I absolutely love the holiday season. I love the lights on houses, christmas/holiday trees, getting / making/ wrapping gifts, spending time with family, the hope of snow, the magical wonder of Santa (we've already visited him....and the pictures are funny), but at the same time that I love all of these things I hate them. I hate the impending doom of taking down my decorations - so I put them up as early as Lisa will let me so I can enjoy them. I hate the accomplishing of getting things done, but I like the feeling of getting them done (ie: baking and cooking goodies). I love to spend time with family, but wish that scheduling that time wasn't so tiresome. There's really nothing I hate about snow, so I'll skip that one. And while I love Santa and how fun he is, I get angry that it seems that the holiday season is more about one religion reminding another religion that they too have a holiday, or that they too don't celebrate anything other than the magic of the earths seasons. I mostly hate the people that can't seem to understand why you have to think about others feelings when it comes to holidays...but that is another subject.
I mostly hate how fast it goes. Today is the 2nd of December, and I feel like December is slipping away from me. Could be that by the end of this month we'll not be focused on the holidays, but be focused on moving. I'm pretty sure that we are nuts.
I hate that I don't feel like I can separate out Lisa or my Mom's birthday this month. That no matter how much I try to pull them apart, they all get lumped in to Birthday, Hannukah, Christmas party - when they deserve special days just like the rest of us. I am excited for Lisa's birthday, Stellanne and I have concocked great gifts that are sure to make Lisa happy - and the best part is that Lisa has NO clue as to what they are!!!!! And I'm not tell here, because I know she reads my blog.
I am excited that Hannukah has taken on a new form this year - definately a holiday for children. It will continue to get better year after year. But this is the first year I've been excited about Hannukah for someone else. I am excited to read the story to Stellanne, to feed her a Latke....she will love them! I am excited to have her watch as we light the candles, and to hopefully start to teach her about her jewish heritage. I am excited to see what her take on our traditions is, I know it won't happen this year, but the foundation for how she perceives the fact that we celebrate Hannukah and Christmas will be laid in these next years. If she's anything like me, she'll actually be surprised that not all kids celebrate both, and she'll also be confused as to how an old fat man in a red suit has anything to do with Jesus.
I also dread making my new years resolutions. Although this year Lisa and I have resolved to really make only one thing important. We'd like to start attending a synogague again. Both of us loved the sense of community we had when we were really involved in our last synogague. It just means we really have to commit to going to services on Friday, so that by the time next year rolls around, Stellanne will be ready to start Sunday school.
Like I said, I love this time of year, and wish that I could throw a party to invite all my loved ones near and far to spend even more time with friends, family and friends that are family. I guess the best I can hope for is the opportunity to see them all in 2009!