More Christmas Distractions

Are you ready for Christmas? This question is getting old. For me these days it rates right up there with, how old are you and how much do you weigh. I have never been less ready than I am this year.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I haven't had fun at any of the Christmas parties so far. They weren't terrible. I just felt sort of blah. I think I miss my kids.

Shopping has been harder this year than ever before. I don't know what to buy for anyone. I'm getting more and more behind.

I was looking at board games at Barnes and Nobel. (Don't worry, kids, no one's getting a board game.) I noticed there are trivia games for every subject or interest you can imagine. There appears to be a great need for useless information. And the Monopoly games are getting out of hand. There is Star Wars Monopoly, Seinfeld Monopoly, Peanuts, and my favorite Grateful Deadopoly. That's going too far.

I like the Grateful Dead. I own several Cd's and once owned them on vinyl. I have driven hundreds of miles to see the Dead in concert, but I am merely a fan, not a Dead Head. How do I know? Because I like other music, also. To a Dead Head, the worse thing you can ever say is, "Can we listen to something else?"

I don't think I have ever finished a game of Monopoly before someone got mad and quit. When we were kids we hated that game but played it all the time. I think it started something like this. It was Christmas break and the weather was bad so we couldn't play outside. Mom would yell at us to quit fighting or turn off the TV or whatever we were doing to get on her nerves. Steve would pull out Monopoly and say "Ya wanna play this stupid game?" We would say no as we raced to the table to fight over who was the dog or the race car, who got to be the banker and so on. And then it began, sometimes lasting for hours. But we never finished a game. It would be years before I realized there was a way to end it without game pieces flying and someone getting in trouble with Mom.

By the way, Isn't it fitting that Monopoly is made by only one company? hmmm..........