X is for Xmas

Perhaps my favorite time of year…though I do enjoy Halloween an awful lot, it's just tougher to get into it at this point in life.

I enjoy the coziness that emits from a tree lit up in the corner. Coming home to it after a long day. Being with family, the togetherness that is automatic, but not forced. The food that is rich, involved in creating, yet so delicious and comforting. Hot chocolate with whipped cream. Peppermint ice cream. Burning fires. Carols streaming constant happiness. Stockings bulging along the mantel. Finding and creating gifts for each family member and friend. Piles of crumbled paper and stacks of new things to be thankful for.

I look forward to Christmas this year. If all goes as planned, we will be settled in a house of our own well before the holiday season creeps its way upon us. And I can't wait. Last year, we didn't have much of the Christmas spirit. We were trying to sell our condo and preparing to move in just a couple weeks. The only hint of the season could be seen in the corner of our living room atop a table, a little fake tree gleaming with white lights, a couple cheap ornaments I received at my company Christmas party and a little stuffed reindeer that farts when your squeeze it (I still have it, Sarah). Things were lonely during the holiday. I was home alone while Mike was working here, the only thing that made it better was that little tree and its welcoming twinkle as I'd walk up our stairs. That little tree stayed up until the day we moved.

I can't wait to have that twinkly, Christmas feeling at full force!