Hey there, fellow NaBloPoMo’ers… how’s it going? I hope everyone is having fun so far! Before I get to the main point of this post, I want to share a huge high from my week.
November 1st fell on Wednesday, and as luck would have it, I have Wednesdays off from work. This Wednesday I went for a nice long run, then came home, got into my pajamas (not the pajamas I actually sleep in, my daytime pajamas- you DO have daytime pajamas, don’t you???) lit a scented candle (pumpkin spice) and settled down with my tea TO READ EVERYONE’S FIRST POSTS of NABLOPOMO!!!!!
I just loved it so much. I’m excited to reconnect with old friends, and discover new-to-me blogs (and bloggers who will be future friends.) Yes, I know it’s a lot of work- but it’s so worth it.
I also want to give a special shoutout to all the people who are not formally participating in NaBloPoMo, but are reading and cheering us on from the sidelines. THANK YOU!
At first my intention was to make this post a list of highs and lows from the week. But to be honest… I didn’t have any serious lows. Okay, my thumb hurts a little and the cat threw up on my shoes… but overall, it’s been a great week.
You’re probably thinking I’m like the guy from the Lego movie (“Everything is awesome…”) and yes, I do sing that song occasionally! But along with the highs come some pretty deep lows.
I get really sad when things end. I hate coming home from vacations. I get down when the Super bowl is over. The first time the Starbucks barista hands me my drink in a plain white cup after Christmas feels like a knife through my soul. Let’s not even talk about December 26th. So much sadness.
I was intrigued by B’s post yesterday where she explained that she doesn’t celebrate any holidays. Her reason is that she hates the commercialism (well…I can’t really argue with that.) I know someone else who doesn’t celebrate holidays and for him it’s a spiritual practice. He doesn’t believe extreme highs and lows are healthy, and prefers to live his life on a more even keel.
Then there are people who celebrate holidays, but in a more casual way. My husband likes Christmas, and Thanksgiving. He also likes Labor Day and Memorial Day. They’re fun, but not worth getting TOO excited over, or too depressed when they’re over. He’s always ready to move on to the next thing.
I’m pretty sure if I tried to live that way, it just wouldn’t work for me. I would feel like I was missing out on all the fun, and then when the holidays were over, instead of thinking “Ah, well at least I stayed on an even keel!” I would regret not having experienced it to the fullest. I don’t know if it’s the way my brain is wired, or if it’s just from years and years of doing it this way, but I’m doomed (blessed?) to live with my extreme highs and lows. Luckily the lows never last too long- the next exciting thing is usually around the corner.
How about you? Are you a “B” or a “Jenny?” when it comes to holidays? Or somewhere in between?
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION- is it “pajamas” or “pa-jah-mas?” – Let’s not have any nonsense over this. I’m from the midwest, and we say “pajamas” THE WAY THE WORD IS SPELLED. Do you spread “jahm” on your toast? Of course not! Have we suddenly become British? No! (Any readers from outside the US have a pass to pronounce it as you please.)
Header photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash
33 Responses
Yes of course I have daytime pajamas! And I pronounce the word both ways depending on context, sort of how I say “aunt” like “ant” sometimes and sometimes like it rhymes with “haunt.” Languages is weird! I love your fall jammies!
I think I tend to go all out for some holidays – Halloween in past years and definitely Christmas. But by the time the holidays are over I am mainly relieved and ready for the next thing.
Okay, good to know! We all need daytime pajamas. I also pronounce “Aunt” as “ant.” That’s just the way we said it in Illinois!
I never thought of it like this before, but yes I have daytime PJs – well, I guess they’re “not bed” PJs since I also wear them at night. I sleep in shorts and a t-shirt, and once I’m done with my workout I change into my wardrobe of leggings/sweats/super comfy shirts. Once I start work if I’m on camera I put on a nicer shirt, and at some point before lunch I get dressed properly – on the personal standards side I won’t wear sweats ALL the time and on the practical side it’s for dog walking purposes. At some point after dinner the sweats go back on and then the night PJs go on before bed. And yes this brings up a third option in the pajamas vs pajahmas debate – I call ’em PJs. But if I were to say the full word you know I grew up just a little south of you so it’s “pajamas”. Also with the WFH life I go through slippers like crazy! A pair used to last me a few years and I just bought my 2nd pair of the year.
When I was single I barely celebrated any holidays, but once my husband and the stepkids came along I started getting more into it. At first it was only “for the kids” but as the years have passed I’ve grown to truly love them and appreciate them.
Yay for a week of minimal lows! Things were pretty good over here as well.
I think you take this daytime/nighttime pajama thing to a whole new level! Your system is complicated, but I like it.
I have daytime cozy wear and this could also double as pyjamas (German spelling hence my pronunciation is more with an ü). The husband never knows if I am already dressed on the weekends or not.
I love that you had a week with a high high no real lows. gotta celebrate those. I am definitely more a Jenny. I love the holidays, I get excited, I want to cram it all in the cookies, the drinks, the movies but it is only great because it is once a year. living life all at the same level of excitement is boring and honstly a bit sad. Who wants that in her or his life?
And while Christmas involves a lot of presents for me personally the christian aspect is key. Christmas for me would not happen if I am not at church. I would skip all the presents if I can attend church service on Christmas Eve. Not to say that I do like the present part too.
Yes, great point. One year after Christmas I was really sad and my husband said “would you really want it to go on and on, buying presents and everything forever?” Well… no. i guess not!
Oh gosh, I think you know the answer to that. I love to celebrate EVERYTHING. Like, someone’s birthday is cause for confetti and tiaras, you know? I just love an event and I love a season and I am definitely a LET’S ALL CELEBRATE, I’M MAKING CAKE person. But I can’t say I’m a Jenny because I don’t get sad when things end, I just enjoy the return to normalcy before ramping up for the next thing.
Well, that’s a good way to be! Okay, I’m going to try to shift from a “Jenny” to more like a “Nicole.”
I need daytime jammies. How am I just realizing this???
Oh, yes you do! Maybe it would be a nice Christmas present for you!
First, those are the best daytime jammies. And yes, I have a set of comfy pants I wear during the day but are really PJ bottoms.
It’s definitely pa-jam-a’s. “Jahm” sounds pretentious (sorry all my British friends). My most disliked pronunciation is pre-ZEN-tation instead of prez-in-tation for presentation. And shhh-edule, instead of sked-u-ell. (The latter is correct.)
Christmas is my big holiday. I’m mostly meh about all the others, but I celebrate Christmas hard and it always makes me oh-so-sad when it’s over.
Sorry, this did make me laugh: “and the cat threw up on my shoes.” That sounds awful but you were just so matter of fact about it!
Oh wow- I thought being Canadian you would veer towards the “jahm” pronunciation. I love the other examples you gave. PREsentation and shhedule are very, very wrong.
By the way, it was my NEW RUNNING SHOES that the cat threw up on! Hrumph!
Hrumph indeed. Has the cat no sense of decency? At least it wasn’t cozy slippers that get worn inside the whole time? Trying to find a silver lining, though it’s pretty tough when puke is involved.
This will give you a heart attack: Sometimes, my father says just “jahms”. Not as part of the word, but as a word(-ish? is it a word?) on its own.
(I, however, after 20 years in the midwest, give or take, fully embrace the “jams” approach…)
Hahaha… I’ve never heard that before! So wrong, but I’ll forgive him.
Do my yoga pants and hoody count as daytime pajamas? Then I have them 🙂
I am definitely a “Jenny”… while I do not enjoy the extreme highs and lows, I do get excited about things and rather have the excitement and consequent sadness than not feeling much at all.
Yes we’ll count those!
In German you say “Schlafanzug” (sleeping suit) -honestly some words/pronounciation still confuse me. I learned british english in school after all. My English teacher would be horrified of my English nowadays I am sure,
Oh, I’m sure English is insanely hard to learn. And then you have people like me who are debating pronunciations- that probably makes it even worse.
Well I spell it pyjamas, said pi-jah-mahs but I get a pass because I’m an Aussie. I have a pair a trackies that I put on when I want to slouch around, but my jeans are pretty comfy too. I really like your daytime PJs.
I like celebrating but I don’t get sad when holidays are over. Do you think some people just tend to have a bigger emotional range – much higher highs and lower lows?
I don’t know Melissa! It would be interesting to analyze it though.
I’ll definitely give you a pass on the pajama issue.
I definitely say pajamas like you do. I have daytime casual wear but it’s not pajamas – it’s sweatpants or leggings with a long sleeve and probably a hooded sweatshirt. I am known to put my pajamas on when we get home from work though! And then when my kids protest putting theirs on, I can see – look at me, I’ve been wearing mine for hours!
I am probably somewhere in the middle maybe because I am extremely pragmatic. I celebrate but don’t get SUPER into it and I don’t get sad when it’s over because I am ready to get my house back to normal. I do love Christmas, though. It’s the only holiday I decorate for so it’s extra special!
Ha ha, that’s funny. I remember protesting putting on pajamas as a kid- now I just want to wear them all the time.
I think your pajama question is the exact reason we always just say pjs. Or jammies. Or sleepy clothes. But i guess you can’t hang out during the day in your sleepy clothes. I think daytime pjs are just called comfy clothes here at our house
I am not a celebrater of Holidays, but I am a celebrater of and with people. The holidays are for me an excuse to cook all the food and make plans to do all the fun things and see people I love. Yeah, actually I think it’s 99% about the food for me.
Well to be honest we don’t celebrate Christmas in a religious way. So it really is about the people and food for us. And the presents. And the decorations!
We say jam in the middle of pajamas, but we mostly call them jammers around here.
I am more like you in that I look forward to everything. I get to enjoy the runup to and the actual event. My husband is just an even keeled guy who acts like waking on on Christmas Day is the same as a random Monday. *sigh* But I guess that’s what makes us work!
Yes, maybe it would be too much if both people were over the top! And I”ll definitely accept “jammers.”
The picture on the front is SO COZY!!! Holidays… As a recovering communist (grew up in the USSR albet at the very end) I don’t really celebrate religious holidays. But all major holidays in our house- bring it on. We used to over shop for Christmas (mainly, T’s fault lol) but now lean more toward one gift each. All I want for Christmas is an airbnb gift card. But there are other holidays that we celebrate but don’t give gifts for. Say- St. Patrick’s day. What a fun holiday! Are we Irish? Not even close but we make corned beef and cabbage, wear green, get some beer. Kids look for leprechauns, and make a trap from a cardboard box. In NJ around St. patrick’s day spring is usually here. It’s fun! Same for Valentine’s day. yes, it’s commercialized as all hell but it makes life fun for us. Who doesn’t love a box of chocolates? Some flowers to display in the house? A card with “I love you” on it? A simple craft from kids’s schools?
Holidays also are sort of year markers, they ground us in time and remind us of the bittersweet passage of time.
Now I’m starting to feel like I should be celebrating more! I used to make a bigger deal out of St. Patrick’s Day when the kids were little, but I don’t anymore. Yes, maybe I would be less sad when Christmas ends if I had other holidays in the winter to look forward to.
I definitely have home pajamas, an old running short and comfy yoga top. I then will change it to Pjs before sleep which look similar but it’s a set. mentally switching from work to home, home time to sleep, seems important to me.
I used to not get excited about holidays, but as I got older and have kids who understand the concept of holidays, I started to celebrate some of them. being outside of US, we don’t celebrate as much as it’s not local culture, but I still love Christmas and girls love the advent calendar activities.
I mostly say PJs, but if I’m saying the full word it’s usually pajamas (jam, not jahm). I think it’s one of those words that I sometimes say the “other” way and then realize I did and can’t figure out why. (Other such words for me include envelope, caramel, February, either, and data.)
Can totally relate to feeling sad when things end. Holidays, a favourite series on TV ending, having to take the Christmas tree down, going back to work after a long weekend – you get the idea!
I am definitely a Jenny! Do I already have my Christmas pillows out? MAYBE. I don’t think I get AS sad as you do when things are over, though. When Christmas is over, I’m usually ready for the fun of reflecting on the year and setting goals for the new year.
I say “pajamas” but when I want to be fancy, I say “pajahmas.”