A Holiday Meme...

Okay, so my good friend Erin tagged me for this meme. It's supposed to be 15 things you love about the holidays. Erin only came up with five, so let's see how many I can come up with. I love a challenge!

1) Christmas music. Yes, it's utterly annoying, and yes - there are only so many versions of "The Christmas Song" you can hear in one 8 hour period, but c'mon - admit it! We love it when that Christmas music comes on (at least initally - after seven weeks of it, you may want to throw your radio/TV/DVD player/sattelite radio out the window). But it all comes down to the memories they evoke - which are mostly positive. Well, the first fifty times you hear it the memories are usually positive. Then you just want to gag.

2) Sledding. Here in Colorado (where I grew up) it has usually snowed a couple of feet by Christmas, and that means sleds come out! Granted, all the good sledding hills we used to use when I was a kid are gone - mostly have new buildings in their place. So there aren't any really good hills here anymore unless you go to a ski area. Okay, that's just depressing.

3) Christmas cookies! I loved it when my mom would bake ALL weekend and made about 75 different varieties of cookies, turtles, cakes and breads. But I still want to lose the last few pounds of baby weight, so I will lay off of them this year. Damn, that's depressing too.

4) Here's one that isn't depressing: holiday volunteering. Every year I volunteer somewhere and try to do somthing good for others and focus on others for at least a full day. Didn't do it last year because Aimee was the only person I could focus on. But this year I volunteered to coordinate a food/clothes/everything drive for one needy family here in the Springs. It was a mother with five children and a niece (neice's mom is in jail) and we got them EVRYTHING - hundreds of dollars of stuff - all from my office and coworkersand some neighboring companies. I love doing stuff like this over the holidays. I think everyone should do this at least two or three times a year. Who can be depressed when you see how good you really have it - family, friends, enough food, a roof over your head, clothes to wear - you have everything you need. Don't take it for granted.

5) Vacation. Who doesn't love the time off over the holidays? I am taking a week and a half off for XMas. I am really looking forward to it.

6) Shopping. I do love the shopping that the holidays trigger. Although, since I have less time, I have done a lot of shopping over the internet. Gotta love the uprising of internet shopping. Especially for toys - stuff that your local Wal Mart (which is CRAZY crowded from the end of Haloween until the end of January - hell, it's nuts all year long) is sold out of. And it comes to your door with no shipping costs. How divine!

7) Holiday movies. It seems appropriate for this time of year. I love getting cozy with a blanket in front of the TV watching "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street" or one of those movies. Did you know that the Family channel is having 25 days of good holiday movies? Even new ones with Sabrina the Teenage Witch handcuffing Slater from Saved by the Bell to her car. It's all good, mindless TV.

8) Sweaters. I love breaking out the sweaters. And I love breaking out the holiday sweaters. I don't have too many, but the ones I do have are really cute (and not over the top). They are fun to wear at this time of the year.

9)Getting presents. C'mon - who DOESN'T like this part of Christmas?!?

10) Giving presents. I like giving the presents too. I love watching the reactions. Of course, if your husband denies himself things from September on so he can "put them on his list" and actually presents you with a lengthy list to choose from, it can kill the anticipation.

11)Watching Aimee discover Christmas. She's not fully there yet - next year will be even better, but at 17 months old, she can talk (a little) and point at things and be wowed by the lights and glitter. It makes Christmas new again and makes me appreciate all the little things I love about Christmas even more - because my daughter appreciates them.

That's really about it - I am out of reasons. I just love the holidays.

Since most of my friends who have blogs have already tagged each other, and none of my other friends are bloggers, I will not pass this on. So here you go, Erin - enjoy. :-)

Is it December already?

Good lord - it's already December. Have I mentioned that I hate the holidays? This will be a LONG month.

T-giving was okay. Really, I did the cooking and cleaning, but I knew I would get stuck with that. So, it was really okay.

Aimee was hilarious. Jackson, my two-year-old nephew had the audacity to - GASP - play with her toys. She was not happy, and she let him know it. She was full-on yelling at him, little arms flailing and face turning red. All because he was sitting at her piano. Did he notice? No - of course not. He is a BOY, after all. She gave him what sounded like a blistering lecture (at least I think she did - it wasn't in English). It was just too precious and funny. At least I can say that my kid is no pushover. She'll be doing the pushing around, thank you very much. I think I like that.

Now, Christmas is another story. Thanksgiving is all about family, but Christmas (at least for my dh's family) is all about shopping. And giving the appropriate amount of gifts (last year we spent about $700 on gifts for his family, which I think is beyond ridiculous). I made a list for Aimee's toys, given all the recall scares. I thought that was a nice and prudent thing to do, but my mil is already griping about it. Says she can't find it online. So I send her the links. Then she told me there's too much shipping. So I tell her if she buys it from the links I am sending, there will be no shipping.

I have no idea what her problem is now. I am weary of it and getting to the point where I don't care much faster this year than last. She took my hubby out to shop for four hours today. Last minute. Again. Nevermind the grocery shopping and house cleaning that usually go on Sundays. So I got to handle all of that solo, along with a very stubborn toddler. I am almost at my last thread with this crap.

Sorry this post has gotten so down, I need to go chill out with a glass of wine (or some of that sparkling cider left over from Thansgiving and a hot bath.

How was T-giving for everyone else???