182 Another holiday?

Good Grief! Another Holiday Already?

Dear Readers, would you like to help me redo the holiday schedule? I wish we could spread our celebrations out over the year. I feel like, in spite of trying to be vigilant about calories, I am on a food high from Halloween through New Year’s Day. 

Then we need to address the marketing and merchandising of these holidays earlier and earlier each year. The Neiman Marcus “The Christmas Book 2018” arrived on October 30. 

Yep, the day before Halloween. I was at the mailbox retrieving a CVS coupon for 25% off candy and there was the catalog. Of course, I still felt obligated to buy a bag of mixed mini candy bars just in case we had a trick or treater come by. [We didn’t! and the candy is gone!]

Then three weeks later it is Thanksgiving. We don’t do the sweet potatoes and marshmallows but mashed potatoes and gravy are a necessity with turkey. Calories!!

We do NOT do Black Friday. I am not setting a foot in a retail store that day. My sanity and my lower back can’t take it. Besides, what is the internet for? Just Google it (you know by now, I am addicted to surfing the web). Sometimes I buy, usually, I do not.

So…. We have had a sugar high, followed by two fattening meals with our nearest and dearest and the year is not over. Our anniversary is December 31. That date--though fiscally responsible tax wise [one can claim married for the year] seemed for many, many years to obligate us to do SOMETHING. 

About ten years ago, we realized we like to watch the many comedy specials and the NYC ball fall in the comfort of our easy chairs. Maybe a drink, but maybe not! Even our New York City friends and family do not go to Times Square to be (and I quote a near and dear relative) “herded and prodded and stuck in barriers like cattle with strangers in the cold” and should you leave your spot – too bad – “you move, you lose.”

About ten years ago, we realized we like to watch the many comedy specials and the NYC ball fall in the comfort of our easy chairs. Maybe a drink, but maybe not! Even our New York City friends and family do not go to Times Square to be (and I quote a near and dear relative) “herded and prodded and stuck in barriers like cattle with strangers in the cold” and should you leave your spot--too bad--“you move, you lose.”

Yes, I am getting to be sort of a Scrooge. I admit to mixed feelings about the whole holiday experience. Sometimes, I feel like a martyr--I want the bank open; I want the mail to come; I want to get my daily diet Coke at McDonald’s (still only $1). Other days, I enjoy the holiday experience as I use it as an excuse not to do anything but play on the computer and read or, if we are really energetic, we might take in a movie.

Now a few words last words about retail marketing and advertising. For a society moving away from print--HA! How come every newspaper has a tree worth of ads inserts? Some of the ads are for stores I never heard of. These go straight to recycling. The ads for Christmas start before Halloween and get more and more frenetic as the days pass. No, I have not done all my shopping. I will get to it soon. AND, lest we forget the “reason for the season,” we should not be dreading all we have to do. Sometimes it really irritates me; other times it seems merely amusing. I love this cartoon: 

And this one, too:

I have decided to say to NO, thank you for thinking of us, to that which I do not enjoy. We now buy one thing we both want. This year’s gift is a decent am/fm radio that actually gets the stations we want. We have created an EXIT PLAN for all events. This is probably the critical one that gets us through the various events. On arrival we let the hosts know that we have another commitment. [Oh, dear, I’ve let out our secret.] 

The other commitment may be that we want to watch Jimmy Kimmel or give the dogs a pat and a treat. How can we leave Max and Bogie too long? Just look at these faces!

However you celebrate, the Savvy Broads wish you health and happiness!

Glenne