I hate to say it, but I’m a bit of a scrooge when it comes to the holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the holidays. I love the idea of all the things that go with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. But for the last 11 or 12 years I have worked in retail. My official job title is office manager/bookkeeper. The holiday season is our busy season at Fort Worth Billiards. So beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving we all pitch in and do whatever it takes to get the job done. If I need to be up front behind the register so that the cashier can be out on the sales floor that’s what I do. Other people step outside the boundaries of their job titles also to get the job done. From that Friday after Thanksgiving until about 4:00 Christmas Eve afternoon we are go go go go. Even the week between Christmas and New Year’s we are busy busy busy.Beside working this hard during this time period, I am still spending over 2 hours a day in my car driving back and forth to work. So by the time the weekends roll around I am tired and spend my down time resting, that is if I don’t have to work on a Saturday. Plus there is the usual chores that still need to be done around the house.
So over the years I have stopped cooking and baking for the holidays, stopped decorating, I couldn’t tell you the last time I mailed out Christmas cards or even put up a Christmas tree. I know that sounds really awful. But there it is, the cold hard truth. Anna Hibbard is a scrooge.
But I do really really enjoy doing these things. So this year I vow to put up a Christmas tree. Doug always wants a real one, so maybe we will take a Saturday and spend it looking for something somewhat small. My decorations are still all boxed up out in the storage building. I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of shape they are in. We bought lights a couple of years ago to go on the house. There is another Saturday project we can do together. I always love sending out cards. There is still something to be said about receiving something from someone’s hand into yours. I will make at least one batch of fudge. I have always used the recipe on the jar of the marshmellow cream. It is easy and always comes out perfect. I have always loved making cookies and candy. I’m not making any promises on that. But I am certainly going to give it a try.
So I will try to remove at least a small layer of the scrooge that seems to have enveloped me over the last several years. It may not be easy, but I think I can at least get cards mailed out. If you want to see if I keep my promise to myself, send me your mailing address to annah40@yahoo.com. I will mail you a Christmas card from my hand to yours.