Once again, I’m reposting this oldie but goodie. It’s Christmas Eve, and like many of you, I can’t wait to bid 2020 goodbye and good riddance. Marooned at home with my husband, my dog and my cat, I’ve been surprisingly cheerful all year, but I haven’t really gotten into the Christmas spirit. But for old… [Read More]
The Week of The Taint
I’ve published this post before, but I believe it’s worth an encore. Warning: it’s a bit gross. Norwegians have a word for the week between Christmas and New Year’s: romjula. The closest we have in English is the word Taint, meaning it ‘taint Christmas any more, but it ‘taint New Year’s either. I’m indebted to Rex… [Read More]
The Most Over-Hyped Time of the Year
Only eight days till Christmas, and I’m immersed in the holiday spirit. But there have been past Christmases when I was mired in depression or feeling very “bah humbug” about the holidays. I’m well aware that this season conjures up a wide range of emotions in shades from joy to despair, and that December can… [Read More]
Curbing the Christmas urge to overspend
My Christmas shopping came to a screeching halt this morning when the garden center rejected my debit card. Fortunately, I had the checkbook from my other account, the one I share with my husband, so I wrote a check to cover the cost. I’d finally found the perfect ornament for the top of the tree,… [Read More]
Gratitude for the things money can’t buy
My refrigerator’s looking pretty bare, but I can’t shop for groceries, because my checking account’s practically zeroed out. Fortunately my predicament’s temporary, because tomorrow’s the fourth Tuesday of the month, and that means my Social Security payment will magically appear in my account, followed on the last day of the month by my New York… [Read More]
Good grief, I never put up the Christmas tree. Am I jinxed? Not yet!
This Christmas, for the first time in 35 years, we never put up the Christmas tree. It’s not that we didn’t have one – we had three, in fact. So what happened? Did I bring down the jinx of Scrooge on my happy home? So far so good – but the holidays aren’t over yet…. [Read More]