All I want for Christmas is December 26th

How did this happen? How did this nice jewish girl from Philly end up stuck with Christmas? OK, I admit it. Around 5 PM on Christmas Eve, I usually get the Christmas spirit, and rush around buying jars of fabulous jam made by the Trapist nuns in Italy for everyone I will see in the next 24 hours. And the tree does look beautiful, each ornament individually placed with an invocation for the coming year. I pulled a little wooden hen out of the box and invoked “a chicken in every pot”.

But the next day is hideous. I am far too co-dependent to enjoy the opening of the presents. I hate the “this one’s for you, this one’s for you.” Then, after the presents are over, there is all that dead time for the rest of the day and night.

Even if you wanted to ignore Christmas, it’s pretty hard to do since everything is CLOSED. Except for Chinatown and the movies, which is what all good jews do on Christmas.

I have been begging my non-jewish girlfriend, who just happens to be pagan, to let us go out for Chinese food for Christmas dinner instead of doing all that shopping and cooking and cleaning up. Especially since Christmas comes so close after Solstice. Every year. It’s not like Chanukah, which may come the day after thanksgiving or Christmas eve. No one ever says, “Wow, solstice is early this year.”

So here we are, six days before Christmas, planning two major parties. Solstice we stay up all night on our vigil for the returning light. Then, four days later, the house will fill up with family for Christmas. I think this year, by the time my birthday rolls around on New Years day, I will be content to sit around and watch the college football bowl games and do NOTHING!