Merry Christmas!

Friends, family, folks, and anyone else in between......

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The day all my kids have been waiting for and the day I've been dreading has finally come and gone.  And yes, we all survived another Christmas.  Yehaw!  I hope that your Christmas Day was a pleasant one.

Christmas 2010 - The good, the bad, and the ugly

There are 10 more days (and one more weekend) before Christmas comes.  I have this love/hate relationship with Christmas......   I love to hate it!  (Just kidding.)  Some years I really get into Christmas and other years I don't.  This year is leaning towards one of those Christmases that I'm not liking a whole lot.  Why?  Because of the untimely home face lift described in this blog entry.  It ended up costing us a bunch of money and it essentially wiped us out.  I'm told that's called life and that stuff happens.  Kewel.  My house looks good.  On the bright side, I was able to pay for most of the repairs with cash, so I didn't have to take on too much debt to pay for the fixes.  In all honesty, we have been incredibly blessed this year.  It just stinks when things come and eat into your savings.

Now for "The good".  Drum roll please...

• Christmas break:  Several companies that I've worked for will shut down during that week.  It is nice to get the time off and away from the stresses of the office.
• Caroling:  We have a tradition of going caroling to the widows, singles (older singles), and older folks in the neighborhood.  That is a good experience and a good Christmas tradition.  We generally go with a bunch of neighbors and friends.
• Giving presents:  Watching your children open up your gift(s) and beam with excitement and joy is something words cannot describe. 
• Food/Chocolate:  English toffee (I love English toffee), peanut brittle, and chocolate.  "Children, get your hands off my Toblerone bar!!  Go eat your own!"
• Charity:  In years past we have donated goods to a family in need usually anonymously.  That makes you feel good when you go and do that.
• Kindness:  People seem to be a little bit better during the holidays.  A bit more friendly, helpful, thoughtful.
• Snow:  This one is new this year because generally I strongly dislike snow, mostly because I have to remove it from my driveway.  I have a 4 wheeler with a plow and now pushing snow is fun!

The bad:

• Busyness:  With all my kids involved in all their doings, work Christmas parties, church Christmas parties, friend Christmas parties, shopping, visiting, etc.  General stuff that you during this time of the year that you're just tired of being away from your house.
• Giving presents:  I hate doing the shopping, especially when there is a lack of funds in the Christmas coffers.  This is the least enjoyable part of Christmas.
• Mobs of people:  I used to like going to the mall.  Now I don't.  Too many people and too much noise.

The Ugly:

• My checkbook balance:  Self explanatory.
• January credit card bills:  Self explanatory, although this is improving
• Returns:  Spending half of your Christmas vacation in lines waiting to return stuff.

Christmas traditions

So what's a blog without Christmas traditions.  I was thinking, what would Christmas be without traditions?  So here is a list of things that we try to do every year.

• We try to give things to a family who is in need.  Or we go in with another family.
  
• A bunch of my neighbors and our family goes Christmas caroling.  We usually sing to the older couples, the sick, the widows, or older single women.
• Christmas eve, we read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ from the Bible.
• The kids get to open up one present.  The present they get to open is a pair of home made flannel pajamas.  They put their new pajamas on and go to bed.
  
• Christmas morning, I make my kids go into the kitchen.  I usually make a killer breakfast.  We eat breakfast before opening up presents.  The kids really hate me for this.  This is a tradition that started with my family.
  
• After breakfast I make the kids go downstairs and line up in front of the door.  It is youngest to oldest (shortest to tallest).  The youngest is in front.  This is a tradition my parents started when I was a kid.
  
• After photos, the kids check out their stockings.
• After stockings, the kids get to see their Santa gifts.
• After Santa gifts, the kids get to open their own presents.  Since Christmas is being funded by cash this year, it means there will be few presents under the tree.  I am totally OK with that.
  
• We spend the rest of the day hanging out and the kids play with their new shiny toys.

That's it. My parents or mother-in-law (my father-in-law passed away five years ago) usually comes to our house.  Or my mother-in-law may spend the night with us.  This year my mother-in-law will be spending the night with us.