Have you ever stressed about the holidays? Do you know someone who has/does?
We have low-key holidays here. I do my Christmas shopping early to avoid the crowds after Thanksgiving. So the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is quiet and peaceful. What about you?
You are quite right. I do the same. The same Christmas pressure is not there for me anymore because I live in a country which is predominantly Hindu and am married into a Hindu family. But with kids and all, there has to be a Christmas.
Hectic we’ve done — years ago when we braved the crowds in Little Rock or made the mistake of heading up the NJ turnpike on the Sunday after Thanksgiving to go shopping near NYC.
We don’t do hectic any more.
We are low key … not into buying gifts or anything. But there is a low key that involves drinking beer, munching chips and sitting in front of the tube watching football while the body atrophies. Being the official activity coordinator, I have to watch the balance on all this and make sure that the holidays are constructively utilized rather than wasted in sloth!
How you lie Looney. “…sitting in front of the tube while the body atrophies.” ha! I bet you’re either on a looong bike ride, hike or ski tour right now. But that’s because you’re the “activity coordinator”.
We don’t do hectic either. We give $$. Let them buy what they want & save postage besides.
bhb … 😉 I was snowshoeing with my wife along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Do you tolerate slackers laying around the house during the holidays?
Mike,
When Kaitlin was still in grammar school we naively thought it would be fun to go to Santa Fe the day after Thanksgiving. The mall shopping lot was full and as we got there a helicopter was descending with Santa Claus. We turned around and went back home. That’s when I learned to avoid stores after Thanksgiving. We do not like crowds. 🙂
Looney,
Actually the sloth is one of my role models. That said I never sit to watch TV. I use my Nordic Track treadmill or bouncing on my jogging trampoline.
bikhikebabe,
We give a few little things to open, like calendars and presents for the grandcats and granddogs.
Did you go on one of your hikes Thanksgiving Day?
Looney, we never had any slackers around the house. Unless you’re speaking of work-to-be-done slackers. All ski, bicycle & kayak Crazies.
Yes Jean, I did one of my compulsive hikes for the day.
bikehikebabe,
You clearly have your priorities straight. 🙂
Jean, I like your sloth role model.
well if you lived down here, you could dispense with Thanksgiving unless you wanted to remember your traditions back home. I’m not sure how easy it would be to buy a turkey at that point but you could probably get one from a specialist store…the only thing I have currently seen that is traditional Xmas fare here is ‘hams’ – you can all sorts of different types and sizes. I suspect if I looked in the freezer sections I would maybe see the start of early turkeys…
my traditional load is very small but this year there is a wedding on the list next week/mid week. I have somehow found myself on a catering prep team the day before but I am still negotiating the hours needed…as the bride doesn’t understand that I am not able to manage a loooooooooooong day – doing something I currently never do much of!
our Xmas Day event is about one of my friends who has no family in this country and we do something on that day for ourselves…usually the main bus company as free transport although for him that isn’t an issue now as he as a Super-Goldcard (free travel). we are not sure what we are doing this year – usually depends on the weather of the day! Often it rains on that day 🙂
Looney,
Yes, sloth and sloths are underrated. 🙂
Cathy,
Good luck on not overdoing it for the wedding preparations.
I hope you have good weather for Christmas. That sounds like a great way to spend it if you don’t have family.
No turkey in NZ? I was in Sweden one Thanksgiving & Lydia & her American friends get together. The little turkey was over $100.
Stress, what stress? I love Christmas. And its run up – that which is called ‘Advent’. Wish people would just enjoy what little morsels life throws into their path (Dear god in heaven, I am beginning to sound like one of Cheerful Monk’s very own disciples).
As to give and take (presents, shopping for): Try and be broke. You wouldn’t believe how much time and money you save yourself. And others – because one law I’ve found since my bank broke two years ago is that only those who give will be given.
Reminds me of my son, poor sausage, long blond locks like the angel Gabriel himself with a beautiful face to match, who at the tender age of nineteen has given over his time to raise money for Oxfam 365. Door to door – yes, really. They still do this in 2010. So there he is at a British doorstep trying to interest a householder – and remember it’s December the season of good will – committing to £2.00 a week to keep a whole family in some unknown to me god and water forsaken parts of the world in water – for a year. YES, A YEAR – 52 BLOODY WEEKS, 365 DAYS depending on whether we leap or not. The response? Don’t ask. If it doesn’t benefit no 1 who cares?
Told Apple of my Eye to change pitch. Along the lines of “Good evening. Do you know that – as a citizen of this country – you have a RIGHT to (clean) running water? Do you know that even if you don’t pay your water/sewerage bill this is the one utility you will NOT – by law – be cut off of?” “You did/didn’t?” “Well hand me your sodding two pounds to keep watered a family which doesn’t have this CIVIL right.”
If that doesn’t work I don’t what will.
U
Ursula,
It sounds as if Oxfam is one of your favorite charities. Which other ones do you give to? Here in the U.S. we have gazillions of choices. Is it that way in the U.K.?
I’m glad you’re enjoying the holiday season. It’s good to hear from you again…we were getting concerned.
Jean, you didn’t read carefully enough. U is b-r-o-k-e.
U says she’s broke, so I doubt that they give to charities. I know I wouldn’t. (The ‘broke’ got split up on two lines in the last comment.)
bikehikbabe,
I did notice that. But as her son is illustrating, one can always donate one’s time, especially if one is condemning others for not giving more. And how do you know the people he’s soliciting aren’t having money problems too?
BHB is right: I am broke – have been for the last two years to the tune of no jingle in my pocket. People of our ilk and background think “having no money” is Dahhhhhhhhhrling I can’t afford …
It isn’t. Having NO money is being on the breadline.
And, Jean: Oxfam is not one of my favourite charities. I loathe charities. If I want to share half of my last two pounds with some poor sod who needs it even more than I do I will. On the street. Cash in Hand. No sanctimonious questions asked. If half a pint of cider makes him feel better for an hour of his life – good.
Didn’t have the heart to tell Apple of my Eye what would await him out there. He is no fool, Jean. The daily running social comment is hilarious and heartbreaking. The bigger the house, the more cars in the drive the louder the slam in a young guy’s face.
Welcome to the world.
U
Ursula,
Around here soliciting is against the law, so no one gets doors slammed in their faces for trying to help charities. That’s probably a kindness to the young folks.
I’m curious, how do you get access to the internet? Presumably you bought your computer before your descent into the bread line? Does your community have free internet? Here we have to pay for it, or go to the library when it’s open. Starbucks and some cafes have it, of course, but they expect you to buy something. As usual I love details about other parts of the world.
Yes, Jean, your love for detail. No it is not a kindness to any folk (young or old) NOT to learn first hand what most of our fellow humans are like. It’s the school of hard knocks (what an apt phrase in the right context). The Angel (complete with legitimate badge) is not doing it for nothing. Charity being so hopeless pays well for those who are prepared to walk through snow, ice and wind. By comparison, when he sold Sky (commission only) for a couple of months – remember he is collecting experiences in his gap year before facing the non-reality of university – he did well selling ice to eskimos.
“Soliciting”? That’s what us girls do at the kerb. Come to think of it where exactly, other than Hampstead Heath (London/UK), do guys pick up business?
I am sorry to say this, Jean, to you of all people: You are as predictable as the next “comfortably off” person. You gloss over an other’s hardship and, instead, ask how – if so hard up – I can even access the internet. Want to know the gory detail? The kindness of strangers; the kindness of strangers.
U
Ursula,
So you say your soliciting is different from your son’s? 🙂
“You are as predictable as the next ‘comfortably off’ person. You gloss over an other’s hardship….”
Actually I used to be a complete sucker for a sad story. Fortunately or unfortunately life has giving me a better B.S. detector. In your case who knows? Not enough details. Doesn’t really matter, does it?
The Angel most certainly petitions – legally. And if I weren’t so squeamish about complete strangers’ bodily fluids I’d take to soliciting myself, No 4 (prostitution), like a shot. I’d probably do it if I were blind, had lost all sensory nerve endings and would only be required to lie back and think of my landlord (who incidentally is Italian). And no, I do not fancy him though he is an attractive man, but I bet my last pound Sterling that at no show of rent on the 30th of each month his charms would evaporate faster than you can say “Mamma mia” or, worse, “BASTA”. The things I am prepared to endure to keep Fabrizio, British Gas and obviously the Angel who needs more than his mother’s tender loving care happy you wouldn’t believe. Nothing illegal.
Bullshit detectors are useful when applied judiciously. One is best advised to turn them off – temporarily. Gives life a lot more colour to occasionally suspend disbelief. Oh, dear, just remembered I am talking to a member of the Petry dish brigade.
As to whether something matters I disagree. To me everything and everyone matters. Which – often to my detriment – injects such passion, such vehemence into me, my life … Apart from gaelikaa’s inscription on my tombstone, another offering itself is: “The calm after her storm. RIP. Let’s paraphrase: No more letting rip.”
My story, Jean, is not SAD, a term you mention. To me my story – so far – is hilarious; if baffling and confusing to many who know me well. I am blessed with nerves of steel and have ability to fly by the seats of my pants. My life is a rainbow – colourful, brilliant. Sometimes the rainbow fades and the sky gets a bit misty. Doesn’t matter. As long as I can walk, have my hands and my brain intact nothing will break my spirit and nothing will touch my son – as far as I can help the latter.
U
Ursula,
Ah, yes. Life As a Shared Adventure.