Finding an old friend at Christmas

A couple of months ago we had the misfortune of having our computer stolen and it's since been replaced.   But the new one doesn't come pre-loaded with all of my favorite bookmarks.  Even back when we had the old one my schedule & dial-up internet didn't promote "surfing" the "web", as the kids call it.  Last week I got in my head to check out the ol' X-E.  Now I've written about this site before.  It's one I've been visiting for just about 10 years.  But the last 5 or more have been very sporadic.

After re-discovering it, all I can say is wow.  Matt, the guy who runs the site, used to write about all manner of 80's nostalgia, creepy food items, & bad cinema.  Every year he does an advent calendar for Christmas.  Maybe he's grown up a bit.  He still incorporates toys and all things Chia, but this year it really strikes me as especially sweet.

His Christmas posts are filled with pure love for the holiday and he's waxing nostalgic.  He wrote about buying his tree from the same lot he's gone to for years.  It looks just like the one from A Christmas Story, pumps in Christmas music, and offers cider.  His writings of driving slowly around looking at Christmas lights while listening to holiday tunes had me in tears.  TEARS, I tells ya.

I don't know if it's because I get to go home for Christmas this year, if it's because this is probably my last Christmas in the home I grew up in, seeing my family, or if it's just the fact that this wretched year is almost over and I'm ready for a bit of good cheer, but I'm especially in the Christmas mood.  Last year I didn't even decorate.  I just wasn't feeling it, no matter how hard I tried.  This year I listen to the cheesy Christmas music on my way to and from work and remember how my old office-mate and I used to listen to it in our office on our phone speakers.  It's a lot of awful music I'd never buy, but there's just something about hearing even the horrid Manheim Steamroller "Deck the Halls" that just makes me smile in the right context.  Maybe it's just the familiarity and comfort of hearing the same 25 songs on this station or any number of them around the country that play all Christmas all the time.  I really miss that this year.

Anyway... it's just nice to feel Christmas again.  I hope that portends a happier year next year.  Here's to keeping my job, not having a hurricane, & thwarting all would-be theives.