Don't look now, the holidays are coming
There's not a whole lot on my mind lately. Work is...well...work and really not worth wasting keystrokes on. I'd love to really expound on some of the stuff that goes on at my job but I'm afraid I'd get fired. Suffice to say that I've learned that "friendly", "inclusive" and "effective" are adjectives that I will make sure apply to my next place of employment. But there's one thing that keeps creeping into my consciousness over and over...it's...the holidays.
I'm thinking about Thanksgiving. My mother is having 20 people again this year and as usual I'm going over there the day before to help out. This year, however, we're putting the Mick in the kennel to avoid another nasty episode like last year's infamous Turkey Incident, in which Mickey dragged an entire 20 pound turkey carcass off the table by himself in front of 20 guests (not all of them dog lovers.) Shenanigans like that make for good stories but I have a miserable time and I'm very much looking forward to focusing on helping my mother and eating a nice meal rather than chasing a crazy dog around.
I'm also thinking about Christmas. We've graduated to the "picking names out of a hat" stage with both my aunt's family and my husband's family, which dramatically decreases the sheer numbers of gifts I have to choose and purchase. This is a load off my mind, because I take gift buying very seriously and really put a lot of effort into finding The Perfect Gift for people and it's really starting to wear on me. It's very nice to focus on fewer people. Plus, this year we're really trying hard to cut down how much we spend, plus I'm trying to spend as little time in the mall as possible. So right now I've got a huge stack of catalogs next to me and I have about a bazillion pages earmarked. I'm optimistic.
You will note that I have not mentioned ENJOYING these holidays and there's a very good reason for that. I don't enjoy them. They're stressful, exhausting, and the family stuff just makes me crazy. I turn into a real jerk around the holidays and I'm not proud of it. The holidays feel more to me like a set of very involved chores that need to be completed than a warm-and-fuzzy love and peace-fest. Isn't that sad? But I suspect lots of people feel this way but are too ashamed to admit it. At least I cop to it.
8:35:10 PM 
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