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12/4/07
These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

Only 21 days until Christmas! Are you stressed out yet? Yeah, me neither.

Actually, I love Christmas time. I love this whole month leading up to Christmas. I love my Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD in my car, I love all the roof-top Christmas trees downtown, I love the way my mantle looks with the stockings all hung in a row. And even though I have three papers and a final to do this week, and Dixon is having a colonoscopy that costs more than the national debt, and now my home computer has a virus that can only be fixed with a complete and total reformat, I refuse to let that (or the resulting eye twitch and hair loss) get me down during one of the best times of the year. If you can ignore the hustle and bustle and resist the urge to totally stress out over Christmas to-do lists, you realize that there's magic in the air. A spirit of Christmas, if you will. And to help myself you keep that Christmas joy, I've listed a few of my favorite things about this time of year:

1.The way the lights twinkle on the tree when the rest of the room is dark.
2. Watching the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas, because I've been watching it for 26 years now, so it's a tradition. (I love it when he puts antlers on the dog!)
3. Arranging the nativity scene just so (because Baby Jesus enjoys symmetry)
4. Baking sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles
5. Christmas parties with sausage balls and homemade candy.
6. Coming home from work in the evening to see the house all lit up in Christmas lights, thanks to that snazzy automatic timer.
7. That cinnamon potpourri that I only use during the holidays
8. The reindeer door mat with the goofy reindeer smile.
9. The ceramic Christmas tree that was my great-grandmother's.
10. My little light up Christmas village.
11. Free shipping for most online purchases
12. The blue angel on top of the tree.
13. Christmas songs on the radio (although Bing Crosby's I'll be home for Christmas makes me bawl like a baby every time it comes on).
14. Getting Christmas cards in the mail.
15. Finding that perfect present for someone.
16. Matching wrapping paper (always blue, to match the angel and the ornaments).
17. Christmas parades right in front of my office window
18. Candy canes
19. Family getting together.
20. Christmas Mass
21. The days off from work!

You'll notice that I listed 21 things, which is one thing to enjoy for every day up til Christmas. (Yeah, I'm just snazzy like that). The list, however, is in no way exhausted, so I'm interested in what you all out there in Bloggerland love most about the Christmas season (or Hanukah, or Kwanzaa, or Festivus, etc). Go ahead. Don't be shy. Big or little, what's something you like about this time of year?

3 comments:

smc said...

I like how the City of Cambridge wraps the trees that line the major streets in white lights. I especially like how the lights reflect off the snow on the ground.

AZ Dog Mom said...

How people in Arizona are crazy enough to go through the torture that is wrapping a cactus in lights (myself included).

Putting antlers on my dog and having her picture taken with Santa at Petsmart.

Hanging ornaments on the tree and remember when we received them or bought them.

Listening to my Christmas CDs (from Country to Big Band to TSO).

Turning off all the lights inside the house except for the tree, and then just sitting and enjoying the beauty of a lit tree.

Watching my cat nudge the shatter-proof ornaments we put on the bottom branches of the tree.

Eating Christmas cookies.

Wrapping presents.

Watching the cat play in the wrapping after presents have been opened.

Driving around the neighborhood and seeing our neighbors' lights.

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to take the boys to Petsmart to get their picture taken with Santa...but I think the entire thing would be a bit of a disaster. Mason would hiss at Santa, and Dixon would fight getting in and out of his carrier, and the store would just freak them out. I wonder if Santa makes house calls though?