Two separate conversations, three identical conclusions: The 2011 holiday season doesn’t really feel like anything worth celebrating. I think it, my mom thinks it, Jess thinks it. This year, the holidays seem more trouble than they’re worth.
Perhaps the unseasonably mild weather contributes; without snow and bitter cold, it feels like late spring. Not like Christmas.
Perhaps the lack of a defined routine matters. In the past, the holiday season inaugurated with a giant feast at my grandparents’ house on Thanksgiving, then progressed through the solemnity of Advent, and culminated with a two-fer of a huge family get-together on Christmas Eve night at my grandparents, then Christmas morning at home.  With my grandfather enjoying his eternal reward and the other holidays skipping around a bit (or fixed but with fewer people), there’s not a lot of joy in it anymore.
Perhaps its a sense of impatience: with myself, with the world. It’s like I can hear the clock ticking but can’t do anything about it.
Perhaps it’s an overall frustration with a whole bunch of things right now. Mostly work-related. Plus the brakes on my truck are shot, which means driving is risky.
I don’t know.
I did have some fun. Dinner and cigars in Lansing with Tony and Jen was nice. The office potluck before Thanksgiving afforded the opportunity to try a new jambalaya recipe on the unsuspecting masses. My mom’s Thanksgiving meal was lovely, as was Christmas eve, and the weekend before Christmas offered a great opportunity to spend time with the family at my grandmother’s condo. I went to the 10 a.m. Mass of Christmas Day at the Cathedral of St. Andrew; the service was beautiful and I even got a bit emotional during the singing.
And the new year should be fun — a huge dinner and open bar at a hotel in Livonia to ring in the new year with Tony and Jen. Looking forward to that.
And this week, I’m off from the hospital. Yay. And I’m actually being astonishingly productive. (Said, as laundry is cycling and dishes are drying and my email is caught-up and my task list is refreshed … while I blog.)
But still. In terms of holiday seasons, this one doesn’t rank high on the memorableness chart.