So this is Christmas?

It hasn't felt very "Christmassy" this year. Maybe it's the rain. This has been the rainiest year on record for our area. We've had cold rain, warm rain, flooding rain, misty rain, blowing rain, pounding rain, monsoon rain. Snow is what makes me want to play Christmas music, bake cookies, and write Christmas cards. Not rain. I got a few Christmas cards written. I feel sort of guilty because the cards I received are from people who did not make my list this year. Honestly, I apologize. I don't really have a list, I just write 'em as I go along, usually alphabetically through my address book. Until I just stop. My dog has been sick. Really sick. She has dementia. Most of the time, she has no idea who I am. She bites me if I try to cuddle her or simply pick her up. I can't let her outside to do her business because she runs away and gets lost. Then I have to trudge through the mud to rescue her. I now put her on a retractable leash and stay outside with her as long as I can stand it in the rain. She runs all over the yard, and then comes inside to do her business. I haven't decorated this year, but I have spot cleaned my carpet over and over again. I did not make the arrangements to have lunch with two teacher friends I have lunched with every December for at least twenty years. How did that happen????? Television usually gets me feelin' the season. But not this year. Today I was hoping to watch classic Christmas movies all afternoon. After all, it is the Saturday before Christmas. Nothing! No Scrooge, no Natalie Wood discovering Santa, no George Bailey teaching ZuZu about angels, bells, and wings. Nothing except repeated repeats of the generic Hallmark holiday movie. Even the commercials are disappointing. Where are the heart-rending service people coming home to surprise their families who are drinking their morning coffee? Where are the young couples and their angelic children decorating their curmudgeonly neighbor's house with the goodies they bought at Target or some place like that? Where are the singing and dancing chunky women from last year's uplifting Big Lots commercials? It's like businesses are afraid to make a big deal out of Christmas for some reason. Not all businesses though. If we were to believe the ads this year, everybody is getting a car or two for the holidays. I have to admit, I rarely get invited to Christmas parties. So the dearth of dress up events doesn't surprise me. But heck, I haven't even seen a lot of pictures on Facebook of all the parties I didn't get invited to. Are you all not partying this year? Thank goodness for my trivia team; at least I had the chance to wear my new-to-me ugly Christmas sweater to our last competition. We came in first. I must admit that felt like Christmas after our losing season. In a couple of days I'll be at my sister's place. She has decorated her house, put up a tree, and baked my mother's snowball cookies for me. We'll do our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and a movie at the theater. There will be a full house of people I like on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. My nieces are a lot of fun, and shopping for them was easy. Reba wanted gummy bears and maraschino cherries. Billie texted me the link to the shirt she wanted. Easy peasy. I'll get to meet their new cat. Yes, they have a third cat because, hey, you can never have enough pets. Hopefully, I'll be able to blame some of Trixie's accidents on one of her two dogs or even on one of the three cats. I will enjoy reading their Christmas cards and not feeling guilty because none of those people expected a card from me. I'll eat turkey and my mom's twice-baked potatoes. Yum! Christmas food....Hey, I'm starting to cheer up! Happy HOLIDAYS to all of you!! Best wishes for a healthy and blessed new year!! And may the Mueller investigation make 2019 a year to celebrate!