Last Christmas
Well, today was a gloomy day. We got lots of rain, a little wind, and we were all stuck at home just waiting for this storm to hit. It’s supposed to make landfall to the north of us, so barring any last-minute changes, we’ll miss the worst of it. I can tell it was a boring day, because the song “Last Christmas” has been going through my mind. At the end of November last year, I wrote this post about my least favorite Christmas songs, and “Last Christmas” topped the list. This turned out to be a popular post- or I should say, people loved disagreeing with me. Katie said “That is my husband’s absolute favorite Christmas song, so much so that his friends tease him about it.” and Nicole said, “I LOVE Last Christmas. It’s one of my very favourites and I even have a playlist, made by a friend, of Last Christmas in different versions and with different artists! I even play it on the piano.” After all the debate about the song, it wasn’t exactly that I started to like it… but every time I heard it (meaning, multiple times a day on the radio) I felt some kind of strange connection to it. Okay… maybe it’s not so bad. The reason why it’s going through my mind right now is because I’ve been thinking literally about last Christmas. My son and I are Christmas fanatics, but last year was a complete fiasco. It all started on Festivus… Festivus is celebrated- by Seinfeld fans everywhere- on December 23rd. Our family actually has our own Festivus traditions, but last Festivus everything went wrong. Our cat had a cut and we were worried we would have to take her to the vet. An ornament broke, and then, when we went to get the Festivus bagels (a tradition, because in the Festivus episode Kramer works at H&H Bagels) our favorite bagel place was OUT OF BAGELS. How does that happen? On Festivus??? Several other strange things happened, and we were joking that it was the worst Festivus ever. “Ha ha… I wonder what will happen next?” Little did we know… my son and I were both ABOUT TO GET COVID. That night I was wrapping presents when I suddenly realized my throat felt terrible. About five minutes later my son said “I hate to say it, but I don’t feel good.” The next morning we were both horribly ill. We were sick for two days- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My son was so sick on Christmas Day, he couldn’t even sit with us at the table for dinner. On the 26th we both started to feel better (although we were tired and achy for a few more days.) My son declared it “The Worst Christmas Ever.” But not to worry! We immediately decided that Christmas of 2022 would be The Best Christmas Ever to make up for it. We even started a list of things we wanted for this Christmas, but never got any further than “Don’t get Covid.” My general feeling is that, to make this the Best Christmas Ever, I’m not going to hold back. If there’s a choice between one wrapping paper and a nicer one, I’ll get the nicer one. Same with presents, decorations, and well, everything. I’ve found that when I opt for the cheaper, smaller, more sensible choice, I regret it later. So this year will be “Christmas- Bigger and Better!” You can see why I’m already thinking about it. I’ve got a lot of work to do for this Christmas Extravaganza. I might even have to come up with new words for “Last Christmas…” Last Christmas, we both got so sick… the very next year, we made up for it… Okay, that needs a little work. But I’m on it! Are you making Christmas preparations yet? When do you start decorating for Christmas? – My rule is, the day after Thanksgiving.