Busy as a one-armed paper hanger

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Christmas is hot on its heels. There is only one word to describe this time of year and that word is “busy.” Now you can be just plain old busy, which will barely warrant a sympathetic nod from your friends, or you can be:

Busy as a bee! The doctor in Citronelle had one of those indoor/outdoor beehives that stuck through the window. You could climb up in one of the brown vinyl waiting room chairs and press your nose to the glass and watch hundreds of worker bees gettin’ it for all they’re worth.

Busy as a beaver! Like bees, but in water, with sticks. Industrious critters all of them.

Busy as a one-armed paper hanger with hives! Think about trying to hold up all those rolls of paper, then you have an itch … and no way to scratch.

Busy as a one-legged man at an ass kicking contest! Not sure what’s up with idioms focusing on people with missing limbs, but that’s one busy dude.

So busy you’ve worked from can to can’t! I once used this idiom when describing a woman I knew to a man from New York. He looked at me quizzically and said, “She worked from candy cane??” Nope, that’s just my twang. She worked from can to can’t.

But no matter how busy the holidays get, I always think about the words of a dear friend and make them my mantra: It will either be a good time or a good story.

And either one is fine with me.