Christmas Trivial Pursuits

I'm getting there. "There" this week is the point where I can answer "yes" when the umpteenth person asks me, "Are ya all ready for Christmas?" I think everybody asks with the same intent that goes along with the perennial automatic question, "How are you?"

Half the time, we don't really care how the other person is; it's just something to say, and usually the answer is "fine." Occasionally, I catch myself halfway between "fi" and "ne," flog myself for lying and spout out a much more truthful, " No, I'm not fine. I'm sick and I have too much work to do and my pet mouse died this morning."

Well, okay, maybe it's not that bad, but there are those moments when we realize we're lying to half the world when we say we're doing just fine. But we say it anyway and move on. After all, most of the time people don't really care if we're fine; they just expect a grunt or any noise acknowledging their robotic greeting.

Anyway, I'll be glad when the day comes and I can go to town and answer "Yup" to the "Are ya all ready for Christmas?"

At this point there's a pinhole of light at the end of the tunnel. Earlier this week, I wrote a really quick Christmas letter to stuff in the cards. After copying it off, I realized a lot of highlights from 2009 had been left out cuz of the haste. Oh well, maybe I can put a P.S. next year, informing everybody that "By the way, I forgot to tell you last year that we had a good crop of acorn squash and that the blueberry crop was bountiful."

Do they care?

Probably not, but I must admit I love those Christmas letters, which years ago were thought of as "sinful." Anyone who would write a group Christmas letter should be put in the stocks. Now, I'm wondering what percentage of families DON'T write those annual letters. For everyone's information, I read every one of them and love knowing what's happening in my friends' and family's lives-----even if they didn't tell ME personally.

As of today, I have about one third of my cards personalized with the usual two or three sentences directed specifically to the recipient. Stock letters are inside, envelopes are stamped and sealed shut, so I'm getting there.

Yesterday I started wrapping presents. With Willie and Debbie here for just the weekend before Christmas, I had to get a move on with their presents. I even wrapped a few more just to have that many fewer to do when I'm really rushed.

And, the baking has begun. So far, snickerdoodles with an orange peel flavor and lemon bars made into orange bars. They're actually pretty good. There's much more of that to do before next week when I send Bill to town for delivering cookie plates and visiting, and I do the same here in the neighborhood.

I've come to enjoy the time spent over at Meserves when I deliver goodies and catch Geneva busy as a bee getting ready for the arrival of her family. In the midst of it all, she insists that I sit at their kitchen table and have a cup of coffee while she works with presents or cookies.

I know that Gary Finney will be waiting patiently to see if all that honking every day all hours of the day and night with all Gary Finney vehicles will inspire a bigger plate of cookies than usual this year. Two years ago he even came an plowed the driveway as an excuse to see if I had baked that year.

The more I think about the baking the more I think I'd better speed up on my progress in that department.

One area of the "must do's" of Christmas has been occurring every morning while I type my blog posting. It's the music.

The music requires nothing other than inserting a CD and pushing the play button. Then, I sit back in a state of relaxed nostalgia while thinking and typing. Forget the presents, forget the food, forget the cards and letters. All are good and always welcomed but to me the the music of Christmas is the best.

As a less than stellar Christian/Catholic, I derive great inspiration and peace from listening to the beautiful voices and wonderful instrumentation associated with Christmas music. The lyrics and the notes tell me the story of Christ's birth and His impact better than anything I know.

Yesterday some CDs came in the mail. They were from Annie. She had gone to a Hawaiian store and selected some Hawaiian holiday music. That's what I'm listening to this morning, and I did get a kick out of the lead-off song on today's menu. It was about sleigh bells and snow and a winter wonderland, straight from Hawaii.

Sure enough, the trivial pursuits of getting to the point of saying "Yep" when someone asks me if I'm ready for Christmas are marching along each day. And, I must say I enjoy them because they all reflect so much of what is important in life on this Earth.

And, today as I plug along some more, I'm doing just fine, thank you!

Are ya ready for Christmas????????