Happy Holidays? A Sense Of Fun, NOT

/ Ally Bean
::  Well, didn’t the holidays suck this year?  Or at least that’s how it went for us here at Chez Bean.  You too?

The weather, of course, was all wrong.  No matter where you were in the USA the weather was. not. right.

We had April-like spring temps in the 60s with rain and gray, depressing, bleak skies, instead of cool crisp winter weather with clear blue skies by day, starry skies by night.

Star of Bethlehem?  Nowhere to be seen.

Adding to the blah, Zen-Den had pneumonia so he was a noisy hacking joy to be around.  Keep in mind that I’m a highly sensitive person, meaning that for me his almost hourly coughing fits were like being jabbed with little plastic forks over and over and over again.

I used up my adrenaline supply for all of 2016 & then some.

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Full moon, hazy sky. No stars in sight.

::  Needless to say, but I’m going to say it anyhow, we did not get together with friends and family because… well, read health issue discussed immediately above.

So alone we sat.  Playing games, him on his iPhone, me on my iPad.  Occasionally watching TV or a movie or a football game.  Sort of.  Ordering things online because how else could we go shopping?

Why didn’t I read, you ask?

As you may or may not know, April is my least favorite month of the year because I’m allergic to the pollen and mold that it produces.  So, when that same weather showed up here [in December, thank you global warming] my eyes immediately went blurry, irritated by the aforementioned crap in the air.

Say adios to books.

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Drab brown leaves accented with a sprig of red.

:: MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT THIS YEAR WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING A HEALTHY ZEN-DEN HOME FOR TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT WITH NO WORK COMMITMENTS SO THAT WE COULD GET THINGS DONE AROUND THE HOUSE.

Things like sorting through and boxing up the junk in the basement. Taking things to Goodwill and Habitat For Humanity. Hanging pictures in gallery wall formations. Deciding on new paint colors for bedrooms. Going to furniture stores to look at and sit on potential new chairs and sofas.

Did any of this get done?

NO! Not. one. stinking. thing.

Meaning that as far as I’m concerned this holiday season was a bust. While I’m the first to admit that it wasn’t the worst holiday season* I’ve lived through, overall Christmas 2015 + New Year’s Day 2016 were a downright old bummer of an experience.

So boring.

* My worst Christmas/NY holiday memories include: hospital stays;  a nursing home;  post-operative recuperation at home;  talk of hospice care;  electrical outages leading to days of no heat & food spoilage in refrigerator.

And one horrible two-night stay, stuck in a shabby motel in northern GA, adjacent to nothing, with only basic cable, pre-wifi & cell phone, when our car broke down on NY Day, a Saturday, and the car dealership where it needed to be repaired wasn’t open until Monday.   

33 thoughts on “Happy Holidays? A Sense Of Fun, NOT”

  1. Wow! What a bleak holiday season for you and Zen Den! It was the opposite for us. Even though the weather was 80 degrees, humid and rainy at times, we were so happy to finally see our middle child and wife after not seeing them for over two years! Even our now 16 year old Mozieboy acted like a puppy again! We did lots of family things and even had a family portrait taken. We will have another small Christmas celebration when we go to see our families in Ohio the Martin Luther King weekend. I sure hope hubby is doing much better and that you will not catch any part of his illness. Happy New Year?

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    • Beth, glad to know your holidays went well. Sounds like it was fun all around. Wonder what our weather will be like by the time you get here? Could be Spring, might be Winter. Suggest bringing all clothes you own… just in case. 😉

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  2. Boy do I relate to the “plastic fork” syndrome. Chris has had a COUGH seemingly forever and we are now at hospital where she is getting an endoscopy. (Actually I could have done it at home.)😆 Getting estimates on some remodeling – price may change this idea. Got to be sure the walk in shower is 36″ to get a wheelchair thru Just in case ya know.

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    • Becky, what a muddle. Hospitals and remodeling– oh my! You are a brave woman to take on a home renovation project while being stabbed by little plastic forks. Hope all is well with Chris.

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  3. Thank you! I thought my holiday season was blah! Reading your post, my holidays now seem pretty upbeat! Our illness was just before the holidays with limited the decorating (yay!). Other than that it was just business as usual.

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  4. Sigh. I’m terribly sorry that your Holidays were Horrid. While we at the Dept. were not as bad, I also was ill with Something Or Other, and did not feel…Festive at all. I was grateful for milder weather (I. Hate. Snow. And. Cold.), but things never did feel Jolly to me in the runup to Christmas. The decorations and tree just made me feel cluttered and nervous. My tree was on the curb and everything was put away the day after. I felt much better–more serene.

    Rick is also an allergy/hay fever person, and until we got this cold snap, he was getting symptoms too. What a wacky winter thus far.

    Here’s to everyone feeling a lot more Centered.

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    • nance, like you, this year the decorations got on my very last nerve– and we took them down early, for something to do. The whole gray skies thing just hung over our days and Z-D’s coughing was a might trying for both of us. He’s feeling better now, but not 100%. I’m thinking that your idea of centeredness is a good one: calm + focus sound good to me.

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  5. I know what you mean about the weather. We opened presents in short sleeves and were still sweating as we flat out refused to turn on the AC. It was December, darn it! I noticed that the flowers that line our front steps bloomed and thought this is just so very wrong. But then I complained out loud and we had flurries yesterday, so if I hadn’t already caught kiddo’s head cold I most certainly will so now.

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    • Allie P, I thought about wearing shorts on Christmas Day but just. could. not. do. that. Ohio in winter is a time for sweaters & jeans & boots. Our forsythia bush out back had a few pathetic yellow blooms on it for a few days, but now that we’re below 30ºF they’re gone. Still no snow here, but I’m hoping for some, if only to kill all the pollen & mold that I despise. Hope you didn’t get the head cold and are living snot-free! 😉

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  6. Oddly enough, between December 23rd and the 31st, the only two days you could actually see the sun were the 24th and 25th. I did manage to get a picture of the full moon while never getting up from my computer desk, no less. Of course, we got that flooding rain almost every other day, then it stayed gray and cloudy right up until 2016…

    Sorry you holiday was a crappy one, but welcome back anyway!

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    • evilsquirrel13, I was looking forward to taking a few photos of the unique Christmas Day full moon, but it was not meant to be. I wondered how you were doing, hoping you were safe & dry. Having now moaned about our lousy Christmas here, I’m ready to face 2016 with a more positive attitude. Happy to be back, in fact.

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  7. It was a miserable holiday, wasn’t it? I am particularly sorry for poor ZD although allergies are not fun either. My neighbor and I have been complaining about spring-like hayfever the past several months. (Alaway is helpful if you haven’t tried it.) I hope that you both feel better.

    I’d love to read some of the stories about that last bit. I’ve had car trouble while traveling but not to the extent of your trip through Georgia. Ouch.

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    • Zazamataz, yes, Zen-Den was not a healthy happy camper. He’s better now, but not entirely back to normal. Such unfortunate timing. It sounds like your weather is causing the same allergies as ours did over Christmas. I’m tired of itchy eyes.

      As for the stories about my miserable Christmas experiences, I suspect that you’d be the only one interested in them. I find that people dislike even the mention that the holiday season could be lousy, let alone all the details about how that happens. So I remain quiet about such things.

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  9. It was hard to get into any kind of Christmas spirit with that 60-degree weather. But last night it snowed for the first time here. Maybe it’s about time to do Christmas all over again. I hope everyone’s feeling better over there now. There have been worse Christmases for me too – a couple years ago my husband’s back went out because of the Christmas tree and he had to sleep on the floor for months. I’m surprised Santa didn’t step on him. Hope you have fun in the new year!

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    • Sheila, it was weirdly warm weather which I could have enjoyed if it wasn’t raining all the time. Still, a bit of snow at the holidays is a good thing so if we get any here I’ll consider doing a fast Christmas do-over. Your poor husband. I can only imagine how painful + annoying back pain like that would be. Happy New Year to you, too.

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  10. Sorry to hear about your bummer holidays. 😦 I actually loved the warmer weather, though I’m not an allergy sufferer so that’s easy for me to say. I was in New Hampshire, and it was 66 degrees on Christmas Eve Day. Went for a coatless walk. That probably won’t ever happen again in that neck of the woods!

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  11. Poor Z and you as well. When the immediate family is sick, everything is put on hold and is more stressful. I think unseasonably warm weather in December is creepy. We had 60 degrees once and I hated it. I can’t imagine your misery with the allergies; not being able to read would KILL ME. I didn’t accomplish much over break either, but that was my own darned fault.

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    • Margaret, you’re right. The weather was creepy. If there’d been some sunshine I’d have gone with it, but so. much. wet. and. gray. And with little to do, I did get mighty powerful bored! But maybe that’s a good thing once in a while, eh? Gave me time to re-evaluate what to do next. Lots of time to re-evaluate…

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  12. It was around 15C / 59F here for the weeks leading up to Christmas, totally strange and not at all Christmassy. The weather is slowly getting colder and clearer and I think it’s due to drop quite spectacularly in the coming days. We did have a good Christmas here, but so sorry to hear of yours. Seems like ZD being ill and you being allergic put a complete spanner in the works. I’m with Zazzy, I would like to hear about the Georgia escapade too.

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    • Polly, I don’t remember any other Christmas with such odd, off-kilter weather reported everywhere. No one seemed comfortable, which turned the holiday season on its head. Like I said above it wasn’t my worst Christmas season ever, but it was a drag.

      [I’ll write about the GA story one of these days. Surprised anyone would want to read about it, but your wish is my command, oh gentle readers.]

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