Sick

We are both sick. Dave is mostly over it, but for me the illness is at its worst.

Dave is almost done with his field work for this semester, and I am just chugging along the best I can through the end of the semester. I don't know what it is, but I'm so burned out from school and I am dying for a break. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving next week! That will be great: we are visiting my family, and it will be a fun and (hopefully) relaxing time!

I have been getting quite excited for Christmas already. I know that the holiday has been hitting the stores earlier than ever this year, flooding them with Christmas tunes and decorations the moment Halloween left us. I can honestly tell you that this has made shopping extremely awkward for me for a few weeks, and a little aggravating. I mean, it isn't about the holiday spirit at all--it is about pushing consumerism up as early and as much as possible, getting customers to think about buying more, earlier. I hate that. I love Christmas shopping, but I don't like to be shoved into the holiday season a month early. I am starting to feel hints of the Christmas spirit now, but I am not going Christmas shopping yet, and the tree is staying in its box until after Thanksgiving.

We are probably going to have a simple Christmas this year. Last Christmas, we splurged a lot more than we should have, and even though it was great fun it is just not happening again this year. I don't really believe that spending a ton of money on gifts is really the way it should go anyway, but it feels good when you get something for someone that they really, genuinely appreciate, without a thought for what it costs.

You know, we shouldn't have to feel guilty for not being able to spend a lot of money on people during the holidays, but we do. When I think about the massive spending and stress and commotion it doesn't make any sense. Isn't that the exact opposite of what Christmas is supposed to represent? Most people just feel guilt about what they didn't do for people instead of joy for doing what little they were able to manage. I am as caught up in this as anyone...and these realizations are making me feel a little disappointed in what this holiday has become.