Christmas Post

Alright, this is Little Miss signing off for two weeks. ((breath in... 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10... and out)) We're going to New Mexico to visit my husband's family. And though they do have internet access, I cannot risk the possibility of his ultra conservative Christian family stumbling across my blog. (That and the fact they have dial up...I would rather bang my head against a brick wall over and over and over and over and over again.) However, I am sure that I'll need my blogtherapy during the next few weeks.

Ok, I know what you are all thinking, but I am not a scrooge! In fact, I love Christmas as much as the next little girl who refuses to grow up. Truly. I do. As I see it, there are two sides to Christmas. 1) to celebrate Christ's birth and rejoice in our Savior and King or 2) to celebrate the holidays and get caught up in the "Christmas spirit." And I find that people react in one of two ways. 1) by puking Christmas cheer with every breath or 2) by trying to pretend the rest of the world isn't puking Christmas cheer with every breath. Guess which one I am?

As I said before, I am not a scrooge. I just prefer to sit back and watch the holidays happen. I watch people go overboard on Christmas shopping. I watch people go overboard in decorating their house, their yard, and their clothes with holiday cheer. In fact, there's one house in our neighborhood that truly scares me. Every day, there is a new addition to the insane Santa north pole yardigan. Seriously. It began with the lights. Then the giant toy soldiers. Then the Santa and reindeer. Then the tree trunks covered in lights. Then the Mr. and Mrs. Claus waving and singing, "Merry Christmas!"

I watch everyone hustle and bustle around, trying to get those last minute gifts. I watch the Toys For Tots boxes being neglected. I watch the Salvation Army volunteers ring their bells for hours on end, and see the holiday shopppers scurry right past them. I don't mean to throw a wrench into everyone's Christmas spirit. I'm just saying that it is an interesting culture in which we live. (what did you expect? I got my degree in Anthropology; of course I'm more of an outsider looking in!)

Anyway, while I really enjoy getting Christmas cards, it's been hard for me to get into the spirit of sending them out. Part of me feels like such a chump if I haven't spoken to someone all year long, then all of a sudden, I'm sending them a Christmas card with a family letter to fill them in on the past year of me being such a chump. I feel it's insincere. (That and the fact I don't like to buy Christmas cards, I like to make my own.) I figured that since I don't have the time to make cards, write up a cute little family letter with pictures, write a brief message on the bottom of each page to make it a bit more personal, and mail them out... I'd just send everyone a slip of paper with a link to my blog and say MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!