Christmas in August
posted Friday August 27th, 2010
On August 8, I emailed my friend Robrt.
“Let the record reflect…that I started my Hanukkah shopping today,” I wrote.
He replied, “You rule.”
“This year is going to be different!” I answered, sensing sarcasm, which he confirmed with, “I suspect you mean that.”
I’m sure Robrt’s right, and that this year I’ll drag myself through the holidays – complaining bitterly, surviving on three hours of sleep a night. Why should it be any different than Christmases past?
Or maybe it will be. I think I’ve found the solution. Just start preparing for the holidays as soon as they end — or, at least, before temperatures dip below 110. That way, there’s no crush. I’ve tried starting right after Halloween, but that kind of behavior is for amateurs! This year, it’s Christmas in August, baby. Christmas in August.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Meantime, as part of my Early Preparedness scheme, I’ve already scheduled a holiday writing class at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. I wanted to call it “It’s the Holidays, Damn it!” but that was vetoed in favor of “Holidaze: How to Write About the Happiest Time of the Year.”
I’m sure Robrt will appreciate the sarcasm, even if no one else does.
i appreciate the sarcasm. thank-you-very-much!
do you ever think about offering your workshops online? I keep seeing all kinds of online classes.
You are way ahead of me just thinking about it!
hey cate — i just can’t get down with the online workshop idea… it seems so important to have the in-person interaction, you know? but you, maya and i should start a mini writing group — i can only imagine our prompt for each other! ha!
Ha! I started holiday shopping this week too, except I decided to keep the necklace I picked up for myself, so maybe not so good to shop early. But this reminds me of that “crappy holidays” piece I wrote in your workshop about our family tradition of fighting every year. Just the time of year to start submitting that one..
Cheri, you better submit it!!! I can see your name in lights!
I feel as if I should “out” Robrt (not in the typical sense – too late for that). He may seem curmudgeonly, but he is all about Christmas. Typically, he begins asking (right around April every year) if it is “too early to talk about Christmas.” I swear he would buy a tree in August if he thought it would stay alive until January.
And good for you, Amy. Just don’t forget what you’ve bought when December comes around. Also, make sure you include plenty of cleaning supplies in your holiday gift giving for children. If I had children (reason #3,258 against the idea) I would be buying them swiffers and vacuum cleaners and mops and pretending that cleaning is the most fun any person could ever have – way better than video games.
oh dear — please let the record reflect, as todd confirms, that robrt DOES start his holiday shopping way before the rest of us and does, in fact, love christmas. a lot. and in the best way. (my expanded cookie jar collection is evidence.) but he’s also heard me express my good and doomed intentions every year. so his sarcasm is most justified.
ok, i feel better now.
ha! The writing workshop for cynical parents of kids with DS. that would be funny.
I’ll have to see if I can find the link that made me think of it. It was something that looked kind of cool but also expensive, enough to make me wonder what kind of market there is.
I have no idea what any of you people are talking about.