I started this blog just to have someplace where I could blurt out thoughts when they came to me, and it also serves as a great reason to occasionally procrastinate from doing some work that needs to be done.
I haven’t even had the patience or focus to even do the latter lately!
We’re so ADD normally that during the holidays, there’s usually so much going on that we just have to check out on anything that’s more complicated than planning Christmas, between gifts, get togethers, parties, and visits with the family (or wherever). Work? Are you kidding me? Almost anyone with whom I’m in contact is nicer, more laid back, and sometimes downright LAZY this time of year. How many days until the next party or planned event? How many days until the holiday? And until the next?
In the US, we should take after our European counterparts — just be realistic and take several weeks of holiday. Then we could just daydream and/or focus on the upcoming festivities. Maybe more people wouldn’t be so cranky and frustrated for the season! Take away the stress of having to focus on working with so much else going on, and people might actually enjoy the holidays more. That’s my theory, and I’m sticking with it!
On another note, it’s mostly during this time of year that I find myself regressing back to years past and different periods of my life. Why is that? What is it about the holidays that makes people get all sentimental and have the mental photos of their past become more clearly in focus during this period? Maybe it’s because this is when we send and get cards from people who, though we don’t communicate regularly at any other time of the year, are still a heartstring in our lives in one way or another. I try to read into the cards, and really enjoy when they send a letter (even if it’s the send-to-everybody update, which I write myself), because it makes me feel a little more connected to them, even if they’re far away. Occasionally, I still eek out news that I haven’t gotten directly, just from reading the cards. My best friend from childhood sort of dropped out of contact a few years ago, and we’ve been relegated to just the Christmas card. This year, the card came not from she, her husband, and her son, but just from she and her son. So, obviously, her husband is out of the picture now. Which, of course, piques my curiosity. I may give her a call soon… Anyway, that’s happened a couple of times. And usually, it’s the person’s subtle way of telling us and the world that the marriage didn’t work out, for one reason or another. It’s definitely not the first time I’ve figured something out from that!
I received a card from one of my very good friends, whom I haven’t seen for 10 years now. We talk several times a year, and (of course) exchange cards during the holidays (and birthdays). In it, she wrote, “I was just thinking about one of the New Year’s parties you had back in New York… boy, that was years ago, but how fun!”
:::sigh and a smile::: Yes, how fun. And how long ago! (Of course, that was B.C.!) I had the best New Year’s parties (if I do say so myself), when I had a heap of people crashed all over the apartment I lived in back then. Wow — with the house we have now, we could have even MORE people! There’s a thought — maybe next year, a “New Year’s Eve” party reunion… hmm, sounds pretty interesting… and SCARY fun!
It’s a thought, anyway. Because we’re coming to the day that the kids are big enough to tolerate Mom and Dad having a party and/or attending one. We actually went to a New Year’s party last year, and are thinking of inviting a few people over this year, because we’ve gotten through the “It’s too much of a pain” time period, when they were younger. Now, they actually enjoy it!
And so, the cycle will begin again… 
Happy holidays to all. Enjoy!
