Welp, as you may have noticed, the world didn't exactly end last week.
(I'm still not convinced that there isn't a missing pin somewhere in the scaffolding of the universe, that is causing the whole thing to sort of slide gradually into complete disarray... But it looks like the Mayan calendar ending was more of a technical issue and not a cosmic one.)
So that left us to the shopping we put off in case the world were to end, to the stuffing our faces with all the food we were bummed to think we might never get to eat again, to the going back to the same old taking things for granted in absence of a definitive moment when they might be ripped away.
Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas.
For me, this Christmas felt like my first real adult Christmas. Here's why:
1. I woke up in my own house, and had to leave to go "home for Christmas." Obviously this isn't the first year I've done that, but let's be real: being a college kid home for the holidays is a TOTALLY different animal than living up the road and coming back to open presents and eat and then going back home to sleep in your own bed again.
2. Along those same lines, I've never been a holiday family hopper until this year. If you're not familiar with this term, I might have made it up. Basically, Jason and I had joint invitations to at least 3 different places on Christmas day, presents to open and/or food to eat at each of them. This belly-full day brimming with sometimes conflicting expectations and extra people to consider was a new thing for me, and certainly a learning experience that I'll have to remember when coordinating Christmas 2013. (Do we have any foretold apocalypses between now and then? Maybe just a surprise rapture here or there?) Plus, our Christmas dinner table had 11 people squeezed around it, and each of them was a part of our "immediate" family.
3. Somehow I've never experienced the Christmas Gift-Giving Competition until this year. I think this must be how adults make Christmas into a game, after we lose the excitement of Christmas. I guess the plus side of having multiple Christmases is increased chances of "winning Christmas"? If you don't win at one, there's always the hope of House & Family #2 to boost your personal odds.
To be slightly less cynical, it is nice to give a gift that hits the spot for somebody else, because honestly there isn't much stuff I still need in my life. And, it's a materialistic way to show new people that you have been paying attention, and/or to get brownie points with key players...
(I didn't say it was NOT cynical, I just said it was LESS.)
4. My sister asked me if I wanted to go shopping on Black Friday, and I said it sounded like my worst nightmare. Been there, done that. I would go nowhere near the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. I think I actually managed to steer clear of that place through the whole Christmas season; I made a point of it. I did end up doing some last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve, but I have vowed to avoid it until 2013 and so far I'm succeeding. Knock on wood. I did almost all my shopping online this year, and even had most of it in hand by December 15.
I understand that this level of forethought will be almost certainly short-lived, if my parents are any indication of later adulthood, post-marriage and -children. But for now I'm basking in my uncommitted young adulthood.
5. Also speaking of making Christmas fun after toys, and now that I'm out of college my win list has become populated with a new kind of toy: kitchen appliances. So far I've got a toaster oven and a blender, plus an adorable lunch bag that puts me securely in the running for cutest lunch bag at work, a colander, adjustable measuring spoon, cookbooks, coasters, mugs, and a gorgeous wooden fruit bowl. I am SO set for 2013: The Year of Smoothies & Slow-Cooked Meals. Can't wait to get started.
6. And last for now, my Christmas CD of choice (one of 2 I can stand at all) is a $6.99 Classic Soft Rock Christmas album from Walgreens that includes hits by Elton John, Kenny Loggins, Hall & Oates, and Carly Simon. My other 2 bearable picks are something by Straight No Chaser, and... Well, that's it. A hit here or there from the Biebs or Mariah Carey, and a few of the musicians and songs featured on NPR. I've tried on a few occasions this season to listen to Christmas music, to no avail. It pretty much makes me want to gag.
Maybe since it's been the only thing playing anywhere, and on my favorite radio station, since Halloween.
Merry Christmas, friends, and welcome again to adulthood. (If you're still a kid, disregard this message. Thanks for reading!) The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future swirl around us as we speak.
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