Christmas Spirit: Where does it go?

When do you lose that feeling of Christmas magic you had as a child?  Where is that moment in your life where suddenly Christmas becomes a pain in the neck season where you have to run around like a chicken with your head cut-off to buy presents and accrue large amounts of credit card debt and is just too stressful to be worth all the madness?

It is normal to stop believing in Santa.  But even after you have realized that Mom and Dad are the ones who wrap the gifts under the tree (your mom's hand writing on the gift tags should have been a give away as soon as you figured out how to forge her signature) Christmas is still a fun and enjoyable season of the year of you.  And that's always been the case for me. 

However, the past few years Christmas has ceased to be a season.  It has become a day, sometimes a few days, where I eat too much food, get a few gifts, and get grilled by my extended family about why I'm not dating someone, let alone pregnant like the rest of my cousins. 

So, in an effort to attempt to get into the Christmas spirit I turned on Pandora with a Frank Sinatra Christmas station that leaves me expecting the Rat Pack to come in and begin serenading me with carols.  However, after about an hour of this station, I have determined that I have clearly listened to every Christmas song ever written and move back to what is supposed to be a punk station (it is currently failing miserably at doing so). 

So where did my Christmas spirit go?  I remember, even as a college student, playing Christmas music and singing along in my kitchen while making cookies and talking to my mother and sister about our upcoming family gatherings.  I place part of the blame on the Christmas decorations ( or lack thereof) in my apartment, which has nothing but a poinsetta plant to indicate that it is now December.  But I am currently sitting in the office at the reception desk feeling the glow of the lights on the tree behind me.  There is Christmas all around me...why can't I get into the spirit? 

Is anyone else having a lack of Christmas Spirit?  Where does it go?

Still Giving

I was talking to Bonnie, who is the wife of the director of Sugartree Ministries which has been amazingly blessed with so much from the Rachael Ray special. She was telling me her concerns that people are going to give less because as Rachael said on her special "the shelves will be full for months to come" because Sara Lee has promised food to be donated for a year. Which is of course fantastic but as always, there's a catch. Sara Lee as we know does not make every type of food known to man and so having food only from Sara Lee leaves holes on the shelves. However, because people are seeing that there has been a years worth of food donated, they're not donating because they don't see a need therefore the holes remain empty spaces on the shelves. However, I just read this article about how Xanterra Parks and Resorts is donating $2 for every reservation made in December to Sugartree Ministries so that the work can continue and hopefully the holes will be filled. And I'm actually really excited about that because I'm usually the negative one seeing the flaw in everything (which of course leaves me looking ungrateful sometimes) so this article has really given me some positivity to go into today with; I'm meeting with Allen, Sugartree's Director, and Michael, a board member, to work on my role so I'm glad to have this positivity to bring with me.

Wish me luck!

Thanking Gen-Y

I just read Sharalyn's closing blog for Gen-Y Gives Thanks. Not only was it a brilliant idea to bring all of us together to show the side of Gen-Y that no one sees but I would definitely agree that I see myself in the other writers of this series.

From my control-freak nature to my appreciation for the unexpected turns my life has taken in the last year. I am grateful for it all. And one of my goals for this month is to remember to be grateful, even when my turkey leftovers have disappeared and even past that to after the ball drops and the new year brings new, exciting things to be grateful for. Being grateful for the little things, and the big things, and the unexpected, or even unwanted things is a strength that I want to cultivate throughout the next year.

We've broken a stereotype now we need to keep it up! So continue to be grateful and show it off! Show the world that Gen-Y can be positive!