Christmas is coming!

Can’t you just feel it? I don’t know whether it’s the chill in the air (only 48 degrees on my way in to work today – brrrr!) or maybe it’s because we put up our Christmas lights & decorations last weekend… or maybe it’s because I’m in the Christmas shopping mood… but anyway it sure feels like the holidays are here!

I know, I know, within a week or two I’ll be burnt out on Christmas carols, overstuffed with holiday sweets (am I still on a diet?) and tabulating how much I actually spent on gifts this year. Still, here are my top 10 favorite things this Christmas season….(not in any particular order)

1. Pulling into my driveway and admiring the pretty Christmas lights on our house (despite the fact that the ones hanging in Eric’s window only work when the planets are aligned a certain way).

2. Finding just the right present for people on my gift list – this usually pertains to women, as the guys on my list are so hard to find gifts for! What do you get a minimalist brother in the Navy who’s preparing for a two-year assignment on the other side of the globe? Clue me in if you think of anything.

3. Getting excited about our company’s holiday party! Mostly because I love to dance and this is one of the rare times I’ll get the chance to let loose on the floor with some of my favorite people (meaning, the band I’ve worked with a few times throughout this year – The Sensational Hot Rods).

4. I’m not normally one to embrace the colder weather, still it’s nice to be able to put on my warm snugglies and cuddle up on the couch with the hubster.

5. My brother & sister are coming to visit over Christmas! We’re all going to take the kids to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson and I’ll be taking sis for a 2-day jaunt at the Grand Canyon.

6. Cooking! Baking! Terry’s already put in his request for a Christmas turkey and I’m gathering ideas for Christmas cookies too. I’m also creating a Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake that I hope will be a hit at the office.

7. The “spirit” of the season. Church is extra special this time of year. Celebrating the baby Jesus really brings us all together as a congregation. Singing in the choir is fun all year round, but at Christmastime we have extra participation and Midnight Mass is especially beautiful. That’s when we have enough people to do a four-part harmony including my favorite “Still, Still, Still”. I don’t know what it sounds like out in the pews, but over in the area where we stand it’s just delightful.

8. Christmas movies! “A Christmas Story” and “Elf” are two of my favorites.

9. Christmas Carols – not to be confused with the above-mentioned choir songs. I’m still listening to the Christmas swing music I burned to CD three years ago. B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole…. they just don’t make ’em like they used to.

10. Christmas cards! Love giving them, love getting them. Keep an eye on your mailbox for ours which should arrive sometime next week.