With each year I feel more relief when Christmas is over. Now, don't go calling me Scrooge, or Grinch. I really love Christmas, but every year it gets harder to keep up with it...It's not just the expense, cleaning, shopping, driving, decorating, cooking, baking, and wrapping (not to mention all of the usual things that daily life demands), but also the imperative to feel "in the holiday spirit" every freakin' ho-ho-ho minute. By the time the family finally gathers together in the warm golden glow of tree lights and candles while listening to Carol of the Freakin' Bells or The Freakin' Drummer Boy for the 1000th freakin' time, I'm looking forward to the next day when I don't have to dress, make the bed, smile, or kennel the dog who's having hourly blasts of diarrhea on the carpet due to all the commotion and upset in his daily routine.
God, just writing that last paragraph wore me out.
But really, I love Christmas. I'm just wondering how much of this nonsense my family and I could cut out so that it wouldn't be so damned taxing. We're all adults now. Maybe it's time to start drawing names or something. If we each drew two names, everyone would get two presents. Maybe Nettl and I could then just throw gift cards into our kids' stockings for extra measure. Right now, this sounds so inviting.
But it's time to start getting ready for our annual New Year's Eve party tomorrow night. Tomorrow???
