Ho, ho, ho.

Well that's it then. It's finally here. Others have already admitted it but I have been in denial until now. Today, I couldn't put it off any longer. I have been procrastinating, denying delaying and refusing but today was the end of all of that and, horror of horrors, I had to buy....... the tree. I can normally hold back the inevitable for so long that the trees at the local dead tree emporium are at half price (albeit with half of the needles missing). This purchase means that it is officially the Christmas period, at least in our household. It has become something of a game that Terri will badger me to buy the tree and I will come up with a stream of excuses, sometimes for several weeks. This year I was forced to pay full price for the thing. Fortunately it is also a celebration as it will be the last year I will have to buy a full sized dead tree and in future I will very probably get away with the artificial variety for the crotch (what Lisa calls the cratch).

As I'm not a huge fan of the theories of God, Adam Smith or Tom Peters, (or whoever the latest business guru is) there is little in Christmas of interest to me. The weather is dreadful, the telly is more dreadful than the normal dreadfulness that we pay the extortionate telly licence for and we have to eat Brussels sprouts (I hope we've all got our sprouts on. Three weeks I believe is traditional). There is not even a respite on the radio that tends to play the most appalling music imaginable, music so bad that it can't be played at any other time throughout the year.

It is merely an excuse to drink and eat more than we normally would (not a bad thing in itself). It's also the time of year when everybody appears much happier than the rest of the year. We also get turkey and I quite like turkey. I especially like turkey sandwiches with lots of unhealthy salt. I sometimes even get something I want as a present and we sometimes hear from people that we haven't heard from for some years. This year I actually got a card from my brother who I haven't heard from for six years (no sign of my sister who I haven't heard from for ten). Occasionally we give a present that others actually want and can tell when their face lights up. Terri's smile when she unwraps her big present. Maybe it's not so bad after all. Maybe.

Then again....