Whirlwind: Musings of the Past Few Days

Man-o. It's been crazy around here. But good crazy! Well, maybe bittersweet crazy. Oh, i don't know. Thankfully, my parents came to visit for a long time, enabling me to take it a little easy while i was sick with a cold, however they were sick with colds too, so... Yeah, it wasn't pretty.

They have a delightful new cat, a humongous Maine Coon, that is simply a doll. Except that he likes all things plastic and even at 15 pounds, he's a leaper...and a clumsy one at that. And in a workroom with opening shelving....with plastic bags, plastic drop clothes, items balanced precariously on said open shelving, etc...well, you get the picture. My parents were less than pleased. Quite frankly, i'd rather the little guy stay a while and help me clean out lots more garbage out of my house. Mom and Pop are going to loan him to us when it's time to baby proof the house again. ;o)

But we had a lot of errand running--fun and not so fun errands. I'm really sick of shopping...and we're taking it easy this year, since the economy is so uncertain. And people aren't really making it feel more "holiday-ee", every few seconds all you hear around here are horns honking and people grumbling at the cashiers or each other. Huh. 'Tis the season...but i don't think that's really what it's supposed to mean, eh?

Is there a time when grocery shopping is ever fun? Especially nowadays when the stores are bombarding you with all kinds of Christmas crap that you really don't need, much less want to look at as it leaves you feeling your inspiration has been sucked dry. Makes me want to grab a megaphone and ask the entire country, "Um, excuse me, but have you seen Thanksgiving? I know it's around here somewhere. It's got to be!" When did Christmas become a holiday that retailers decided that whatever ugly stuff comes in from overseas to sell to customers and fits on three aisles in a small corner of the store is the extent of the Christmas decorating they'll need to do for the year? Has anyone told the retailers that even if they offer every gadget and toy in the store for $10, that it's still too expensive for households that DON'T HAVE JOBS and are quite possibly ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR HOMES?!?! They need a weeks worth of groceries for $10, how about that!?!? And who decided it was a good idea to start selling formerly live Christmas trees a week and a half BEFORE Thanksgiving? What happened to celebrating Thanksgiving, eh? Frankly speaking, won't the tree be brown by Christmas?!? And practically speaking, what person wants to vacuum up pine needles everyday for that long?? Sheesh!

Shoot, i'd settle just for the Christmas displays of my youth, dog gum it! Where's the "window displays at Macy's" kinda spirit of yesteryear?

I want the Christmases of fairy tales, where Christmas is celebrated with the start of ADVENT, and ending on the Epiphany. Where generousity oozes from people like grease from bacon in a warm pan; and not just for a few certain weeks out of the year either. What i need is Charlie Brown's rant about Christmas becoming too commercial on a tape recorder. :o)

I did see one cute and surprising decoration yesterday at the regional "One Stop Shop". In the paint/"hardware" section, someone had strung the big C7 Christmas lights thru the rafters and dangled them there just over head, with one end of the strand in the palm of a huge stuffed teddy bear balancing on a ladder. Of course, it would be waaaaay more adorable if they had waited a few weeks before they put it up...like in December! Yet it's simple, cute, and jolly. Makes you giggle to yourself when you see it. Just what commercialised Christmas should be.

I'm just getting so sick of Christmas already, Lord! What a horrible revelation, eh? I really need to get a grip on it...we're in control of the holidays in our home, so now i need to find a way to block out the Christmas stuff during shopping trips. I've certainly must try to stop taking Riona shopping til December--limit the exposure, you know?!

Here's hoping you all are having a wonderful Fall (still!), and your planning for the Thanksgiving holiday is going well and in full swing! I get off a little easy around here these days, as my sister-in-law hosts Thanksgiving at her place. My mother-in-law goes a few days ahead and gets the prep work done and cooks in the kitchen that morning; by afternoon all the kids and a few of the older family members show up with our potluck of dishes and sit down to a feast. My dish...a salad. Not only because i love making extravangant salads, but also because then i know it's something i can eat and not feel like i've amassed 40 lbs after devouring Thanksgiving dinner. :o)

I miss not having Thanksgiving at our house. I did it all myself once...it was soooo gratifying! Sure, the turkey wasn't cooked perfectly, but we just ate more stuffing. And the potatoes were a little dry, so i had to learn to make gravy. We still had a great dinner, sitting down to eat together and playing games after.

Kinda like how i grew up....

I miss those days! My parents kept it so simple!

You can be sure wherever we celebrate Thanksgiving in the years to come that i will always be thankful for those quite Thanksgiving holidays growing up, where we pulled the TV into the dining room, Mom asked me to help with little cooking chores while we watched the Macy's parade while Pop peeled potatoes or worked on one of his model trains, and by afternoon we were sitting down to a wonderful meal together. Thanks, Mom and Pop!!