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.
21 Responses
I love the idea of going all out this Christmas to make up for last year. We have a very staunch rule in our house that we don’t decorate until after my husband’s birthday, so not until early December.
We still have warm weather and sunshine and it’s so hard to believe that it will be coming to an abrupt end tomorrow when the storm makes its way up here….boo.
Ah, well sorry this storm is heading your way! It sure ruined our week.
My son’s birthday is early December as well, and when he was little we used to wait till after his birthday to decorate. As he got older we realized we couldn’t wait that long though, and it doesn’t really matter to him.
I HATE the song Last Christmas. Not sure why, but I have a visceral reaction and always switch to a different song.
You guys had such rotten luck last year; I remember your posts over Christmas. Ugh. Sometimes the things that go wrong make the best memories, and I suspect that Christmas will go down as…HIGHLY memorable. Also, I love that your celebrate Festivus. My husband and I are currently (slowly) rewatching Seinfeld. George is living at home but we haven’t gotten to the Festivus episode yet. I’m excited 🙂
I actually might put up our mantle swag today. I don’t normally decorate this early (and we won’t put up the real tree for almost a month), but the end of November is going to be BUSY and…I’d rather do a few things now. My daughter is home sick, too, so it’s a joint activity we can do together she enjoys…and it also ticks something off my eventual to-do list.
I’m feeling very behind on Christmas shopping and ideas. It’s not like I give a ton of gifts, but it still feels overwhelming because I just don’t have many ideas this year. Usually, I have a long list (and have already purchased items by now). Oh well – it will all happen.
Plus, I learned NOT to wrap gifts early and to store wrapped gifts inside a plastic tote after the whole water-leaking-into-the-closet-and-soaking-my-wrapped-gifts fiasco of last year. Sigh.
The thing is, you already had Thanksgiving! So I say you can decorate whenever you want. I know you don’t give a ton of gifts, but the ones you do give seem to be really thoughtful and meaningful… I’ll be interested to see what you come up with this year. No pressure though, ha ha.
Our holidays are pretty low key.
I do decorate but I have a new cat and I think it will need to be even more low key.
We’ll decorate after Thanksgiving. We still haven’t decided what we’re actually doing for Thanksgiving, either, so maybe we’ll decorate on Thanksgiving if we’re home. I’m looking forward to people putting lights up outside, though, because this getting dark as soon as work has ended is truly terrible and I hope the lights lift my mood a bit!
I would imagine Christmas lights will help. And look at it this way- Christmas lights will be up well past the solstice, and then the days will start getting longer again.
Yaaaassss babyyyyyy I love love love Last Christmas and this weekend I am breaking out that playlist. YESSSSSS MA’AM.
I forgot that you got Covid last Christmas, that totally sucked! Hey, I don’t know if I told you, but we got the Festivus board game AND IT SUCKED. It was not fun at all for us and I think I’ll donate it.
I think my sister also got some kind of Festivus game (maybe it was the same one?) and didn’t like it. I think it’s better to have your own special way of celebrating Festivus.
When I started reading your post, I thought “the little mishaps make good stories” and than I came to the covid part I was like “Oh no, this is really bad.” I am routing for you that this year it is going to be an amazing Christmas and everything goes according to plan. I am not ready yet, somehow the end of the year always sneaks up on me. I might write a blog post about it one of these days…
Actually, we are laughing about it now, even with the Covid part. It was such ridiculously bad luck!
Oh man, I remember your last unfortunate Christmas and that you vowed to make up for it this year… well, the time is almost here and I am glad you’re on it 😉
Yes, nothing could go wrong this year! (ha ha…)
I don’t have strong feelings about Last Christmas but I think I lean towards liking it! I like the electric piano or whatever it is that plays in the sound. It’s kind of a jaunty rhythm that is pleasing to me. But it’s not a favorite song of mine.
Wow you guys did have an epically bad Christmas last year! You definitely need to make up for it! I used to be very firm on decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving, but now I decorate in mid-November because I really need the happy glow of a tree to brighten up the house. But then last year I took our tree down on 12/26 because by that point I am so ready to have my house back in order! We have to shift things around a bit when we put our tree up and it gets old after awhile!
I bought all the picture books for my boys’ advent calendar and we have a plan for what we will buy the boys for their big gift. We are super minimalistic about gifts because of all the gifts the boys get from my MIL. Last year she said she would cut back this year but I highly doubt she will. So we can get away with just buying a few things for the boys and they don’t really notice. That will probably change as the boys get older but I’d still like to stay on the minimalist side. But aside from gifts, I have tickets to take Paul to The Grinch at the Children’s Theater and then to a light show at the local Arboretum. I’m really excited to do holiday-themed things like that!
The thing is, when the boys are this young they don’t really have any expectations of how many gifts they’re “supposed” to get for Christmas. So now is your time to do it any way you want.
I’m obviously older than you and was a teenager in the 80s. My sister actually loves Last Christmas because it reminds her of that time. So- this is why most people disagreed with me on that post!
I love the enthusiasm to go big or go home and make it a Christmas to remember. Don’t invite Covid again.
When it comes to Christmas I have a bit of an unpopular view.
For one officially Christmas is starting Christmas Eve. The time before hand is called Advent and should be a time to reflect and await. So all the fancy things and celebrations beforehand are actually a bit off when you look at the meaning and historical aspect. So I cringe when people say Christmas before it officially is. And then if people take down the tree on Christmas Day. Because Christmas just started and lasts until January 6. Hence twelve days of Christmas… Just saying.
That said I do start to get some decorations out on December first. Mainly an advent wreath and a few lights and candles. But the tree is put up no earlier that then December 23rd. If I can manage on the 24th in the morning. It will not be lit until back from church service on Christmas Eve. because only then did Christmas start.
This is interesting! I did know about the 12 days of Christmas, and isn’t January 6th Epiphany? I don’t know all the religious reasons behind it. I do agree that it’s a relatively new thing to start celebrating so early.
Same – we decorate day after Thanksgiving. Glad you are reaching a level of acceptance with Last Christmas! 😉
Ha ha, yes, you all wore me down.
Yesss, let’s make Christmas 2022 so much better than Christmas 2021. I still can’t believe both of you got Covid during Christmas. That is just TOO damn unfair.
I’ve already started decorating because I just love how holiday decorations make me feel. So cheerful! Plus, I’ll be gone for a week after Christmas so I won’t have time to decorate until early December if I didn’t get started now. I’ll wait until I’m back from my cruise to put up my tree and lights and outside decorations, but it’s nice to have some garland out and Christmassy signage. 🙂
Yes, I know you’ve been decorating! Yes, you’ll miss a week after Thanksgiving so I think you’re definitely allowed to start now.