I Heart Christmas

Oh how I love November and December, and the holidays that come with them. Forget you, other 10 months of the year. You do not bring as much joy and cheer as November and December bring. Ok, so the warm weather during the summer in nice, but there is nothing like a crisp fall day, when you get to break out your fabulous coat and perhaps don a scarf and hat. Watching the leaves turn vibrant shades of red and orange, and then fall to the ground leaving beautiful gray spindly naked trees is one of my favorite things about fall. Everything is pumpkin flavored, there are mountains of different types of squash at the grocery store and my fruit drawer runneth over with Braeburns and Macouns. 

Can we talk about how freaking great Thanksgiving is? A whole day surrounding the most gluttonous meal of the year. Everything you eat is made with butter, and covered in butter, and then dipped in butter, and wrapped in a pizza (no? not at your house?) Everyone eats until they can't breathe. And then an hour later they stuff their gobs again with a plethora of desserts - all either topped with whip cream or served a la mode. That is my type of holiday. 

And then it is December, when our household celebrates M's birthday in the beginning, and mine halfway through the month. There are so many presents opened in our house before Santa even arrives! And then Christmas rolls around, the best day of the year. 

Why do I love Christmas so? I LOVE buying gifts for people. I spend a lot of time and effort into finding what I think is the best gift for someone. I always like to do something a little unexpected, or something that I created myself (whether it be a photo gift of some sort, or something I actually handmade - yes, I apologize for whomever got what I thought were awesome crocheted scarves at the time). I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to see my girls open their gifts on Christmas morning. And then after gifts we usually have a big brunch, and because we are usually in Florida with family, the annual Christmas day boat ride, followed by a delicious turkey dinner. There are games played during the day too, perhaps some golf too. We listen to as much Christmas music as humanly possible, because come midnight we won't hear it for another 10-11 months. 

I love being surrounded by family during the holidays. Relaxing with each other and just being in each other's way and getting on each other's nerves. Because that is what the holidays are about, right? Spending time with your loved ones. 

This year is going to be a little different for us. We made the executive decision not to go to Florida to be with my family for a couple reasons. One, the flights were thousands of dollars, and this was in September when we were looking. We decided to plan a trip in early January, when it was a fraction of the cost to fly. My parents are also in the process of re-doing a new house down there, so we weren't sure we would even have a place to stay. The plan was for my parents to come up to Boston to be with us for the holidays. But then we were thrown a curveball when my dad was diagnosed with some serious health issues that would require him to to stay home in Florida for a two month period. 

So now, for the first time in my entire life, I will not be with my parents and brother (as he lives in Europe and is coming back in January when we go to Florida) for Christmas. It will just be me, Hubs and the girls this holiday season. It is going to be weird when it is just the four of us doing our thing on Christmas day, here in the cold of New England, rather than the warm sun of Florida. 

I am not going to lie, I am upset about us not being together for Christmas, but I am looking forward to having the celebration here at our house. Hubs and I get to play Santa and stay up late the night before getting things ready for the morning. I don't have to worry about getting the girls gifts that are small enough to fit in a box to send back up to Boston. We don't have to travel during the chaos of the holiday season. 

But I can't stop thinking about how weird it will be being on our own. Friends have invited us to their houses to be with their families, and while it a super nice offer, we don't really want to be around other people's families on Christmas. I think that would just make me miss my family even more. 

So what is the point of this rambling post...this year Christmas will be exciting, but different in our household. I plan to go balls to the wall and drench our house in holiday decorations, and plan lots of holiday projects (posts to come on those). I will be phoning Thanksgiving dinner in once again and ordering it from Whole Foods. And of course adding much more butter to everything they give me.