Silence

Yes, I know, it has been some time since I last blogged.

Time for silence, somehow. Sometimes - often -, I just duck and wait and hope things will pass (me by). Yeah, I know, this is not very wise, because I can't influence things according to my wishes when I act this way.
But there are things you can't influence at all.

Mrs A's husband passed away one week after my last post. They would have celebrated their wedding anniversary last week.
Mrs A told my co-worker she would love to have some knockout drops over Christmas and into the New Year...

One of my co-workers was sacked effective December 1st because our boss couldn't get on with her. She was kind of overqualified and, hey, which male boss in his fifties would like to have himself corrected by a female assistant half his age? I guess some would. But not our boss.
I miss her. She got to be a good friend.

Additionally, my best female friend's husband told her he wanted to break up (effective January 1st). Although they had had issues before, I wouldn't have expected that to happen.

All of this hit me, somehow.


*sigh*


I had some ideas of things I wanted to post before Christmas, but I have been sooooo very tired and felt something between desolate and exhausted, and above all so not Christmas-y.

I've done the baking, made one Advent wreath with the candles and one for the door, and that was about it.
I haven't even prepared any Christmas card yet. Ha! I just started.

But the weather doesn't add to any upcoming pre-Christmas jolly... it has been stormy and rainy, and not even cold (yes, I'm still dreaming of a White Christmas)... We had to hide from the rain on the first Advent Sunday when we visited the Christmas market in our little town...

I hope you're having a wonderful time out there! I hope to be catching up with you soon.

Oh! I know. I need the right music. There are a lot of Christmas-y songs I despise, and one of our local radio stations even sounds an alarm each time they play "Last Christmas" (followed by wailing noises from all co-workers). But there are others that make me smile. I still love schmaltzy "White Christmas" (Bing Crosby, of course), I hate "Driving Home For Christmas" (sorry, Chris), but every time I hear the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" (some German artists even recorded a German version which is as good), it makes me feel good.
And it might just be that I had to miss one song yet, one that I really need to hear: "Christmas All Over Again" by Tom Petty.

"...I hope you have a good one...
I hope Mama gets her shopping done..."

Which songs make you feel like Christmas?