Anybody else really dislike this time of year?

[Ashley]

DOnt get me wrong, my house is mostly decorated as well as a bit outside. I do sing xmas carols and what not. But over all I really really dont like this time of year for many reasons, none of which im gonna go into.

Today, while takeing a "in trouble" day at work I returned a few things and went to a couple other stores. It really really hit how much I cant wait for it to be over.

Anybody else wish it was over yet????? Maybe I will just hide out under my bed covers with my kids until Jan.

 

[Boss Mare]

I WAS in the Holiday spirit for a whole 2 days when I did my Christmas shopping .... Then the credit card bills started coming in and I suddenly lost my spirit.

Seriously though, I don't care for this time of year at all. I guess because I am not very close to anyone to share it with and don't really desire to and I guess I don't get 'in the mood' like a lot of people for whatever reason.... I guess it takes a lot to enthuse me and this is so repetitive.

Not to mention I hate the time change and the weather, I can deal with the cold temps, but I hate snow.

 

[runamuk]

Truth be told........I would like to go to bed right after thanksgiving and not be awakened again until easter

that way I could hibernate through the whole xmas/new year/my birthday mess along with the ick weather and the fact that it is dark out already and I haven't left the office.

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]There was a time in my life when I was very depressed I didnt want to go home for Christmas.... couldnt get in the spirit at all..... They I redefined what Christmas meant for me. I know some of you dont agree with my life as a Christian and what I believe but, When I took stock and got meds and got myself back on mental track and starting doing more for others, the spirit came back adn the true meaning of Christmas for me is the birth of my Saviour. Its not about getting stuff, its not about the food but more about the fellowship. When I stopped stressing over how I was accomplishing it all, it started to be fun again.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[minimomNC]

Not a true dislike, just not a happy time for me this year. I will be glad when its over.

 

[Shari]

Its wet.. its cold and it keeps trying to snow. Brr... I like Spring better.

Think the Xmas went out of me a long time ago. Only reason we sort'a have a very, very simple Xmas is because my son still likes it of course.

I like winter solstice because after that night.. the days start getting longer..

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]I really dislike ALL of winter because of the short daylight hours. I get more blue and I eat more after dark especially when Barry doesnt get home from work till 9 .[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[Marty]

At the moment, I am a bit overwhelmed and frazzled and not having fun at all.

OK I'm ready for a pity party.

This past weekend, my family suffered a tradgedy and we are very sad about that, but hope we get good news on that soon.

Then on Sunday/Monday the storms came and destroyed some 3 weeks of Christmas decorating and the yard is just a mess. Most of our stuff is gone, broken and smashed up or went missing in the wind. The lights are broken and off the roof hanging everywhere.

I don't have my cards done yet. I'm still having troubles trying to find the time and the brains to attempt printing out those addresses and now my printer is out of ink again.

I need boxes to send my Secret Santa and none of the stores had any.

The horses came in tonite just loaded with mud. My hands are sore from brushing!

We don't have our tree yet.

I've still got shopping to do yet, a lot.

But you know what?

Everything is fixable pretty much.

I've got another 30+ strands of lights I can put up. Michael is going through them tonite and check for outages. He's great at that.

The boys and I are going to pick up the yard tomorrow and see what we can salvage and just do it over differently. I'll start in the morning doing the clean up part before work while the horse's are eating and do what I can to get started. The boys have half a day of school on Friday and they said we will fix it all up then and go box hunting. Stores are getting deliverys on Thursday so they'll have boxes again. (We only have a couple of stores).

Jerry's bringing me ink because he has to go to Chattanooga tomorrow anyhow and he said he'd get it so the cards will be done soon and I can hand write the addresses.

The horses will not die from dirt and I can shop on Saturday plus get our tree.

I'm really not in that much trouble here. After all, it's not even December yet.

It's all not that horrible if I just chill out and focus and stop looking at the big picture and just take one thing at a time and focus. That's the trouble with us people with ADD, we get overwhelmed so much so fast and don't take a minute to breathe. I"m down but I'm not out. I just need a good cry and that helps. I've got to focus in on the reason for the season now anyway.

I can tell it's time for a nice hot cup of tea.

 

[Sterling]

I decided myself to take a different approach to Christmas this year. Man it got to not be fun anymore! I got caught up in the rush in the past of shopping and "having" to do this and "having" to do that.....but for some reason this year I told myself..."Self, you don't have to do this if you don't want too!" So I did'nt!! I've decided to craft alot of our gifts this year...keeping me busy yet keeping it enjoyable. Don't have to deal with the crowds at the malls and stores....get to stay home more during the day and I've even enjoyed playing Jolly ball with the pups in the afternoon and watching the horses run the fenceline trying to get the ball too.

I only hope that the recipients of my gifts enjoy them....I know family will because we all enjoy crafts and home made gifts...but others well...you just never know. So if they don't like them, well I'm sure they know where file # 13 is.

e've got all our lights up, and tree too. Now I'm thinking on what to bake this year...and won't work myself silly on that part of it either.

 

[Shari]

I have no idea what I am going to do for Holiday cards either this year. Need to figure it out.

And my Fjord gave me early X-mas decorations.

She came charging up in her snappy trot to her Vitamin bucket.. did a sliding stop.. and well.. greeer - splat.... lot of not so small droplets of clay mud all over me. Sigh ~ ~ Like Thank you Dustenai I needed that mud bath.

We were also having a lot of big fluffy snow all the while the news said.. it was only raining. My son and I looked at each other and said... Ya right.. Weathermen.

Maybe I should of told them we were having snow??

Did get myself an early X-mas gift not something I would normally do... couldn't help myself.

Lyn,, I have these natural light bird lights for my birds.. and believe or not, they can also help with the winter blues. Might be worth a try.

 

[minimule]

Shari I LIKE your Christmas gift......where?

I love the Christmas part of this time of year. We love to have dinners for friends and family. Hubby does a "crew" party for his crew at work and we usually do a special dinner with our friends that don't have any family close by (or any at all).

This year is going to be really special because we get to have Christmas dinner with a very special lady from NH

. Then of course the dinner with all the In-Laws.

What I don't like is that my family is spread so thin I don't get to spend time with them. I also REALLY don't like the weather. Granted we don't get as cold as a lot of you do but with back problems....it is compounded how much I hate the cold.

 

[Shari]

Oh.... from this web site.. Donna is wonderful.

Look under the retail Therapy page. I normally just get China's but this resin is soooo much better in person!!

http://www.animalartistry.co.uk/

minimule, have you tried those Heated back things called Therma care.

Tape a couple of those to my back and I am warm as toast!!

Costco has the best prices and then Walmart. Unless to have access to a Commersary.

I don't have any of my family anywhere near here. 98% of them are on the East coast.

 

[countryrose]

I miss christmas in the midwest with my family in Kansas.

My mom and dad are gone now. It used to be the greatest time of year, always had the weather for it, just hoped for not TOO much snow so cousins and aunt could make it from Colorado.

Small town, christmas caroling, xmas parties, singing in church and school functions. Here in a big town you don't know your neighbors very well, life is too fast paced. Making gifts and baking forever were a joy, now they seem like too much to handle and not enough people appreciate it.

Kids have too many places to go for holidays and we usually end up alone on Xmas day unless we travel to one of my husbands family members.

My daughter lost her fiance last year so really depressed. Instead of traditional gifts we plan on going to Leavenworth, WA to see the christmas lights and maybe some other special things together.

One year we took the family to Seattle Center for christmas, gave the kids a set amount to spend as they liked and enjoyed the festivities. I think the parents had more fun when the kids tried to beg them to pay for things and got to tell them they had to choose what to do and pay themselves.

 

[Ashley]

minimule, have you tried those Heated back things called Therma care.

I have to agree with that. I use the knee ones as I have bad arthritis in my knees. I use them pretty much all year as lots of things bother them. NOw its really bad being its cold, but lack of sleep sets them off in the summer. They work wonders and last a long time as well.

 

[bevann]

As I get older I don't do the things that are not enjoyable at holiday times.I always hated doing Christmas cards, so I stopped it.I love doing for others and since my family&I are so fortunate&have so much I do for some outsider or family.Send a check so they can buy something or take somebody somewhere.If I can ,I prefer to do my giving in secret so only me and a few know what I did.Nobody needs to know-just me&the man upstairs.Try doing for others-it really perks up your spirits.It doesn't have to be money-just nice deeds.

 

[Horse Hugs]

I was enjoying the Holiday spirit and thought I would have things under control but today has been terrible.

I woke up this morning in a lot of pain and my legs have decided to stop working. I have been on meds that have helped my MS and I have been doing pretty well so I wasn't expecting this.

My son was in an accident last night and was rushed unconscious to the hospital. He had to have his head stapled up and he has a severe concussion. He is 3,000 miles away and I am worried about him. He is doing fine but her is my baby and I wish I was there.

My parent's house is in jeapordy of flooding- they are having severe flooding and they should evacuate but they won't.

I didn't get any of my Christmas cards done yet- just the picture taken. My dogs are driving me nuts because they don't agree with the Vets orders to keep them quiet.

But tomorrow is another day.......

and I do love Christmas.

 

[CAM]

I have always really liked Christmas, decorating, putting the tree up, etc. but this year has been a bit hard for me. My best friend, who also happened to be my dad, died last year a few days before Christmas and it was quite shocking. I am trying to be festive for my kids but behind closed doors it is a different story. I won't deprive them of a good Christmas, they miss grandpa too but it would upset them at this time of the year to see me sad so I plug along and buy and wrap gifts. I usually have my decorations up by now but everytime I try to pull them out while the kids are at school to surprise them I start to cry so that will be my goal by the weekend, to get the decorations out and up.

All in all, Christmas is only as stressful as we allow it to be. I don't give in to the "do what everyone else is doing". I believe that if it is too stressful to buy gifts and wrap them for everyone then don't. Tell family and friends your family is helping at the local soup kitchen this year, or donating your time or maybe one bigger gift, to a child in need. How can they argue with that? You feel good and it isn't stressful to help others in need.

Take a deep breath and everyone enjoy the holidays! Now I will try to take my own advice.

 

[Jill]

Well, I love Thanksgiving. It's about my favorite day of the year because I love spending time with my family.

However, leading up to Christmas, I get a lot of anxiety and always have. It's so hard to try and figure out what to get people. For the past many years, my parents tell my sister and I not to get them anything but we do, only it's SO HARD to think of anything to get them. If they know about it and want it, they get it for themselves. So, we try to think of things they don't know about but would probably enjoy (like a DVD player and NetFlix last year, cordless phones one year -- bringing them into the 20th century!).

My parents are always way generous with what they give us and I just get too worked up. I'd rather really just turn Christmas into another Thanksgiving pretty much.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Bah...HUMBUG!!! I think everyone knows my feelings

 

[Shari]

Well Jane,

You need another figure from Donna.. and that will chase the Hum-bug away!!!