It’s that time again

Yeah it’s December in all its glory and I am so fucking over it already. I mean we’ve been celebrating Christmas (Holidays / I don’t care what you call it) 2 nano seconds after Halloween (sorry we don’t do Thanksgiving Down Under) and if I hear another soppy sappy “white Christmas” song I will scream. We don’t do white Christmas Down Under either – unless it is hail, the size of golf balls and bigger hail, just to clarify. No weeny shit for us!

I switch on my news just to read the latest WTF moment for all my mates in the great ol’ US of A. All those posts on reddit of entitled parents and kids is being played out on a stage much bigger than the local shop or professional office. It is easy to become outraged – and to offer opinion from my seat – but a part of me thinks that this was kinda brought on by you in the first place. A TV personality is not a good fit for running a place – you need leadership not showmanship. And now that entitled kid wants to keep the prize and it will be hard to take it away. The people have spoken – now we will see if the entitled kid gets his comeuppance.

Yes I am fully aware that in my corner of the woods we have our own political shenanigans we have to work through. It is easy to cast stones, but I am fully aware of my own glass house scenario and the number of holes and cracks. It worries me how the behaviour from there will affect behaviour in other parts of the world – because the minute 1 gets away with it, they all do.

Of course that leads straight into the next rant of the day / week / month / year. A certain couple left the “Institution” for a life lead their way and out of the public eye. They wanted privacy and quiet far from the maddening public. Yet every fucking time I open the news, there they are. Photo op for a wreath, zoom meeting from that beige 2-seater, essay writing and loads of conversations with reporters. Now I think that if you want to go “off-grid” and lead a private life, then you bloody well make sure you stay out of the limelight. Do I think that they have sway? Yes, and they have the potential to do an amazing amount of good. But all I have seen so far is another case of entitlement. The whole idea of stardom has gone to their heads and their potential for real change will be lost in the Hollywood glamour and façade.

But let’s make this more local. Certainly not my happy time as I am prodded and poked and not a damn dinner and wine in sight! I will be making a horrid decision this evening, but I do not see another path – at least not for this month. Maybe from January, but fuck it I like my procrastination – it suits me. It obviously does not suit my health.

Then there is the next 3 weeks. For 2 of those I have to be nice. Like really nice. Just to be dismissed and ignored and relegated to the back of the room in the darkest corner. The worst side effect of being the one who cares for everyone is that you are taken for granted. Meh.

It’s time for a little fun. My top ten Christmas peeves:

#10 – Decorations. Reusing last year’s is tragic, it must be new! And let’s not forget the decoration of every single item in your house in the theme of red, green and white. Oh and they have to be taken down and packed away again…

#9 – Christmas music

#8 – Making the kids sit on a stranger’s lap and ask for presents and then telling the kid never to talk to strangers or ask people for things..

#7 – Inviting the entire family and the kitchen sink because we can’t forget Cousin So-and-So, not that we have spoken since last Christmas. Or Cousin X who said they weren’t coming and then arrive and you have not catered nor purchased a gift for!!

#6 – Elf on a shelf.

#5 – Not planning and then bitching when queues are long at the checkout and prices are inflated. You knew what was coming and you still waited – it is on you – shut up with your bitching. August is too early I agree to be organised, but early December is good enough. Anything in Christmas week and I have no sympathy.

#4 – Christmas paper and sellotape and the clean up for 2 seconds of euphoria until they see the umpteenth pair of socks and undies

#3 – The cooking everything from scratch in weather that is better suited for the beach and not the kitchen

#2 – The amount of money spent on something that is not personal. Spend that on a birthday – it means more.

#1 – The level of expectation to get it all perfect.

I love Christmas. I never get to spend it the way I want, and with a birthday just before, the 2 events are rolled into one. I often get no gifts and when I do, I have either bought it myself or it is just an afterthought. Even when I tell people what I want, I get things that are totally not me. But I love Christmas – I just haven’t worked out how to make it magical for myself.

What are your pet peeves?