Christmas

Well, hello Christmastime- I'm glad you're here....

You might call me a sucker or perhaps some other name with a slightly negative twist. You might call me cheesy or gushy or commercially sentimental. I don't care- you can stuff it in your stocking because I'm ok with it. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I love the music- I love the decor- I love shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I love the traditions, new and old. And now with my own children in the mix, Oh MAN- Christmas Day is my utopia. I love it all!

I suppose this is my fair warning. I'll probably get sappy and a little homesick and you'll just have to bear the Christmas music playing here as you read this. You might have to endure some slideshows of old Christmas photos. You might have to read about my Dad, my sweet Granny and Grandmother; My Pa and my Uncle Gary. These are all people that at one time played such a huge part in warm Christmas memories. They're gone now and so Christmas is always a little bittersweet. It's not like I don't think about them every other day- but you know- Christmas is just.. well, it's Christmas. It's a little harder.

But it's still cozy and joyous and a happy time. Because even with all the crap going on- even when it feels like there's not much to celebrate. Even when you feel like the inauthenticity and commericalism has just clouded every real aspect of this time... you have to just breathe and release it. It is yours to enjoy and to appreciate all the love and beauty around us. And then it's our own responsibility to carry that in to the coming year.

"Christmas, in its final essence, is for grown people who have forgotten what children know. Christmas is for whoever is old enough to have denied the unquenchable spirit of man." ~ Margaret Cousins (1905- ), senior editor Doubleday Publishing Company.

Happy Holidays!