Contents
So whats this all about?
Holidays are stressful.
Long shopping lists, tricky travel, and visiting in-laws all snowball into busy weeks of blood-boiling bliss. When that trees wedged up high, when the presents are all wrapped, when the party dress is squeezed on... well, sometimes you just want eggnog and a nap.
And thats when I hope youll flip open The Book of (Holiday) Awesome for a little escape between gravy boats and Christmas lights, between holiday baking and board game nights. Flip it open when youre tired, flip it open when youre mad, flip it open to feel festive, flip it open to feel glad.
Because holidays give us great breaks and holidays give us great times. Theyre full of family moments and little chances to unwind. From the big banging moments at the end of the year to the little ones in the spring and the fall, its fun bouncing through them with loved ones, and fun bouncing through them at all. Sometimes between Christmas card stresses and dinnertime messes, its easy to forget were celebrating some pretty big things: the birth of a country, a time to remember, a day to give thanks, or a Monday off in September.
So let your brain drift back to good memories, let your mind enjoy old times, let your body slip into the awesome, and let yourself relax and unwind.
I hope you have a very awesome holiday.
Love,
Neil
Getting a Christmas card from someone you thought you lost touch with
Surprise!
Your friendship is alive.
When the clock starts ticking and you scatter and splatter in distant directions, sometimes it seems like lifes bumps and deflections sever ties and cut you off from the world.
Maybe kids arrived and you moved away, maybe college came and you left for the day, maybe your job got changed or you argued and fought, maybe time just rolled on and you stayed in the same spot.
But somehow that thick black line of friendship slowly faded and went away. Somehow the phone calls stopped coming as tomorrow became today.
And then! Out of nowhere! When you open a card and see the familiar cursive of an old friend... well, its like a little light in your heart is finally flickering again.
Your eyes pop and jaw drops as you salivate and soak up every word of that little package of love. And between the lines of job updates and the words about the kids is an even bigger message hidden right below the lid.
It says: Id like to get together again. I remember our laughs and know how busy weve been. But I hope you agree that, since lifes short and always wavering, its even more important our friendship is worth enjoying... and worth savoring.
AWESOME!
Walking into a grocery store and seeing the first shipment of eggnog
My buddy Mikes a sugar rat.
Whenever I visit his apartment downtown we end up ordering pizza, watching old movies, and playing video games. And when were done snacking I always turn to him and say, Hey man, you got any chocolate or anything? Were close, me and Mike, and have long passed the point where were too polite to only eat when were offered food. Ill hunt around the mans fridge like its my own and I expect him to do the same.
Now the funny thing is that when I ask him, Mike usually just heads to the kitchen and starts hunting through cupboards of really, really old Tupperware, under stale half loaves of bread at the bottom of the freezer, and behind dusty food processors above the fridge. Yes, he hunts until he pulls out a surprise pack of unopened Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or peels the lid off a brand new tub of ice cream.
My buddy Mikes a sugar rat.
See, he doesnt trust himself to have the good stuff in view, so he hides it in the cracks and corners of his place and hopes hell forget it. This is known as the Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind Diet Plan, and it seems to work wonders for him. After all, he doesnt gorge himself on candy bars that much, and whenever a sweet-toothed pal is jonesing for a fix, he just goes hunting until he finds the gold.
I think Mikes whole theory is the same one behind the entire eggnog industry.
Just think! Theyre saying Here, enjoy this deliciously sweet and creamy drink, butah ah ah! You can only have it in December. Here, grind some cinnamon on top, spike it with rum, break out the crystal punch glasses for a sugary surprise in your mouth, butah ah ah! Theres none available in the new year.
And thank goodness, thank gracious, thank God for that.
Because if we drank eggnog all the time wed get pretty fat.
AWESOME!
Plugging in your Christmas lights from last year and having them all work
Whether you swirl strings of lights around your front hedges, line them up perfectly around the roof, or use them as a glittery frame around your garage door, you know as well as I do that one dead bulb dims the whole scene.
Thats why its a beautiful moment when you peel open that musty cardboard box in the basement, untie that tightly wound ball of glass-and-wire knots, and plug them in for the great big show.
When the bulbs are all sparkling its time to get the whole neighborhood shining in a shimmering little moment of
AWESOME!
When that kid crying in the mall isnt your kid
Theres nothing like a good old-fashioned holiday hissy fit in an elbow-to-elbow packed mall to help soothe your fraying nerves.
Whether its the snotty-nosed toddler wailing on Santas lap, the sweaty snowsuit screamer on the floor of the toys section, or your everyday baby bawler yelling to the food court heavens, it doesnt matter.
Its just a migraine moment in the middle of mall mayhem.
And whether youre taking care of your baby brother, babysitting the neighbors, or wheeling around your own mutant offspring, weve all been there. We all know the stress, we see the staring eyes, we all know the pain, and... we do sympathize.
But its still great when that kid crying in the mall just isnt your kid.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Glory to the kid free king.
AWESOME!
That moment near the holidays when theres suddenly cookies, chocolate, and candy everywhere
Roll those rum balls, sprinkle sparkles on the shortbread, and dump the bulk bag of candy canes in the crystal dish by the secretarys desk.
If were gonna get fat, lets get fat together.
AWESOME!
Getting the person you have a crush on for office Secret Santa
I work in an office.
Crystal bowls of red jelly beans, snowman ties, and festive cheer all spring up in the cubicle hallways as the holidays get near. And sure, sure, holidays are about big love, family time, and being at home, but its fun getting in the mood with the folks we spend our days with too.
And nothing says Christmas Is Coming more than the classic Secret Santa moment at your workplace. We all drop our names into a bowl and everyone picks one out of the pot to buy them a little present within the five or ten dollar budget.
