequently-occupied space or office, and then carry on as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. For me this means keeping Holiday Mouse on the pink bureau while Zooming with clients and salon members.

A better example of this game would be for me to bring in one of the skeletons that Steve keeps moving around the outdoors of our house, and place it in camera view behind me. Then, on a Zoom call, I’d act as if it’s absolutely No Big Deal. “WHAAAAAT?” This game card is plucked from the deck of my married-into family, the Sussex clan. They’re the best at it. Marry someone who’s playful, that’s my marriage advice.