Happy Holidays

Hi everyone. With the weather starting to change, I am already feeling the anticipation of christmas. I have always loved christmas, it feels so cozy to me. I love the holiday traditions that happen every year. It is funny because when I think of christmas I gloss over the reality and tend to view this time of year as a nastalgic time of wonder and magic. To me, this holiday season carries a feeling of electricity and eagerness that I can barely contain within myself. I love giving gifts to people, taking holiday treats to neighbors, christmas parties, helping the kids write letters to Santa Claus, cutting down our own trees, playing in the snow, caroling, watching christmas movies, christmas morning casserole, and, of course, christmas music. If I were to look at what actually happens during those times, I probably wouldn't like them so much. What actually happens is the purchasing of the gifts that I am giving people is usually horrendous because the stores are insane and half the time they are out of the item that I am so desperately searching for. Making the holiday treats is difficult because the kids want to help (and end up putting in twice the flour and salt instead of sugar) so the house becomes a sticky fingered, flour dusted mess. Christmas parties always include engourging ourselves with holiday ham and jello with fruit in it, chasing hyper children out of great grandmas clothes closet and keeping up appearances with relatives that I haven't seen since last christmas (believe me, I am TERRIBLE at small talk). The letters to Santa end up being a mile long and I suspect that on christmas morning there is a bit of a let down when QuynAnh doesn't recieve a real elephant, Cole doesn't get his Darth Maul birthday cake (I truelly have looked for a Darth Maul cake to give him, but to no prevail) and Keenan doesn't get his bear (or maybe it was a deer, or some hair, or something, you really can't tell what he is saying half the time). Cutting down christmas trees is an all day affair that consists of tantrums, cold toes and fingers, the occasional accident involving a sled and a mud puddle, and searching the mountains near and far for the "perfect tree" only to bring home a poor, bald twig with 2 trunks. Playing in the snow and caroling are both really fun exept for the after effects of it..... frostbite. You heard me people, frostbite! I don't know about you, but I actually like being able to feel my fingers and nose. It seems that I am the only one in the house who actually enjoys watching christmas movies and listening to christmas music. I think the others tolerate it, reluctantly. Maybe that is because I begin watching and listening to them on Noember 1st. I do know, however, that I am the only one in the family who actually likes the christmas casserole, but you know what? It is tradition and they are just going to have to put up with it...... forever. What I realized is that I don't care if I an dellusional about this season because it makes me happy, and I deserve to be happy. I embrace the electricity and eagerness of the season. The feeling isn't the season. The season is the feeling. And that feeling is love.