Bah Humbug

The Christmas season is upon us! I love Christmas and almost everything associated with it. But at this time of year, some folks are happy and some folks are dreading it. What I love about Christmas other's distain. Here's what Christmas is to me...

Atmosphere:

First & foremost is setting the atmosphere and getting in the mood. I have my favorite Christmas songs on CDs and on my iTunes, and of course playing on all the store sound systems. I try to watch at least one of my Christmas time movies (Home Alone, Grinch cartoon or Grinch Jim Carrey, While You Were Sleeping).

I normally like to decorate my house right after Halloween to maximize the time I get to see my decorations but this year was a little different. First of all, I have less room to display my decorations so I knew decorating would be a challenge that way. Secondly, Dexter is into everything so I was dreading putting stuff out for that reason (we opted not to put up a tree this year). Third, we didn't have snow for the longest time so I decided to wait until there was snow on the ground. Fourth, I was just lazy/not in the mood to decorate.  I finally decorated on December 2nd I believe, which is a full month later than usual for me. We always have a fake tree so I also like to have tree scented candles to burn as well.

Presents:

Say what you want about the materialism of Christmas but I love the presents aspect of the season. I love shopping for people, trying to figure out something they wouldn't treat themselves with that I could get them. Imagining the smiles on their faces. Looking at the neat gift ideas in the stores, the holiday music playing, shopping without guilt, and making notes of things I want to add to my wishlist. Buying beautiful wrapping paper and cute bags, attempting to wrap things (and doing a respectable job, but never a perfect job LOL). I like to see all those gifts under my tree glistening (as I like shiny paper) and looking gorgeous.

I like Chinese gift exchanges: where everyone brings one anonymously wrapped gift and you take turns unwrapping one or stealling one. It is a huge form of entertainment and the thrill of bringing the coveted gift is unbeatable - except by getting the one item you really want! I first started really enjoying this with Tyler's family as it is very large (usually 15-30 participants), and so it is literally hours of good natured fun, hijinxs, trickery and alliances. It's like "Survivior" for real life. The smaller the group, the more difficult to buy a gift and the less fun in my opinion.

We drew names this year amongst my family which has also turned out to be a really good thing. We set the limit a little higher ($100), and so for me, it was nice to shop with only 2 specific people in my mind (my mom & sister who are also the easiest to buy for) and have the challenge of the specific budget but also the guilt free shopping of knowing that was what you're suppose to do. We had wishlists, but they were either long enough or generic enough that I had direction but still some leeway to get what I wanted to. For example, my mom wanted nice sheets. So I was able to go out and investigate the different sheets available and then choose the best for her for the budget. I also went to the effort of getting a coupon, so that I got them for 20% off so that I could get her an additional gift but still be within the limit.

To be honest, I also love getting presents. Its fun to see what people think you'll enjoy and what items make them think of you. I am also never short on wants so its nice to be able to put my wish list out there and get some of those items. I look forward to the day when Dexter is old enough to understand this concept and can make me a present from the heart and I can hopefully be surprised by it.

Meals & Treats:

Food is of course, one of the loveliest parts of the holiday.  We get so many slow cooked, home cooked meals that we don't always make time for throughout the year. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, salads, brussel sprouts, stuffing! And all the yummy homemade baking, plus store bought chocolates, etc. With all that, it's easy to overindulge. If you can balance it just right, it's nice to enjoy the holiday food without having to deal with the overeating guilt later. Savor those favorite cookies or squares and don't feel obligated to eat the pie if you don't really enjoy it. Also, if you can freeze anything thing for later, it's nice to spread out the love.

My Grandma J (my dad's mom), doesn't have extra money to throw away, so she did a bunch of baking as our gift. That is SO awesome. She may think it's a "lesser" gift, but to me it is one of the best! Grandma cooked food is just so much better :-)

Family/Friends:

The very best part Christmas is that it "forces" us to take a break from the daily grind and spend time with our neglected family and friends. I'm very excited for the activities planned for our Christmas:

Dec 23- Christmas get together with Melody, Vanessa, Logan (Vanessa boyfriend), Dale (Melody's brother), and Cherry (Dale's girlfriend). We are doing potluck appetizers and treats, and hanging out, maybe playing some games.

Dec 24- Christmas at my Uncle Richard's. We don't spend nearly as much time with this part of my family as I would like so Christmas time is special. Last year I discovered that my Uncle and cousin Corey love Texas Hold 'Em so we are going to play poker that night as well as do a Chinese gift exchange. I haven't bought a gift for this one yet as I just found out about it about a week ago. The limit is $20 and it will be a tad challenging to buy for as we have a range of people involved: my cousin Corey is the youngest at 15 all the way up to his Grandpa Dennis who is I don't know how old. There isn't anything that is universally appealling to everyone (except maybe food), so I'll have to think about this one. We will also be doing some sort of potluck there as well.

Dec 25- We'll have Christmas morning at my parents with all the present opening. Like I said earlier we drew names, but my mom bought outside of this as well. Then we'll be going to my Grandma J's house to do the day and supper. My Grandma hasn't decorated for Christmas in 3 years and apparently is making up for it with a vengence. She lives on a farm and my mom says it looks like National Lapoon's Christmas out there LOL She decided to go crazy when she heard we were coming up with Dexter for Christmas so it's really sweet. She's a fabulous cook and baker and there'll be some other family out there as well so it'll make for a good time.

We are staying in Grimshaw for about a week, from the 21st - 28th. I'm hoping to get some visiting in with my Biological Contributor's family as well as some other friends and their babies while I'm there.

Dec 31- We are spending New Year's Eve with Tyler's mom, Tyrone, Dean (Mary's new old boyfriend) and possibly Kim & the kids if they grace us with their presence. We are doing a Chinese exchange with them and I have my gift bought. We haven't decided on food but I'm having a hankering for Chinese...

So with all that, how can you not love Christmas? I mean you can focus on all the negatives and how "commercialized" it is, or like anything you can take the parts you like and shuck the rest! I love it, how about you?