A Different Sorta Christmas

I guess last year I set myself up for doing a Christmas recap, so here is my 2008 Christmas -- 5 days overdue, but notheless....

It was a very different Christmas this year.

It was my neice Laken's first Christmas. Laken is an absolute angel. At 10 months, she has developed an absolutely joyous personality. I love watching how she reacts to things. I love her smile - and I love her laugh.

It was the first time my wife and I did a Christmas vacation. We spent most of Christmas week in the Great Smokies --- rented a cabin in Gatlinburg and did some touristy stuff. Gatliburg and Pigeon Forge are amazingly beautiful as it is, but the Christmas lights made it even more fun (save the traffic on the Saturday following Christmas - it was nuts). We even went to Dollywood for the first time and liked it so much we bought season passes for 2009.

It was the first Christmas since my wife and I have been married that we didn't attend Christmas Eve service. We have done this every year up until now. We had hoped to attend a Christmas Eve service at the Presbyterian church in Gatlinburg. But when I asked some locals if that church was having one, I found out it was not. Apparently that church's membership has dwindled severely in recent years, which is very diasppointing and sad - and they were not having any services on Christmas Eve. We decided to do Christmas Eve in, at our cabin. I felt really guilty though about not even going to one of the other local churches' Christmas Eve services, but.....

It did end up being the first Christmas we went to church away from home. On Sunday when we were walking through Dollywood, we saw a church inside the park. At first glance I thought, "Wow, they made a replica of a country church here. I'll bet it has some interesting displays inside." Well, we went inside and found out that it is a full-blown church. We heard the pastor talking to someone about the fact they do 11 am and 5:30 pm services every Sunday when the park is open. We decided to attend the 5:30 service that day - which ended up being packed. We heard a wonderful message and sang Christmas carols. So I ended up not only coming away less guilty about the whole missing Christmas Eve service thing, but happy we were able to celebrate Christmas and its true miracle - the birth of Jesus Christ - actually in church.

Those are probably the things that will stick out in my mind from Christmas 2008 - but these little ones are what just made my Christmas:

The Christmastime Parking Saga

I just thought I could knock this one out really quickly before shutting down for the night - you could potentially find it sad, amusing, and inspiring all at the same time.

Christmas Eve we were in the mood for ice cream and we didn't have any. We had seen a Ben and Jerry's on the main drag in Gatlinburg earlier that day so I told my wife "I'll run down into town, grab a pint, and come right back."

Got downtown and there was no parking spot to be found. I ended up finding what I thought was a timed lot (mind you it did have a sign that said $5/all day) - so I pulled in, got my ticket stub, found a spot, and ran three blocks to Ben and Jerry's.

The store was locked. It was 5:05. They closed at 5. Crap. I had however on my jaunt down the road seen a Baskin Robbins - so I popped in there, got some ice cream, and went back to the car. Drove to the attendant booth, gave him my ticket stub, and here's where it gets interesting.

Me: How much?
Attendant: Five dollars.
Me: You're kidding, right?
Attendant: No, five dollars.
Me: I'm not paying you five dollars. I was only parked for thirty minutes
Attendant: Five dollars

Do you see where this is going yet?

Me: OK. The sign says five dollars per day. It does not say five dollars period. If that's what you intend it to say, then you need to go rewrite it because as it stands that is false advertising. So if you figure you have probably 12 hours in the day when people use your lot at a $5/day rate, that's approximately 40-some-odd cents an hour and 20-some-odd cents for a half hour. So I will give you 50 cents and you'll let me out of the lot, or I will sit here all evening long and block you gate so nobody else can get out.
Attendant: No you won't. You'll pay me five dollars.

Can you guess what happens next?

Me: See, there comes someone up behind me right now.
Attendant: You need to pay me five dollars.
Me: No I don't.
Attendant: Yes you do.

**HONNNNNNKKKK**

Me: Ready to take 50 cents yet?
Attendant: No.

**HONNNNNNKKKK**

Attendant: OK, three dollars.

**HONNNNNNKKKK**

Me: One dollar.
Attendant: Two dollars.

**HONNNNNNKKKK**

Me: One dollar.

**HONNNNNNKKKK**

Attendant: OK, one dollar.

So I pay the price gouger and leave.

The next evening, Christmas Day, as my wife and I are looking for a place to park to go to the restaurant we had planned on eating at, we cannot find a spot. Downtown has exploded with people. It's nuts.

We decided to grin and bear it and pull into the closest lot to the restaurant and break down and have to pay the $10 parking fee on the big sign pointing toward the lot.

But then we make the turn into the lot and see that the gate arms on both sides are wide open. There is no attendant.

WOW. That was really shocking.

We park, go eat, come back, and still no attendant. Hey, free parking. I guess some people do have a heart.

It's people like that who really embody the true spirit of Christmas. Yes, as a business operator they could have chosen to give in to their desire for more profit, but they decided to give into their heart and provide many someones a heartfelt Christmas gift. They decided to give back.

That's what Christmas is truly about. It shouldn't be about buying an expensive gift for someone. It shouldn't be about expecting certain gifts from someone. It's certainly not about trying to get as much profit as you can, nor is it about starting arguments with a parking lot attendant. It's about giving from the heart - even it's something a simple and easy as opening up your gates and not charging parking fees for the day.

Back At Home, Not Quite Back to Normal

My wife and I just got back tonight from a Christmas vacation in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN. I had hoped while we were up there to be able to post something here on MM since I haven't in over a month.

But technology wouldn't cooperate.

We were staying in a cabin without internet access. We did have my wife's new HTC Touch phone with internet access - and I was able to keep up with my Facebook peeps. But I tried logging in and writing a blog on it and that didn't work real well.

Her phone does have Internet sharing, which allows you to use the phone as a conduit for your laptop to get onto the Internet. I tried to get that to work, but to no avail. I probably should have taken the master driver disk with me. No blogging me for this past week.

I have, however, had a lot of topics on my mind lately to blog about - and came up with several new ones this week also. And I found myself as we're walking through Dollywood emailing myself blog ideas.

Now that we're back from our five-day trip, I just realized I have a pretty lengthy list that need to be whittled down, including topics on the energy of children, feeling old, being ornery, refusing to pay $5 for 30 minutes of parking, the necessity of emergency makeup purchases while on vacation, insane drivers, why I hate Windows Vista, a new Star Wars character called Darth Elfus, filling a cabin with fireplace smoke, critters....

I think I have a good list to choose from, but obviously I won't get to everything because that would be a lot for me to type and a lot for people to read.

I'll tell you one thing, it feels really good to be able to use a real keyboard again instead of having to tap all this out with a little bitty stylus.

So if there's anything on that list that sounds interesting to you, let me know. I do owe a "How My Christmas Went" posting, and I think I'm going to do one on my take on theme parks.

For now though, we're at least home - but not quite back to normal. There's a living room full of luggage and a cooler full of food and drinks to unpack, some very smoke-laden clothes to throw in the dryer, and about two days worth of Christmas decoration removal ahead of us.

Until later, I'm out.

O' Christmas Tree

My wife and I went up into the mountains today (well, now, yesterday) in search of a Christmas tree. The whole ride back I was formulating a blog posting about my disdain for popular culture's excuse for Christmas music. I've decided that post will be for another time... but definitely in the next few days.

Right now, that tree is what's on my mind - and not for any good reason, either.

I'll start this off by saying that I should have learned my lesson last year.

The first Christmas my wife and I were together we started a tradition of having a real Christmas tree in the house. We had both grown up with artificial trees, for whatever reason neither of us are certain. So picking out a Christmas tree for us has become a tradition that we look forward to each year.

Up until last year, we would go to the same Christmas tree vendor - a friend of ours from my wife's home church who has his own Christmas tree business. He would always help us pick out a great tree (although one year we got one that thought it was Spring again and started dripping sap all over the presents), recut it, drill it, bale it, and load it on our car.

But last year we went to a "choose and cut" Christmas tree farm in Maggie Valley, NC, picked one out, had it cut, they did the drill, bale and load routine, and we brought it home. Then I found out not only was the bore crooked, but the cut was also.

So I borrowed a friend's drill bit because I didn't have size that I needed, broke out my excuse for a handsaw, and went to work fixing the tree. A hour later, there it stood, in its stand, ready to be decorated.

This year, we went to a different tree farm - figured we'd try a different place. And this one definitely was different.

They had Santa in a little cabin, a lake with fish and ducks, a store, a wreath making department, a (small) fire for roasting marshmallows, a few wooden elves and snowman for children to stick their heads through and get their pictures taken with, about 3 or 4 times as many trees to choose from, a hayride... and about two or three hundred families each with at least two or three kids.

Understandably, I can imagine that all of that compounded on top of the holiday craziness can stress out and distract the people that work there.

Well, we took our hayride to the top, picked out our tree, they tagged it, we rode back down, got some hot cocoa, roasted a couple marshmallows and went to go get our tree and head back home.

They didn't have our tree. We waited - for 45 minutes. They hunted. They didn't have our tree.

Me and our first tree (the one they lost)

Now I can imagine what Clark Griswold would do in a situation like this and it probably wouldn't have been as nice or diplomatic as how I handled it; but I definitely was rather annoyed. I explained we had just driven nearly three hours, we both really liked the tree we had picked out and since they had lost it, we'd like to pick out another. So with what little light was left, we went back up the mountain, found another one, loaded it, and headed home.

Three hours later, I'm hunting down the trusty handsaw and wishing I had that drill bit back. I've been working with one not quite the size I need and it's just not doing the job.

Had I not asked for a discount because of the fact they had lost our first tree, I would have been really, really mad to have paid the full amount only to find out that the cut and the bore in this tree are so crooked you would have thought the Christmas tree farm was run by a bunch of Democratic congressmen.

Needless to say, there's been a lot of unChristmaslike language targeted at the tree in the last two hours. I've got about an inch of the tree mount pin in the tree so it's a balancing act right now.

There's about at least a vaccuum bag's full of needles on the carpet. And I don't know how much sap I just washed off my hands into the sink.

Home Depot is going to be seeing me in the morning. For some lucky drill bit and power saw, they're going to see a new home in the morning. And that tree is going to see the business end of both.

Sidenote: If you've never been to Black Mountain, NC, you need to stop at Berliner Kindl. It's a German restaurant and deli - and they have the best sauer kraut and German potato salad I have ever had.

You Have Got to Be Kidding Me....

And as we're buying our Halloween candy last night for the -maybe- five or six trick or treater's that we will have, I see the above scene.

This is wrong and tacky on so many levels, I don't even know what to say, other than "Come on, Target; are you kidding me?"

Are you as disgusted by this as I was?

Christmas Thoughts

It's been awhile since my last post... I know. I've had a lot going on -- both with the holiday season, with work, with being lazy and not writing anything worthwhile to post....

But today is Christmas -- the most worthwhile topic to discuss. So I'm attacking this from several different angles, some of which will be entertaining, some of which will be very serious.

The photo above I shot of our advent candles at church. I no idea that it would turn out like that, I frankly was just playing around. I love photography. It's somewhat of an accidental hobby. I had to take photos as a newspaper reporter when I first started out in journalism. I don't have a decent camera of my own --- so I use my work camera to explore my hobby. I think I'll start posting some of my work periodically. But I love this photo. I love it because it shows the peacefulness and beauty of this holiday season. When I look at it, I can't help but thank God for the most wonderful gift that he ever sent us -- his son. I thank God for all he has blessed us with, blessed me with, and pray that he wil provide comfort, wisdom, and courage to all who need it, not only this holiday season, but throughout the year.

This is a time of year that is very hard for me. My grandfather died in December 1999. Christmases since then have felt like something has been missing. But I know he is with me in my heart. And I know he is watching out for me. I miss him. I know anyone who has ever lost a loved one can identify with that feeling.

But I've been thinking about something else alot lately. We had a lesson at church a few weeks ago where we discussed with each other some of our Christmas memories and wishes. One of the ladies at our table when asked what her one wish was for this Christmas was for our troops to be brought home. Think about this - we have been in Iraq now longer than our troops were involved in World War II. Many of our troops have served multiple tours either in Iraq or Afghanistan, or both, since 9/11. Putting my political views aside on the war, I wish they would be brought home for Christmas, every last one of them. That would be a wonderful gift. I wish I could see each and every one of them get off their plane on the home soil and watch their loved ones run to them. Our men and women in the service are defending us and putting their lives before ours this Christmas and, knowing that God has a plan for each and every one of us, pray that they are kept safe and know that they are loved.

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So how has my Christmas season gone?

Here's a quick rundown:

I waited until the Friday before Christmas to shop for my wife. I hate buying women's clothes and am no good at it to begin with. I could not find anything I wanted to get. So Saturday we went out to the mall, I gave her money for clothes and she bought clothes. I went and grabbed a few odds and ends while she was doing that. Christmas shopping done.

Sunday we went to our early service at church. which we typically go to because my wife sings in the praise team. Music was great, as always. We wished our friends a merry Christmas. Ducked out from the children's play to finish some Christmas grocery shopping. After that, we went to my sister-in-law's for Christmas with the in-laws. My nephews (ages 7 and 6) along with my neice (2) loved their gifts. And we had a blast watching them open them up. We bought the 6-year-old nephew an electronic parrot which was the hit of the day.

Monday, Christmas Eve, was low key for the first part of the day. One of our friends lost her mother earlier this year so we invited her up for Christmas dinner at our house. Between chores to clean the house, we wrapped presents for each other. Christmas wrapping done. All gifts finally under the tree. Our friend came over, we had a nice meal, and then called some other friends to see if they wanted to go to the 11 pm Christmas Eve service at our church. So we all went to that. It was being led by our church's college students. There were a few logistical hiccups, which brought some laughs, but we had a very nice time. We came back, built a fire, and at about 12:30 opened our gifts to each other. Then we watched the Santa Clause 3. Went to sleep late and woke up about 9:30 am.

I called my folks and wished them a Merry Christmas. Talked to them for a while, and then we hit the road to my wife's aunt's house for Christmas lunch. Went and had some good food, fellowship, and conversation. Went to visit an uncle of my wife's who is in the hospital. Came home, and went out with the friends that went with us to Christmas Eve service to Denny's for Christmas supper. The place was packed. Considering it was either that, IHOP, or Waffle House, we knew we were in for a long line. But, that's what you get for Christmas in Greenville, SC when you go out for supper.

Friday it's off to Charlotte to spend the day with my family.

In the end, it was a fun few days. I enjoyed it - and do not look forward to taking the decorations down, nor to how much crap my wife comes home with in the morning.

Just Paint Me Green And Give Me A Dog Named Max

I used to get so excited when I was little when all the Christmas stuff came out -- the commercials, the music, the toys...everything. Now, as a grown adult, I can't stand it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday of the year. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and the spirit of giving. I enjoy giving gifts to those I love.

I just hate everything that modern society has done to dumb this beautiful holiday down to a Christmas rap being sung by a battery operated stuffed penguin with shades on and grillz on his teeth.

It is supposed to be a joyous holiday. It's not supposed to enrage people with incessant holiday commercials that guilt you about the crap you can't afford to buy or Mariah Carey on the radio two weeks before Thanksgiving singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

My wife thinks I'm a grinch. I bitch about the commercialization of Christmas every year. I bitch about buying gifts (I love giving them, just not buying them) I bitch about alot of stuff related to Christmas that is all due to the degredation of modern society's morals and character.

So to kick off the Christmas season, I'm going to make a list -- no, it's not my list of presents I want for Christmas (although an actual house would be at the top of the list) --- it's a list of the Top 10 reasons why I hate the Christmas season.

10. Holiday parties at work -- I'm not a social butterfly anyway. I especially don't enjoy having to put on a smile when I've spent the last several weeks just being annoyed at all the Christmas craziness. I have better things to do in the evening than come smile at people who I spend all day looking at. There are a few parties I look forward to each year, only two of those happen during the Christmas season, and neither are work related.

9. Lame-ass Christmas bonuses (or lack thereof) - Last year I got a bag of candy and a travel mug. The year before, at my previous employer, I got a freaking Home Depot gift card. WTF? My first two employers post-college gave us some real money. I don't mean to be greedy, but if your employees are doing a good job, reward them with something they deserve and can use.

8. Christmas commercials - for many reasons: first, they come on the TV or radio in October. Please wait until after Turkey day. They guilt you about what you're planning to buy or not planning to buy for other people. They're generally pretty damn stupid. And they're annoying to boot.

7. Decorating -- the house, the tree, pretty much anything. Never been a fan. We always end up with a strand of lights that doesn't work and I have to track down the one freaking bulb in it that is burned out.

6. Christmas decorations going up early -- in stores, in downtowns, on people's cars (of all things, when did this start? I've seen three people this week with wreath decals on their rear window. WTF?) Please wait until after Turkey day

5. Wal-Mart -- I despise Wal-Mart anyway. They're nasty, they're just... at least they're not K-Mart... but I hate having to battle 500 people in the aisles just because I want to get cat litter at a cheap price. Even at 1 am, which is my usual Wal-Mart shopping time, the lines are still a mile long -- although that could be because they ONLY HAVE TWO FREAKING CASH REGISTERS OPEN.

4. Holiday traffic -- it's like everyone on the road was given a temporary pass to be stupid from Halloween to New Year's (not that most of them aren't already doing stupid things) And it's compounded by the increased volume of cars on the road that are being driven to the local shopping/strip malls.

3. Getting the Christmas decorations out -- this always turns into a nightmare of "where did we put this, where did we put that," and then a sea of boxes and packing tissue.

2. Christmas shopping - I hate shopping in general, no matter when or where. I especially can't stand it after Thanksgiving. There are too many people and they all act like they've gone mad. That's why I avoid stores at all costs during the Christmas season.

1. Christmas songs on the radio two weeks before Thanksgiving. .... Again, Turkey day, wait for it.

Stay tuned sometime in the next few weeks for the Top 10 things I enjoy the most about the Christmas season.