Ewoks and Bah Humbug

I have had a Dickens of a time (as in Scrooge) getting into the holiday spirit this year. Work has just sucked the big one lately and it just seems like December snuck up on me. I have most of my holiday shopping done because I’m anal and I start in July. I still have a few little things to get, but I just can’t seem to get excited enough to drag everything out and figure out what I still need to buy. Every night I go home, telling myself that I need to fix the lights and set out my decorations. It’s not hard; I don’t have a gajillion things to put out. But by the time I get home I just think – ‘I don’t care.’

Last night I thought working on my holiday cards would help push the festive meter into gear. I designed them myself again this year and it’s taking forever to print them. I spent 4 hours on it last night and they’re not even half printed. Then I still have to print the Christmas letter that goes inside and the mailing labels. So that is my chore tonight. Sitting in front of the printer that long did NOT make me feel more festive, but the cards look really cool and I’m happy with them.

However, things are looking different this morning. I think part of it is due to the 12 inches of snow that got dumped on us last night. I still don’t like driving in it, but it’s a really beautiful snow. It looks like it has glitter stirred in. Actually, who am I kidding? I didn’t drive in it. I couldn’t get my car out of the drive and the plow hits our street last. I had my co-worker bring his 4 wheel drive Jeep over and pick me up. (Cuz heaven forbid I not go into work.) He laughed, saying I looked like an Ewok wading out to his Jeep. (Yub yub!) The snow was up to my knees and I had to just shuffle through it. I’ve got my nephew out there now shoveling. But despite all that, something festive started to click.

When I finally got to work, I put in some Christmas music. Now the radio stations have been playing it for a long time, but for me, it’s not Christmas until I listen to certain CD’s. I have to listen to Kenny Rodgers first. He’s got several Christmas albums, but the one I have to hear is ‘Christmas Wish’. I think it’s his first one. It has ‘Carol of the Bells’, ‘My Favorite Things’ and several others I just love. After Kenny, I listen to Nsync’s ‘Home for Christmas’. I love to hear Lance wish me a Merry Christmas in that deep, sexy voice. After that I usually listen to Bing Crosby and then Gary Morris (who I’m listening to right now) and suddenly the festive meter jumps from 5 to 80. So all I have left to do to be at a hundred is bake cookies, put up the decorations and watch ‘White Christmas’. If my weekend holds out okay, I’ll be at a hundred by Monday am.

Ho-hum (but not Bah-humbug),
A.