THANK GOD...Christmas is over!

In true form I have not posted anything on my blog for a long time, but while I'm now enjoying some vacation time i figured it would be a good time for me to catch up on some thoughts I have had floating around in my head.

Thank GOD...Christmas is over. This time of year depresses me for so many reasons. I had wonderful Christmases growing up and have very fond memories of me and my brothers getting up at 5am (or earlier) and quietly sneaking down stairs to see if Santa left us some presents. My brothers and I could dig into our stockings and play with whatever we got in those but we had to wait for my parents to get up to open presents. Needless to say, we got pretty noisy around 5:15 to encourage them to get out of bed. Despite all of the wonderful memories I have as a kid, the holidays are much different to me as an adult. Sure there are some quite moments at night, while looking at the tree that I believe in the magic of Christmas, but unfortunately now it's a noisy, stressful, overly garnished, expensive, and fattening time. I know, I know...BAh Humbug. With all of that said, I bend over backwards to give my kids the most wonderful Christmas that I can while trying to teach them to be giving and humble human beings.

December 26th is the GREATEST day of the year. As far as I'm concerned, this is the day that truly kicks off the new year. Down comes the tree which is now a house fire waiting to happen along with all of the decorations and lights. This is a time of purification and simplification. Wiping the slate clean. Opening the windows and letting in some fresh air even if it is 20 degrees outside. I feel energized and ready to start the new year. The shortest day of the year is over and from this point forward the days are going to get longer which mean not getting up in the dark and driving home from work in the dark. I enjoy taking personal, financial, and mental inventory and getting rid of what I don't need, looking forward to what I would like to do in 2008 and plan on what I can do to make myself more of the person that I want to be. One of the first things on my 2008 agenda is to post more frequently on this blog.