Christmas is in the air!


If you have visited any of the local malls recently, I'm sure you couldn't help but be bombarded by the elaborate and festive Christmas decor. I actually wasn't prepared because hello, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. But I have to admit, seeing all the lights, the poinsettias, the snowflakes, and yes, even Santa, has put me into the holiday spirit. I even had to pull out my Christmas music so I could bop to NSYNC's holiday cd! Last week at Target, hubby and I even bought our first fake-assemble-it-yourself-and-use-it-again-and-again-every-year tree. I was excited! It comes all perfectly packaged in a slim, narrow box that will never ever, as much as I try, look the same after it's opened. As long as I can remember growing up, our Christmas tree (which I'm betting is as old as I am!) included a color-coded assembly. It's a totally old-school tree, but honestly, it's something that I've wanted for ourselves. During our first Christmas together after our wedding, hubby and I got a real tree. A real, live, pine shedding, make your whole house smelling, don't forget to water or else it turns poopoo brown color, tree. It was SO cool! In all my years at my parents, I remember only one instance where my Ate insisted that we get a real tree. Forget the fact that we never had to take care of one before and had no clue as to HOW to do so. Oh, and it didn't help that each year's location of the tree was always in the same place...in front of the living room window....which is directly in front of the heater. The heater. Yes, our poor Christmas tree that year practically died as soon as we got it! Lol! Well, we learned our lesson...and plus, all the damn needles were major annoyances anyways. But it was nice while it lasted...the same goes for hubby's and my first Christmas together. I say, get a faux Christmas tree and buy the Christmas tree spray or candle to achieve that semi-authentic tree smell. It may not be the same thing, but hey, save the trees!


I've been feeling somewhat nostalgic lately. I guess because Christmas is in the air and knowing that this is going to be THE FIRST time I won't be with my family. Hubby and I will be spending the holidays, hopefully, in our brand new townhome. Plus, it's going to be our first white Christmas! Yes, it will be sad to be away from the folks, but just because we're not together doesn't mean that they're not in my heart, thoughts, and prayers always. Corny, but true. Also, we're hoping hubby's parents and kids will be here to spend Christmas with us. That will definitely be a nice gift!


Thanksgiving


Well, Turkey Day is almost upon us. A time for when people take the day off to spend with family, cook up a feast, eat until they can't eat anymore, and give thanks for the blessings in their life. Some will think that it's odd that there's only ONE day out of the year designated to give thanks...just like there's ONE day of the year to celebrate Christ's birth....ONE day out of the week to go to church, etc. Of course, many of us do all of these things everyday, but I guess I was just reminded of my SFState days where we would celebrate the "Unthanksgiving." By the way...Christopher Columbus didn't discover shiet. Aside from the textbook version we learned in school...why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Why celebrate when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? I mean, we often forget that they took over the land already inhabited by the Native Americans. They brought with them sickness and disease, destroyed all what the Native Americans deemed sacred, and went about trying to colonize the "savage people." Ah yes...the story of colored people everywhere! If ya'll don't know the facts about the actual event, I suggest you do some research and see for yourself that it's not all cracked up to be everything you once believed.


ANYWAYS...I digress. Despite the history behind it, I still love this holiday. I mean, we all get a day off of work and we all get to eat until we can't eat anymore. Turkey, gravy, and pie, oh my! Plus, how about all of them turkey leftovers??? Lol! On the real, I love that people take the time to be with their families on Thanksgiving. People have their own celebrations and their own traditions. What it comes down to is spending quality time together. In this world that we live in today, quality time isn't something on everyone's priority list. It SHOULD be. We often take our loved ones for granted and it almost always takes an unfortunate event for us to realize just how much they mean to us. Do yourself a favor...don't wait until that moment. Be thankful for your blessings each and every day. I know I do.