hypocrisy

So, Christmas is over for another year. I have survived! They day went really well. We had brunch with the family, opened gifts, went tobogganing, had appies, had dinner and opened more gifts! Then we played Rummoli. I now have rummoli on the brain.

The food was okay. I had 1.5 pieces of bacon for breakfast, which didn't seem to go down very well. I thought I would be sick, but eventually they passed. Then the appetizers (which I made) also got stuck. This time I had to bow out of the party for about an hour or so. The pretzel chips (all 4 bites) wouldn't go any further, so up they came. I must say that when something is stuck, it feels so much better after an upchuck. It's not like before... It's just a small amount that comes up with one hurl and then it's over. Very quick and easy. The hard part is that for me, it seems to take an hour of extreme discomfort to get to the quick and easy part.

As an extended family, we are trying to re-define what Christmas looks like. Right now, it all seems so excessive; excessive food, excessive gifts and excessive time spent with all the same people. On the agenda to change for next year, are the way we exchange gifts. The older crowd is hard to convince, but each year I get older, it is harder and harder to justify the mound of gifts. Don't get me wrong, I love a great gift, but it seems so wrong to spend the thousands of dollars on things we either don't need or want. I can agree that for the kids, it might be different. But for the adults, let's just stop for a moment and think. Let's re-think. What if we didn't buy anyone anything for one year? What if our gift was a donation? What if our gift was time? What if we gave to people who truly have needs?

It is hard to change. But I think it is worthwhile. At least that's what I"m trying to convince myself of anyway.