December - the recurring theme of Christmas

Trying hard not to be so 'humbug' about the whole Christmas thing, I've put up some decorations and a very nice tree AND splashed out on a couple of garden lights. It all looks quite nice... but there's no magic.

Starting with Christmas Cards - I dislike waste and, to me, that is exactly what Christmas cards represent. Whilst I genuinely appreciate the warmth of the greeting, the card itself presents a problem. To not waste the effort that went into the design and printing, in the past I used old cards to create new cards or gift tags for the following year, the surplus of which I donated to the village school who sold them cheaply at Christmas Fairs. Brilliantly, I have found somebody else who will use cards in this way so all cards are now recycled with very little effort from me.

Bah... Humbug!

Writing cards is a major effort, though, as I have lost my ability to write legibly. During the past 3 or 4 years, I've managed to send some cards to people I know. No plan, no list, just writing a few cards in response to those that trickled through the door. By mid-December, there's more of a deluge and, unable to keep up, I give up so only about 40% of the Happy Xmases have been reciprocated. That's assuming that Royal Mail employees can decipher the address scrawled on the envelope.

It's only a few days to Christmas and I haven't purchased a single present. Nor have I any inclination to do so but it's expected and, to be honest, the heavily decorated tree looks lonely without any wrapped gifts beneath it. However, the gift tokens that we'll be buying for our many nephews and nieces (because that's what they want) won't do the tree justice. Gift tokens - no wonder there's no magic... oh my god, I'm going to stop now. I've depressed myself into humbug mode after all... this wasn't the direction I meant to go with this post but, well, hey ho ho!

Em.Nester