It seems like “the holidays” – or at least the process of getting ready for them – start just after Halloween these days, and that sent me off on a few Tuesday Tangents.
When did you start seeing Christmas-merchandise sections in the stores this year (assuming you already have)?
On October 29, I noticed that the Christmas section of the new Target in my neighborhood was larger than the area devoted to Halloween…which hadn’t happened yet. It’s weird – I actually like to visit and shop in dedicated “Christmas stores” any time of year, but it still feels like regular stores are rushing the season if the Christmas stuff is out more than a week before Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Christmas, here’s last week’s “Musing Mondays” question: “Do you have any special reading that you do as it gets closer to Christmas?”
I have several Christmas-themed books that are stored with the decorations and are taken out for display every year: How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore, and Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. (Clearly, my tastes run to some less-than-reverent perspectives on the holiday.) I’ve read all but the last one – and yes, I’m aware that not having read “The Santaland Diaries” is a serious gap in my literary history – and every year I vow that I’m going to re-read The Stupidest Angel. Maybe this year it will actually happen…
We all know it’s more blessed to give than to receive, but sometimes receiving is more fun! Is there anything you’re especially hoping to receive as a holiday gift this year?
Tall Paul has been asking for my Christmas wish list, but I don’t have much on it. Most of what I’ve come up with is from my go-to category, TV Shows on DVD. There are a few shows we haven’t watched from the beginning, and I’d like to catch up on what we missed; I’m asking for the first season of my new favorite comedy, Modern Family, and the early seasons of How I Met Your Mother. I’m also thinking about Flight of the Conchords, which isn’t on anymore and we never watched in the first place (because we don’t have HBO). And of course, I must have the final season of LOST!
And finally, a question that has nothing to do with the holidays, but was inspired by one of my increasingly rare Twitter conversations (BTW, I miss you, Twitter!):
Have you ever worked an oddball schedule? Not for an after-school job or something like that, but a full-time, 40-hour-week job that wasn’t “8 to 5, Monday through Friday”? (This question does not apply to Mike, who works the oddest schedules of anyone I know, or to work-from-home folks whose schedules can fluctuate day-to-day.)
This seems to come up more in organizations that operate seven days a week, but even some office jobs offer options like the 4/10 work week. During my last year at the Memphis Zoo, I worked Tuesday through Saturday, and I liked that schedule a lot. (I was in an administrative position, but since the Zoo was open to the public every day, admin and support positions had to be staffed during operating hours as well.) There are a lot of advantages to having a “normal” workday as one of your days off…and since that was also the last year of my first marriage, being at work and away from the house on one of my spouse’s days off offered some perks as well, quite frankly.
Join me on a Tangent, won’t you – pick at least one of these questions and answer it in the comments!
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