Dare I say it....

I am a bit leery about writing this post because as soon as I hit publish I know something drastically annoying is going to happen, but I am taking that risk. I may regret it....

This year I have not been too keen on Christmas. Now that Christmas is here, I must admit my gloom has lifted and my radio is tuned to the 24 hour Christmas song station and I even played a visit to iTunes and downloaded some of my favorites: WHAM! - Last Christmas, Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas, yuletide Singers - Snoopy's Christmas, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Carol of the Bells, plus a few more... It is a seasonal mix of trash and tradition.

We had my mom's side of the family celebration last night and I was SO dreading it. For the first time is years it was "enjoyable." When I say years I mean it. The last time I looked favorably on this event I was a child and my cousins and I played Christmas records while waiting for Santa to drop off my our new Cabbage Patch Kids. It probably helps that a few, well 14 people (only 2 families mind you - I grew up VERY Catholic), were not present. This made the 7 young children that were present, 2 of which were babies, much more tolerable. The adults actually stood a chance against them this year, usually the children have us waving white flags and begging them to go run in circles and scream elsewhere. It probably also helps that I had a sufficient buzz on most of the evening and I found out my brother's serious girlfriend is only 22 so she will most likely not have children before me - or so I can hope. Yes, they are not even married but I have to adequately prepare for my disappointment years in advance - it helps with the severity of the blow. She is a very smart and sweet girl and I do hope that he doesn't do anything too stupid because she would be a nice addition to the family. Shit, I am starting to sound like my mother.

Happy Holidays to you all ....