Quiet Christmas, with a WTF? Coda

Last Christmas I gave you my heart was a raucous affair, with all of my siblings, my mom, myself, and a passel of nieces and nephews being under one roof for the first time in a long while. If I had to describe my family, I'd say we're close-knit but far-flung. This year, we have been unable to gather together, but I made it a point to call my brothers, my sister, and my mom to wish them a merry Christmas.

I was awoken this morning at 7AM by my upstairs neighbor's two children, who, like most children celebrating Christmas, woke up before sunrise to check out their presents. By 8AM, I could surmise that the hit present of the day was a karaoke machine... oh, well, sleep is overrated, and I'd rather have healthy, boisterous kids living upstairs that a couple of hothouse flowers. I was able to get back to sleep for a while when there was a lull in the action, and finally awoke before noon to get ready for work.

Today, the temperature hit approximately 50F (10C), and when I got to work, I decided that it was warm enough to change my shirt outside, there being nobody else onsite and me wanting to pull a 'shirtless Putin' routine. The sun was shining brightly, so after checking everything out, I hunkered down in a particularly scenic spot and alternated between making phone calls and reading a book... after yesterday's post, I figured I'd re-read A Christmas Carol. There's a reason why the book has become a perennial, much-interpreted favorite. I particularly liked the character of Scrooge's nephew, the hearty, good-natured chap who knew there was still good in Ebeneezer. If it's been a while since you've read the book, try it out- the didacticism is buried under a beautifully written narrative, by turns melancholy and humorous.

It's a bit weird working on Christmas- there weren't a lot of people on the road on my way to work, and when I stopped at a local Chinese restaurant to pick up lunch, there were two cars in a large parking lot besides mine. I did make one concession to tradition and made sure that I'd bought a panettone to snack on later in the evening. At the risk of sounding like a bit of a Scrooge, I'm glad that Christmas has arrived, so I don't have to deal with the pre-Christmas traffic and hustle anymore. I love the holiday, even when I'm stuck on the job, but the run-up to it can be just plain annoying.

Wow, in a real weird bit of coincidence, I learned of George Michael's death as I was writing this post. Go make one silly joke linking to a song you don't particularly like, and you find out that 2016's reign of awfulness is continuing... hang on, Carrie.