Christmas Tips

This Christmas, why not get together
with your loved ones and shoot stuff?

A lot of people get stressed out this time of year, when it can easily be avoided by keeping a couple simple things in perspective and these handy tips in mind...

1) The Presents

Carefully planning the right gift for each loved one and allowing plenty of time to get them is paramount.

With 6 days left til Christmas, I actually have not bought any presents yet myself, but I am obviously going to run out of time here eventually.

Yes, I now have the benefit of way less people in the stores, since everyone is probably done. And sure, those few who remain in the stores are more laid back and pleasant to shop around. Oh, and now there's likely much greater selection, since they are restocking for January, but I still recommend buying stuff sooner.

This allows for way more stuff under your tree, which makes you feel better when you see the piles of loot for weeks on end. And that brings me to...

2) The Tree

We have not bought our tree yet, but that's OK. We might get one today and it will only take a couple hours of work in the rain and the cold to find the right one (maybe even one still semi-alive and with needles), drag it home and try to dry it off on the back porch enough that we don't get electrocuted while stringing lights around it. No wonder they call it the "most wonderful time of the year"!

So, maybe 6 hours of work total, but we get to enjoy the beauty of it for at least 6 more days before we drag it to the curb and throw it away, so we can recycle or whatever and give back to the community and stuff. (YOU'RE WELCOME PLANET EARTH.)

But we'll take a couple pictures of the tree to put on Facebook, so we can show it to one of the real reasons for celebrating the holidays, which is...

3) The People

Joking aside, friends and family are really what it is all about, along with having to get together with them on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many of them could very well be less annoying than last year and several will be the source of some of those presents we discussed earlier, so try to be nice or you will have to answer to....

4) The God

Holidays is a word that actually once meant "holy days" and people who try to take "Christ" out of "Christmas" make me mad enough to hit them. Hit them with some truth, I mean. And love and stuff.

The fact is that Christmas is about the baby Jesus. The baby Jesus was born in a nativity scene, complete with manger, donkey, etc. This is where the cute, "close the door, were you born in a barn" saying got started.

And His being born in a stable, which was practically being born outside is why we cut down and drag a tree into the house. The three wise men brought him really expensive gifts when they came to worship him and this is why we now spend money we don't have on maxed out credit cards. Tradition.

Actually, now that I think about it, Christmas isn't so much about the presents we get each other or even the gold, murr (sp?) and frankenstei... phranckinsse... other stuff baby Jesus got. The greatest gift ever has already been given and a thousand years from now, the only present that will still matter is this one.