Oh Christmas.

Well, it's that time of year again. The time to indulge! You worked for weeks preparing for this holiday and in within hours, it will all unravel. It's like a bloody wedding, only it happens every year!! I need simplicity. I find that the long line ups at big box stores, and the greedy children with the competitive parents a bit too much to stomach. 'Tis the season for GIVING! I think we forgot what giving means. It doesn't mean to give Wal-Mart gift cards, or buy something silly for the sake of having a gift. It doesn't even mean buying your daughter those $200 boots that she ASKED you to buy her for Christmas. It is about giving yourself. Where is the love in a gift card? Or a cell phone?

Christmas isn't just one day for a lot of people. You get a steady steam of gifts for a few days in and around the 25th as you visit with different people. And some people will hope for gift certificates so they can afford to do the last of their Christmas shopping! Or some people just regift their gifts so they have gifts to give. I hate how people hem and haw over getting gifts for certain people because god forbid they receive a gift and not have one to give in return. Oh and of course my favourite one..."you can't give a gift from a second hand store". How stressful. I grew up watching Charlie Brown Christmas and Pink Panther Christmas, I was constantly being taught by Christmas movies that Christmas isn't about presents, it's about giving a piece of you to someone in need, or as an act of love to someone you care about. But then I was constantly being threatened that Santa's watching and he'll take away my presents. These are very confusing messages, especially for a child. Which message do you want your child to understand?

Please know I say all this because I am experiencing that last minute Christmas rush. Which I know if my fault for leaving all this until the last minute, but just know that, if I had the time to get this done earlier, I would have. (My life is on the worlds fastest roller coaster ride right now, but luckily I'm about to get off!) I found myself at Chapters. I went in with a list of like 30 people and went through the store checking off people as I saw things. Then I stood in what felt like the worlds longest line up and paid a $300 bill before heading to the next one. Now with a couple more people to get for, I gotta go hit the stores on December 24th. So I get to witness and experience this mass amounts of consumerism which is not what Christmas is about. I also think I feel a little out of sorts because I did NO CHRISTMAS BAKING!!! Can you believe that!? Baking is just one of those things for me. Brings me back down. Instead I will just think of my ideal Christmas...we get together, eat food we all made together, sing songs and jam together, have a few drinks together in a warm cozy environment, maybe have a little no-pressure gift exchange. It's just so wonderful.