It’s that time of year again, when the Houston’s Christmas Music Station bombards us from mid-November on with the most tired collection of Christmas songs day and night you can imagine.

(Though, to be fair, this year a few new pop songs have made it into the rotation which aren’t as dreadful as the rest of what they usually play. More on that later this month, maybe. We’ll see.)

In response to this general dearth of good music, I’ve been posting to my blog every year a variety of songs which are typically better than the ordinary, prepackaged stuff. I read recently that some of my readers have started building a playlist of the music I post here — so, you know, no pressure or anything to do a good job — just kidding! I love it — and that has inspired me to do it again. You can click here for past years’ choices: 2013, 2014, and 2015. Then go almost to the bottom of each page, right above the comments, for the “previous” and “next” buttons to explore.

You’ll notice that those links above all start with Day 2. That’s because on Day 1 every year I start with one of my all-time favorite songs — a little consistency to kick things off again because, after all, what’s a holiday without a tradition?

So here you are, that happily ending anthem to our crazy-busy lives, The Waitresses with “Christmas Wrapping.”