Deep breath.....

It's finally over.

I'm not sure why I still do the Christmas thing -- I'm not terribly religious; I don't go to church, et cetera. And Christmas is horribly stressful and unpleasant for me in so many ways. Even when I was scrapbooking all the time, I never once scrapped a Christmas photo. Why? They look pretty bad, for one thing, and I don't like Christmas.

I should like Christmas. Everyone is supposed to like it. But I don't. It's too much running around and work, and in the end, my favorite moments are the little tiny ones when one of the kids actually gets a present they didn't expect and they jump up and hug you.

With all the cooking and decorating and cleaning and running around -- those moments are too rare. Heck, this year's golden moment came when Woodrow found out that he's getting a basketball goal. I ordered that thing online. It didn't come. I emailed the seller, and they're sending one late. So Woodrow didn't even get the thing; he just found out he's going to get it someday. And the ordering took fifteen minutes. Chasing down the missing item took fifteen minutes. Woodrow's joy at the news lasted at least four hours.

Considering the hours and hours of agonizing and unfulfilling work that went into cooking, cleaning, and decorating, I should have just ordered a basketball goal and left the rest of the season to itself.

Now, aside from the stress of the holiday crap, one shining golden thing stands out: Amy is here. I love being with her; I love hanging out with her. And I know that if my house were a mess (which it pretty much is, even after the hassle of holiday cleaning) and I didn't give her anything except a bologna sandwich and a cup of coffee, Amy would *still* be delighted to be here and delightful to be around. Everyone else comes with strings attached. I have to decorate right; I have to cook right; I have to give the right gifts; I have to wrap them right. Nothing I do is *quite* good enough for anyone, and I'm totally frazzled, close to crying, sleepless and headachey the whole time.

Who invented this stupid holiday? Oh, that's right, the pagans. So whyyyyyyyy did early Christians think it was a good idea?

Next year, next year, maybe next year is the year I grow a spine and refuse to do anything for Christmas. It's just not worth it. I would much rather put all this energy into something nice -- like visiting Amy in Las Vegas. *That* would be a holiday. Not Christmas.

Thank heaven it's over. Now I can be normal and stop cooking, cleaning, and decorating all the time. And Amy and I can go see a movie. Now, *that* is fun!!!