Hello, my little chickadees. Today I was very busy writing about Scottish history for pay, so I did not have time for a post. However, it did occur to me that American Thanksgiving is either tonight or next week and that means the beginning of the holiday season.
We all know that the holiday season can be really tough on Singles.
So I won't say anything more on the subject, but will just open the combox for you to emote in.
Thanksgiving (or, outside U.S., holiday season). You. Family. Go for it.
11 comments:
lol either tonight or next week . . . I love that! It's actually next Thursday, and I'm having my sister over and we're going out for Indian cuisine! Should be quite fun :-)
The Sunday after Thanksgiving I'm getting together with some girlfriends. We're going out to dinner together to celebrate the New Roman Missal (we are liturgical nerds!) and then join with many others to pray Vespers with the Bishop at the Cathedral! I am looking forward to this far more than Thanksgiving, to be honest...
To be honest the stressfulness of the season is almost all internal for me. I have one aunt who will ask me one time if I have a boyfriend and that's it. I'm very grateful not to have the kinds of pressures other people have! Still, it's hard for me not to think "another year, and what's really changed? here I am, still in school, and alone at Christmas while my cousins pass their babies around the circle and my brother runs off to his girlfriend's house." It also doesn't help that my parents don't live anywhere near where I grew up now so it's not like I have any friends in the area (or non-family parties to attend). So I guess my challenge this year is not to give myself problems!
@Maggie, that sounds wonderful! I'm way more excited about the new translation than anyone I know, or I would totally throw a party! ;)
I guess I've never considered the holiday time as particularly tough on me as a single woman. Hey, at least we don't have the stresses of contentious in-laws, huge family parties to prepare (usually), or kids getting sick during the winter, right? :-)
Healthy sanguine no...but there are other stresses..like Grandma asking if you are a lesbian over the turkey....
@Tina aka Snupnjake: HAHAHAHA!!!! So true!! Every year at family holidays, I wait for that question... I know they're all wondering what's up with me, since I'm the only one who has never brought a man to dinner... hmm...
This year however, I'm nowhere near my family for the holidays. I'll be attending Thanksgiving dinner at a coworker's house. I do feel lonely when it gets towards Christmas... I'm not sure why. I think it just seems like the perfect time of year to share with someone else, and it feels sad when you have to be alone.
My older brother just had a new baby. (Happy about that, but everything will center around accommodating his family.)
My younger sister is bringing her boyfriend to meet the family for the first time. (I'm a little annoyed because I had thought we were going to the movies together as a sister thing, but there is no way I'm going as a "third wheel.")
I'm not doing anything--or seeing anybody--new. But maybe the kids will want to do something fun with their auntie.
And it will be interesting to see what my sister's British boyfriend thinks of both American Thanksgiving AND our crazy family.
You will probably ban me if I tell you my plans for Thanksgiving this year so I won't. I've been invited to both Ecuador and Malta for December by friends, and am seriously considering going just to get out of this country and the bad memories of the last 2 years. Have had my fill of death, but do want to go to a Catholic country to celebrate Christmas and not miss Advent.
In another vein, the book about King J you are writing: are you writing it on spec or do you have a contract? If you get it published I'd buy a copy. The Tudor dynasty was based on treachery from the start IMO & I buy into Jane Austen's comments on "that pest Elizabeth". Mixed feelings about James I/III and nothing new or interesting written lately. UK publisher?
Are you nearly done or just starting? I envy you the access to your historical resources. I want to go to the Orkneys next year to see the Standing Stones, maybe I'll build in some museum time. Unfortunately, I believe (?) the easiest way to the Orkneys is to fly into Aberdeen and wend my way north. But all the good museums and libraries seem to be in the south. Too bad :(
Isabella of the North
I also don't find the holidays particularly difficult. I get to see extended family, eat a lot of good food, and play with little kids.
My family doesn't pester me too much about being single. I think they are just used to it. If they do ask me if I have a boyfriend, I hope to retort with, "nope, got anyone for me?" and wink.
I've had to face the fact that it IS a little hard for me this Thanksgiving. My youngest sister by ten years just started dating a wonderful guy and most of the family is enjoying the break with them ~ and then I recently moved to a new area so its not as though I know many folks here. Be that as it may, chatting with a few aquaintinces after mass this morning reveled that I'm not the only one feeling this way. To my surprise, my friends basically invited themselves to my house for Thanksgiving dinner because, as one friends put it, "Of course we'll just go to your place; you have all the fun and its so welcoming there!" I was humbled by her kindness and felt ashamed for indulging in feeling sorry for myself! So yes, my pity party is over and we're going to have a great time!
I forget every year that I have a bit of lonely time once holidays approach -- I still live close to my family, but most of my chums travel or have toddlers. My family doesn't do a ton of stuff, so there are some empty nights that can get lonely... if only I'd remember I could plan better....
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