|
|
4:12 pm - Sun 12/25/05 It seems my one ongoing holiday tradition is to get depressed, and this year is no exception, but I'm not going to dwell on that in the few minutes I've allotted myself; instead, I'm going to list the positive things I've experienced this holiday season. 1. For the first time in fifteen years, I'm not going going through Xmas "Retail Hell". It's busy at the theater, to be sure, and that's connected to the holidays--a lot of big movie releases this time of year--but happily, it doesn't feel the same. (As I thought about this, I remembered one particular frustration, working at Borders the past couple years--Over the Xmas season, I felt like I was always letting people down, because we'd usually run out of whatever big book people wanted that year, only to receive a giant shipment of it two days after Xmas. There was obviously nothing I could do about it, but it always bothered me. But anyway...) 2. On one hand, I was, in spite of myself, disappointed that I got so few cards this year (Less than half of what I sent out...and I didn't send out that many). It doesn't exactly seem "in the holiday spirit" to be keeping score, but here we are, busily keeping score nevertheless. But while I was busy keeping a running tally of the cards I gave and received, a reader of this very journal took the time to email me Season's Greetings, and I got a big kick out of that (Randy only knows me through reading the journal, which he started this year, but felt motivated to wish me a Merry Xmas. And I'd say that is in keeping with "the holiday spirit". (Thanks Randy.) 3. I've already mentioned the $100 Target gift certificate Cary and Kay gave me. Well, remember how I threw out this little hint that if someone else wanted to send me another Target gift card, that would be really cool, cause then I could buy a new bike when my current one finally gives up the ghost? Well, Mark and Jane's "holiday gift package" came in the mail on Tuesday. Jane always puts together kind of a "grab bag" of fun and/or practical things, and this year was no exception. She'd made treats--cookies, peanut brittle--bought toys (A three-pack of "Justice League" action figures), and enclosed all kinds of ingredients and additives to make what comes out of my rice cooker more interesting and enjoyable. And did I mention she enclosed a $100 gift certificate from Target...? What made that particularly fun is how sly Jane was about it--When I hinted to her directly about the Target g.c. and a bike and all that, she was like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I already sent your gift out. But I hope you like what I got you anyway...". I did, Jane. All of it. Thank you. Well, there's more, but nothing that won't keep till I get back from work tonite. Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, etc. and so forth, to you all.
4 comments so far 
|