11/24/2006

Oh, come on- you’re not tired of left-over turkey already?! Turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey tacos, turkey bits dipped in hot sauce, turkey chili, turkey Popsicles…oh, all right, after that last one, I’m with you- enough already! Yes, even as we speak, people are lining up outside SprawlMarts everywhere…could you please tell me WHY you need to be out at 4 am –waiting in line in cold weather- just to get a quarter off a sweater?! Not to mention being stuck among a feverish clump of humanity built up to a frenzy awaiting the moment the pimply –faced ,squeaky –voiced kid from “the Simpsons” opens the store door, and everyone tries to push their way in- all at the same time- trampling the AARP-card wielding greeters, and knocking over kiosks of cut-rate shaving cream. MUST- SHOP- NOW !!! I avoid stores like the plague on “LeftOver Friday…” – not that the Christmas hype hasn’t been simmering for a long time. Nothing like being on summer vacation, wandering into a store in 86 degree weather, and seeing the new Hallmark Christmas ornaments set up (yes, nothing says ‘Yuletide’ like an ornament depicting the Beverly Hillbillies’ car, complete with music, lights and sound chip –“Weee dawgies!”) I love those “Christmas wonderland”-type stores that pop up mid-November thru New Year’s… big plastic Santas as far as the eye can see…anybody old enough (ahem-like me?!) to remember when it was a big deal to get one of those “Polk Bros. Santas?” (The big formed plastic, lit from within, St. Nick that you got free with a purchase at the old Polk Brothers appliance stores that were around throughout the Chicago area)-The wonderland stores of today have every kind of tree imaginable, capable of doing everything but paying the electric bill for you…and , the big inflatable decorations! You want Spongebob as Santa? No problem! Homer Claus? Scooby Santa’s Helper? Rachael Ray in an elf costume?(Wait- they have one of those? Or am I in the wrong kind of store…) Icicle lights, marquee lights, Bud lights (no, really- a string of lights shaped like beer cans!)- guaranteed to make you sick of the holiday before it actually arrives, just like those radio stations that switch to holiday music when the first leaf falls off a tree. Let’s just spend the day after Thanksgiving wrapping up those left-overs, realizing that weight control will be a problem for the next month or so, and “wait” control- being able to WAIT just a little while to get into the gift-giving holidays- is probably a problem as well. No problem with coming up with tomorrow’s blog- I’ll tell you about our movie for tomorrow night! See you here then… # # #