The Most Wonderful Time of The Year?

I must come clean. When it comes to Christmas, I am a hardcore junkie. My tree is always up and decorated the day after Thanksgiving, I start Christmas shopping at the beginning of November (Yes, Carmen, there are times I do enjoy shopping), and, as I write this, my Christmas cards and address book are waiting on the kitchen table. There is Hunter's stocking hung with care...

And there is his look-a-like ornament hanging on the tree.

It is not the most traditional or mature tree you will ever see. Note Dumbo and Grumpy (that is actually what I look like in the morning before my first jumbo sized Diet Pepsi of the day). Most of my ornaments are Disney, Looney Toons, and other cartoon characters. For the folks who only know me from Mumbai (and maybe Dorinco), I am the most immature 44 year old you will ever meet. For the people in the Midland CAEC, you probably would have expected something a little less grown-up.

The angel on my tree redeems me a bit. She is a Celtic angel that I have named Maureen (after the Irish actress Maureen O'Hara). I found Maureen three years ago at a Christmas shop in the Midland Mall. I'd been looking for a few years to replace my old angel. Maureen was about the most beautiful one that I have ever seen, not to mention the fact she is Irish.

Alas, there have been issues. Maureen, or Drunken Mo as she has come to be known, has had issues actually staying upright on the tree. The first year, after trying for about 30 minutes to get her to stay on top of the tree, I called it good and she remained tilted at a 45 degree angle for the season. The next year I bought a new tree (yes for all my love of Christmas, I have an artificial tree). For the first two years, I still had issues with Mo, but they were not quite as bad. Over the last year, something miraculous happened. It only took two attempts to get her on the tree, fairly straight and without almost knocking the tree over. Yes Maureen appears to have been in rehab!

Or it could just be the fact that she wasn't in the same container as this guy for the prior 11 months! Is Santa drinking a Kingfisher?

So why in the hell is someone who loves Christmas so much going back to Mumbai in December? Any snag in the weather could potentially threaten getting home in time for Christmas...OK so that may be over dramatic as I am leaving on the 20th. However, the closer the day of departure gets, the more I have wanted to not go.

I thought I could use Andrew's e-mail about being financially responsible as a logical way to rationally explain to my supervisor. So while I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago I called Barb. "The flight is more expensive", "The room rate at the Taj is more", "It will mean a lot of overtime" and, because of the flight schedule, "I will only be there until the 19th". In all honesty, even though it is not my money, I have been feeling awfully guilty about the amount on money being spent to send me there. It was then explained that this had all been taken into consideration and the cost leaders were OK with the expense even if I wasn't.

Since Thanksgiving I have been trying to get all the Christmas tasks done. Most of the gifts have been bought but are still unwrapped. I've loaded a ton of holiday music on my IPOD. Because I will lose two weeks with my tree, I have kept it lit up as a very large multi-color night light. I spent a few hours today picking up travel sized things as well as a box of bars to eat at the center.

Hunter begins his "vacation" at the kennel in a few days. He was less than happy when he saw the suitcase come out. At least I will arrange for group play for him. He likes that....He's a bit spoiled.

I will be leaving in four days...During close. I will only be in the office Monday, Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday. Again what was I thinking???

But this morning I did note a potential good thing....This time it is the dry season, a bit less humid and it looks like a little cooler and I am pretty sure the view will not be like this:

You'd think my own dog could have posed for a second!

Don't get me wrong. There is nothing Hunter and I enjoy more than snow (well we both enjoy the beach), but as winter lasts until shortly before summer, a couple of weeks in a tropical climate might not be so bad.

I have even taken a optimistic view (don't think I don't know a couple of people are rolling their eyes at that) for the following reasons

1. I will have a whole weekend when I get back to finish shopping and wrapping
2. I kind of enjoy being out with all the crazy people that few days before the big day
3. It is cheap to shop in Mumbai
4. Unlike Thanksgiving, which was at my house this year, my mother and/or sister just need to tell me when and where to bring the gifts (not to say that is not stressful)
5. And most importantly, it is my two week game plan to survive the month of Christmas, as Barb at Weight Watchers would call it, without gaining extra pounds.

For all those people I wont see until after the holidays (or are in Europe or going to the Darkside of the CPTC) have a great holiday season and remember it is not about how much you spend or get in exchange. It is about the people that matter in your life because, to quote Mr. Lennon and Mr. McCartney, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make".