I Am A Grinchologist...

Now that I can breathe a sigh of relief to have Thanksgiving over, it's time to start planning for the NEXT big event...winter holidays. Don't get me wrong...I actually had a very pleasant Thanksgiving at work followed by a most scrumpdilleeishous evening meal, hosted by none other than dear Saint EB. My e-vile plan of playing upon the sympathies of friends to mooch a meal worked like a charm! I made a "buttload" of money working on the holiday, I didn't have to cook ANYTHING, and...I ate a most excellent free meal. Life is good in my world.

I was quickly and painfully reminded of the next approaching winter holiday when I flipped on my boobtube at 6:30-in-the-gawd-awful-morning and began my comatose preparation to return to work (need I mention ONCE AGAIN, I hate working the day shift and I'm in my once every seven week five day stretch of them!)...the "tube" was replaying scenes of midnight mayhem as malls in the Seattle area threw open their doors to greet the insanity of holiday shoppers willing to risk life and limb in the name of a "bargain". Don't worry, dear ones...you will NEVER find me in these crowds...I really don't like people all that much. LOL

And as I watched news reports of paramedics being called in to revive trampled shoppers in other stores across the nation, I began to feel a sudden warm "glow" in my cheeks...I began to feel the ice chunk around my weak but beating heart loosen...there was a bit more of a bounce in my step. Yes! It was now officially GRINCH SEASON!!!

Yup...I'm definitely a Grinchologist. And I look forward to the 3-4 weeks of the year when I can brush up on my Grinch-study. The only time one CAN reasonably fly their Grinch flag is between Thanksgiving and Christmas...it's expected...it's part of our "culture"...and I am what I'd consider an expert in this area.

WAIT! No, I'm not talking about being mean and nasty because it's the holidays. I'm talking about the GRINCH...Dr. Seuss's, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". It's a classic and the man (Seuss) was, in my opinion, a genius.

For nearly 40 years (or at least as long as I can remember), "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has replayed during the winter holidays...it STILL gets air time every season. This 30 minute animated film has quietly snuck into our homes year after year and I, for one, LOVE it...and I've never grown tired of it.

I used to watch the cartoon with my eldest sister, Patty, when I was but a tot (she was 8 years older than me). And when I finally got a REAL job and found myself several hundred miles away from her, we used to call each other (we still remained in the same time zone) and watch the "Grinch" on TV together while talking on the phone. This is one of the fondest memories I have of my sister, who died in a car accident 20 years ago this December 14th. She adored this cartoon and message as much as I did/do.

I have Grinch wear...T-shirts, sweatshirts, boxer shorts, slippers. I freely admit this. I own not one, but TWO copies of the original cartoon and I watch them every year. I have the TV version of the story memorized and I can recite most of it on cue. I still get choked up every time I watch the cartoon where, in the end, Seuss eloquently says, "Christmas time will always be as long as we have we." I used to have "Grinch" parties instead of holiday parties complete with "Grinch" door prizes. Yes, I AM a GRINCHOLOGIST. And I am DAYUMED proud of it.

Sure...some people are getting excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus while others are preparing for Hanukkah to begin at sundown on December 4th. And still others are looking forward to Kwanzaa and the Solstice. But me? I'll be anxiously anticipating the network replay of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"...aaahhhh...that's the spirit of the season...LOL...