Packin' up the Christmas stuff



It's always sad after Christmas. Sure, it's fun getting together with family and friends, and who can deny that opening presents is quite a thrill? Plus, if there are kids in your life, you get to see the joy of Christmas Eve/Day... and may even help assemble a few toys.

I helped my nephew, Ian, put together a Lego Star Wars cruiser. OK, "helped" is a bit of a strong word... I spread out the instructions, and he dumped the bags of Lego pieces on the floor. I assembled the cruiser piece by piece, and he picked up whatever looked partially finished and started playing with it. Anyway, I got many words of encouragement from him as I was putting together his toy... with a bad headache, no less! My favorite: "You, Uncle James, are a genius."

My sister , always up for a challenge, opted to buy Ian *another* Lego contraption the next day. She thought that since I could put one together with a bad headache, she could put one together with bad wrists. Not so much. It took her three hours, after which Ian promptly took it apart.

Anyway, back to the post-holiday depression: I'm always sad the days after Christmas, seeing Christmas trees at the curbside, bits of tinsel still entwined in the needles. And having to put away the holiday music for another year. Away goes Harry Connick Jr.'s album. Gone is our compilation of Christmas hits. On to New Year's, where we contemplate our resolutions and think of how we'll spend NY Eve. This year, I'm working, so there's the sadness of having to spend much of the night apart. I hope I'll at least get to be home with Jenny by midnight. Maybe we can take in a little of a party?

And then there's the disappointment that our friend Jessica won't be joining us for New Year's after all. StupidLousyIllnessThing. Get well soon, Jess!

I'm not depressed; really, I'm not. It's just always a letdown this time of year. Oh, and the sky is overcast and everything outside is just blah. So there's that.

Posted: Thu - December 30, 2004 at 12:16 PM          

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