Blog: Ready To Be On Holiday Now

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I've been up to all sorts of Christmassy Fun this past week, as I gradually become even LESS willing to go to Actual Work. HURRY UP SANTA!

At the weekend myself and The Towns In My Country went up to the Midlands to see our pals The Bates's. We had a LOVELY time, especially when we went to see The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum in Lichfield. Their eldest daughter was considering NOT going to a kids' party and coming with the adults instead, so asked what we were going to do. "We're going to a MUSEUM!" we enthused. She looked unimpressed, so we added "It's about DICTIONARIES!!! And if there's time, we might go and look at a Cathedral!!!!"

Amazingly she went to the party instead. STRANGE. Still, the museum was ACE - i do love a Museum Of One Thing, and this was an EXCELLENT example, with JUST enough interesting stuff to WOW yr BRANE, but not too much to give you Museum Back Ache. Half an hour in and out: EXCELLENT.

On SUNDAY we had RELATIVES round, and were honoured to a performance by Legendary Covers Band MJ TRIBBUT. They'd changed their line-up a bit (i.e. two nephews weren't there, so replacement nephew and niece were drafted in) but remained EXCELLENT, and we had a MIGHTY SINGALONG to The 29th Day Of December and I Got You What You Want For Christmas. I think there should be MORE bands covering ME, i like it a LOT!

Feeling we had not had ENOUGH Christmas singing The Tinsel On My Tree and I then went to our local CHURCH of a CAROL SERVICE. We'd seen it advertised when we did that Blitz Walk a few weeks ago and decided to have a go, and MY WORD i'm glad we did, tho it DID make me understand Religious Intolerance a bit more. A few weeks ago we went to a CATHOLIC advent service, and I had BRISTLED with ISSUES relating: "They changed the words to The Lords Prayer!" i RAGED. "And I didn't know most of the songs! And the ones i DID know, they changed the words!"

Nestling in the welcoming HUG of The Church Of England, however, I felt much more at home. The CORRECT words (sorry, THE POPE)! Songs I knew! And a general air of RAMSHACKLE fudging things together! There was a constant RACKET of kids mucking about at the back and the occasional TODDLER pummeling down the nave with Harrassed Parent in HOT PURSUIT, various GAGS, Children's choirs, haphazard organ playing, and a MASSIVE CHRISTMAS TREE that has somehow been SHOEHORNED into the event. I don't think it was necessarily the most scripturally EXACTING event, but I loved it.

And in typical Christmas fashion, as well as laughs and Feeling At Home, there was SADNESS too. As (i think) usual we finished with "Oh Come All You Faithful" and I was suddenly reminded of all the other carol services I'd been to at my Nan Bertie's church when I was little, and all the fun my Grandad had had dressing up as Santa and LARKING about - he was born on Christmas day, and was never very far from LARKING ABOUT anyway. When you're TINY Christmas is meant to be just a time for presents and fun, but the older you get the more you realise how many people aren't THERE any more, and though the memory of them makes everything MORE special, i reckon, it doesn't half involve a lot more MANLY SNIFFLING.

I sniffled all the way home, in the cold, holding on to The Arms Of My Hugging, Christmassed up to the MAX. What do you mean I've got to keep coming to work until the end of the week?

posted 20/12/2011 by MJ Hibbett

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