Well, I have my Christmas cards sent out, about half of our presents wrapped, and I've been listening to Christmas music (on my own) for about a week now. Christmas must be a-coming.
The concept of Christmas itself is sort of conflicting for me. As we know, I'm completely a-religious, so I don't go to church or get into the whole nativity thing. In fact, our neighbors across the street have a fairly gaudy plastic nativity decoration out front that drives me crazy. Not because of the churchiness, but because you could probably land a plane on our street when it's lit up. Aye yi yi.
I don't have a problem with using the abbreviation X-mas. I understand the "Keep Christ in Christmas" thing, but personally, I don't think the two are related. Are people upset when others abbreviate TGIF because they don't actually write out "God"? Somehow, I think not. And that's all X-mas is. It's an abbreviation, not blasphemy.
I think people should wish whatever the hell they want during the holiday season. I don't care if they wish me a happy holiday, a merry Christmas or just a nice day; I just appreciate the sentiment. If you're offended because someone mentioned a holiday that you don't celebrate, I can't imagine what else offends you...
That being said, I love Christmas. Not as much as Halloween, but it's a close second in my book. I love the smell of a pine tree in my house and I love buying presents for people I love. The past few years, I've taken to making Christmas crafts, and though I tend to end up with more glue on me than I could've sworn I even had available, I enjoy it. I love being with my family and eating all the cookies I can shove in my mouth before my stomach registers that it's too much. Getting Christmas cards in the mail makes me downright giddy, and I look forward to my mom's Christmas Eve prime rib the other 364 days a year. T'is a wonderful holiday, indeed.
My parents will tell you that I'm a tradition nazi. Actually, most people who know me would tell you that. I just happen to think traditions are a integral part of the holiday experience, though, I may take things a bit too far sometimes. My mom once made little tenderloin medallions instead of prime rib for Christmas Eve and I sort of threw a fit (even though it was actually in my best interest, since I always had an issue with eating too much prime rib and getting horrendous tummy aches). Another year, Mom decided that she wanted their tree upstairs in the window instead of downstairs where it has ALWAYS been, and I tried really, really hard to talk her out of it, even though it was something she had always wanted to try. Thankfully, I've gotten past most of those issues, but I still have to have my mug of hot chocolate in order to open presents on Christmas Eve and I have to put certain ornaments on the tree myself or else things don't feel quite right.
The one thing I'm missing right now is snow. We've only had one snowfall that stuck, and it was only around for an afternoon. No one dreams of a grey, rainy Christmas. No one sings, "Let it sleet, let it sleet, let it sleet." There's a reason for this. It sucks. In my opinion, snow is the only acceptable precipitation this time of year and, as my family's motto goes, it's Christmas, dammit!
Spencer would be right with you on those Christmas traditions. Although he has relaxed about it a bit in the past few years so that we can spread family things out a bit, he is pretty hard core about where the tree is, when presents and stockings are opened, etc. I think Traditions are a fantastic part of Christmas, and although they might have to be modified through the years, the core should always be there.
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