Sometimes I have a hard time getting into the spirit of the season. I don’t know if it’s Seasonal Affective Disorder or just being the “Charlie Brown-iest of all Charlie Browns.
Normally I love Christmas. I love giving and receiving presents. I love that Lucy is old enough to know that Santa is watching. But I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness now that it’s December.
This year is especially hard because I’m far away from my core group of friends and the traditions we always had. Every year, Todd and I would throw a big Christmas party. We’d have a white elephant gift exchange and watch The Grinch. The fun part was drinking every time The Whos in Who-Ville say “who” during the cartoon. Needless to say, that party got a little crazy over the years.
This year, there will be no party because we don’t really know too many people yet. We wouldn’t want to scare them off with a drunken Grinch-induced booze-fest. So we’ll just enjoy the season the best we can.
Here are some things I’m trying to do to get into the holiday spirit:
- Put up Christmas lights outside for the first time since Todd and I moved in together.
- Holiday baking, which I probably won’t do but I certainly will enjoy others’ baked goods
- Listening to my favorite Christmas songs like Fairytale of New York and Christmas in Hollis.
- Dressing Lucy ridiculous holiday outfits
- The Gallery of Glamore
- Rallying my AMB cohorts for a fun night out
- Themed gift-giving: my sister and I are only giving each other gifts you can find As Seen On TV (Someone might be getting Pajama Jeans!)
- Trying to get Porter to keep on his reindeer ears
- Movies! A Christmas Story, Elf, Christmas Vacation, Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch…
- The Zilker tree lighting
- Lucy assuring me she’s been good all year and can’t wait to tell Santa
- Telling everyone I know about this.
- Buying presents for my loved ones…and maybe a little something for myself *wink*
What’s your fail-safe way to get into the spirit of the season?
