crimmles.com

It has already been four days since the year’s biggest day, and I can’t believe it. Nor do I want to. You think one day, you’ll get used to feeling sad after Christmas is over, but for me, it seems to be getting worse. When I was a kid, the day was great until about 6 or 7pm; these days, the sucking begins around 3pm. And it usually only lasted into the next day. Now, I’m counting how many days past until about January 25th, then two days later, my mind wanders to “Oh my, I’m older again…!” I don’t like the fact that I must age in order to take my mind off of the passing of Christmas.

More and more lately, I realize how I attach viewings of my favorite Christmas shows to certain events in my life. Not big events, but mundane ones that make me happy nonetheless. Rudolph reminds me of my dad, who always made sure we knew it was coming on (back when CBS aired it a week or two before Christmas, and not four days after Thanksgiving the way they do now.)  We all love Rudolph, and call the Abominable Snow Monster by the name of a certain aunt ;)  I remember watching it one year before going to a work party of my dad’s, while using hot rollers on myself for the first time, possibly (I think I was about 7.) I also remember that party, and the gifts I got, and still have- a set of two My Precious Puffs, these weird looking little puffy things with faces. They were scented like perfume I think, you could wear them on your wrist,  and came with a comb and mine had a drum set and record player. I still have my blue one, but no clue where the orange one went. Toys in the 1980’s were something else

My second favorite is the original Frosty the Snowman, with Jimmy Durante. It feels wrong to decorate the tree without having Frosty on. And with this one, I associate memories of tangled strings of colored lights, my mom’s old tree ornaments, and the small trailer we lived in at the time. I love my mom’s ornaments, many of them handmade by her grandmother in Oregon. I love old beaded ornaments. And the ballerinas her grandmother made- just beads and pipe cleaners, but three of my forever favorites. I used to sneak them out of the ornament box and play with them. I think they are no longer fully intact- and the white one may be gone completely- but the tree is not the same without them.

The Grinch holds his place as the one my sister and I will watch over and over separately, then over and over when we are together. I think TBS used to show it and A Christmas Story together, before the current must watch 24 hour marathon. Which I missed this year, sadly. I have been able to see Mr. Grinch about 4 times this year on CN and TNT, and look forward to digging out our ancient VHS copy when my parents and siblings have our Christmas January 2nd. A change I don’t like (thanks to our brother’s offshore job- why must rigs keep workers over holidays? That seems so stupid to me) but try to like because it extends Christmas just a little longer. Kind of.

So I plan to finish up my holiday season making more goodies than any of us needs, and maybe squirreling away a few cookies for my own personal stash, as a way to keep the feeling going. I really don’t like the way the end of Christmas feels, and I am certainly not good with change (is it sad that I am a mere 28 and already I am feeling too much of my life has passed by? That I am waxing nostalgic about the ‘good ol days’ when they were barely 20 years ago? No, not too weird )  I also have a few UFOs in the crafts basket, and a few more needs to starts, courtesy of Scott and the book I received from him. Maybe by the time the next holiday season rolls around, I will have enough on my plate to keep me busily distracted, and unable to focus on the super quick ending.  And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to convince everyone that doing Christmas closer to the way we used to wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Here’s to hoping, eh?