I realize it's not quite November yet but I feel the need to discuss the upcoming holiday season. There are so many things to love and hate this time of year. By January I feel like a crazy person.
Allow me to explain.As I mentioned there are so many things that make me happy this time of year. I love decorating for Christmas!! I love the music on the radio and in the stores. I'm one of those people that is always singing Christmas carols. And when I find the perfect gift for someone I get so excited! Decorating the tree is also my favorite thing to do. I like to put it up after Thanksgiving and keep it up till New Years. I like spending time with loved ones. I am so very excited to celebrate Graysons first Christmas and start new memories and traditions with him!! I am having so much fun shopping for him already.
Now you might be thinking what could possibly be bad about the holidays? Well I will tell you. I hate crowds, and I hate spending money. I love buying presents but when you don't have the money it makes it harder to actually enjoy shopping. It just adds to my financial stress. I love spending time with family but sometimes I find it so stressful. Just once I would like to just stay home and not leave. Traveling from house to house all day really gets tiresome. As a child of divorce I am used to doing things more than once. I'll even admit that as a kid it was actually cool to get more presents. I can even handle two or three stops but anymore than that and it gets ridiculous. And the thought of dragging poor Grayson around all day makes me stressed.
I basically just feel that no matter what I decide or how many places I go somebody is always disappointed. And I hate that feeling. But really we have to put ourselves and Grayson first. So if somebody has hurt feelings well I guess that will be their problem. We will try our best to be accommodating but we can only do so much. The fact that Joe and I don't work the typical 9-5 schedule and work at places that are open 24 hours a day everyday doesn't help. Trying to plan around our schedules can be a royal pain!
And then there is Thanksgiving. Not a super fan and never really have been. I wouldn't say I hate it but I could skip it one year and be fine. I guess I don't really care for a lot of Thanksgiving food. Sweet potatoes? Gross. Pumpkin pie? Yuck. Stuffing? Not so much. Cranberry sauce? No thanks. Turkey? Yes please! But only white meat. Mashed potatoes? Yum, but only if they are made right. Corn? Sure. Rolls. Yep. The best thing about Thanksgiving in my book are the appetizers before hand. And Grandma Milly's shrimp cocktails. Not real traditional but tasty. But I've had two, sometimes three Thanksgiving dinners before. Not real good for the waistline but oh well. One year I really do want to stay home and try and make a turkey. I mean it can't be that hard right? I think that me making Thanksgiving dinner would either a complete disaster or the best meal ever. But I figure that if it's disaster at least it will make a good story. Maybe someday. Hopefully sooner than later.
And I know I've talked about this before but I will bring it up again. I'm not looking forward to getting on facebook and seeing stupid post about Christmas vs happy Holidays. Because it's just so stupid and people are so damn sensitive about everything. People get upset over happy holidays because they say you are taking the Christ out of Christmas. Well who the hell cares? Last I heard people could greet someone however the hell they want. I think that Christians (I'm stereotyping here) seem to often think that their religion and views are the only ones that are important. Hello, people there are other holidays going on. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, festivus. And plenty of atheist still celebrate Christmas. But what gets me is I find things that say "I only say Merry Christmas..blah blah blah" (or something to that effect) very condescending. I mean say whatever you want, but don't judge or put down others for using a different greeting than you would prefer. It's basically saying that you're beliefs are more important than everybody else's. And if someone were to say, "have a good weekend" nobody would get uppity and demand they only get told to "have a very special Saturday" would they? Hell, someone telling me "Happy Holidays" is certainly better than a "fuck off" isn't it?
On that happy note I will leave you. As I go into the season this year I will try to not let the bs bother me and just enjoy the good things. As Grayson gets older I want him to love the holidays and not feel any stress or anxiety I may have. I am almost done shopping and make more money this year so that already makes my life easier. I plan on sending out Christmas cards but we will see how far I get as I've been saying that the last two years. Till next time friends.
