Month end

Can you imagine, it’s already the end of September?  Somehow 9 months of this year have slipped past!  Tempus fugit, really!  It’s warmer today than it was during the week, and the forecast calls for temperatures in the mid- to upper-20s this week coming.  October with almost 30C temps?  Unbelievable.  It’s difficult to imagine that this will last much longer, and I am not ready at all for winter… the older I get, the less I enjoy winter, so yes, I’m clearly in the wrong part of the world for this.  Jerry seems to have decided that games will now happen before he gets up, and that will involve turning in circles, running up and down the bed, scrabbling under the bed and then jumping up for cuddles before he’ll agree to me getting up!  Don is still not in good shape, and complains about pain and soreness.  He’s also engrossed with his sports, and has been watching various games since about 1pm today.

You’ll be excited to hear that I cooked some bok choi today, but didn’t do anything to go with it yet.  I’ll probably throw together some fried rice or fried noodles, and maybe some shrimp (I think I still have some) instead of chicken.  I’ll see what emerges from my creative mind tomorrow.  I’m also happy to report good sleep, no pain, no aches or anything untoward.  The only concern I have, which is fairly minor, is a bruise that suddenly appeared at the back of my leg.  I have no recollection of hitting myself there, or anything, and I hope it clears up before my nurse arrives!  If it’s still there, I’ll have to report it, otherwise it’s just “one of those things.”  One friend, with whom I was out earlier this week, called to advise that she’s got signs of a cold/flu and hopes that I’m unaffected.  I was able to say that I have no such symptoms, and we weren’t close to each other; even in the car the windows and sunroof were open, and we were seated outdoors, so I’m optimistic that she picked it up after our lunch date.

As with every year at this time, Christmas decorations are already on display and Halloween items are being displaced!  Now, I don’t celebrate Halloween; it wasn’t a part of my childhood, and it just doesn’t appeal to me.  But even I think that there should be a period where it’s easy to get your creepy, spooky stuff before it’s replaced by tinsel and fat guys in red suits!  Part of me thinks that the “old” way of doing things is preferable… by which I mean that in October, there would be all the spooky crap, then in mid-November, start with the tinsels and trees.  I do appreciate that there are people who don’t celebrate any holidays, for all sorts of reasons, and I’m not judging anyone for how they choose to do things.  I’d just think it would be much easier if there was time to celebrate each things before the next one starts!  I’d think that it should be relatively easy to find a Halloween costume in mid-October, but nope.  Our Thanksgiving is next week, and there’s very little indication of it, as it’s been squeezed by Christmas!  And various sales.  Because if you’re not spending into debt, you can’t be enjoying the holiday, can you?  I’ve actually begun to seriously dislike Christmas commercials, filled as they are with “gimme, gimme” and “buy, buy!”  I know, I’m getting old and cranky… but I find that there’s too much pushed into a short time, with far too many expectations heaped on a single day so it’s almost impossible to really enjoy.  I’ll do what I want to mark the occasion; Don still suffers from working retail for several successive Christmases, so it’s fairly low key.

Don’t get me started on the endless “<character> saves Christmas” cartoons that abound.  The Flintstones, the Jetsons, My little pony, an assortment of Disney characters, KISS… among many others, all have had to step in.  At this point, Santa should have cancelled his in-person delivery and switched to drones.  It’s too much!  As you can guess, I won’t be watching any of those and will find other ways to celebrate.  I think what I’m clumsily trying to say is that less is more, sometimes, and perhaps skipping the avaricious spirit of “gimme!” would lead to a happier time?  Just a thought… meanwhile, I’ll work on enjoying Thanksgiving next weekend.  Good night!