Scrooge No More.

My bah humbug attitude that I had earlier in the week has really got me down in the dumps. This has always been my favorite time of the year (by far). I am what you would call a Christmas groupie. I typically buy into all things Holiday related. I don't care that the whole mania seems to start in October; for me it can't last long enough. I am making a new resolution. Today is the day I embrace all things Christmas. No more wallowing in my anti-consumption attitude. To help kick my yummy arse into the Holiday spirit I am going to force myself to focus on all the things that make me love this time of the year. 

Here are the top ten reasons I love Christmas.

1. I love Christmas trees (real Christmas trees). Love how they smell. Love how they feel. I even don't mind picking up the needles well into the New Year. I cannot imagine Christmas without a tree. When I was single and living alone while I was in law school I had a tree. When we got back from vacation last year on December 24, we got a tree. For me having a tree in my house fills me with so much joy that even my environmentally friendly husband grudgingly (emphasis on grudgingly) goes with me to pick one up each year. 
2. I love decorating. Every year when I open up that cardboard box filled with all those sparkly decorations I have tears in my eyes (and often streaming down my face). Even writing about it gives me chills. I love my Christmas ornaments. Every single on has meaning behind it. They are definitely not the fanciest ornaments you will find, but they are all mine. I have ones from when I was a baby, ones from when I got married, and my prized "Baby's First Christmas" ornament from last year. I am a HUGE fan of having a mis mosh of ornaments. Those beautifully decorated trees with white lights and crystal ornaments are not for me. I'll take the handmade ornaments my little sisters made when they were five years old any day!
3. Love egg nog. Even more I love the new Silk Lactose free egg nog. For a girl who can't tolerate milk this is a God send.
4. I love Holiday music. I am the girl who listens to the Christmas music on the radio 24/7. I cannot hear it enough. In fact my entire wedding was formulated around the song "O Holy Night." Hands down this is my favorite song. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of a winter wedding where a violinist would play the song right before we were pronounced husband and wife. I was not deterred from this even when we decided to get married in Hawaii. In January. As those who were there can attest, right before we walked down the aisle I had a violinist standing on the beach playing "O Holy Night." While everyone was a but confused, it was the highlight of the ceremony for me. 
5. I love Santa. I track him on the TV, and the Internet. When I am writing his name on those packages for the Husband and little man I still somehow believe he is real. Even when I write with my left hand so it doesn't look like my handwriting (just like my father always did) I still somehow believe he is going to one day come down my nonexistent chimney. Here's to hoping.
6. I love eating. 330 days a year I am very careful about what I eat. Very careful. The month of December I throw any resolve out the window. I eat and eat and eat. And eat and eat and eat. I also may drink and drink and drink. The two do go hand in hand.
7. I love wrapping presents. For a perfectionist like me this is a dream. I love folding perfect corners and tying even bows. It's therapy. I should figure out a way to charge for this.
8. I love holiday movies. My favorites? Love Actually (duh), The Holiday (just watched it this morning while folding laundry), August Rush (not necessarily a holiday movie but has all the elements, tears, love and family), and last but not least Home Alone (I know, how old am I?)
9. I love Christmas cards. I love creating them, addressing them, sending them and most of all getting them. I keep them on display through January and cry a little when I throw them in the recycling bin at the end of the month. 
10. I love when my favorite shows also celebrate Christmas/ Hanukkah. These are always the best shows of the season as far as I'm concerned. With all that mistletoe there is always a hookup or two and with all that family time the best drama usually ensues. Plus with all that holiday spirit there is usually some great emotional story line. Remember all those episodes of 90210 where the Walshs' would bring home some stray homeless guy? As corny as it was, it always made for some great television.

Writing about all the things I love about this season has already put me in a better mood. I'm now going to sit back and drink my Soy Nog while I listen to Sarah McLaughlin's "Wintersong"(I LOVE the song River, track #3) and begin the task of untangling the lights for the Christmas tree we will pick up this weekend (fingers crossed). It looks like some snow is heading this way which could be the icing on my Christmas cake!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I also hope that you are also able to get into the Holiday sprit during what I know is a stressful time.