Running Out Of December

Yeah, not much to this post, but I thought it was about time I sorta caught up.

It's almost Christmas, and it's my first "non-Christmas" in a Witness house. Is it different? Nah. Yeah, it's way different from back in the day I was still living under the same roof with Sarah and the ex. Those two decorated absolutely everything. It was fun to watch them having fun, but it wasn't my cuppa tea. When I was living downtown in my rental for the last couple years, I only really "did" Christmas one time. I bought a fake tree but I think I only put it up one of the two years I owned it. I could be mistaken. At any rate, it's gone--Sold on Craigslist a couple weeks ago.

Today is the last day of work this week. Tomorrow is an unpaid day off. While it's nice to have the additional day off, it kinda sucks to not get a full week of pay. To help offset that, I've been working some overtime this week. Two hours over both Monday and yesterday, but unlikely today. This is the day they will send us home with our Christmas (or should I say "holiday"?) ham.

I miss the days when people would actually be able to drink (within reason) during their last day of work before Christmas. You know... Passing some hot-buttered rum or eggnog mixtures around. These are different times. A lot of companies gave up on company Christmas parties long ago for fear of reprisal. When bar owners started getting sued for allowing someone to make bad judgment within their businesses, that was the beginning of the "era of responsibility". Now we all have to meet at a local drinking establishment or restaurant to have our own impromptu party if we want one.

Yep, Christmas is only two days away. It's a time when my dysfunctional family meets up under the same roof for celebration. We don't celebrate Christmas itself--We celebrate having a day to celebrate I think. For non-religious people like me, Christmas is an excuse to have a good time in a family environment. If it takes "token" presents--So be it.

For my dad who grew up in a strangely empty environment, Christmas is something he never really had much of. It showed when we were growing up because he was right there in the thick of the toys--Playing with them and being the kid he must not have gotten to be. He was living vicariously through his brood. He still does that now, looking excitedly at someone that just opened a gift, repeating over and over, "What'd you get? What'd you get?" all the while knowing full what it is because it came from he and my mom to begin with.

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