And So It Begins

The Christmas weekend is here. I should probably get my shopping done. Then when the next person asks me if I have my Christmas shopping done I can finally say yes. I've lost count on how many times I've been asked that question these last few weeks. Well, ever since Thanksgiving, really. I can't wait until it goes away. I suppose I should consider myself fortunate to not have 50 people to shop for. Some people who ask me this question then rattle off how much they have left and I just want to find a hole and crawl into on their behalf. Why do we do this to ourselves? My family and my husband's family have both decided to simplify things. I have to buy 3 gifts this year. All with a dollar limit. A very low dollar limit. I can't imagine having to shop for a whole herd of folks who I barely know. I know this makes me sound scroogy, but why give people more junk they don't want/need? I say it every year, but either I can go out and spend $20 on something that I really want or need or I can spend $20 on some kitchen towels or picture frames for some relative that I only see one day a year that they probably won't like/won't use and will just sit in a closet somewhere. Then, in return, I get a Christmas tree ornament for a tree I don't have and we all call it a day and go back to our homes where we won't see each other for another year.

Bah-humbug, right? I know.

I'm just not feeling very festive this year. My holiday festiveness has been waning for the last few years and this year I think it finally fully disappeared. I like to see my family, but it's always so chaotic that I never really get to talk to anyone anyway. I'm not a religious person, so it has no significance for me there. I don't eat meat so I usually get no food out of the deal. And the whole gift exchange is lost on me. I find it pointless, as I've said.

Murray really liked the gift exchange part, though.

But, it's what we do as people, right? We do this. These traditions. And we smile and sometimes we even have fun. I just wish I could convince my family to forgo most of these traditions and let's just all get together and bring some fancy cheese and crackers and some wine, or apple cider for the non-drinkers, and sit and visit. No big meal with all of those dishes (god, that just gives me so much anxiety). No gift exchange. No games. Let's just all hang out. Together.

But that will never fly.

So instead we'll get together and bring all this food and exchange gifts and it will be loud and chaotic and I will come super close to having an anxiety attack and then I will go home, exhausted and hungry and that will be it for the year. 2011 will finally be over.

So happy holidays, everyone. At the very least, we get videos like this and this makes me smile at the same time as making me really really miss my dog. But that's just par for the course around these parts these days.