holiday tunes – Divabetic

12/24/202112/24/2021

Pink Champagne Christmas Story 10

My voice trembles for a moment. Now that I have told my husband about the painting, I passed the fork in the road. There’s no turning back. He wants to know where his new piece of art is. The excitement in his eyes makes my heart flicker. I feel it too. But my adrenaline rush is coming from the shift in our power dynamic. Suddenly I’m in control.

I managed to do something so unexpected earlier today. The realization makes me heady. I laugh, taking another sip of pink champagne. Could my insecurities that consumed my life from gestational diabetes vanish just as quickly as the bubbles in my glass? The confidence I felt as my old self was returning.

My. Jasper shifts uncomfortably in his chair. I grasp his hand and slowly begin to explain. Midway through my story, it dawns on Jasper that he might not be getting the painting for Christmas. I’d like to think either guilt or regret is the reason why his tongue is tied. I’m explaining to him how I found a lonely man on the street, a stranger, who would take the painting I bought for free. The color drains from his face. Earlier today, I took a photo with the man, assuming I would rub it in his face at this point in the story, but it’s unnecessary. Jasper feels the pain he caused me. His jaw is stiff for a second, then it relaxes.

Whether I ever decide to tell him that I saw him with her at the restaurant doesn’t matter. Jasper knows I know. He tightens his grip on my hand, looks deep into my eyes. First, he apologizes to me. Then he says,

“I don’t need another painting.” Huh? My husband doesn’t need another painting is the last thing I expect to hear. “I already have a masterpiece. It’s sitting right in front of me.”

My eyes fill with tears. My throat is choking with sadness and fear and regret and what feels an awful lot like hope, too.

Now, Jasper is looking at me like he hasn’t seen me in years. He sees the fierceness that he first fell in love with. The woman was so opinionated before slowly succumbing to the idea of what she thought Jasper wanted his wife to be. Searching my husband’s hazel eyes, I see my reflection. I found myself again this Christmas.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 1

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 2

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 3

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 4

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 5

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 6

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 7

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 8

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 9

Divabetic Holiday Playlist: Gary Barlow’s super festive song, “How Christmas Is Supposed To Be” featuring Sheridan Smith. Gary told The Sun: “Everyone loves Sheridan, don’t they? She’s a great ball of energy and a great laugh. She’s just wonderful — and is a great actress and singer.

“We met in the wings of the Blackpool Opera House last year while waiting to go on for the Royal Variety Performance. She just said: ‘I’m a big fan, will you take my number and keep in touch?’

“So we swapped numbers and then when I wrote How Christmas Is Supposed To Be last year, I just thought of her immediately.

The song, How Christmas Is Supposed To Be, is about a couple who have a falling-out, they can’t do things right, it looks like they might split up.

The Take That star said of a new album The Dream of Christmas, “We were all trying to make Christmas feel good last year.

“It was a really hard Christmas for so many because of the scenario we all found ourselves in. So to try and make things a bit special, I started writing these songs

12/23/202112/23/2021

Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 9

Time stands still. The warmth I feel from my husband’s soft adoring eyes gives me goosebumps. My heart begs my lips to tell sweet lies. I could say that the traffic was terrible coming home from the city, the lines waiting for Santa Claus were neverending, or that my mom was late coming to the house. All of them are good enough reasons why I didn’t bring his present. Just go with the flow, get swept up in the magic of pink champagne, and not spoil the moment.

My stomach’s butterflies can’t stop fluttering when he asks me about my day. I take another sip of champagne. Something deep inside tells me that a lie is not the way to start to right what’s wrong in our marriage.

Jasper listens as the words slowly begin to tumble from my mouth. I describe getting the kids dressed and ready to see Santa. I talk about how they both insisted on upgrading the gifts on their lists before we left the house. We both laugh when I mention that Darren wrote down a Black Maserati!! What kind of a ten-year-old asks for a luxury car in such detail?

One more sip of pink champagne for confidence helps me dive headfirst into my story. Jasper shifts a bit in his chair when I mention that I attended the Cox Collection auction this afternoon at Christie’s. His reaction goes from shock to disbelief when he hears I actually purchased something for him. My husband followed the sale closely on his phone. He saw the prices begin to skyrocket once the phone bidding started. He’s intrigued. He wants to know what piece I bought. Apparently, Beverly’s hasty departure interrupted him before the auction finished. As a result, he missed the final sales.

Jasper gasps when I finally tell him the painting I bought. My fingers reach for my purse, grab the receipt and then slowly push it across the oak table. His eyebrows raise in astonishment at the proof. The painting’s price is bewildering even for someone living in our zip code.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 1

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 2

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 3

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 4

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 5

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 6

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 7

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 8

Divabetic Holiday Playlist: Thank you, Spotify, for introducing our ears to the son of singer Rhett Akins, singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett. He received four Grammy Award nominations with two albums nominated for Best Country Album in 2017 and 2019. After learning to play drums while attending junior high school, Rhett later would go onstage with his father and play. He was part of a band named The High Heeled Flip Flops in high school. Thomas dropped out of college when he was 20 to pursue a career in music. His sweet banjo-infused country Christmas tune, Christmas In The Country, is just what we need to hear right now.

12/11/202112/13/2021

Pink Champagne Christmas Story, Part 6

“Last chance,” says the Christie’s auctioneer before banging her gavel. I’ve been unsure of myself since the moment I arrived. Why did I even come here? Two hours of intense bidding wars have done nothing to calm my nerves. My stomach is in knots. Every time I’m about to make a bid, someone else lifts their paddle or one of the staff members on the phone with overseas bidders makes a bid. By the time I look around to see who is bidding, the piece has already been sold.

I can’t believe the astronomical amount of money people are spending. Nothing has sold under five million dollars. No one seems to bat an eye about raising the bid by a half-million dollars either. I must be crazy. What on earth was I thinking? A dull headache takes hold of my medulla. I try to take a deep breath to stop the scene in the restaurant from playing over and over and over again in my mind. Unfortunately for the last three hours, it’s been on repeat just like ‘The Christmas Story’ on TBS on Christmas Day. My kids love that movie. With each pound of the gavel, I see the flash of the photographer’s camera capture my husband kiss that woman in a lovely embrace.

The auctioneer’s voice shocks me back into reality. Suddenly, I’m done letting my reactions – the fear, the hurt, and the panic – control me. If I deserve love and passion, then indeed I have the strength to fight for it. I quickly throw my paddle up and make the final bid. I briefly remember Rudolfo pointing it out in the catalog and telling me that my husband will love it. “Sold. Thank you all for your bids,” says the auctioneer with a wink to me. I just bought my first major piece of artwork. My heart leaps at the sound of his words. I can imagine Jasper feeling the same way I do right now. The sense of conquest. The way everyone in the room turns to acknowledge you. The envy in their eyes slowly fades as they silently nod their head to you in approval. The victory is all mine. It’s exhilarating!

After I collect myself, Rudolfo escorts me downstairs to pay for and pick up my item near the main lobby. Before I leave, I make a small request. “Can you gift wrap it for me?” A wide grin spreads across Rudolfo’s face in silent acknowledgment as he informs his staff to carry out my request. No one asks me who my purchase is for – they know I brought it for my husband. A few moments later, I walk out the gleaming doors with a masterpiece wrapped Christmas paper under my arm, and jump in an Uber.

In less than two hours I’m meeting my husband, Jasper. I’m taking a huge chance at what I’m about to do. There’s no guarantee Jasper will have a change of heart. But if I don’t make a bold move on Christmas Eve, then my marriage won’t survive. Can a glass of pink champagne save us?

TO BE CONTINUED …

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 1

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 2

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 3

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 4

Click HERE for Pink Champagne Christmas Story Part 5

I’m in Nashville, TN for work this weekend so I’ve been listening to more than my fair share of Country Music. In fact, I just got back to my hotel room after visiting the Country Hall Of Fame Museum. It was amazing! American singer and songwriter Thomas Rhett has released five studio albums but his Christmas song caught my ear. Enjoy!