I love all parts of Christmas. Thanksgiving is the unofficial official beginning to the holiday season and how wonderful is that, it is a big family meal. Then we go and cut down our own Christmas Tree, the four of us wandering around a tree lot looking for the "perfect" tree. That day is another special day. The week following the perfect tree hunt is then filled with Christmas music and the process of decorating the house. Do not judge a book by it's cover because the outside of our home barely shows signs of Christmas Joy! However as soon as you take a step inside you will find mistletoe, garland, Santa's, Snowman's, Nativities, decorations depicting Baby Jesus and his family and yes the faint smell of baking! I love to have a fire lit and Christmas music blaring as I decorate my home. Most times I will have my roast chicken warming in the oven and candles of cinnamon and vanilla. You cannot do much better than the smell of Christmas Tree! It is even during this season when Leo and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. Sure it might be cold outside and there is always a weather watch for snow but it really is the best time of the year. Then comes the best part. Christmas! Christmas eve is always celebrated with Leo's family. I love watching the joy in everyone's eyes when they open a present that I took time in picking out. I have to admit I like receiving presents as well. They always give me the nicest new shirts. Leo's Dad seems to magically find the most original and amazing Pig decoration for me every year. Of course it is always fun to watch the kids open their presents and squeal with delight when they get exactly what they wanted! On Christmas morning Gabe wakes early with the joy of SANTA CLAUS came! I can honestly say I believe in Santa Claus and I feel sorry for those who are not capable of believing in something so magical. We should remember Santa was a real person, St. Nick, who gave presents to children. My parents come over to share in our morning festivities. Christmas morning for us is mainly a child fest of presents. Leo and I manage to buy something for each other to open on Christmas morning but mostly it is about giving our children the joy of seeing their dreams come true. I thank God that our church has a 12:15pm Christmas Day mass! This gives us time to enjoy the morning, get into our Christmas best, and honor what the day is really about. Baby Jesus was born! Santa Claus is great and fun but Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus and that with him all things are possible. Of course it is hard to pry the kids away from their new toys and the wonders of the massive amount under the tree. Then when we come home we settle in to play and preparing the holiday meal. About a week after Christmas our home is still a wreck with toys everywhere but we begin to get ready for the next special occasion...New Years Eve! I personally see a relation between the birth of Jesus and the New Year. It is about the chance for new beginnings and that anything is possible in life. Then to end the holiday season we celebrate The Epiphany, the arrival of the three kings who bring gifts to the new born king. It is this event that gives a final nod to what the season is really about.
And now I have to box it all up and put it away for a little more than 10 months. The decorations and bright lights are a beautiful daily reminder that we should all believe in the magical thought that "anything is possible". I am not going to go into a religious diatribe because I think you "get" what I am talking about. Christmas is beautiful and fun and magical and the best time of the year. Still, it cannot last. So I must put all the sparkle and shine away. The whimsical and the holiday nicknacks wrapped up and stored for now. It is sad to have it over. The fact that many people see it as getting back to normal or their regular day to day routines is the hardest fact. Yes keeping Christmas to a maximum 6 weeks a year ensures that we can keep the holiday special. I just find it sad that during the rest of the year we struggle to remember that magical feeling because we feel the need to keep the trinkets wrapped up in storage. We miss the heart warming emotion when we listen to our favorite Christmas song because it is somehow wrong to listen to Away in a Manger in August. As much as I love the way my house looks at Christmastime I do miss how my home looks the rest of the year. So this becomes bittersweet. Life will go back to normal as the decorations are stored away. However I was born a Noel and with that I will always keep Christmas in my heart. Sometimes I will rebel and sing a Christmas song throughout the year as is my right since Noel means Christmas. I believe it is my prerogative as a Noel!
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