Apparently what I’ve done with my extra hour of time tonight is to spend it knitting and listening to Christmas music. Quietly, of course, because Rudi shouldn’t have to have dreams of sugar plums dancing in his head quite this early.

Honestly, it’s not so much that I’ve been craving Christmas carols, but it’s an effort to get a handle on the holidays this year. The past couple years, holiday tasks I enjoy have started slipping through my fingers, leaving me feeling stressed. I thought if I got a bigger jump on some of them, I might be able to better appreciate the process and the month of December. Plus, my library lets you download three songs a week for free to keep and I get more options for my annual Christmas cd if I get twenty songs for free. So I started listening a couple weeks ago and have been spending a few hours each week auditioning music, as it were. The music ranges from good to bad, from traditional to modern, and from instrumental to pop. Plus, it includes a range of international singers I might not encounter otherwise. I mean, sure, I’m probably not likely to include a German lullaby version of “Rudolph,” but you never know. As my dad will tell you, I sometimes find some pretty weird songs.

Right now, it’s Jessie James Decker’s “Baby! It’s Christmas” that’s playing. It’s the last song on her album and the only one that will get a second listen. But I probably wouldn’t give it great odds unless it really grows on me with that next play later in the month.

Oh, and speaking of Christmas, I’ll open up signups for the Virtual Advent Tour on the 15th.