The holidays are here. I normally don’t get too jazzed up for the holiday season. I love spending time with my wife and the holidays are good for us as a couple in that aspect. However, traditionally, I’m not what you would consider a holiday person. I’m not a Scrooge either.

First off…

I simply CANNOT STAND Christmas music. Now I’m not against Xmas per se, but it’s the music. Blech. As music goes, the stuff is usally extremely sappy at best to unlistenable at worst. In the last few years it’s gotten a bit better with some rock artists I like making Xmas albums, and it doesn’t sound as bad there, but overall I can’t listen to the stuff – putting on Xmas music is a way to drive me screaming from the room. It’s worse in malls, as you can’t avoid it. It’s like that scene in the Simpsons where one of Marge’s sisters were taking Bart & Lisa to Duff Gardens. In the ride where Bart got scared (Duff Beer for me – Duff Beer for you – I’ll have a Duff – you have one too).. That’s what holiday music in the mall is like to me. STOP THE RIDE – I WANNA GET OFF!

However, this past Saturday I went birthday shopping for my wife (her birthday is tomorrow) and was treated to another round of ear splitting horror from the speakers in JC Penney. And the bizarre part is that I actually enjoyed the moment. I was going up an escalator and thought to myself that I was enjoying what I was doing. I wished my wife was with me, instead of working, because she knows what I’m like in malls at the holidays, so she would have liked me being happy there. But given I was out shopping for her, that wasn’t something that could be done.

Now having said all that, there are a few things I do like about the holidays, or that I “participate” in.

I’m usually a frequent giver to the folks who ring the bells outside the stores for Salvation Army. This past Saturday I put all the change in my car’s ashtray (probably around $4 or so) in their bin. Which brings up another note – their bins are geared towards paper money, and not really coins. I also like driving around and seeing various houses’ Xmas light displays – which brings me to another point.

Christmas isn’t over on December 25th, people! I really get cheesed off royally to see Xmas trees on the street for trash pickup on December 26th. Where I come from decorations and the like usually run into the middle of January, with some stragglers going almost to Feb 1st. Now I think that’s too long, but for god’s sake – not December 26th! Needs to go at least past the New Years – although for me, it’s usually around Jan 15th. My wife doesn’t care for it much either – she gets more mad than I do about folks who take down their decorations too quickly.

Fortunately, I’m married to a pretty organized woman, so I don’t have to keep as much track of who gets what gift as I probably should, so for that I thank my wife. There’d probably be even less contact with my family and friends as there is around the holidays if I wasn’t married to her.

I suppose the bottom line is that I like the holidays, but I like them on a personal level. The holidays are a time to avoid the malls, and really spend some time with my wife, and be thankful for the blessings in our lives. Yeah, sounds sappy, but what the hell. There it is.