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Christmas, This Year
I am lead to understand that I escaped Seattle just in time. The town is not known for its ability to function coated in even the thinnest layer of snow, and it looks like the pile they've got now has caused them to go somewhat haywire. If the town wasn't basically closed before, it is now, and I heard that someone pumped de-froster into a vent at SeaTac because they mistook it for... god, I don't even know. This isn't the type of reaction that I am used to, re: snow, because it happens all the time here. To me, it almost plays out like an Asops fable, but it's a major deal for them. Luckily my own preperations were enough.
Regarding Christmas, well, it's really something else this year. Unlike last year, there is no concentrated misery or expectations of such. Both my dad and his roommate have better jobs and so do I. It's interesting that even a year after, we're all still somewhat in recovery mode, but that feels great compared to another Christmas where things are even worse then they were the year before. That was a fast spiral down, and its cause was clear in retrospect; we did not hand out many gifts this year, but the gifts that we did exchange did not cause us to look over our collective shoulders at the totals of our accounts as if this paltry collection of DVDs would cause us to dip into the red. Well, perhaps my mother did. It's difficult to say.
The holidays are a season of togetherness, or so the television has told me. Being so terribly hyped, it's no wonder that for those people in difficult circumstances, it is the most stressful time of the year, as we scrabble to erect a semblance of the expected yule-time results. My brother is out of jail, and my parents have just finalized their divorce, but both my mother and brother made it over on Christmas Eve to eat, drink, and play a terrible game of Scrabble before she escaped to a gay bar in downtown St. Louis, taking Brandon with her. My father was a little dissapointed to be ditched at 10 PM for electronic dance music, but there's really no surprise there. The surprise was that she came at all, and a little greater was that she continues to trust Brandon with her car. It would be worse if he had a long history of wrecking cars...
So, now it's Christmas day. I'll be spending it at my uncles, and it's almost always a very nice time. We spend most of the evening eating and talking, but historically I can finish a small novel up there as well without much difficulty. Then the holiday will be over, taking its expectations with it. That's about all I can really expect, and then it's all about the days between here and the first of the year.
Regarding Christmas, well, it's really something else this year. Unlike last year, there is no concentrated misery or expectations of such. Both my dad and his roommate have better jobs and so do I. It's interesting that even a year after, we're all still somewhat in recovery mode, but that feels great compared to another Christmas where things are even worse then they were the year before. That was a fast spiral down, and its cause was clear in retrospect; we did not hand out many gifts this year, but the gifts that we did exchange did not cause us to look over our collective shoulders at the totals of our accounts as if this paltry collection of DVDs would cause us to dip into the red. Well, perhaps my mother did. It's difficult to say.
The holidays are a season of togetherness, or so the television has told me. Being so terribly hyped, it's no wonder that for those people in difficult circumstances, it is the most stressful time of the year, as we scrabble to erect a semblance of the expected yule-time results. My brother is out of jail, and my parents have just finalized their divorce, but both my mother and brother made it over on Christmas Eve to eat, drink, and play a terrible game of Scrabble before she escaped to a gay bar in downtown St. Louis, taking Brandon with her. My father was a little dissapointed to be ditched at 10 PM for electronic dance music, but there's really no surprise there. The surprise was that she came at all, and a little greater was that she continues to trust Brandon with her car. It would be worse if he had a long history of wrecking cars...
So, now it's Christmas day. I'll be spending it at my uncles, and it's almost always a very nice time. We spend most of the evening eating and talking, but historically I can finish a small novel up there as well without much difficulty. Then the holiday will be over, taking its expectations with it. That's about all I can really expect, and then it's all about the days between here and the first of the year.
no subject
Then grandma jumped off the mortal coil, and she was the glue that held us together. Now everything has gone downhill - selfish aunts and uncles and their selfish brat spawn leaving early or not coming at all, and too absorbed in their own bullshit to pay much attention to my aging grandfather or the rest of us, god forbid.
The lowest point was about 2 years ago when my mother broke down into tears in a back room after dinner. Since then, I'm not real keen on doing Christmas with the family, and honestly there's maybe one or two of them I still give a rat's ass about (no offense to any rats to you may know).
It seems like when you're a kid, Christmas is this bright glowing thing in your mind, a nexus of happiness. Then you grow up, and you become miserable during Christmas for all the usual reasons, and you realize all the adults in your life when you were a kid were miserable on Christmas too.
Sorry to rant on your LJ.
no subject
For me, it's just a good measuring stick to determine where you are now vs. where you were before. For me, last year was terrible but this year is pretty good in comparison. My yardsticks are those of sheer misery and poverty. I don't know if this is a year of merriment, but I'll take what boons I can find.