Grinches Beware!

Truth: I love the holidays. 

There, I said it.  Glad to get that off my chest.  Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that much of a secret, but I felt like a declaration was in order.  I'm not sure why it is, but for whatever reason I feel like this year the pre-holiday protests are a little louder than normal.  Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?  I mean, let's face it...by now we should all know that as soon as Halloween is over, you're not going to be able to walk into a store without seeing Santa statues, ornaments, and stockings.  It's just the world we live in, and I doubt it's going to change anytime in our lifetime. 

Some call it consumerism....some say it's America "forgetting" what the real reason for the season is...and maybe that's true.  I don't know.  But frankly, I don't mind it.  I take it as a reminder that I need to get my vacation requests in, get my shopping started, and get my Christmas budget in order.  Why you ask?  So that come December, I can relax and I can remember what Christmas is really all about (thanks in part to Charlie Brown Christmas special). 

I don't know about anyone else, but to be honest, even with all the amazing blessings I have had this year, I could use a little Christmas right now.  I don't know if it's the hard times or the stress, or the struggles I've endured over the year, but when I hopped into my car last week and heard the first Christmas song of the season on the radio, I felt really happy.  Christmas is a time to be happy and a time to be joyous and a time to celebrate life's blessings and shake off the stress.  What better way to do that than with a little Christmas diddy??  Why wait until December to listen to music that makes you happy?

This year is extra special for K and me as well because we will get to decorate our home for the holidays for the first time.  Our first stockings at our house, our first tree, our first Christmas wreath on the door.  Call me cheesy, but I am really looking forward to that, and to settling into our own holiday traditions.  I am also looking forward to spending some time with my girlfriends too!  I know that I've mentioned in several posts before that we all get so busy and consumed with our own lives that it becomes harder and harder to make the time for eachother.  But at Christmas, come hell or highwater, we find the time.  And when we find the time, we eat fattening foods, and we drink copious amounts of wine, we exchange gifts, and most importantly, we laugh....a lot. 

So, with all that said, I ask you....is it really so bad to start celebrating Christmas a little early?  Don't get me wrong, I have not forgotten about Thanksgiving.  I have not forgotten that before we give and before we get, we are thankful first.  I have not lost that.  I am thankful everyday.  But today, I am thankful for Christmas music and the decorations that are up in downtown Lexington, and the holiday scents at Yankee Candle, and the Christmas dishes I had to stop myself from registering for at Macys over the weekend.  So do me a favor...don't bah-humbug me...and don't judge me for not jumping on the bandwagon and making remarks like "Ugh...there are already Chrismas Trees at Wal-Mart, and it's not even Thanksgiving!"  Yes, I will wait to put up my decorations, and no I don't leave my tree up until January, but for now I am enjoying the little Christmas things while I can.  And that's okay!

So call me crazy.  Call me corny.  Call me a consumerist.  I don't care.  Just don't call me a Grinch.