Have Yourself An Early Little Christmas

Things get busy this time of year. It's as if we are all Santas with a bag called time. Nothing will do but that we fill that bag as completely as possible, then go out and spread the cheer. Inevitably, there is little cheer left when the holidays arrive in earnest.

To forestall the Holiday Crash and Burn Syndrome (HoCraBS), we are getting together with my in-laws this afternoon. Either fortune has smiled upon us or we are making the best of a bad situation. Apparently, the freezer door was left ajar at their house. Somebody went downstairs to retrieve a fresh tub of ice cream and it was a toss-up whether it was best to consume it with a spoon or a straw. Friday evening, we received a concerned call. Saturday morning, we showed up with coolers, brought the goodies home, and grilled 5-7 pounds of hot Italian sausage. The house hound happily perfomed quality assurance on the sausage. He's still with us, so I guess we caught the sausage in time.

A turkey in the same freezer was afflicted with a nasty case of thaw. It is in the oven now developing a lovely case of cook. In another hour or so we will sit down to a turkey dinner, chase it with fresh pumpkin pie, then wash it down with hot coffee. Since we won't be here to celebrate Christmas, this is all working out very nicely. We're not tired of turkey and sweets at the moment. We enjoy being together on Sundays. And we don't have to wait to open our gifts. I just got off the phone with my sister-in-law and they are shipping their presents north tomorrow. So we may do this again soon.

If you plot this on a calendar, it will have roughly the same rhythm as tracks spun by a DJ with the DTs: M-M-M-Mer-Mer-Merry Chr-Chr-Christ-Christ-Christmas. M-Merry Chr-Christmas. Merry Christmas. These aren't exactly the 12 Days of song, but they're not bad, either.

Who can get enough of a good holiday?