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i have never been this disinterested in a christmas in my life. we had the presents, we had the tree, the food, the right music, and both of us had the day off... and it was just another day. a cool day, because we got beavis and butt-head on dvd and season 5 of the simpsons (and watched quite a bit of both), but still just a day. and shaggy got me a bread maker. i should be jumping up and down screaming for joy. i love fresh hot homemade bread, but it takes a good 4 hours what with prep and cleanup and all that, and do i ever have 4 hours? but this machine is awesome! i dumped some stuff in, pushed some buttons, went to sleep, and voila! when i woke up, there was bread. it took one paper towel to clean up some flour i spilled while measuring, and i have bread.
so i don't know what the deal is. is it age that makes things mediocre? more likely it's my firsthand experience of the retail madness that killed the christmas spirit - all those crazy people fighting to spend their money on token gifts that probably won't be appreciated anyway... for example, i received several "safe" token gifts of scented candles a picture frames. and i gave out masses of fudge and cookies (job security for personal trainers...no, i'm not devious).
my parents sent the same two items they sent last year, just in different colors (how thoughtful). i am not making this up. the silly wraparound skirt that is sitting in my car trunk now has a twin on my floor. and the silk pajamas that smell like oil are also no longer alone in a plastic bag in my closet (the smell is kinda gross, and i don't want to infect my other clothes - but how can one throw away silk pajamas? it's not like they can be easily washed).
with all the seasonal madness, i have decided to get my christmas shopping for this year completed by march or so, then have it all wrapped/labeled, ready to mail, etc. by april, and then i can stick it in the closet and forget about it until the middle of december next year. or i could be sadly realistic and mail out sheets of notebook paper next year, with depressing messages, such as:
"it costs too much to mail packages." or
"i didn't feel like fighting the crowds." or
"i thought about getting you something nice, and it's the thought that counts."
shoot, i could have those ready to go tomorrow.