Grinch!

I have to admit I'm one of those people!  You know, the person who scorns Christmas, who waits until the absolute last minute to complete their shopping.  (Yep, finished it this afternoon!)  Today I started wondering when the joy of the season became dread.  

Looking back Christmas was a big deal in our house.  The house was decorated to the nines, we went to evening mass, opened gifts and had a huge schmozz with tonnes of family over.  And for the most part I loved it.  I enjoyed the baking and took immense amounts of pleasure in wrapping my brothers presents creatively - read so they couldn't open them.  One year this involved duct tape and bricks.  Over time I became more cynical.  The spirit of Christmas seemed to be lost.  

I hated the commercialism of it.  I hated the snarky people rushing from place to place, making rude gestures when you dared to obey the traffic laws.  And I really hated the intensely crowded malls, looking for the perfect gift.  To be honest, I really love giving presents.  I like thinking up what would suit the person, and imagine how they'd feel.  But I don't much enjoy finding said gifts.

Now I procrastinate.  I despise driving into the city, dealing with the traffic and crowds, generally putting off the torture until I can't wait any longer - read today.  But I've learned the art of power shopping.  I have a list of things I'm going to get and I go directly from each place purchasing the gift and then move my rear end home as fast as I can.  All said I completed my Christmas shopping in under 3 hours.  Not bad considering the wait time in line ups.  

Something I've thought about a lot is showing Christmas spirit which for me are the spirits of generosity, giving and gratitude.  I think a worthwhile endeavor in the future will be to volunteer at one of the many Christmas dinners for the needy.  And to never forget all the wonderful things I have to be grateful for.

So for all you happy shiny faces out there - may the season bring joy and love to your homes.  May you and all those you love be safe and happy.  Merry Christmas!