Holidays

Holidays used to bring me so much pleasure. I enjoyed shopping for loved ones, spending a lot of time to find just the right gift for each person on my list. Hell, just shopping for birthday cards took hours. Then life got Busy. Finding time to get out shopping was hard. I lost patience dealing with the crowds. I didn't spend enough time with the loved ones on my list to really know what to get them. This hasn't gotten any easier, either, especially now that many on my list don't live anywhere near me. It feels incredibly impersonal to buy something online and have it mailed to the receiver. But how can I resist the free shipping?

It has helped so much to have a husband whose views are so compatible with mine. How hard would it be if he always wanted to go all out on the holidays? How much resentment would build if there was an expectation on every major holiday to do the "traditional" thing? (He's totally down with Easter Curry, and was happy when we did Thanksgiving Curry and Christmas Curry, too.)

::tangent::
It will always be Easter Curry. After the success we had with the Thanksgiving turkey, we may be working towards a more traditional Christmas, too. We'll see. It's been a while since we've had curry, after all.
::end tangent::

Thing is, it's not just us anymore. Bug has reached an age where we can't slack. We can't stall Christmas presents till mid January because there's too much going on. We can't slap the 3-inch Christmas tree cutout on the television because we're too lazy to bother with an actual (albeit fake) tree. We can't buy presents early, only to end up giving them to each other because we can't stand to wait (ok, by "we" I mean "I," since mister mrtl has no problem holding off).

::tangent::
And it's not like Bug's going to let us get off easy. Girlfriend is smart, she picks up on things, you know. As she showed me today, she won't allow slacking, either. I had squatted down to let her give me a hug, holding onto the couch to keep my balance and hugging her tightly with the other arm. She's all, "Both hands, Mommy!"
::end tangent::

::unrelated tangent::
Philly Cheese Steak! Why do I smell one? Damn phantom smells.
::end unrelated tangent::

I feel like such a party pooper to even mention this, but I H.A.T.E. decorating for holidays. Actually, it's not so much the decorating, but having to put all the crap away later. Where does it all go, anyway?? As it is, we only have Christmas decorations (sparing at that); it's all stuffed in Frida's closet.

::tangent::
I've asked others where the heck they put all their stuff, those who decorate their entire house -- inside and out -- for Halloween, Easter, every holiday. I've been told everything from sacrificing garage space for the dozens of plastic containers to paying for storage space. Fucking crazy, you ask me. No offense if you're one of them.
::end tangent::

I'm slowly learning to appreciate the holidays again. Granted, right now my brain is trying to focus on the stress that comes from it being DECEMBER already and not having spent any time thinking of gift ideas, not to mention that the paychecks I get after the holidays are going to be significantly smaller than those heading in. I've reduced the stress a little by deciding not to try Christmas cards this year. (Last year was our first year doing the mass mailing, so it's not like a huge expectation of others).

Still, I need to get a move on. This weekend the tree will go up. By then I want to have a firm grasp of my Christmas list, if not have shit bought. See the masthead, y'all. I'm totally serious.

HOWEVER, you WILL NOT find tacky holiday lawn ornaments in our yard, especially one of those oversized snow globes that cropped up this year. (Lights are definitely out, considering the foot of snow that's still hanging out on the roof.)

next week: a good deed

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If you played, comment!

Cranky, Kalki, Pea, Nina

Comments

[Sharkey]

Yay for no tacky lawn ornaments. But just wait 'til Bug calls you on it--then you'll have three of them. :)

[danielle]

I hear ya about the holidays and how they have changed for you as well as me over the years!!! hope you had a nice weekend!

[Hänni]

I love that you do curry for the holidays. That's so Bridget Jones and you should never ever stop.

As for the business, I feel you. I don't have kids (just kittens), but I tell you what, with two jobs the *lat* thing I want to do right now is fool around with shopping and cards and presents. I'm seriously doing Maaa and Spanky's presents when i'm home (am taking hte girls shopping at Cold Gravy!)

[william]

We decided not to decorate either for the same reasons you indicated. It is not the decorating but the putting the stuff away that bothers me.

[ScottyGee]

I hear you Mrtl. I only have a couple people to shop for and it's already a nightmare. I totally think you need a giant baby Jebus dressed up as a gangsta in your front yard though.

[wordgirl]

I saw one of those gi-normous sno-globes at Linens N'Things in October, and I thought, "no one's going to buy something like this".

I was wrong. We live down the street from TCU (Fort Worth, Texas) and every freaking sorority/fraternity dorm awning on Greek Circle has one of those sno-globes propped up on top!

Nothing like that on our house. Nope! Just the old fashioned multi-colored Christmas lights all over the roof. And a tree in the window.

[Dima]

I think my parents have figured out the exact amount of decorations they need to put outside (only lights - no gay ornaments) and inside (tree and stuff) that would fit in a nook in the basement. My dad is a freak for organization so he takes care of it.

I'm also not sending out Christmas cards this year. It's not like I have a family, it's just me. And I have finals until the 20th, so no presents will be bought before then, and after that, I spend too much money on them. EEEEEKK!

[Amy]

There is a little cubby in the wall of one of the bedrooms in my house, and I shove the tree-in-the-box plus all the decorations in there.

I like decorating a hundred times more than I like cleaning. So I kind of decorate around the clutter. Mini lights make clutter look pretty.

Love Bugs "both hands!"

[Nina]

I am debating about even putting up a tree this year. For the same reason, then you have to put it all away. It was different when the kids were still growing up, now we are back to okay it is us, do we really want to put up the tree? Maybe, maybe not . . .

[Mama Duck]

Wait...RE: your comment on my site, did I miss that you are preggers or something?!

Ummm, all the Christmas decor lived in my attic when I was in Texas, but I'm chalking up "basements" as my No. 1 thing to be thankful for in the North. LOTS of storage...NOT that I decorate for anything other than Christmas and Fall.

[Weetzie]

Hi mrtl! I just heard an article on NPR this morning about professional holiday decorators! You can hire someone else to decorate your house! Woohoo! (oh yeah, if you can afford it of course) I totally pooped out last year and my kids had to do it all themselves so this year I must decorate but I ordered my tree, wreath and outside round-the-door roping w/lights from LLBEAN! Comes in a box to my front door. EASY as PIE!

[Daphne]

LOVE the new masthead. and i'm nodding along on all the holiday stuff.

[pea]

We have an attic in the garage, where all the holiday junk goes, plus lots of other miscellaneous crap. I do keep my decorating to a minimum though, because I also hate to put it away.

I am going to claim to have done this topic with my post the other day about Christmas specials. ;)

[kalki]

Just last week my mother-in-law asked me if we had our tree up yet and I said, "Yeah, we're not decorating for Christmas this year. AT ALL." And she said, "You don't have the time?" And I said, "No, I just hate Christmas." I never used to be that way - I used to LOVE Christmas. But now? The decorating, the shopping, all of it - I'm SO over it.

[Nina]

Oh and I played . . .

[Bente]

I love Christmas and I don't mind the decorating, but we don't have very many decorations at this point so it's not too big a job. As far as where we keep our stuff, and we only have Christmas decorations, it just goes in the closets. But, again, we only have like three boxes (including the tree) so it doesn't take up too much space.

One thing I do hate, though, is all the Christmas stuff after Christmas. I'm ready to take it all down on Boxing Day. I could never stand to have things up unitl February like I've seen others do.

[RazDreams]

bug is SO CUTE! did you SEE her sitting sideways on her little chair with the microphone and her little legs crossed?! too adorable. and the "awlmort"?! she had me awlmort. hilariously cute stories. :)

[Andrea]

Those snow globes. So cute. Yet so TACKY. I made the huge mistake of taking Audrey over to the seasonal department in Walmart to see one, just to SEE one, and she begged me to get one (DUH! What was I thinking??). Don't worry. That's one whine I would never give into. I did see some guy carrying one out of the store, and I thought "people really DO buy those??"

[eclectic]

Bah. Humbug!

Lights and a wreath. Lots and lots of candles. Oh, and good fire insurance.

No holiday letter telling you about my perfect life and the perfect lives of my perfect spouse and perfect children and the perfect adventures we enjoyed during this blessed year.

Gaaaah! When did I turn into Scrooge?!

[Bucky Four-Eyes]

Working retail did a lot to kill my Christmas spirit. I don't mind it as bad now, since retail is a distant memory for me, but I'll never be as ga-ga over it as I was when I was still unburnt by asshole shoppers. With no kids, I've never had to be unselfish about it. ;)

[RazDreams]

bug mailed me the cutest rendering of myself under a palm tree that i ever done saw! i can't wait to post about it and show the world her fine talents! wheeeeeeeee! :)

[Annejelynn]

Love the new masthead - made me choke with laughter - hadn't been while in a few days I guess, but it was a shocker/got my attention, when your blog came up on the screen!
hilarious

[sheryl]

I've never really been into Christmas tres or lights or decorations of any kind in my life (not since I was 5 or 6) but I am starting to like them now. I have a long way to go to get annoyed with the clean up.

In fact, I hated pretty much all decorations and knick knacks too. I used to visit friends and family and fantasize about how much cutesy breakable stuff I could demolish in 60 seconds with a baseball bat.

But some things have changed. I'm actually looking forward to Christmas for the first time since I was a kid.

[suburban misfit]

We're pretty minimalist around here. One large tree (hey, I have high-ish ceilings and a ridculously large--for the house--family room), real (so it goes outside for the rest of winter to be a shelter tree for the critters, then off to be recycled in the spring), with white lights and family ornaments. *Maybe* a wreath on the front door if I get to it. Oh, and last year I bought shiny fake trees (about 2 feet tall?) for FIFTY CENTS EACH at Target after Christmas. One is red (for Christopher), one is silver (for us), and one is rainbow-colored (for Sophie)! Those will go in our rooms.

And all the stuff fits in two Rubbermaid bins that fit nicely under the basement stairs.

[cat]

Re: your tangent. I had a Philly cheesesteak for lunch. It was GOOOOOOOOOOD...

Just thought I'd share.

Love the new digs!

[Pissy]

I am totally with you..I love it all but it is such a fucking chore.
I totally had a breakdown last night over Christmas shopping and getting everything done b/c now that I have a kid I feel like everything has to be perfect and I can't be a slacker ass anymore.

[RazDreams]

man, you weren't joking! you are totally serious about getting a move on! ::missed you today:: (yeah, ummm, can ya tell i'm a bit spoiled?! i like me some mrtl stories!)

[Hänni]

Missing you.

[Von Krankipantzen]

My mom cracked under the pressure yesterday and yelled over the phone to me, "You all want a story-book Christmas but nobody wants to help me do it.' She was wanting me to come over and put up the fake tree for her. I am betting even Martha cracks this time of year. Or resorts to guilt inducing tactics.

[mrtl]

EVERYONE - I don't have it in me to respond to each comment. Please forgive me for my laziness and delaying it.

I blove you!