I really don't try to be. Really. But it doesn't cease to amaze me how early Christmas begins every year. And for anyone who hasn't poked their heads out into the world of commercial business, Christmas has arrived.
Clue #1: Costco has been selling Christmas-themed wrapping paper for a number of weeks, along with rows and rows of Christmas sweets and sometimes-tacky decorations that feed the festive spirit. Sure, they have some cute stuff every year, but I think I'm scared off more often than I am intrigued.
Clue #2: Peppermint Hot Chocolate has arrived at Starbucks. This kicks off the Christmas season for K every year. Although Starbucks carries a mint syrup for their specialty coffees, the peppermint hot chocolate is only around for the holiday season. (Disclaimer: for any of you Starbucks fiends, I apologize if my information is inaccurate... if I'm wrong, I'll move on to even more obvious clues...)
Clue #3: Christmas cups have arrived at Starbucks. You know, the red ones with the snow flakes? If you don't, good for you... you obviously live in a town smaller than Williams Lake.
Just FYI: I think that Starbucks should grammatically adjust the name to represent the missing apostrophe. If I'm not mistaken, since the company is named after a character in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, shouldn't it be Starbuck's with the present apostrophe? Or, simply Starbuck without the "s"? Where's Lynn Trussey when you need her!
Clue #4: K has officially taken out all of her Christmas music and burned each CD onto her IPod.
Realistically, this is enough for me to get the hint.
For me, though, Christmas is family and friends and new socks on Christmas morning... late night games of cards when the snow is blowing outside... darts with the boys of the family in my parents' basement... having any and all excuses to enjoy a beer or Bailey's or two in the middle of the day just because, as my dad always says, "Who cares? You're on holidays!"... midnight mass... grandparents' houses (more of a past tradition now that I'm married and my parents always host Christmas these days)... cinnamon... Christmas carols... visiting my best friend's parents' houses to drop off cards and say hello... Christmas Day phone calls to those too far away... and Boney M and John Denver in my parents' CD player.
These things generally appear for me in the time immediately surrounding the actual holiday. Today is only a single day beyond Remembrance Day, and already my mom is nearly finished her shopping. Sure, this is prudent and practical, but it's so far in advance. I'm simply not ready for it. Although the days are shorter than previous weeks, they're still too long. And it's still too warm... and there's still too much work and too many weekends to go before that point. I'm just not ready to embrace it.
Some people make me think that I'm a bit of a Scrooge. But, when I'm able to watch the cartoons of Garfield's Christmas and Charlie Brown's Christmas, I'll know that it's time to relax and enjoy myself.
T
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