"The Work of Christmas Begins:"

Christmas 2010 comes to a close and I am no longer listening to "All I Want for Christmas" radio on Pandora.  I opened my e-mail today, a belated Christmas message from my parish, and wanted to share this.  Simple, powerful, says a lot with a little.

In "The Work of Christmas," Howard Thurman penned:
 
When the song of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among the community,
To make music in the heart.

"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid!"

The casual traveler at the airport wears a camo  hat over his ratty pony tail and a "Property of the North Pole" t-shirt.  Yes it's here!  Happy holidays everyone.

This year I'm traveling at 600 mph somewhere over Kentucky using wifi on my phone type device.  Oh technology!

I am almost finished with holiday travel.  Suprisingly, the Atlanta airport went smoothly with only one mental outburst of "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES.  HOLY SHIT, TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES.  DON'T ASK WHY!  WHO ASKS WHY?!" and so forth.  Hours of early arrival means I was willing to trek a mile to terminal B if only to use my Starbucks gift card, resulting in caffeine jitters and a heightened heart beat.

The holidays are a funny thing.  At no other point in the year are people willing to lug Uncle Joe's new espresso machine out the front door, through federally mandated security on a continental adventure.  We will get together as families to celebrate new engagements and baked goods, maybe even the birth of Jesus Christ.  If I'm lucky, after lunch I will crush my relatives in Catch Phrase and other word related type games.  (I think this will be another blog post as I'm feeling particularly assonine about it.)

Then there will be other holiday traditions I truly cherish.  Grandma's mumbling of "this could be my last Christmas" which, after 14 years, actually holds some merit this time around.  Christmas mass with whoever I can coax to join me.  And my mom's family's talks of get togethers and "this is so fun, we should do it more often."  This never, ever happens but it's a nice thought.  My girlfriends and I maintain a tradition of drinking in a parents' basement on Christmas night then following it up with "brunch" at Olive Garden in the following days.  We resonate class.

At some point Dad and I will reaccount the Christmas Eve, a few years ago, when we found God en route to Walgreens.  Do not doubt faith when, on the way to buy your mother a snuggie because she "really wants one!" that a gigantic Ford pickup will skid on ice at 40 mph and stop abrupdtly six inches away from the front left tail light of our stationery Altima.  Between sobbing, the "F word," and dry heaving I prayer.  We went to Christmas mass that year and Mom still got her Snuggie.

As the plane approaches its descent over central Illinois I am excited for what this year will bring.  For all those holiday traditions new and old, discovered and forgotten.  In the words of my brother, when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, "I'm content."

Happy Holidays everyone!

:) :p :/ :*

A CNN article written by the authors behind Stuff Hipsters Hate can only promise good things.

I am guilty of throwing a :) into the mix once in awhile. Mostly over gchat when I'm lacking on time and the lack of desire to type "I'm exhilarated beyond my wildest dreams." Like when I write "LOL" outside of the sarcastic realm. So I'm taking the hipster haters' challenge and, for the rest of the month, deleting the smiley out of my text.

Okay one more because I LOVE this movie and it always makes me :) (Gross!) It's guaranteed that I will be playing this video, loudly, next Friday as it's my last day of work for 2010.

Man, I am so into this birth of Christ thing

Christmas music on Pandora is the only thing keeping me sane at work right now. This means I am on my way to going INsane and I only have an hour of Pandora listening for the month left. Freak out.

Anyway, I am way in the holiday mood this year and love to share fun new sites. That being said, I present SketchySantas.com!  The tagline is simple, "Santas can be sketchy."  I know for certain Ryan and I have a picture that would definitely qualify for this site.  Imagine me, at age six, slouched on Santa's lap with a scowl on my face.  Then imagine that same scowling (yet, oh so adorable) six-year-old wearing purple sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt adorned with Tweety Bird and Sylvester graphics.  That's me.  Thanks to White Oaks Mall for the memories.

Picture is credited to SketchySantas.com.  Nothing is better for the children than a retro alci grandpa Santa.