Tag Archives: Happy Holidays

‘Tis the Season…to Consume

Yes, still procrastinating on the novel. Start a new chapter, reveal who’s gonna be taking over for Stavin, reveal her connection to Maree…then leave ya hanging for a couple weeks. Those of you still hangin’, that is. I’m snowed in tomorrow most likely, so might be a good time for some power writing.

In the meantime, I wanted to find out from y’all how you deal with the consumer/consumption aspect of this gift-giving season (Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Festivus, whatever).

Myself and Mrs. Blue, we’ve been trying to live a lot leaner, and not just because we’re short on income these days (though I have some hope of see things improve in terms of the size of my clientele soon). We’re also faced with a little girl who always wants, wants, wants. Little Girl Blue is delightful. She’s smart, perceptive, loving, kind, and many other positive things. But she also has some intense personality features that challenge my patience, and her desire to have so many things—which seems a bit more than the usual 4-year-old, Id-fueled level of desire—is one of those traits which drives me up a wall.

So, while I don’t desire to deny her gifts this season, the wife and I do want to accentuate the real reason we’re celebrating toward the end of December, and so I don’t want Christmas to be all about ripping paper off boxes and then forgetting about half the stuff she just opened after an hour has gone by.

What I think we are going to do is have a “9 Days of Christmas” kind of thing, with her opening 1 gift on Christmas Eve and then one each day thereafter, all the way to New Year’s Day. Given her number of gifts, once you factor in the ones from relatives, she may get to open two or three on Christmas Day.

Anyway, it seemed like a good way to make her appreciate the gifts more if she doesn’t have all of them piled around her feet all at once, while also playing up the season and the approach of the new year a bit more.

I don’t know…what do you think of that? And do you have any special plans to de-commercialize or redefine your approach to the holidays?

Two-fer Tuesday: Merry Xmas by Deacon Blue

poinsettia-plantWe know, we know. It’s not even Christmas Eve yet. But neither me nor Miz Pink has much time for this week’s Two-fer Tuesday and, well, it’s close enough.

At this time of year we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus (even though it isn’t really the day he was born; I know that), I tend to find myself in remembrance of a Bible passage that recalls his sacrifice for us, which took place in the spring, rather than the manger and the magi and all that.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16

Sure, that may seem more appropriate for Easter time, but I always like to remember that God sent Jesus to us for a reason, and it wasn’t to inspire us to put presents under trees (though that’s nice, too).

Happy Holidays to all, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or something else entirely. God bless you all, even those of you who don’t believe in Him. 😉

(For my Cleansed By Fire fans…all 10 or 12 of you, 😛 I will be trying my damndest to post two more installments this week, ideally at least one, and perhaps both of them, on or before Christmas Day.)