Last week I ran to town to do some Christmas shopping. One of the unintended consequences of taking a position where my wife works is we get no time away from each other except for when we are actually working. She teases me that if we are fighting, she doesn’t HAVE to see sixth grade. Bah! 🙂

#yeahyeahyeah

One of the things I used to enjoy doing was just taking off after school for a quick shopping trip. Nothing too far or too much, just to get things done and be among people. Now, we have to figure out when I’m going, drive separate cars to work, and it’s much more of a process than before. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but just a little more complicated.

I like to get out among people. Just being out and seeing others enjoy the holidays helps my own mood (see my previous blog, I’m a bit of a curmudgeon). I got ZERO holiday boost last night. Grumpy people, crying kids (“But I want it”), and missing items just led me home in a frightful mood.

This year, I feel very much like Charlie Brown. Honestly, the older I get, the less I get. I just feel empty. We celebrated with my parents, brother, and his family on the 23rd. We had a nice time. The unintended consequence of that is we didn’t get to see my parents on Christmas Eve, only the second time we’ve missed it (2020 being the first) since 1999. Our daughter and her fiancee took off yesterday afternoon so we didn’t get to celebrate the day with them either (Christmas felt like it was yesterday, not today). Today, just felt like, well, Monday.

This has been a gradual thing, but this year, it just hit really hard. We just finished watching “A Charlie Bronw Christmas” and are in the middle of “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and that helps. I should be excited about the time away from school, but I’m just thinking about the work that needs to be done.

Well, I hope your Christmas/Holiday Season has been more joyful than mine. Hopefully, we’ll find some joy.

Somewhere.