Avoiding Post-Xmas Blues

Ok, so now Xmas is over and the New Year (2010) is upon us with unashamed haste, what can we be doing to keep our flagging saggy spirits flying higher than a soggy flag on a rainy day.

Here are some of the things I like to do post-Xmas.

Visit Friends
Visiting friends after Xmas is great fun and you are always guaranteed two things 1) they will be in a better mood now that all those annoying relatives have gone and they have the place to themselves again and 2) they will be 'oh so up for...' a good drinking session and a general unloading of their thoughts on everyone. Always great fun!

Visit your Neighbours
This is partly fun and partly an act of charity. Take them all those leftover things that didn't quite work for your transient guests. Like the chocolate covered gingerbread idea and the mincepies with sour cranberries secreted inside them or the 5 litre bag of Chinese Fortune Cookies that only have messages in Chinese and German. Guten Himmel!

Your neighbours will love them but do refuse to take away any of their leftover stuff. Last year we ended up with a bag of Xmas decs that their kids had made at school. Having said that, I did discover that they were mainly shiny things stuck to a polystyrene core, which, when soaked in an accelerant, made great firelighters.

Visiting Rules
Given that Xmas is finished with for this year and the strict adherence to social rules and frameworks pertaining to the 'holiday period' are all now null and void, I am reminded that there are a couple of things I must obey, to avoid crossing the invisible line that divides 'good fun' from '....the self indulgent psychological torture of unfortunate others for your own amusement.'

Mr Clean
One of the activities that I used to enjoy was going around to Mr Clean's house. This is not his real name but it does describe the effect of his compulsive disorder. He was not a talkative man when it came to everyday small talk but once you got him onto his chosen subject, the history of cleaning utensils since the great plague in the 16th century, there was no stopping him. This man could tell you how to get a stain out of anything, even his stained glass windows were spotless.

Take Nibbles
I always brought plenty of nibbles to their house and in particular, peanuts. The reason I did this was two-fold. Firstly, the rest of the family were not allowed to eat any food that created undue mess and crumbs.

So it was a rare treat for them when I brought them such delicasies and one that they were sure to enjoy. I cannot deny that I also got some pleasure from watching them scoff the 'forbidden' foods.

Peanut chase
I am almost ashamed to say that the second reason I brought peanuts in particular was more to do with my amusement and the aforesaid psychological torture of the unfortunate man. He would sit poised like a border collie, ready to pounce on any stray crumb that dropped from my plate and there were many. Oh yes, because that was the nature of this engagement.

As I popped peanuts into my mouth and fired the occasional one in a random direction, simply for my own amusement, he would dash around retrieving them and trapping them in a suitable air-tight container. A container from which they could never escape and once more reek havoc in the house of clean.

Marigolds
This activity could keep me amused for many minutes and if my spirits showed signs of dropping, I could let fly with another peanut at any time during the evening, with the same startled but attentive response from mine host. His pursuit of his quarry was frighteningly effective, like a terrier after a rat.

The unkindest nut of all, was the one I aimed in the direction of his family and their panic driven attempts to escape the scene before they were pounced on by their father in hot pursuit of a salty snack. Legs and arms akimbo!

Parting sweet sorrow
It was always a joy to see him waving goodbye to us wearing his best 'handshaking' marigold gloves, having quickly changed out of his 'peanut purging' marigold gloves. We shared a moment of mutual satisfaction.

I, knowing that I had had a really good time and he, well he had had some really good exercise and at the same time had clocked up a personal best for SCUD (stray crumb and unidentified debris) retrieval. The universal balance was once more restored.