30-Second Nativity
Posted: Thu 2 October, 2008 Filed under: Cynicism, Festering Season 1 Comment »
I love this story from the BBC about a competition to tell the Christmas story in 30 seconds.
It’s one of those things where it’s just such an easy target.
My version?
Single mother gives birth in Bethlehem.
Refuses to say who the father is.
Hype ensues, and the world has religious wars for the next 2,000 years.
Job done.
Organisation of the Festering Season
Posted: Wed 3 September, 2008 Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Festering Season, Getting Organised 3 Comments »Today, I’m deeply deeply traumatised. We’re already organised for what’s happening on Christmas Day – and that’s a truly depressing thing to have happened by September 3rd…
It had actually started being discussed on Sunday, and then on Monday we got a brochure from the place we went to last year. A quick email of the menu to other interested parties, and it was agreed that we really should go back – everything had been really good last year, and everyone had come away deciding that it was a really good way to do the Festering Season.
So I called them yesterday, and it’s all booked. Of course, we still have to pay for the bugger, but this way we don’t have any of the late-November “Who’s doing what, where, and when?” discussions and last-minute plan changes as well as all the stress of anyone having to be up at 6am to start off cooking etc.
All the same, it’s pretty depressing to have got this all in place in September. I swear I’m never this organised usually…
Bah Humbug
Posted: Wed 13 August, 2008 Filed under: Cynicism, Festering Season 3 Comments »Already, it’s apparently time for the first sign of the oncoming Festering Season™. Oh goody, I hear you cry.
The new season of ITV’s X-Factor starts on Saturday – and the hype is already starting.
And why is it a sign of the Festering Season? Because it normally ends roughly 7-10 days before December 25th, thus ensuring the Christmas Single is (yet again) going to be by some eminently forgettable twat. Or – for a change – it might be some longer-running eminently forgettable twat. You never know.
All gone, All gone
Posted: Sun 30 December, 2007 Filed under: Domestic, Festering Season, Green Leave a comment »While I’m fairly well-known now as someone who doesn’t like the Festering Season, Herself is rather more enthusiastic about the season, so we’ve had the decorated tree and so on while people have been here.
We bought the tree locally, and it has to be said that it was one of the worst trees I’ve ever seen or had – the needles started dropping pretty much immediately, and then didn’t stop. By today it was just about half bald.
Anyway, this weekend we’ve been taking the stuff down again, committing the tree to compostable waste (except for the trunk, which will be committed to the wood-burner at some point) and the decorations taken down. The cards will be shredded and probably composted (or used as firelighters, I haven’t decided yet) but that’s it, chez Lyle, the Festering Season is well and truly over.
And not a moment too soon.
Christmas Review
Posted: Wed 26 December, 2007 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Festering Season 2 Comments »So, all things considered, Christmas Day actually went OK in the end. Fairly stressed, what with having lots of people here in the evening, but not too bad at all.
The meal was excellent, and is already showing the makings of becoming a regular thing – it certainly reduces everyone’s stress levels significantly when no-one has to cook a meal for thirteen, and the fun that brings on.
Because of the buffet-style food that was around in the evening along with six other people, Hound was confined to the garage for the evening – we’d put a heater in there, as well as her bed, so she was fine – which also made life a bit less stressed, and just generally everyone had a good time.
Obviously word of our “Good Life” style living has got out, as I’ve somehow ended up with things like a fat-ball holder for birds, a whole load of fat-balls (Hello, Google), a ladybird/mason-bee/butterfly house, and a number of other things that’ll go down well over time. Oh, and about £60 of garden vouchers, so that’ll keep us busy too.
All told, not a bad day at all. I’m still glad it’s over for another 365 days, though.
’twas
Posted: Wed 26 December, 2007 Filed under: Festering Season, Geeky, Own Business, Work-related Leave a comment »And that’s it. Done for another year. All I can say is “Thank chuff for that“.
I do have some ideas for next year, and the 2008 Festering Season may just be improved by use of Scroogians.com – if only I could think of what to do with it. I bought it a year ago, and have been completely stumped since then.
I did think that it could be used as a sort of “No fecking Christmas crap ’til December” thing, or maybe just a bunch where people could say Humbug together. But I just don’t know.
All suggestions will be received and/or considered.
Lunch
Posted: Tue 25 December, 2007 Filed under: Domestic, Festering Season 1 Comment »This year we opted for something different for Christmas Lunch.
Over the last three years, we’ve had two Christmasses at Herself’s sister’s place (both of which were fun) and last year we had Christmas Day at home, before going down to Herself’s grandfather’s place on Boxing Day. We’d originally planned to have everyone here this year, or at the new house for Herself’s mother and grandfather once they’d moved up to the area. However, that move hasn’t happened yet – it’s still in the process, due to other people in the chain being utter, utter cunts – so it demanded a replan.
So for something different, and to take pressure of Herself’s sister (and to stop me having arguments with people in the kitchen while cooking everything) we’ve decided to go out for Christmas Lunch. After a lot of research we chose to go to Weston Park Golf Club which is fairly swanky in itself. It’s the first time they’ve done a Christmas thing, so it’ll be either a) really good or b) utterly disastrous.
Still, so long as everyone else is happy and not too stressed by the entire Festering Season thing, that’s the important thing and will mean that it was all worthwhile in the end.
We’ll see.