DECEMBER 9

December 9th 2017

This season,

I seem to be doing everything

I want to do at home,

For other people!

{Sigh}

Then by the time I get home,

I am too exhausted

To do anything here!

I started early this morning

And we spent 2 hours with Dad

Wrapping his wife's gifts

And filling her stocking!

Off to the condo

To drop them off under the tree,

And then into town

To get gas for monday's

Trip to Remicade,

A pit stop at dollar store,

Drop off at donation center,

And price something at CAA.

Got the call and headed to a friends'

To help her put ribbon on a tree 

And tie bows for it.

On the way home

I made a pit stop to visit

A broken friend.

Finally home at 3:30

And it was lightly snowing.

I flopped in a recliner.

And I had big plans for the day,

And alas,

It was not meant to be.

I did make the peanut brittle,

I did make some peanut butter

And marshmallow squares,

And I did make orso chicken for supper.

I spent the evening watching 

Sappy Christmas movies

And peeling labels 

off bottles for a project.

I did some tidying

As I headed up the stairs,

Remade the bed

And crawled in.

It's 8:30pm!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

The ugly Christmas sweater has become a ubiquitous feature of the holiday season, on par with grumbling about Black Friday or wrestling with the Christmas lights.  These tacky garments are now being re-appropriated from their perpetual spot in the wardrobe of great-aunt Edna or your third grade social studies teacher.  Telltale signs of the ugly sweater are liberal use of red and green, comically large depictions of snowmen, reindeer, and Christmas trees, and any sort of pom-pom or felt applique.

Though the sweater as a garment has existed in the U.S. since the late 19^th century, hideous holiday versions only began to sprout up in the last several decades.  Bill Cosby was a modern-day pioneer of the trend and is revered as an ugly sweater icon.  As Cliff Huxtable on his eponymous ‘80s sitcom, the family man’s uniform of choice was a wooly pullover with questionable color mixing and patterns.  Thanks to Cosby, as well as Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, these sweaters experienced a resurgence until their popularity faded as the ‘90s began.

Good night from John Street