Much as people might disagree vehemently,
something in my inner timekeeper has decided that now is an acceptable time to
be Thinking About Christmas.
I used to be wildly against Christmas and
the tentacles of its preparation happening too early in the year. I was quite
happy to focus on Guy Fawkes’ night, and then the critically important event
that is my birthday, without having the focus taken away and redistributed to
an event much later in the year.
But this approach has been shifting over
time, and where I once made a clear demarcation between the autumnal events and
the Christmas season, I now prefer to roll everything together and thoroughly
enjoy one long spell of festivities.
So it was that, whilst with Best Mate in
Suffolk for a couple of days last week, I happened upon and purchased the bulk
of this year’s Christmas cards. Given that I am particularly particular about
my cards, I leap at the chance to buy those that meet all my requirements when I happen upon them:
tasteful, not gaudy; proceeds donated to charity; and with faintly religious
overtones. Whilst not a regular churchgoer, I appreciate that Christmas is an
essentially Christian festival, and I like to mark it thus. That, and I see
there being very little that’s fundamentally Christmassy about a guinea pig in
a Santa hat.
With the cards sitting on the table,
alongside a woefully out-of-date address book, The Writer and I lounged on the
sofa in front of an excellent episode of Homeland
on Sunday night, and I texted several of my nearest and dearest to ask for their
addresses.
Clearly, I am an anomaly in Social Circle
Blonde, thinking about Christmas before November’s hit, because the majority of
the messages I received in reply, whilst merrily giving me what I’d asked for,
also contained some variation of the following:
OOOHH?!??!
May I
ask what this is regarding?
I
take it I shouldn’t ask why…
And then The Redhead, who just came out and
said what everyone else was clearly skirting around:
Hang
on. This isn’t a wedding invitation address request, is it?
(The main exception was Pleasedonteatjo,
who asked whether I was sending her a horse, as she’d need a bigger postbox.
Top marks, that woman.)
I don’t know whether it’s an age thing, or
a living-happily-with-the-boyfriend thing, or just a we-can’t-possibly-countenance-that-she-would-ever-be-that-organised
thing, but people find it far easier to believe that I would be getting married
than that I would be drawing up the Christmas list. I’m not entirely sure how
to take that, to be honest. But I do know that some people should expect a
highly raised eyebrow in with their Christmas card. And possibly a guinea pig
in a Santa hat in protest.
8 comments:
Well thank you for this post, it made me guffaw :)
Char: Well, thank you for your comment. I'm glad!
People are ridiculous. Maybe blog time flies too much but I swear you two have been together for about half a minute. I know you live together and all but still!
Sprinkled Words: Not quite 18 months. So yes - you're right. People are vastly enthusiastic on my behalf!
I follow EXACTLY the same Christmas card rules as you do. I didn't know anyone else did! And I can recommend the cards sold by Combat Stress. Great charity, pretty good cards, decent price. Although I'm pretty sure they don't have guinea pigs in any guise....
Mud: Oh yes. Them's the rules. There'll be no creatures in hats here. I know this doesn't help you, but Waitrose has an excellent selection this year. Will check out Combat Stress though, as Allowed Cards aren't always easy to find.
18 months? Is it that long? Gosh, congratulations. And on being so organised that you have a Christmas card list before the end of October.
I have to say upon discovering it was a Christmas card and *not* a horse, that I was quite disappointed.
Although if we're starting festivities early, then I'll go for a New Years resolution: lower expectations.x
Post a Comment