I’m feeling pretty weird about the Holidays this year. Pet and I are both feeling a little weird, I guess. But I can only speak for myself. To get the common sentiment off the table, I am not down on the Holidays. I’m actually pretty up on it when all is said and done. I’m just not into it the way I think I should be.
Let’s see if we can break this down.
Inadequacies
Pet has put a lot of effort into the season. We pulled out our homemade advent calendar and made a trek to Archie McPhee. Our advent calendar is like a gift exchange that leads up to Christmas Eve. One of us fills the odd days. The other person the even days. Then we alternate opening the calendar each night. The gifts are trivial, silly, cheap.
At Archie’s, we split-up and collect tchotchkes. Those were loaded into the calendar. Little did I know that Pet had purchased other items for the calendar from sources outside Archie’s. Nice things, like collectible enamel pins. So while Pet is getting finger puppets (I got a few, too), I’ve been getting pin reproductions of the Clash’s London Calling, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, Santaur, Gingerbread Krampus, and the shipping crate for the Leg Lamp (which OPENS to reveal the leg lamp). These are not cheap silly things. They are thoughtful gifts.
To put a cherry on top of this inadequacy sundae, I still need to fill the last of my advent calendar days. And what should happen this week? We have freezing weather and days of snow, and my car starts having engine trouble. So I’m kind of stuck at home trying to figure out which phenomenal tchotchke should go into that last day and hope it can be found around my house!
To really make this seem silly to you, dear reader you should know that I have procured for Pet some thoughtful gifts that are wrapped and under the tree. One of those gifts was ordered shortly after Christmas 2021. And yet, I sit here handwringing over an item to put into a 2 1/2” container. Oh, and I haven’t anything to put into Pet’s stocking. Great!
Keeping the Spirit-ish
I’m just feeling like I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game to this holiday. What I should be doing is cutting myself some slack. The decorations are up. The tree is trimmed. We baked cookies and candies. We even made a surprise visit to my Mom’s and helped her trim her tree. Other festive activities included watching Sumo wresting at Sumo + Sushi (I even got into the ring.) and attending the Seattle Men’s Chorus Holiday Falala-liday show. The schmaltzy movies play in the background and I sing loudly with the cheesy Christmas music.
Even with that, there is this half-heartedness in me. We won’t be visiting family in-person this year. My father is in Minnesota. My mom lives on the other side of the Sound. While just 8 miles as the crow flies, visiting her requires ferry trips and travel can take as much as 2 hours. On top of it all, I just feel like staying home. Thankfully, Pet feels the same way, so there’s some potential tension I don’t need to worry about.
Pet and I have agreed to something special we will do together: Jolabokaflod. Taking a good book, some hot cocoa, and good company to bed Christmas Eve sounds like a good tradition to try on. What this holiday weekend is lacking is good meals. It’s time to make a slow, very slow, trip to the grocery store for some tasty treats, stocking stuffers, and one last trinket for the advent calendar.
