Twas The Day Before Christmas

Which means this will probably be a short post.

It’s here.  After shopping, being bombarded with advertisements for the latest doodads and gizmos, and stuffing your faces at holiday parties, Christmas has finally reared it’s festive head.  Meh.  I used to get really excited about this day, especially when I was a little kid.  We didn’t have much, but somehow I always ended up with some things I wanted from “Santa.”  The best part from my younger years was when my whole family got together.  Growing up in Florida, Christmas was usually spent wearing shorts and playing outside.  I used to wait outside for my family to show up, and it was always a treat.  My aunt, uncle, and cousin would drive all the way down from Northern Virginia, and I got really excited when they pulled up in front of the house.  Same goes for my other aunt and uncle that lived across town.  Christmas began when the family got together, not when you opened presents.

Things change, and we don’t all get together anymore.  I moved out of Florida, so we stay right here.  My mom lives just up the road and she comes down, and to make it more like family we always invite our closest friends over to the house to share in the Christmas cheer.  It’s not like it was when I was little, but it’s pretty nice.

You see, after I grew up, I kinda of hated Christmas for a while.  Struggling to make ends meet, it was tough to get into the holiday spirit.  Once I became a dad though, I got to “play Santa” to Lunchbox which made things right again.  He’s pretty much all grown up now, so I though I would go back to being all Mr. Scrooge.

You know what?  Things have changed again.  I’m actually pretty happy about the upcoming holiday.  Little Miss Sunshine has gone out of her way to make sure we have a great time (and to make sure it feels like Christmas), so for the first time in a while I’m in a good mood this time of year.  I guess it helps when she makes cool Christmas decorations to put on the house.

This photo is currently spreading like wildfire all over the Internets.  That makes me proud of her.

And yeah, I decorated cookies too.

So tomorrow is the big day, huh?  That means I’m out of here for a while.  Will I be back for “Fun Friday?”  Not sure.  I’m taking some much needed time off.  Even if I don’t come back here Friday, you can expect some “year in review” type shit for next week.

Go have a great with your family and friends.  That’s what this time of year is all about.