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Post-holiday recovery
Nov. 25th, 2001 12:08 pmHolidays are wonderful. Holidays are times of merriment and cheer and sharing and joy. It's just the time before and after the holidays that leaves me exhausted, sore, and emotionally wrung out.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - I love cooking, I love food, I love sharing with my friends and family. But it's kind of sad when I don't have many people to share it with. Too many people I care about are too far away, and the ones nearby have family of their own to share it with. Cooking for three people is good, but not near as much fun as a dozen.
And then there's the fun of organizing, even for such a small group. The thrill of not knowing until the day before whether mom will be here, and then braving the grocery store the night before the holiday. Stop And Shop, normally a calm place of introspection and aisle-wandering and meal-planning, has become a frenzy of cranky children, stressed women, and very confused-looking men yammering into cell phones while trying to determine the difference between heavy cream, whipping cream, and coffee creamer. Normally calm housewives begin fighting like WWF superstars over the last intact carton of large brown eggs. I wove my way in and out through the mayhem, snagging stuffing mix on the fly and scaling shelves like a frightened lemur in attempts to reach hidden cartons of cornmeal....
After this comes Waiting for Mom. Many hours of waiting for mom, who had to brave the holiday traffic, which turns a four hour drive into a ten hour drive. Then comes the shaking of the fists futilely in the air, when sometime around midnight mom finally calls, to inform you that she didn't feel it was necessary to bring the directions you gave her, and that she is now lost somewhere in the suburbs of Boston with only three minutes left on her cellphone.
But even with supermarket showdowns and traffic woes, and my own failing memory leading to a Thursday quest for creamed corn, the holiday itself was joyful. Much good food was had by all, and many fun stories of family exchanged, and we've got enough leftovers to last until the next major holiday.
But the holiday never ends with the day itself. A veterinarian's work is never done, and bright and shiny at 6 am Friday I rolled out of bed and muddled my way to work. It's the day after a holiday. It should be slow, yes? Nobody around. Everyone off visiting family, and those still in the area attacking the malls in a frenzy of lemming-like consumerism, yes?
No.
The emergencies started rolling in around 10 am. This would have been fine if the flood of walk-ins hadn't started around 9 am. Apparently, everyone and their cousin decided that the day off was a good time to bring their pet in, just in case. And all of the people whose pets got sick the day before, but didn't want to interrupt football to go to the emergency clinic. And all the people with post-holiday blues who decide to manufacture an illness for their pet so they can go chat with someone. And all the legitemate emergencies hoping to be noticed in the middle of the flood.
So, a couple of hours after my shift ended, I muddled home, desperate to eat something that didn't taste like turkey or pumpkin. And to sleep, and to wait at least a little while before facing the onslaught of preparation for the next holiday....
Of course, I couldn't wait too long. The Generic Winter Holiday Season calls, and I've already begun making my baking list, and buying presents. I never learn... :)
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - I love cooking, I love food, I love sharing with my friends and family. But it's kind of sad when I don't have many people to share it with. Too many people I care about are too far away, and the ones nearby have family of their own to share it with. Cooking for three people is good, but not near as much fun as a dozen.
And then there's the fun of organizing, even for such a small group. The thrill of not knowing until the day before whether mom will be here, and then braving the grocery store the night before the holiday. Stop And Shop, normally a calm place of introspection and aisle-wandering and meal-planning, has become a frenzy of cranky children, stressed women, and very confused-looking men yammering into cell phones while trying to determine the difference between heavy cream, whipping cream, and coffee creamer. Normally calm housewives begin fighting like WWF superstars over the last intact carton of large brown eggs. I wove my way in and out through the mayhem, snagging stuffing mix on the fly and scaling shelves like a frightened lemur in attempts to reach hidden cartons of cornmeal....
After this comes Waiting for Mom. Many hours of waiting for mom, who had to brave the holiday traffic, which turns a four hour drive into a ten hour drive. Then comes the shaking of the fists futilely in the air, when sometime around midnight mom finally calls, to inform you that she didn't feel it was necessary to bring the directions you gave her, and that she is now lost somewhere in the suburbs of Boston with only three minutes left on her cellphone.
But even with supermarket showdowns and traffic woes, and my own failing memory leading to a Thursday quest for creamed corn, the holiday itself was joyful. Much good food was had by all, and many fun stories of family exchanged, and we've got enough leftovers to last until the next major holiday.
But the holiday never ends with the day itself. A veterinarian's work is never done, and bright and shiny at 6 am Friday I rolled out of bed and muddled my way to work. It's the day after a holiday. It should be slow, yes? Nobody around. Everyone off visiting family, and those still in the area attacking the malls in a frenzy of lemming-like consumerism, yes?
No.
The emergencies started rolling in around 10 am. This would have been fine if the flood of walk-ins hadn't started around 9 am. Apparently, everyone and their cousin decided that the day off was a good time to bring their pet in, just in case. And all of the people whose pets got sick the day before, but didn't want to interrupt football to go to the emergency clinic. And all the people with post-holiday blues who decide to manufacture an illness for their pet so they can go chat with someone. And all the legitemate emergencies hoping to be noticed in the middle of the flood.
So, a couple of hours after my shift ended, I muddled home, desperate to eat something that didn't taste like turkey or pumpkin. And to sleep, and to wait at least a little while before facing the onslaught of preparation for the next holiday....
Of course, I couldn't wait too long. The Generic Winter Holiday Season calls, and I've already begun making my baking list, and buying presents. I never learn... :)
