Bah Humbug!

I just can't believe Christmas is right around the corner - less than three days, to be exact. Everything is going great: I have most of the Christmas shopping completed, most of the gifts I have are wrapped, the house is clean, and the weather has been lovely all month - right now, it's 50 degrees and sunny. So what gives? Why do I feel so blah?

I've decided it must be due to all of the reasons listed above. It just doesn't feel like Christmas this year. For starters, 50 degrees and sunny, in my opinion, is not Christmas weather. It's supposed to be 30 degrees and snowy from Thanksgiving through Christmas! Yes, I'm complaining about mild weather, I'm totally ungrateful. But, living in Indiana, we usually do get the white Christmases, or at least some whiteness within the season. (Apparently, there is still a small chance for snow on the big day, but I'm not counting on it.) Then, there's the fact that most of my shopping and wrapping are taken care of. What on earth was I thinking?! Did I totally forget the fact that procrastination is the key element to the Christmas spirit in my warped world?! If I'm not completely stressed, how on earth am I supposed to enjoy this time of year? And, hello, a messy house, to me, is practically the symbol of Christmas, right behind the nativity scene and Santa Claus.

Christmas is about to arrive, but I'm not feeling any of the symptoms. If there have been a lot of Christmas movies on tv this season, I've managed to miss out on them. Sure, there have been a ton of Christmas commercials - excuse me, holiday commercials. This year the "controversy" over saying "Merry Christmas" seems to be at an all-time high. I don't think I've heard this familiar greeting once in a public setting this year. We went to the mall the other night and bought a few small gifts for some of my co-workers. At the store, I told the lady they were Christmas gifts, so she wrapped them up and gave me boxes. The greeting I received as she handed my bag to me? "Have a good one!" I do realize there is a huge push for being more generic in terms of greeting people for the holidays because heaven forbid we offend someone, but it seems people are even taking it one step further and ignoring the holiday season altogether. Maybe I'm just reading too much into things (the poor woman had probably said "Happy Holidays!!" a bazillion times and was just giving herself a break), but it further deflates my Christmas spirit. Just this afternoon while leaving the office, I told someone who works in my building to have a lovely Christmas. When he turned and walked away without saying much more than a grunt, instead of me feeling apalled at his rudeness for not offering a "you, too!" or "thanks!" or even a "take care!", I felt awful and even a little embarassed that I may have possibly offended him. It's so ridiculous that anyone should feel that way over their cheerful and warm wishes. I most certainly would not feel offended if someone said "Happy Hanukkah!" or even "Happy Kwanzaa!" to me. I'd think I'd feel flattered that I was being included in their festive cheer.

Anyway, while Stephen is working this evening, I think I'm going to put my flannel pjs on, make some hot chocolate, light some candles, and watch "A Christmas Story" or "It's a Wonderful Life." If that doesn't lift my spirits, I'm changing my name to Kimenezer Scrooge.