It's the Most WOnderful TIme of the YEar..

It's the Most wonderful time of the year. For me anyway. I love Christmas. THe Whole Christmas season.. WHY?

10: The decorations. I am a kid at heart. I love seeing the lights, the trees, the snowmen (or plasticmen as we have no snow here). I love decorating the house and making it all festive. SLowly I am adding to my decoration collection (much to Steve's chagrin). Eventually I will have my house looking the way I want it to look.

9: The music. I love music, but holiday music always makes me smile and sing and just feel all good inside.

8: The movies: ooh.. I love sitting at home at night and watching Christmas movies. Yes most are cheesy, but they always make me feel happy.

7: The weather: I know. I know. My friend, Tigger, would say "bah, cold weather snow bah".. (or something like that).. but I love the cold weather in December. Maybe because I live in South Louisiana, and it doesn't get that cold down here. But I love the chill in the air.

6: The good cheer: NOT THAT KIND OF CHEER!!! (Get your minds out of the gutter you silly dawgs). I mean the good cheer that most people have this time of year. Yes traffic is a little worse, and the stores are a little more crowded. But it seems that people are little nicer to each other during the holiday season.

5: The parties: Christmas parties. where everyone dresses up in nice clothes and we gather to celebrate the holiday. Regardless of if we exchange gifts or just socialize. It's a lot of fun.

4: The cookies: I am not a huge cookie fan. But at Christmas I love the cookies. SUgar cookies cut in shapes and decorated with colored sugar and frosting; chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread cookies, almond crescents, sweet dough tarts, peanut butter cookies... oooh.. I love baking cookies during the holidays. It reminds me of the times I spent with my mom and my grandmother baking cookies. It makes the house smell yummy.

3: The shopping: I Love shopping for others. I love looking for the perfect gift for friends or family members, thinking of how much I love them, and how much I hope they will like the gift. Sometimes it's just something as simple as a rice cooker that was mentioned by someone when their old one was giving out or remembering that favorite author a friend likes and then finding a new book by that author. When people say "it's not the gift it's the thought behind it", it's true. I always put a lot of thought into the gifts I buy. even gift cards, b/c I know how much teenagers like shopping.

2: The cards: Getting cards in mail from old friends and family that we don't see all that often through out the year. Sending cards to the same ones, with a letter about how our year went.

1: THe Christmas Story: I love going to church on Christmas Eve and listening to the Story of the birth of Christ. It's a time for me to sit and reflect on the year past, and think of the people who are no longer with us. A time to pray for the future. It's a time of peace during the hectic busy season. It's my rejuvenation.