The "Not Quite Christmas" Christmas

It seems that the past few years that Christmas just hasn't felt the same as it did growing up. I've come to accept that a good deal of that comes from just not being a kid anymore. That's fine. This year, though, felt even less like Christmas than in recent years past. Part of that was the short amount of time I was in Illinois visiting family, part of it was the low turnout on Christmas day. This year was my Mom's family's turn. Usually that's 40-50 people. This year it was more like 20-25. It felt like nobody was there. I think that I only physically unwrapped one gift had something to do with it as well. Don't get me wrong, I can really use the money I got...especially since I had to get the car fixed, but it's just not quite the same.

Those were the reasons that this year felt particularly un-Christmas-y, but there are more reasons that have been that way for a few years now. These reasons really go hand-in-hand. Reason number the first is that I don't have my own family to spend Christmas with. By which I mean my own wife and, later, kids. When I watch others, it's evident that there's something special to that and I want it for myself. Don't get me wrong. This isn't the annual time that I complain about being single at the holidays (that'll probably hit its crescendo on New Years' Eve anyway). That's not what this is about. That actually, and oddly enough, bothered me less this year than in previous years. Maybe it's because I have some "irons in the fire" as the kids say.

Reason number the second is the lack of Christmas decorations in my house. It used to be that the Christmas decorations came out a month before Christmas, and even when life got in the way, they were there to remind me that it really was Christmas time. Yes, I could put up decorations, or just a tree even, but I informally decided a couple years ago that I didn't want to bother with such things until I had a "significant other" to do the decorating with. It would just make me feel more alone if I put up decorations by myself. I think that's because the whole family helped put them up when I was a kid. It's the kind of thing you do as a group, even if everyone in the group is complaining about it.
I did get my new glasses today though (more on those in a future blog post), so I've got that going for me...which is nice. I could have done without doing my best impression of this guy when I got the glasses though.


Oh well, that's just me being me.

A New Plan

With the end of the year fast approaching, it's not too soon to start thinking about tax season. I've decided that I'll take a new approach this year. Sure, I'll still go the regular route of taking itemized tax deductions. However, I will also add tax seductions to my list. I will romance America in a way that she's never been romanced before, and she'll forget all about my tax burden. I don't want to give away all my secrets, but rest assured that there will be candles, flowers, incense and body oils of all kinds involved. I will take America away to a different time and place where she may imagine herself as a princess riding through a meadow of orchids on the back of unicorn, as that is her wont.

I will remind her how special she is and how much she is loved. The dew of my tenderness will be upon her. Rather than asking for monetary contributions from me, she will lay her treasure out before me. I will partake of only an appropriate amount, as I am a gentleman in every sense of the word. Mutual gratitude will be exchanged afterward. Before parting ways, I will remind America that tax season will come again the following year that she may await it in breathless anticipation. She will appreciate my loving candor. Some people love America. I prefer to make love to America.

Who needs an accountant when you've got such a brilliant plan as the one I've concocted? To America, I'll be seeing you real soon baby.

Pain

And plenty of it. First it was my elbow...almost 3 months ago now. Now it's my knee. Isn't getting old and having your body fall apart great? It's not all bad though. I should be getting the referral to the orthopedist tomorrow...and actually seeing the orthopedist soon. I also found out today that when the orthopedist says I need to get MRIs on my elbow and knee (which I'm guessing he/she will) that my insurance company will cover the cost. So I've got that going for me, which is nice. The nerd part of me, which is an admittedly large part, is also looking forward to what the MRI images will look like. I'm "cool" like that. :) Besides, I'll take significant physical pain over significant emotional pain 10 times out of 10. It heals faster. I'm also finally getting over my cold too, so I'm feeling the best I've felt in a week. Yay me!!

It's super frustrating to have two major hurty body parts right now, but as always, God knows what he's doing. When my elbow started hurting, I had to stop lifting with my arms and focus more on my legs when I was working out. Now that my knee's hurting I can't work out at all. That does free up a good chunk of 2 nights and Saturday morning each week for getting the Studiophile stuff done...and it needs to get done. I'm actually typing this post right now while I'm waiting for some stuff to print so I can get more work done. It gets stressful and it gets tiring, but seeing where we're going with things motivates me, and I'm sure that this will all be more than worth it in the future.

There have been more times than I can count (okay, so I could probably count them if I could remember them all, but I wasn't taking notes at the time) along the way already where I have seen how things have gone and had to step back and say "That's God doing this. Things don't work this way." and I can't help but get excited about where things are going. This, like so many other phases of my life so far, isn't all sunshine, lollipops and puppy dogs along the way, but I just know when I get to the other side of it and look back on how things unfolded I won't have a choice but to praise God. I've rambled enough, and my printouts are almost done, so as the kids say, I'll catch you on the flipside. Okay, so the kids aren't actually saying that, but nobody's probably reading this anyway...