What does one ask for when they have everything they need? It sounds pompous to say something like that, but it's true. I love holidays because of many reasons. Let's face it, as adults, we get harder and harder to buy for because we begin to realize "I don't actually need that" - one thing we'll always need...a bag of money!
I usually try to play it cool around holidays. I try not to become a crazed fan that it takes over my personality and I'd be unbearable to be around - maybe I'm unbearable all the time, but F you for thinking that! There are those people (like the Griswolds) who try to let the season give them an out-of-body experience so that everyone around them becomes infected with joyous holiday spirit...sorry, threw up in my mouth. I try to get into them, without letting them become me. It's a casual, cool type.
One thing I do enjoy as an adult is the fact that I can go buy clothes or new shoes 5 days before Christmas and not make them a "gift". Should I? Probably. Did I? Hell no! I can wear them, open them, throw boxes around like it's Christmas, without actually having to wait. Some say I'm impatient...I say I just deserve things immediately. To each their own.
I like that when my mom asks the age old question "Do you have a Christmas list yet" I can answer with conviction and certainty, No. It's a perfect storm because I really don't need anything; yet, I position myself to get the best gift of all...that bag of money I mentioned earlier. It really doesn't get much better.
Yet what has come over me lately is the urge to see kids letters to Santa. Not because I want to critique their spelling or see if they used holiday colored Crayons, I want to because some kids are shockingly great.
With kids getting new toys at earlier ages and technology being a major part of their lives, it becomes harder to buy for them. What do you get the 10 year old with the laptop, iPod touch and DS? (Yup...I said 10 year old) Boring things like clothes or books. But when that same kid doesn't ask for anything more than a t-shirt and book because, "I have everything else, I don't need anymore" I start to wonder...maybe there is hope for the future generations. It's kids like that, who change the lives of the people around them. I know mine has changed just from hearing that story a week ago.
The point of all this. As we grow up and holidays come & go, continue to buy things you want for you. We've all worked hard for them and deserve the spoil ourselves on occasion. But let's not forget about our roots. The stories that grew our hearts 3 sizes to big and kept us up all night with anticipation. Let the holidays consume you to an extent. It will make a holiday, just what it's supposed to be...a memory.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tis the Season...
For all my fans out there (2 maybe 3 of you - mom included), I've found my way back and am devoting my 2012 to working on regular entries now that I am, no more, a "Wannabe Adman"
But with the holidays approaching, I wanted to find the magic and hear the banter. Please, treat yourself.
Many moons ago, I learned the real value of Christmas. The presents are great; the food is coma-inducing; and the guests are usually over served and mouthy. But, it's all of those features that make the holidays what they are.
This year we've decided to not exchange gifts - this does not include my mother as she still spoils the bejesus out of us. We're at an age where whatever we want, we go out and get ourselves. It defeats the purpose of making a list & checking it twice; however, this is the reality we live in. I feel like i'm moving away from being the recipient and more towards becoming Santa himself. I may be a bit more robust than I was in the past, but I don't mean i'm looking more like Santa, i'm feeling more like him. So leave the fat jokes alone...you know who you are.
We did a family trip to Mexico last year and it was a gas. Sun & sand in December, who could complain? But it wasn't the same. There is too much of an adjustment period after you return, that it takes away from the trip you just took.
Regardless, the holiday season comes as fast as it goes. Christmas parties conclude and the realization that the beginning of a new year is knocking at the door begins. It's a time we all enjoy, yet look back on and ask, "where did the time go?"
This year, we're going back to our roots...traditional days and nights, complete with the tinsel, the Yuletide log channel and turkey.
So here's to everything right and wrong that make Christmas, Christmas; here's to a holiday season that allows a drunken night to set the bar for next year; and here's to surrounding ourselves with people we love & who love us. Because, you never know when something's got to give.
But with the holidays approaching, I wanted to find the magic and hear the banter. Please, treat yourself.
Many moons ago, I learned the real value of Christmas. The presents are great; the food is coma-inducing; and the guests are usually over served and mouthy. But, it's all of those features that make the holidays what they are.
This year we've decided to not exchange gifts - this does not include my mother as she still spoils the bejesus out of us. We're at an age where whatever we want, we go out and get ourselves. It defeats the purpose of making a list & checking it twice; however, this is the reality we live in. I feel like i'm moving away from being the recipient and more towards becoming Santa himself. I may be a bit more robust than I was in the past, but I don't mean i'm looking more like Santa, i'm feeling more like him. So leave the fat jokes alone...you know who you are.
We did a family trip to Mexico last year and it was a gas. Sun & sand in December, who could complain? But it wasn't the same. There is too much of an adjustment period after you return, that it takes away from the trip you just took.
Regardless, the holiday season comes as fast as it goes. Christmas parties conclude and the realization that the beginning of a new year is knocking at the door begins. It's a time we all enjoy, yet look back on and ask, "where did the time go?"
This year, we're going back to our roots...traditional days and nights, complete with the tinsel, the Yuletide log channel and turkey.
So here's to everything right and wrong that make Christmas, Christmas; here's to a holiday season that allows a drunken night to set the bar for next year; and here's to surrounding ourselves with people we love & who love us. Because, you never know when something's got to give.
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