I know that it is not exactly news to most people but Christmas is almost upon us. It is a religious holiday that has been converted into the holiest of days to those who belong to the world of retail shopping. It is the holiest of days to those who belong to the religion of consumerism.
I also enjoy a bit of consumerism now and then (I bought my Wii last year) but I find that shopping at this time of year is the worst. There is never any place to park and the things you want are often in short supply (unless you go to eBay) if they exist on store shelves at all.
Do you know that this is going to be the first year (since we started the tradition) where we will not have a picture of my daughter sitting on a mall Santa's lap? I just realized that. I will also be working Christmas Eve (1PM - 9PM) so my daughter and I will have to do our annual "Sugar Cookies for Santa" Scream and Fight Fest in the morning. Then I get to go to work while my wife deals with an over-excited 8 year old who can't wait ten minutes (let alone 10 hours) for Christmas.
Another funny thing about Christmas in my house is that my daughter is a late sleeper. What I mean is that after she wanders into our bed around 3AM she likes to sleep in. In the past she has done her sleepy-walk routine right past a room full of presents, bleary eyed and unaware. I don't know if we will be so lucky this year. I know that I do not want to get up at 3AM to open presents!
I know that later on, on Christmas Day, we will leave our nice warm home and travel down the road to Grandma's house where we will have to endure several hours of relatives. Some relatives we enjoy, some we do not. I'm not going to go into too much detail here because some of them may be reading this. Suffice to say, when it comes to the Christmas get together I would prefer to stay home and enjoy time with my immediate family.
As good as the foods smell when we go out I know that 90% of the dishes being served are not compatible with my body. I end up picking at the snacks and getting an upset stomach for the rest of the day because everything else contains something that I am allergic to. Yeah, it is just so much fun for me.
Enough about me and my holiday plans, what are you going to be doing?