so i have two midweek days off, then a half day of work tomorrow, then a week and a half off for christmas. how excited am i?
yesterday i went out with the kiddo and my brother to do a bit of last minute shopping. my dad (in all fairness he's gotten much better in the last few years) generally enlists either my sister or myself and sends us out into the world armed with a credit card to find something for my mom. he did, actually find one gift for her already, but sent me off yesterday to get her a sweater or something and some of the beauty products she uses.
so off the three of us headed into the sunny (god-damn-it! where's the snow!) december morning to brave the mall. yes, i know it was only 11 when we arrived. yes, i know it was a tuesday morning. but, my hand to god, we were parked and in 'n' out of the mall in under 45 minutes - and that was WITH a quick stop for purely interest's sake! how often does THAT happen this time of year?!
so i came home and finished my wrapping, read through my secret santa cookbook, and watched Patrick Stewart in Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. i think this is my favourite adaptation of the story (well except for the muppets, of course). something i learned this week: a christmas carol was written as part of the movement to repopularize the celebration of christmas among the middle class and city dwellers in england. it had been banned as 'too pagan' by the puritans, and was celebrated only sporadically and mostly by 'country' folk. christmas was just another working day. the character of scrooge was created as representation of the middleclass business owners who had lost touch with their pasts - a warning, if you will. cool, huh?
|