Christmas and stuff.

And so, this is Christmas.

Psychotic shopping. Traffic. Decisions. Jingling Bells and Decked Halls. Wrapping paper. Decorations. Credit Card swiping. Holiday parties. Nice lights. Neighbors one-upping neighbors with bigger, more ridiculous inflatable lawn ornaments (it's quite amusing, actually). Wrapping paper. Traffic.

Christmas seems to lose its luster a little more each year. I didn't even bother reading the labels on the presents in front of the fake chimney my mother puts up (it's quite cheesy, really). In my youth, I used to spend hours searching the house for presents. When they were wrapped and placed under the tree, or, in front of the fake chimney, I would carefully peel off one specific piece of tape which would allow for just enough lifting of the wrapping paper to see what I was getting. I somehow got caught and the maternal unit adapted through several different strategies:

-wrapping the presents such that pulling off one piece of tape wouldn't reveal their contents

-no more labels on the presents (meaning that peeking would just give me a 1 in 4 chance, at best, at figuring out what was going on in there)

-mislabelling the presents and/or claiming that my presents belong to another individual

-extremely careful hiding of presents (ie aunt's house or somewhere we couldn't reach)

That mom of mine, she's sneaky. Despite her measures to keep things a surprise, I still found ways to figure out what my presents would be. One year she got really crappy wrapping paper that was see-through. HA! Victory!

...and now? I'm not even excited. My mom still gets us lots of stuff. Nowadays, it's usually stuff we need (ie socks) and lots of clothing, which is great.

Although the excitement for presents on Christmas morning has subsided, I still appreciate Christmas. It's a nice time of year and it's all family lovey-dovey and the decorations and lights are always pleasing.

I must say, although we didn't have much money when I was growing up, my mom always got us tons of stuff on Christmas. Nice memories.

One more irrelevant thing: I cried when I found out Santa wasn't for real. I dread breaking this news to my child one day, although it'll probably be easier on the wallet.

So yes, Christmas is great and all. But the holiday season is really hectic. It's what America's all about. Buy stuff buy stuff buy stuff! Work your ass off all year, and spend your hard-earned money on stuff! Your credit sucks! But you have awesome designer sunglasses! RUN RUN RUN SHOP SHOP SHOP.

This rant. It's going nowhere.

I haven't blogged in a while.... I've been too busy doing... oh, NOTHING AT ALL! I kept the present giving simple this year. 3 people. 3 gift certificates. DONE. My love is all they should need.

Anyway, this break has proven to be quite unproductive. I've watched nearly every episode of The Office. What a great show!!! I heart it!

Speaking of which, I want to watch an episode or two before I go to sleep. It's 3 AM. December 24, 2006. 3 AM.

Oh!

Happy Birthday to my brother Christopher (codename: Christina). He is 20. Born on Christmas Eve. He is a victim of the gift-and-a-half phenomenon, where someone buys you something slightly better and claims it is "for both your birthday and Christmas." I've always felt as though it is like getting 1.5 gifts instead of 2. He makes me appreciate having an August birthday. There aren't even any major holidays in August. Except my birthday, of course.

Irrelevant Sidenote: A lot of people say that they "don't believe in blogs." Ummm... I don't know how to break this to you, buddy, but.... blogs do actually exist.

No, no. They usually mean that they think blogging is dumb and they'd never do it (the number one reason: "why should I write about myself and put that stuff out there for anyone to see?").

Maybe these people aren't blogging cause they have not mastered the English language such that they can tell the difference between saying "I don't agree with blogging" versus "I don't believe in blogs." Hmmm??? Ok, I'm being nitpicky cause I get a little defensive.

It makes me think.... "Why do I blog? Do I think I'm so interesting? Do I totally put myself out there?" and after thinking a little I get kind of tired and take a break, have a little snack... then I start thinking again. I blog cause I like to blog. I don't think I really get very personal in the posts. One on one, in real life, I'm usually a pretty candid person. I'm an oversharer.... and it makes people uncomfortable sometimes. Pretty amusing, I must say. ANYWAY, back to the point.

I blog cause I like it. I don't think I'm particularly interesting, but it's a way of sharing stuff with friends, like embarassing stories and my latest theory on something unimportant.

I should hit the sack.

Maybe watch an episode or two of The Office, first!!!!