- House cleaning. It won’t stay that way long, no matter how hard we try.
- The frenetic schedule. Nothing else gets done in the month.
- Parking lots. Really packed parking lots. And all of the accompanying traffic.
- Retail music. Really! You can’t escape it.
- Nobody’s that happy. Or relentlessly chipper. And don’t try to goad me into it. Or guilt me, either.
- Cardboard boxes. Stacks of empty ones take up too much space, there’s rarely one that fits your need, and then all the wrapped ones soon won’t be, meaning trash to haul out.
- Pine needles everywhere from all the garlands around the house. They really start dropping overnight.
- Piles of dirty dishes. We do eat well, though.
- Waiting for everyone to get up on Christmas morning. Unless I’m really asleep.
- Having to wait for the cookies to finally become fair game.
Technically, most of this is actually Advent. The real 12 Days of Christmas are another matter, something I’ve thoroughly come to appreciate.
Jnana's Red Barn 