Friday, December 16, 2005

What I love and hate about Christmas

I love Christmas and think it's a beautiful time of year. There are tons of things I love about the season. And of course there are tons of things that drive me nuts. So, here you go, in no particular order, what I like and don't like about the season.

What I Like...
  • Multi colored lights
  • Lots of shiny things
  • Eggnong
  • Christmas trees
  • Candy canes
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and other 'classic' Christmas specials
  • Finding the perfect gift for people
  • Anticipating people's reactions to your gifts
  • Getting together with friends and family who live far away
  • People being a little more generous towards each other
  • The smell of pine trees
  • Hot cocoa with a shot of Dr. McGillicutty
  • Decorating Christmas cookies
  • Sharing holiday traditions and learning new ones
  • Acting like a 10 year old under the tree on Christmas morning
  • Writing letters to Santa with little kids
  • Cooking (and eating) large extravagant meals
  • Peppermintstick Icecream
  • Sitting in the living room with only the Christmas lights on and looking at the tree
  • White chocolate KitKats
  • Wearing my santa hat or reindeer ears for the entire month of December
  • Decorating the apartment
  • Spending a bit more than you normally would, because it's Christmas
  • Calories don't count during the holidays (Oh, I wish this was true!)
  • Making home made gifts
  • Singing Christmas carols (way off key in my case)

What I don't like...
  • Rampant consumerism
  • Forlorn, dying Christmas trees abondoned on the curb after New Years
  • People who don't put any thought into gifts
  • Commercials that make you feel bad if you don't take out a mortgage to buy Christmas presents (particularly jewelry and car commercials)
  • Being broke and not being able to give gifts
  • Not being able to spend as much time with people I really care about
  • Fighting for parking spots
  • People who go shopping in a bad mood
  • Feeling guilty if I don't spend enough or spend too much
  • Bill O'Reilly and the alleged War on Christmas
  • People who don't appreciate what you give them
  • Feeling generally stressed out
  • Updates of classic Christmas specials
  • Not having the time to do all the special little things you had planned to do
  • Christmas music in the stores 24/7
  • Feeling guilty for not sending Christmas cards to everyone
  • People of different faiths who are offended by receiving a Christmas card
  • Christians who don't understand that not everybody celebrates Christmas

Most of my dislikes revolve around how commercialized the holiday has become. I read an article in the local paper today that said the average American spends $700 on Christmas (including gifts, meals, and decorations). I'm not sure where they got their numbers, but I am certainly well below average.

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