Christmas 2010

Some of my favorite Christmas traditions:

1) baking! I love to bake cookies. oatmeal and chocolate chip are my specialty.
2) Last minute frantic shopping with my mother. It is hilarious to see all those people (including us)running around like chickens without heads.
3) wrapping gifts at 3 a.m. with my mom and writing code names on all the gift tags so on Christmas morning no one has a clue who they are for or who they are from.
4) wrapping gifts in such an odd fashion that no one knows what to think of my wrapping skills or how to open the gift for that matter.
5) being one of the few people to say Merry Christmas and not happy holidays when I am thanking the salesperson for ringing me up.
6) never actually opening gifts on Christmas Day because we are over my aunt's house.
7) laughing when I see my father's expression over how the house has morphed into Santa's workshop.
8) picking out Gupta (our tree)...which I didn't get to do this year =(
9) writing 5 drafts of christmas lists because my mother always loses them.
10) being with family.

Every year that passes around this time I loose a little bit more of my childhood (which is really sad) but I gain a greater sense of what life is about and the true meaning of Christmas.

Today I am sitting home (well not really sitting) and I am baking, cleaning, wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music. In just a few short hours I will be going to my aunt's house with my mom and sister to spend the holiday with my mom's family. It is going to be looooouuuuuddd but I think it is safe to say it will be a good time because I know my Grandma will be happy. It is such an amazing thing to see my grandma smile. She has a smile that is exuberant and just lights up the whole room. Every holiday get together is always special when she is around. My grandma at 84 is still being that charming woman I remember when I was just a little girl; cracking jokes and making people laugh is her specialty. God bless her.

This Christmas I do not care about what new Coach wristlet I get or what new gadget my mom buys me. All I want more than anything is for my family's health to be top notch. I want all the bickering and yelling and silly arguments that at the end of the day don't really matter to stop. I have realized something over the past year and that is how utterly blessed my family is. I realize that while I am shallow and vain and love materialistic things, I am also very lucky to have such a wonderful family. What would Christmas be without them?

So I say bring on the eggnog and the cookies and the loudness and lets get this party started. Lets end 2010 with a bang!!!

Merry Christmas!!