Next week is Christmas.

I can't even process that. Don't get me wrong: I'll gladly see the backside of all of those insipid Christmas-themed songs in ever shopping establishment. And I'll welcome returning to the normal flow of advertisements without 15 exhortations to buy half the planet to put under the Christmas tree. But for once Christmas is legitimately sneaking up on me this month. Perhaps it's a combination of things. JoDee's dad passed away at the beginning of the month so those weeks were overwritten with taking care of family-related business. And I did some Christmas shopping this past weekend. Usually I'm more in-tune with the holiday; waiting for it's inexorable plod towards me. This year it's all I can do to do even the barest amount of thinking about Christmas. It's just another day before the real important day; the end of the year, when everything wants to be due for work.

Christmas will be endured this year. I haven't decided if I'm making an attempt to enjoy it.