Xmas Approaching: T-minus Three Days

Last night was my parents-in-law's fortieth wedding anniversary. Think about that, for a second: Forty years. We celebrated at the Mandarin, up in Mississauga, and things went far better with Cal than I could ever have hoped they would (though he did have one very brief breakdown when he realized we weren't actually going into Gran-and-Grandad's house, which has a basement full of toys for visiting grandkids. Nevertheless, he fell heavily asleep in the car on the way over to the restaurant and was scatty but good thereafter up until we left, when he started spinning so uncontrollably in the parking lot that he couldn't walk a straight line).

Otherwise, it's mainly been about Christmas, like it usually is: Buying stuff, posting stuff, dubbing stuff. Last night, I "unwound" by searching feverishly for various So You Think You Can Dance '09 tracks--Seasons 5 and 6 U.S., Season 2 Canada--and was amazed at how quickly things began to expand. Unlike previous years, I didn't even vaguely try to locate stuff from other cultures, which certainly helped; the stuff I couldn't find that I miss is mainly things like tracks from various Cirque de Soleil ("Jeux d'Eau" from O, "Pursuit" from Ka)/movie soundtracks ("Village Attack" from Blood Diamond, I'm looking at you), some ballroom tracks and a song by Mario Spinetti which seems to have become the Contemporary go-to track du jour. See also: Almost everything Sonya Tayeh likes to listen to. It'll probably amount to three separate CDs at this rate, not that I mind.;)

Today, meanwhile, I have to hook up with Mom and go buy more stuff--not a lot of it, really, compared to previous years. But you can't completely avoid it.

If I can get out of this season reasonably intact, I'll be happy.