(The tree Chitter and The Deer Hunter found on the bank after dark the other night)
Never in my life have I ever been accused of being slow, but I have heard the expression ‘slow as Christmas’ my whole life and I’ve been blessed with a daughter who fits the description perfectly.
I go at things like fighting fire doesn’t matter what it is I try to do it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible, but sometimes I choose quickly over thoroughly just so I can know the task is completed. I like crossing things off my list.
One of the girls is like me-if she’s doing something she wants it done-like now. The other is the total opposite and says “What’s the point of rushing? Take it easy, it’ll all be alright in the end.” She isn’t lazy in any shape or form she just does things her way at her own speed. She doesn’t have a high gear like her mamma.
So are you slow as Christmas or are you like me and live with someone who is…someone that you’d like to light a fire under sometimes?
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
I heard “You’re slow as Christmas !” from Mamma my whole life. So now you know.
Like you Tipper, I go at things like my head is on fire. My hubby can’t keep up with me..lol.. When we were little me being the oldest I learned early on to get that wood and water in or milk the cow.. My oldest brother who is just below me is the same way but my younger siblings are slow as Christmas..lol.
Tipper–There are lots of “slow as” literary devices (or whatever you call them).
Two I’ve heard, in addition to “slow as Christmas,” which I’ve always taken to mean the grand day seems to be agonizingly slow in arriving are:
“Slow as molasses on a cold day.”
“Slow as smoke off moldy dog poop” (I modified this one a bit for the sake of sensitivity).
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
I’m with Chatter. Nice tree! Nana
gosh i would love that tree in my living room.. perfect size.. and i have to admit im a chatter kind of gal.. and now with the walker i have had to use.. even more slower lol
may the joy of the season and Blessings from above fill you all
sending big ladybug hugs
xoxo
I’m a little of both, depending on what I’m doing. My Momma is always running in high gear but my Daddy falls into the “slow as Christmas” group. He’s not lazy by no means, just slow and steady at everything. It’s unreal at the things he can get done though. Especially in the garden. My son inherited this trait, which I know its not an all bad thing since Daddy is that way too but it does get nerve wrecking of a morning when we’re running late and it take him 10 minutes to get his shoes on. Never in no hurry.
Yes, and I’ve got a dose of ADHDxyz…plumb off th’ page. HA!
I’ve heard it said, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.. it’ll happen.”
Another expression I’ve heard, “slower than cream a’risin.”
I never worry about time unless it belongs to someone else. I don’t remember ever being late for an appointment. I would rather be 30 minutes early than 3 minutes late. But my time is my own. If I have a project to do I will start by gathering what I need to do it and then it is a thinking process. Some of my best ideas have come in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep. So perhaps if I had done it one way it might not have turned out as well as having waited and thinking about it for a while. Recently I needed pillow cases and all the ones I wanted was the antique linen ones that I have had for years. Sleeping with a dog and a husband made me not want to use the hand crocheted lace on them. So I put them on my work table and thought about it. I ended up taking off the lace and sewing a flannel band on the opening. Now everbody is happy. After all you wouldn’t want to leave linen pillow cases for the next wife if you died. I would have to pull her hair at night if she were using them.
TIPPER I TOO LIKE TO GET DONE I DON’T LIKE TO BE LATE AT NOTING.
JOHNIE IN ARK,
What did B. say?
Tipper,
People accuse me of being “layed
back”, but I recon I like it that
way. My oldest daughter is that way too, but my youngest daughter
is a ‘live wire’. Looking back at
my parents, they seem to have got
a lot done, but they were no ‘ball
of fire’.
One time we were snowed in, thank
goodness we still had power, but
my oldest was content reading her
books, while the other one was
real fidigety…Ken
If I have a to do list or errands in town, I tend to go at it like I’ve been shot out of a cannon, and heaven help anyone who gets in the way! I want it all done ASAP, so I can slip into a lower gear and enjoy a little free time. I guess I have a foot in both camps!
I love Chitter’s tree! There’s nothing like the real thing.
Oh, Lordy, Miss Tipper! I’m such an OCD-type person, I’d have a hissy fit if I had to rush too much through something. I make lists. I categorize. I sub-categorize. I sort and maybe then do I get started. Gets done all right, and I rarely have to redo. I think I drive my poor, dear husband crazy sometimes; but I even put my M&Ms in color order and eat one of one color then the next, and so on…Like I said…OCD-type.
Tipper,
I wish I was “faster than a speeding bullet” able to “leap tall buildings with a single bound”!
But, I am not the “Superman” type or the “Speedy Gonzalez” type either…
I love “Speedy Gonzalez”!
I guess I try to be a “perfectionist” and that makes starting projects and finishing them hard for me…at least that’s what the “self-help” books say about my “slow-starting and finishing condition!” I must disagree, I think it is because I’m 72 and could care less about getting things done at a fast pace…You just sorta want to slow down at this age…no need in rushing things now, sometimes I just need a jump-start! I used to work nine or more hours days, more with two jobs, seven days a week, plus bing a Mom to boot…but I wasn’t that satisfied with the outside jobs that I did, as I grew older and older!…Now-a-days I get to it, take my time, feel better when done, but miss the cash paycheck!
Sometimes less is more!
Then too, I love the satisfaction of being able to speed around at my own pace! Gettin’ to it, that is when I find “my ’round to-it”!
“Slow as “Christmas”, hummm, is it coming up this month…Oh yeah, it is December…Well, I’ll get on those “fruitcakes” the 23rd..If you soak them with enough “stump water”, they’ll never know they had’nt sit long enough!
In the meantime, we have two birthdays this month and one was on the 24th..See, why this “Mama” is slow as Christmas!….LOL
Never ever spend Christmas in labor!
Thanks Tipper, Sometimes you have to speed up so you can slow down!
I’m with Chatter! You know that expression slow as Christmas is only apt if you’re a child waiting for it đŸ™‚ As you get older seems like Christmas comes zooming around much faster.
Oops! That ain’t a bass. It has 6 strangs.
Forgot to say, I love the little Christmas tree! It’s real!
Is the bass part of the decor? Surely you ain’t leaving it there ’til after Christmas!
Just wait until you get some age on you. I will be 77 in March and each year that goes by, goes faster than the one before. Now, instead of saying, “Will Christmas never come?” you will some day say, “What, Christmas already? We just celebrated it yesterday.” I thank God for every day He has given me and my wife of 54 years. By the way, our wedding anniversarys seemslike yesterday also. We celebrated that on December 2nd.
When I was a kid, it did seem like Christmas took forever to come. Now that I’ve seen over 70 Christmases come and go, it seems like they (along with everything else) get here way before I’m ready, so “slow as Christmas” doesn’t seem to apply any more, at least to me.
As far as me personally goes, put me in the slow camp. Been that way pretty much all my life. I remember being told as a kid, “Grandma was slow, but she was old”. My mother went after everything like she was killing snakes with a hoe, but my dad was sort of in between the extremes.
If I start something I need to get it finished, so I guess I’m like you. However, sometimes the body seems to run out of steam, so I might take a bit longer than I planned. I like Chitter’s tree – sort of reminds me of a “Charlie Brown” tree with a little more decoration. It’s easy to complete in one session. I have a much taller tree and it takes me much longer to decorate.
I am like you and like to be on the go and get things done…my husband is just the opposite. Seems like I have been waiting on him since we got married :o) I’ve been on the go posting about a different Christmas picture book on my writing blog each day this month until the 24th. Sometimes, I think we all need to slow down (a little) and sit with a child and read to him or her. They’ll love you for it and it will create memories you’ll always remember.
My youngest fits into that slow as Christmas category. It is so infuriating sometimes for this fast paced mama : )
I think I am a lot like you Tipper. If I have a project or task to do I will set in on it like fighting fire and won’t stop until it’s done. I have been known to stay up most of the night just to finish repainting inside the house. I don’t like leaving things half done and know that it’s waiting on me tomorrow to finish. My brother is a piddler, he’ll have several things partially finished some will get done and some never will. I like to get it done and move on. The downside to all that is sometimes you just plain run out of things to do!
Those who go like a house afire can smell only the smoke. Those of us who proceed with deliberate speed can completed the journey and never miss a rose.
My wife is a total Type A personality and wants everything done NOW, but she is also very thorough and detail-oriented, which slows her down. I am much more relaxed, but I do like to get things done quickly, but I will sometimes sacrifice the details that I regard as not worth worrying about. I am very fast, almost always surprising my wife at the speed that I get things done. Once in a while, I miss a detail that turns out to be important, though.
The rabbit gets the publicity, the turtle can be counted on. The world needs both, so I try to be both, depending on the job at hand. A friend posted on facebook “If a man says he is going to do something, he will. You don’t have to remind him every 6 months.”
“Slow as Christmas”…
I don’t know if that saying was originated by a child anticipating Christmas and thought it would never come—Or whether it, like some dear people who are in “neutral” or “low” gear likened the coming of Christmas to their own rate of speed!
But look at it this way: Those geared slowly complement and are a somewhat quieting influence upon those who are high-strung and want things done quickly. Isn’t it good that we have a mixture of the two: “Slow as Christmas” and “Christmas is gonna be here afore ya know it! Better get a rush on!”
Oh, I’m high gear, so is my daughter and middle son. My oldest is laid back like Chatter
I’m like you, Tipper. Those things that I do, I do quickly. Why, I can’t even chew chewing gum without getting a headache. I chew it like I’m trying to kill it.
Slow can get on my nerves very quickly.
I’m also usually early where ever I go. Late is just unacceptable. I guess that’s cause my mother was always late. No matter where we went she was late. We used to try to trick her and tell her we had to be there at 10:00 when actually we had to be there at 10:30. It didn’t matter what we told her we were still late.
That is a precious tree Chitter found!