Christmas Hodge Podge

I'm a little short on snark tonight.  My Christmas spirit is coming back slowly, but surely.  While the stresses of life have not eased up on me, my ability to cope and redirect have been refined, and I'm able to find space in my heart for the joy of the season. 

While I was finishing my homework tonight, I've been watching the Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas - really just to kill time until "The Walking Dead" comes on (hey, priorities, people!)  The part where he goes on his tangent about the presents really kind of hit me.  A lot of people say that Christmas has become this materialistic holiday, where people only care about the presents.  I think that's only true to a degree.  I think people do get caught up in the gifts, but for the feeling of giving, not so much for the item itself.  Sure, we give ourselves a set of standards that we feel we should live up to in terms of gift awesomeness, but really, the gift itself doesn't matter if it's heartfelt. 

I have been contemplating the idea of a little Christmas party, because I just love the idea of gathering and eating and laughing and all sorts of fun stuff.  I'd love to have all of you together to play Dirty Santa or White Elephant, eat some awesome food, and dance or play games, or whatever.  I also thought of a fun cookie exchange.  My problem is it's already December 3rd.  Is there still even time to put something together? 

Nonetheless, my tree is only half-decorated, and I don't even have a stocking for myself.  The Stuart Christmas card has not been designed, and I'm way behind on my gift list.  Christmas movies on tv are fewer and farther between than they were when I was a kid, and I'm upset that Netflix doesn't have a holiday category with classic holiday films anymore (unless I'm blind and missed it.) I got through Halloween and realized I hadn't watched Hocus Pocus once during October.  Shame. I also saw it playing on tv today - come on, Disney.  It's December.  This mixing up holidays is giving me anxiety.

I'm not to a point where I can listen to 106.9 24/7, because even Christmas songs get recycled too much, but if I'm in someone else's car or hear it on someone else's radio, I don't make them change it.  I don't have any hot chocolate or peppermint candy canes in the house, but that will change asap.

Let's have a great holiday season. Live, love, laugh, and GIVE. And most importantly, continue the living, and the loving, and the laughing, and the giving all year.  People need things during the other 11 months of the year, too.