I love Christmas. To me it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Magical, even. I love almost everything about it – the music, the lights, the decorations, the movies… Oh, the movies! White Christmas, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Elf, Love Actually…they aren’t just among my favorite Christmas movies, they are among my favorite movies. Period. And then there are the ones which aren’t quite that high on the list, but which I still love and look forward to each year. The Polar Express and A Charlie Brown Christmas, for instance.
Oh, A Charlie Brown Christmas! That one is in a category all by itself, actually. I have it on DVD (and VHS and Blu-ray, come to think of it…) but there’s nothing quite as special as watching it on network television once a year. Yes, America is a country which in many ways has lost its moral compass, but once a year we sit down and listen to Linus recite verses from the Gospel of Luke, and something magical happens. To all of us.
I love Christmas music, and I really don’t get tired of it. I think the commercials start airing on TV way too early and I think the decorations go up way too soon. That needs to happen the weekend after Thanksgiving, in my humble opinion. We rush ahead so that we can find extra excuses for sales and bargains, and so it gets earlier and earlier each year, and that drives me insane. But the music? I don’t get tired of the music.
I love Christmas Eve services at church. I love traditions. I love the smells. I love the food. I love the crispness in the air which causes you to crave hot chocolate and hot apple cider.
I even love shopping for presents. Not before Thanksgiving, of course, and not on Black Friday. But I really don’t mind dealing with the crowds if they aren’t hostile – although the hostile shoppers are becoming more of the norm, and that makes me sad.
This Christmas is going to be an unusual one for my family. We don’t have a lot of money for gifts, but of course that’s okay. I love giving gifts, and yes, I love receiving them, but of course that’s not what it’s about. But we won’t be with anyone in my family this year, and of course it will be the first Christmas without Kelly’s mom. That certainly gives it a different feel. But, on the bright side, I’m not dealing with a stressful workplace, helping to plan parties and open house events, and processing payroll for Christmas bonuses. I don’t have to schmooze and smile and hobnob at every social event in town. I never really minded any of that, but now that I don’t have to do it, I feel as if the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I get to focus on my family and my friends, and the actual reason for the season, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m so excited, in fact, that I’m really anxious to get going on this Christmas season.
But not until after Thanksgiving, of course!
The Year of Blogging Faithfully 