Wednesday, December 01, 2010

30 more days

It's December 1st, dudes. Crikey.


I don't hate December. However, it is, without a doubt, my least favorite month of the year. The reasons for that are long and boring and the only reason you would ever want to hear about them is if you were my therapist and getting paid by the hour, so I shall spare you. Suffice it to say, December: I could skip the whole dang thing.

I never quite know what to do about this feeling, so I vacillate between wanting to close the blinds, get under the covers, and read a book until the new year, OR cram as much social activity into the month as I possibly can, in order to make the time go faster with really! fun! things! So I do a little bit of both- either hermit it up or party it up, with not a lot of middle ground.

So, here it is, December 1st, and I am feeling the blahs about the whole thing already. On the first day! Usually I can get it up for the first week or two.

In an attempt to get rid of the December Phooeys, here's a list of things I like about December. Let's see how many I can do.

1. Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas. Oh yes. Horrible made-for-tv Christmas movies! I looked on the website and counted up the offerings and the month of December will offer up fifty one different movies in this stoopid genre. Fifty one! And YES I COUNTED. That's like eating nothing but Cheetos for 25 days straight. And you know what I say? BRING IT. Saturate me in melted holiday cheese.

2. Days off. I have never taken extra days off of work in December, ever. I guess that's weird, but only a limited number of people can have time off at one time in Libraryland, and so why would I take up that time if I don't really care that it's Christmas, when other people really do care and could use the time? So, no extra days off for me, but! my regular work calendar has come out in such a way as to have three day weekends three whole times this month. So that's rad.

3. Gaudy holiday lights on people's houses. A twinkling light here and there, eh, ok. But the rare household that goes all out, Griswold style, with eye-popping displays with moving parts and stuff? LOVE IT.

4. People getting dressed up. I am a person who gets dressed up at every opportunity- I think I was born in the wrong era when it comes to clothes. December is a dressy time overall, it seems to me. Christmas plays, the Nutcracker, holiday parties and New Year bashes, people get gussied up. That makes me happy.

5. Not traveling. This one should actually be #1 on the list, it makes me so happy. When I was a student, I always got my ass on a plane every December because that was when Christmas break was, and so it was the most convenient time to see the fam. Visiting the fam was fun, but the travelling part? HELL ON EARTH. When I was no longer a student and not tied to an academic schedule of any kind, a sort of moment of serenity came over me where angels came from the heavens and said "You don't have to travel during the holidays any longer! You can orchestrate your life to travel whenever you choose!" From then on, I made a policy- a POLICY- out of not traveling during Thanksgiving weekend or the last two weeks of December. And now when I hear all my stressed out friends talking about travel horror stories, and see people pulling out their hair as they torture themselves with holiday travel season, I sing an inner carol of thankfulness called "I ain't doing that! I ain't doing that!" It's only in my head, but it's a joyful noise.

That's all I got. Five things may not seem like a lot, but for me, in December, it's getting me through.

What's your all-time favorite thing about December?

11 comments:

Kaijsa said...

1. I'm so exhausted by December from the semester full of 60-80 hour weeks, that the extra time off during the holiday closure (that doesn't get charged to my vacation allowance) is heaven-sent.
2. Parties
3. Nutcracker, in all its cheesy splendor. I want to see what my man Peter Boal has made of the PNB affair!

Unfortunately, I do travel back to Seattle because this town empties out and two weeks alone would probably drive me mad.

Jill said...

After a lot of unpleasant Decembers past, I have tried to find the quirkier celebrations around town. By far, my annual favorite is Tuba Christmas. A bunch of tuba-players gather in Denver and play Christmas carols. I cannot explain why this makes me so jolly! Tuba Christmas takes place in most states now.

leah u. said...

The first real snow of the winter usually happens in December, which I enjoy. All subsequent snowfalls tend to get annoying but the first one is novel and pretty. And I like the way Christmas trees smell... yes, it reminds me of gin. Which I also enjoy.

Unknown said...

december 22nd is the beginning of light, phew!

missris said...

Holiday drinks at Starbucks. Cliche, but they're delish.

Librarian Girl said...

Ooh, these are all good.

Kaijsa- I am on the fence about seeing Nutcracker. I'm not a big fan of the Stowell choreography/staging. But...the lure is pulling me...

Jill- the Seattle Tuba Christmas is already over! I missed it! Dang.

Leah and J. Marin- totally!
Missris- Never had an S holiday drink! I better get on that.

The Maiden Metallurgist said...

I don't take extra days off around the holidays either- I love being at work when it is so quiet.

e-Lizabeth said...

I'm also a big fan of first snows, and I love the lights and the outdoorsy-type decorations. Also, A Charlie Brown Christmas makes me very happy.

Kaijsa said...

I'm not a Stowell fan, either, but the Sendak designs are so pretty. All time fave 'cracker is obvs. City Ballet's.

guybrarian said...

1. Traveling. Really, because it means the following:
1a. Hanging out with Lu's family in Los Angeles, where it is warm enough to sit out on the lawn in the haze and work a jigsaw puzzle.
1b. Going to Tommy's for a disgusting chili burger w/ extra peppers and a tamale on the side
1c. watching Lu's mom fall asleep in front of the TV, and then her dad, nodding up and down in sleep like a bobbing bird, threatening to topple out of his chair
1d. a little thing I like to call the Xmas bourbon regimen.

librarianista said...

I'll be thinking of you when I'm getting the sexy pat down from a TSA employee. And I don't mean that in a dirty way. (Or do I?)