Christmas favs

During this time of year, I will occasionally hear a few people declare, "I hate Christmas!" "Bah humbug" "It's just a hallmark holiday!' etc...

Yeah, all the preparation can be kind of a pain.

TV commercials do bombard you with a 'buy buy buy!" in-your-face hard sell to the point of being obnoxious.

And there are some folks that reminisce sad events that has happened to during the Christmas season. Maybe a close friend or family passed away during that time. Perhaps there was an illness in the family or a layoff at the company. Maybe it was a relative that got obnoxiously drunk and selfishly ruined the holidays. It could be just the pressure of having to buy gifts, visit relatives or whatever.

It's kind of sad.

For the most part, I have had nice Christmases. The very few that were a bit of a bummer I blot out of my mind. It's pointless, at least it is for me to dwell on the 'nasties".

Hey, every once in a while you are going to step in shit. That's the way life is sometimes.

Here are some of the things I really like about Christmas:

1) Christmas parties. The kind of parties that you can 'doll up" for.

2) Christmas breakfast at my brother's house. It's the best!

3) Christmas eve dinner at my Mother's house.

4) Having "mini" Christmas parties with close friends and cousins.

5) Christmas cards. I love sending out "special" cards and I love getting cards.

I'm talking about real cards via snail mail (not those lame e-cards.)

6) Religious Christmas music. Church choir music or classics on the radio.

(oh God, nothing is worse than rap "holiday music" or anything by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Elvis, the Chipmunks or Paul McCartney. GAG!)

7) Fireplaces

8) Christmas specials on TV.

9) Decorations (so long as they are taken down soon after New Years Day. Nothing is grosser than seeing "raunchy Claus" in a dirty pee-stained snow bank in February)

10) The smell of evergreen trees and wreaths

Yup, this can be a nice time of year!