....ho,ho,oh no

Yogis,

It begins earlier and earlier every single year.  We used to have until the day after Thanksgiving but that has become a distant memory.  Then at least  Halloween was given its own day in the sun.  But that too has passed.  This year I was shopping on September 27^th when I took this picture ……… 

 

……the Christmas Season.  Ho, ho, oh no.

I am able to ignore it all until Thanksgiving.  It is a principle I have that Christmas should last no longer than a month.  For me it always begins the day after Thanksgiving with a Black Friday trip to the outlets with my sisters in law.  The stores always open at about 5am (which we do not witness as we are still asleep) but this year they all opened at 4pm on Thanksgiving day and stayed open throughout the night.  As if I would want to be buying that perfect sweater at 2:30 in the morning.  Employees I saw the next day could barely string a coherent sentence together they were so wiped.

Ho, ho, whoa.

The Christmas Season.  For me it encompasses a three week period in which I………… bake cookies, write a Christmas letter, take the Christmas picture, stuff and address 80 Christmas cards, stand in line at the post office to mail 80 Christmas cards, buy many many presents, wrap many many presents, buy a Christmas tree, put up a Christmas tree,  get the house ready, attend Christmas parties, buy more presents, wrap more presents, grocery shop, buy flowers, stand in lines, pray for good parking spaces and wash the linens. 

Ho, ho, go.

All of this while still working my full time job (with yearend pressures no less), paying bills, teaching classes, walking the dog and feeding the family.  Are you feeling it?

A frenzied pace that is not for the weak of heart. 

It is an energy that even those who don’t celebrate Christmas can feel.  How could you not?  The backup to the exit ramp to the mall was over a mile long yesterday.  The UPS man barrels up and down the street at least  5 times a day (thank goodness!) and Christmas carols and lights fill the air. 

So why do we do it?

I know why I do it.  Because once the whole family has arrived and we sit around the fire with our cheese and crackers and open that first bottle of champagne, the feeling of love and joy we all share is beyond words. 

The Christmas season.  Could it be done more simply.  Absolutely.  Do I expect it to change. No, not really.  Is that ok?  Yes.

Merry Christmas to you all!

I still have to bake and wrap some more,
SARAH